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- One of your three main point discussions is already written! Incorporate
the paragraphs you wrote for Assignment 4C into your paper, since they
represent one main point developed with subpoints and evidence. You may use
this main point as Main Point # 1, Main Point # 2, or Main Point # 3 in your
paper. Be sure to make revisions to the Assignment 4C paragraphs before
incorporating them into your paper.
- Declare your thesis statement clearly in your introduction
paragraph--usually toward the end of the paragraph. Even though an
introduction may be several paragraphs long in a longer paper, for a paper
this size (5-6 pages for the first version), you will probably need only one
introduction paragraph.
- It is helpful to give an overview of your three main points in your
introduction paragraph. Generally, list your three main points only AFTER
you have declared your thesis statement. Often, all three main points can
be listed in one sentence. Be sure that your three main points appear in
the same order in your paper as they appear in your overview.
- Consider your thesis statement and overview of main points in the
introduction paragraph as your "promise" to the reader--you promise to argue
THIS thesis and to discuss THESE three main points in your paper (in the
order in which you listed them).
- No background section is required for the first version of your paper.
You'll include a background section (after your introduction paragraph) in
the second version.
- Be sure each main point is clearly declared in a way that marks the
beginning of a new section of your paper. It is an old but effective
practice to declare each main point in the first sentence of the paragraph
beginning that main point discussion.
- Each main point discussion will represent several paragraphs of your
paper. Just as you learned in Assignment 4C, a main point discussion is
broken down into several subpoints. Each subpoint deserves its own
paragraph.
- Once you have declared your subpoint (usually as the first sentence of
the paragraph), fill the rest of the paragraph with evidence that supports,
or "proves," the subpoint.
- The more evidence you have for each subpoint, the better! I've never read
a first version (or even a final version) where I've asked the writer to
take away evidence. Don't worry about having too much evidence! It's
nearly impossible to have too much evidence!
- Offer your readers a variety of TYPES of evidence. Remember, there are
seven types: facts, statistics, quotations, examples, illustrations,
comparisons, and personal experience.
- Make sure your evidence comes from credible sources!
- Make sure to use parenthetical references to document your sources EVERY
TIME YOU BORROW INFORMATION FROM A SOURCE! It doesn't matter whether you use
the actual words of a writer or not--if you have borrowed a writer's idea,
CITE IT!
- Make sure your parenthetical references correspond with your Works Cited
page. If you cite a source in the paper, be sure to list it on the Works
Cited page. If a work appears on the Works Cited page that you haven't
cited in the paper, remove it from the Works Cited page.
- In your conclusion paragraph (you probably need only one), remind the
reader of your thesis and three main points. Try to use language that does
not just repeat the thesis and main points exactly as you stated them
earlier. "Revisit" them in a way that allows you to talk about them in a
manner you couldn't have talked about them in the beginning of the paper.
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