CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.D

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Writing a Research Paper

After fully engaging your sources, you have plenty of remarkable information to convey to your reader. The problem may be figuring out where to begin. What do you share first?

The following activities will suggest many starting points and ending points and other points in between. The strategies below will prime the pump of your ideas, getting them to flow easily into your first draft.

Writing the Beginning Paragraph

Your first job in writing a research paper is to catch your reader's interest. You can experiment with a number of strategies to form an interesting lead sentence.

Write a lead sentence.

Try out some of these strategies for introducing your research paper. Read the examples for ideas.

Start with a fascinating quotation.
"Do things. Be sane. Don't fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are, and be somebody; get action.”
—Theodore Roosevelt, Sr.
Express what is most interesting about the subject.
Teddy Roosevelt transformed himself from an asthmatic weakling to a brawler who won in Cuba and Panama, in Washington and on Mount Rushmore.
Provide an anecdote.
As they charged up San Juan Hill into the teeth of machine-gun fire, Teddy Roosevelt turned to a fellow soldier and shouted, "Holy Godfrey, what fun!"
Ask an engaging question.
Are heroes born, or are they made?

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Prewriting for Research Papers

When something fascinates you, studying it is simple. You naturally train all your attention on it and try to figure it out. Learning is easy because all the doors and windows of your mind are flung wide open. When something bores you, studying it is a chore. You can't stay focused. No one could pay you enough to care.

Since you need to closely study whatever topic you choose for your research paper, you should strive up front to find a topic that fascinates you. The next activity will help you find a strong topic, and the activities afterward will help you launch your research.

Prewriting to Select a Topic

The following "Basics of Life" list includes broad subject areas that are critical to life. You can click on any entry to find more resources about it. You can also apply these general subjects to a specific class in order to find a unique topic. For example, applying "Personality" to the Spanish-American War unit in AP U.S. History would suggest studying the irrepressible Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Revising Definition Essays

Congratulations! You have an essay: You no longer have to worry about the blank page. Instead, you have words, sentences, ideas—all your best initial thinking about the topic. But a great first draft can still be a lackluster final draft. Revising lets you work with those ideas, adding new details, deleting unnecessary stuff, rewriting thoughts that didn't come out just right, and reorganizing material into the best order. The following activities can guide you.

Revising for Order of Details

When you wrote your first draft, you may have been tempted to write one paragraph about denotations, a second about connotations, a third about synonyms and antonyms, and so on. The result might feel a bit formulaic, marching doggedly through the list of details that you found. An effective essay is more than a list of details. It organizes the details with the reader's questions in mind.

In the first sample essay, "Right to the Heart," the first middle paragraph begins with the dictionary definition and then combines quotations and logical arguments to unpack the meaning of the definition. This organization works because readers know the word courage but need to analyze what it means and doesn't mean.

Dictionary Definition Merriam-Webster defines courage as the "mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty," Quotations or, in the words of Ernest Hemingway, "courage is grace under pressure." Logical Arguments Danger, fear, difficulty, pressure—these make courage not only necessary but possible. Courage cannot exist without opposition. One must feel fear before one can courageously persevere in the face of it. As Mark Twain puts it, "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." The famous World War II general George S. Patton makes the connection even clearer: "Courage is fear holding on a minute longer." So, courage does not remove fear but rather persists in the face of it.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Writing a Definition Essay

You've selected a term or two, gathered denotations and connotations and other details, and created a working thesis statement. You're ready to draft your definition essay. The following activities will help you build a strong beginning, develop middle paragraphs, and create an ending that effectively wraps up your definition.

Caught in the Net

Caught in the Net “Hello. My name is Kim. I’m an online-aholic.” There. I’ve said it. I guess I’ve been addicted for quite some time now, but I have just begun to realize it. My first interaction with the “Net” began when I was only 15 years old. My dad was the computer coordinator at our school, so he wanted to try Internet access at home before installing it at school. We became America Online members in 1993. None of my friends had email back then. My relationship with email started like a Romeo/Juliet conspiracy.

Anticipating the Dream

Anticipating the Dream “And we are scatterlings of Africa On a journey to the stars Far below we leave forever Dreams of what we were.” —Johnny Clegg I am sitting with my grandparents in the spectators’ section of the echoing auditorium, my baby brother on my lap. I’m not sure what I expected this morning, but thus far it has been an incredibly boring experience. The judge is half an hour late, and to add to that, Graeme, my brother, is tired and fussing, and would evidently much prefer his mother’s lap to mine.

From Bed Bound to Breaking Boards

From Bed Bound to Breaking Boards She had finally gotten her green belt in Tae Kwando. It was an amazing accomplishment for Kameelah D., a thin African American girl standing about five feet tall. Only four years before, she was told by a doctor that she would never walk again. It was quite evident that not only would she walk again, but she would also run, jump, kick, and punch. When Kameelah was 11, a routine physical uncovered an abnormal curvature in her spine. It was soon after diagnosed as scoliosis. Kameelah, as well as her family, was devastated.

Student Entrepreneur Reaches for Dreams of the Sky

Student Entrepreneur Reaches for Dreams of the Sky “You’ve got to know your own value, know what you want, and stick with it.” That’s what T. McDowell’s advice to others is, and it’s certainly worked for him. This high school senior is currently the sole owner of Immersion Immaging, a successful company specializing in Internet commerce solutions and online financial databasing. McDowell began the company in 2012, although it was originally called 4th Dimension Graphics. Two years later, the company was reorganized as Immersion Immaging.

Save the Elephants

Save the Elephants What should be done with a herd of marauding elephants? This was the problem recently confronting officials at Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa. A number of orphaned male elephants had been transported to the park in order to provide them with a safe and nurturing environment. However, this step to protect the elephant population soon threatened another endangered species. The young elephants had entered musth, like puberty, a state of heightened hormonal activity and increased aggression.

If Only They Knew

If Only They Knew Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that I struggled with for the majority of my middle school years and a portion of my high school years. My classmates at Riverview High School were aware of my disorder, and it greatly affected the way they treated me. At the start of my junior year, I transferred to Madison High School. I decided not to tell anyone at that school about my eating disorder since I was mostly recovered by that time.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.D