Many students make the mistake of writing a report, not an argumentative essay, when they write a research paper.
Reporting literally
means relaying information. It does not
mean you are stating your ideas
on a topic. It does not mean giving your opinion about information. Good reporting is simply being a messenger of
information. When reporters do give
their opinions, they are no longer reporting. Since I have asked you to write an argumentative research paper, the foundation of your paper must be your ideas, your opinions, about your topic. You need to think about what you think about your topic. These are the ideas you will write in your first draft of the research paper. Later, you will add information from other sources (books, journals, newspapers) to support your ideas. However, it is important to understand that you are using quotes as support for your ideas, not presenting them as your ideas or as the only ideas in the paper.
Therefore, I want you to write the first draft of your research paper without quotes from sources. I want you to write it like one of our other essays … using only your own ideas and words. Then, for the rest of the semester, you will work to expand your paper by adding supporting material from sources to validate your ideas.
Be
a thinker, not a reporter!
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