Chapter 6 Organizing and Writing Research Arguments

Bubble webs using colors and shapes can help to arrange your ideas into categories. Graphic flowcharts are also good ways to organize ideas.  An outline is extremely useful for arranging ideas and speeding up the drafting process.  A good outline basically writes the paper for you.  An outline essentially does the same thing as a film's trailer.  It provides a brief outline of the key scenes, conflict, characters, and the main idea of the movie.  A formal outline uses numbers and letters to indicate subsections of the argument.  An outline allows you to experiment with different organizational structures before actually writing the paper.  Subheads are great ways to show the progression of you argument.  Attention to transitions is important.  Integrating sources into a research paper can be done by summary, paraphrase, or direct quotation.  Paraphrasing focuses on one part of a text and restates it.  Quotations must be integrated into the paper, not just inserted. Peer review is a very useful tool.  Collaboration can  always help.  Not only do drafts need to be edited but revised as well.