Revising to Elaborate Details

Your research paper should be more than just a list of details: First of all . . . Second of all . . . Thirdly . . . Fourthly . . . . Instead, you should elaborate ideas. You can do so by introducing a concept, looking more carefully at it, defining the terms you are using, giving examples, telling an anecdote, providing historical context, and so on. Note how each of these types of details further "unpacks" the concept, allowing readers to understand it more fully.

In the following paragraph from "The Mind Behind Middle-earth," note how the topic sentences introduce two main points, and the writer explores each point separately, using a variety of details to unfold the picture for the reader. Click on the callouts to view each part.

Writing the Beginning Paragraph

If you're having trouble deciding how to start, you can experiment with different strategies for catching your reader's interest. (If you'd rather just plunge in to writing your middle paragraphs, go ahead, and circle back to this step later.) Your lead sentence will begin your first paragraph and help to introduce your thesis statement.

Reading a Literary Research Paper

Before you start work on your own literary research paper, you should read a paper created by another student. As you read, note how the writer analyzes his topic with a breadth of ideas and a depth of details. He draws evidence from multiple sources, including the fiction and nonfiction of the author as well as historical references. He also connects the literature to larger thematic questions about life itself. Click on the side notes to study these features.

Reading a Student Model

This research paper explores the meaning of the term fantasy, specifically in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. The overall structure includes a beginning paragraph, multiple body paragraphs, an ending paragraph, and a works-cited page. The writer uses source citations as well as historical context and discussions of theme in the analysis.

Warm-Up for Literary Research

Imagine that you needed to find out about the homework assignment for a class you missed. Where would you go for the information? Would you trust what you overheard from two strangers in the hall? Would you trust what a friend says who also missed the class? Would you trust the word of an A-student that you don't like? How about your teacher's class page (if it is regularly updated)?

Obviously, information is only as good as its source. Every day, you sift through dozens of sources: You remember what you heard from your instructors in different classes, what you saw on SnapChat, what you read on Google News, what you heard at the lunch table. You draw all of those different pieces of information together to make a single, mostly consistent "story" for your day.

A literary research paper does the same thing, drawing information from a variety of sources about one or more pieces of literature. By assembling the information and tracking the sources, you create a consistent story to help your reader understand the literature.

What Is a Literary Research Paper?

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A literary research paper is a response to literature that analyzes one or more literary works by drawing on a variety of sources. An effective research paper uses evidence to create new insights about the literature. It also cites sources so that interested readers can explore the same ideas and make up their own minds.

Every reliable article on the Internet and in the news is a thoroughly researched, correct, accurate, and up-to-date account of some event or topic. We rely on research to sift real news from fake news, fact from fiction. Indeed, our very concept of reality is only as good as the information we choose to accept. That's why research is now more important than ever. This unit will help you create effective research about literature, and you can start by thinking about reliable and unreliable sources.

Thinking About Sources of Information

Some people are trustworthy sources of information, and others are not. You can trust a friend more than an enemy. You can trust a well-informed person more than an ignorant one. You can trust someone who is involved in a situation more than someone who is not involved. Trustworthiness comes in many forms. A chart like the one that follows can help you rate the trustworthiness of a specific person about a specific topic.

Editing for Pronoun Agreement

A pronoun is a word that stands in the place of a noun or another pronoun (its antecedent). The most familiar pronouns are I, me, my; we, us, our, ours; you, your, yours; he, she, it, they, their, theirs. A pronoun needs to agree with its antecedent. That means both need to have the same person (first, second, or third), the same number (singular or plural), and the same gender (masculine, feminine, neuter, or indeterminate).

Revising to Elaborate Ideas

When ideas feel thin, you can elaborate by imagining what questions a reader would ask. Then you can answer the reader’s main questions using a variety of details at a variety of levels. The writer of “Equity Matters” imagined the following interview, answering the reader’s questions in a number of different ways.

Combining Argument and Narrative

Follow these steps to blend your two separate essays into a narrative argument. As you work through the steps, remember that you can add, cut, rewrite, and rearrange parts of both original pieces as needed.

1. Make your original argument essay the base of your paper.
2. Read over both pieces one more time.
3. Decide what portions of your narrative support your argument.
4. Experiment with different combinations of narration and argumentation. Here are three common ways to organize a narrative argument:
   • One-After-Another: Start with your full narrative and transition to your full argument or vice versa.
   • Start-and-End: Start with a portion of your narrative, transition to your argument, and then return to your narrative.
   • Back-and-Forth: Start with your narrative or argument and transition back and forth multiple times between both pieces.

5. Evaluate the results. Which pattern most effectively strengthens the argument? Which pattern is easiest to follow? Which pattern will most likely get readers to empathize with your position?
6. Choose a pattern.
7. Add parts (or all) of your narrative to your argument essay. If you are working in a word-processing program, you can simply copy and paste the parts. Reword sections as needed to improve the flow.

Writing the Narrative Beginning

The beginning of your narrative has a number of jobs:

• Catch the reader's attention.
• Introduce the main character (person of focus).
• Describe the setting (time and place).
• Create conflict.

1. Start in the middle of the action.

   Flush with determination, I stepped up to the podium. I had a strong speech. I had a strong message. I was ready to fight for equal rights. So how did I know it was all doomed?

2. Use interesting dialogue.

   "There goes Drama Jess again. Making something out of nothing." Girls with an opinion get that a lot in high school.

3. Pose a fascinating question.

   What does justice mean to you?

4. Set up the conflict.

   I’m a sports fanatic. I’m also a girl. I thought by now my gender wouldn't be an issue, but last school year showed it still is.

Prewriting to Select a Narrative Topic

You have several options for a narrative topic. You can choose an event that you yourself have exprienced, one involving someone you know personally, or the experience of someone you have never met but have learned about through your research. Consider people you encountered in the books, articles, videos, podcasts, and other sources you explored to create your argument essay.