Chapter 14- Drafting

This chapter discusses drafting. First part to this chapter is is about using your outline to draft your  paper. Your outline should include:

• the points you will include in your document
• the order in which you will make your points
• the evidence you will use to support each point

Next section is the ways you can draft effective paragraphs. First off you want to focus on a central idea which is typically introduced in your topic sentence. The rest of the paragraph will expand on that. Then follow an organizing pattern, some to consider are:

• Chronology: Identifying the sequence in which events occur over time 
• description: presenting the distinguishing features of an idea, a concept , or an event
• definition: explaining an idea, a concept, or an event
• cause/effect: identifying factors that lead to (cause) and outcome (effect)

Another way to draft an effective paragraph is to use details and examples. Also by integrating information from your sources effectively and using transitions to go between paragraphs.

The third section in this chapter is how to draft your introduction. You need to frame your issue first in a way that anyone who reads it can understand it and interpret your ideas. There are several strategies you can use when writing your introduction, they include:

• state the topic
• establish the context
• state your thesis
• define a problem
• make a surprising statement
• ask a question
• tell a story
• provide a historical account
• draw a contrast
• lead with a quotation

Section four is ways to make sure your paper is easy to follow. things you can do to help with this are:

• provide a map
• use headings and subheadings
• provide forecast and cross references
• use a menu
• pay attention to design principles

The last section to this chapter is drafting your conclusion. First things first is to restate or reinforce the points you have already made. Then select a strategy for your conclusion by:

• offer additional analysis 
• speculate about the future
• close with a quotation
• close with a story
• close with a question
• call your readers to action
• link to your introduction

Chapter 17- Revising and Editing

Chapter 17 is all about revising and editing your paper. The first section of this chapter is the things that you should focus on during the revision process of your paper or document. First ask yourself three questions:

• Will my readers trust what i have to say? How can i establish my credibility?
• Will my readers have other ideas about how to address this issue? How can i convince them that they should believe what i say?
• Will my readers find my evidence appropriate and accurate? Is my selection of evidence consistent with their values and beliefs?

Then consider your argument and ideas. To do this first make sure your thesis is phrased in a way that is understandable to your readers and gets your point across. Then ask yourself if your evidence that you used to support your thesis is clearly conveyed to your readers so that they can accept your thesis. Then consider your use and integration of sources, the structure and organization, and your genre and design.

The next section in this chapter gives some strategies to use when revising your paper. The first strategy suggested is to save multiple drafts in case you decide that some of the changes you have made aren't actually what you wanted. You can also highlight your main point, reasons and evidence to make sure that you have each part and it is organized. Also challenge your assumptions. Pretend that you're the reader, play devil's advocate, or play the "so what" game. Lastly, scan outline and map your document.

The third section is what to focus on as you edit your paper or document. First, focus on accuracy. Check things like your facts and figures to make sure they're correct, check all your quotations, and check for spelling errors. Next focus on economy. Try taking out unnecessary words or sentences. Then focus on consistency. Use numbers consistently, treat concepts consistently, treat sources consistently, and format your document consistently. Next is focusing on style. As people read your paper you're going to be judged on probably everything, just make sure to "choose the right  words, using active and passive voice appropriately  adopting a consistent point of view, rewriting complex sentences, varying your sentence length and structure, providing transitions, and avoid sexist language" (282). Last part to this section is focus on spelling, grammar and punctuation.

The last section in this chapter is the strategies to use to edit your paper. Read carefully and read aloud, mark up your paper for any errors or things you want to go back and check. If you're going to use spell check or anything like that be aware that they are not always accurate. And lastly, don't be afraid to ask for feedback.

Chapter 18-Understanding Design Principles

Chapter 18 is all about understanding design. By understanding such principles you can create a more well-balanced and original project. How to use design effectively is the first part to this chapter. There are 5 basic design principles according to Bedord Researcher:

• Balance: the vertical and horizontal alignment of elements on your pages. 
• Emphasis: the placement and formatting of elements, such as heading and subheadings, so they catch your readers' attention. 
• Placement: the location of the elements on your pages.
• Repetition: the use of elements, such as headers and footers, navigation menus, and page numbers, across pages in your document
• Consistency: the extent to which you format and place text and illustrations in the same way throughout your document

Moderation and simplicity are two more principles that you should consider in your designing process. You want to use these other principles in moderation to create a simple result. When it comes to designing you want to have a purpose. Is it to set a tone, or help readers understand your point, or to get them to accept a point you have made, or lastly clarifying concepts? You also want to design for your readers. With a well thought out and organized designed project your readers will have a better change of engaging into your document and understanding each part of it. Lastly, you  want to design to address genre conversations.

The second part to this chapter is what design elements can you use. There are many different elements that you can use. Different fonts, line spacing and alignment are the ones that most writers tend to use. Page layouts is also important because you don't want things that have nothing to do with each other next to each other. Color, shading, and borders can give your project some character and pin point the more important stuff to your project. And lastly, illustrations is another element that is useful to "demonstrate points made in the text of your project" (291).

Chapter 15-Using Sources Effectively

This chapter is all about sources and how to incorporate them into your paper. There are three parts to this chapter, 1) Using sources to accomplish your purpose as a writer 2) Ways to integrate sources into your draft and 3) How to document sources

Using your sources to accomplish your purposes as writer is the first step. Sources are good ways to provide support for your ideas, and other's ideas, as well as ways to clarify statements, and provide examples. Sources are generally presented in your paper in three ways,a quotation, an image, or numerical information. Keep in mind your readers and what you think will appeal best to them when it comes to choosing which type fits best where.  You also want to make sure that you provide all sorts of evidence and support for your claims so your readers are more likely to "accept your argument" (249). For example, instead of just stating something, use a source than can back it up. But when you do use a source don't forget to provide the author at the end of the source.

The next step is the ways to include those sources into your paper. One thing you want to do is use attributions and in-text citations. For example, "according to or as the author points out- alerts your readers that the point is not your own" (251). However you're going to want to mix up the different attributions that you use so it doesn't become repetitive. Providing in-text citations lets the readers know where that information came from. Also if you add some context about the source and how it connects to your paper, your readers will be able to understand it more and know how it relates to your topic. Another thing you should do is quote strategically. You can use block, partial, or complete quotes. When choosing between these think about which one will convey the message best. You can also modify quotes so they will fit into your paper better, all you have to do is bracket the word you are changing. There are many rules to punctuate your quotes correctly, here are just a few:

• Use double quotation marks (" ") around partial or complete quotations. Do not use quotation marks for block quotations
• Use single quotation marks (' ') to indicate quoted material within a quotation
• In most cases, place punctuation marks such as commas, periods, question marks, and exclamation points inside quotation marks.
• Place colons and semicolons outside quotation marks

Paraphrasing your ideas and arguments and summarizing are two more good tools. But when or if you use either of these be sure to include the citations. And like quotes, you can also "summarize an entire source, parts of a particular source, or a group of sources to support your argument" (257).

The last step in this chapter is how to document your sources. Along with your in-text citations you also want to include publication information for all of your sources, most likely in the form of a bibliography. First, you should figure out which system you should be using. Such as, MLA, APA, Chicago, or CSE. Then you'll want to provide the publication information such as, the authors, title, publication date, publisher and city, periodical name, and the URL and access date. Next, double check for unattributed sources in your document. Lastly, you  want to make sure that it is clear what ideas are yours and what ideas aren't so your readers don't get confused.

Chapter 16-Writing with Style

Chapter 16 teaches us how to write with style. Understanding your writing situation is key to having good style. Some ways you can write with style are by writing concisely. If your writing is to difficult to understand your readers won't be interested and get frustrated and stop reading.  Make sure to write clearly and most of the time the shorter the better. Some ways to do this are things like getting rid of words that you don't actually need such as really and sort of. Also you want to get rid of little phrases that are also unneeded such as it goes without saying or it is obvious that. Lastly the chapter suggests to eliminate stock phrases. These are "phrases that you can replace with on or two words" (265). Another way to write with style is to use active and passive voice effectively. These are two different ways you can write a sentence. Active voice specifies a person or thing that they have done. But with passive you are specifying what that action was without saying who did it. The next step to write with style is to adopt a consistent point of view. A point of view comes in 3 types, first person, second person, and third person. Stick with one point of view throughout the entire paper or things will get confusing for you and your reader. The last step to write with style is choosing your words carefully. Think about the formality of your writing and make sure it fits with you as a writer and with the project that's been assigned. Also pay attention to specialized language also known as jargon to make sure you know your readers will understand if you decide to use such language. And lastly, use a variety of words. Things start to get boring when you are repeating yourself over and over again, make it more interesting and spice it up a bit.

The second part to this chapter is teaching us the ways to polish your style. First step you can take is varying your sentence structure. Use a question, a statement, a command, or even an exclamation. You want to have a mix of sentences and structures so your readers stay interested and don't get bored with what they are reading. Another step to take is creating effective transitions. When sentences go from talking to one thing to suddenly changing to a different subject readers can become confused. You can use words such as first, second, however, as a result, etc. The next step is introducing authors effectively. Most people introduce an author by using "The author wrote..." why not use something like "The author expressed the opinion that..." Also try to avoid using sexist language. Even though it may be technically right to use male pronouns when you don't know the gender, go for using plurals to avoid being sexist. The last two steps you can take to polish your style is to consult a handbook and read widely. I think that this chapter will be very helpful in writing my final paper!

Chapter 12-Developing Your Argument

Chapter 12 is all about creating a strong and effective argument. The first part to this chapter is the ways to support your thesis statement. The first thing you want to do is to choose your reasons. You will want to have many reasons that will support your thesis. The reasons you choose will vary depending on the type of document that you are writing. The next step is to find evidence that supports those reasons. Each claim or reason you present you also need evidence to back it up. A good way to gather this evidence is from the sources you found, you can use things like visual images, quotes, and statistics. After that you have to decide how you are going to appeal to your readers. Are you going to appeal to them through authority, emotion, character, logic or principles,values and beliefs?

The second part to this chapter is how to assess the integrity of your argument. Something you can do is check for fallacies based on distraction. These are things like a red herring that are used in real life to throw prey off the scent. For example, "Why worry about the rising cost of tuition when the government is tapping our phones?" This is a red herring because "government surveillance has nothing to do with increases in college tuition" (215). Another thing you can do is look for fallacies based on questionable assumptions. An example of this is sweeping generalizations. The book provides the example of "arguing that the rich are conservative and always vote for republican...assumes that anyone who is rich is just like everyone else who is rich" (216). You can also search for fallacies based on misrepresentation.  In my opinion, what shows up the most is something called stacking the deck, which is where the writer only provides reasons and support for one side of the argument. Therefore the other side of the argument is unknown the the readers leaving them wondering why the writer decided not to mention it. Lastly, you can try to locate fallacies based on careless reasoning. An example of this is non sequiturs. In the book these are described as "statements that do not follow logically from what has been presented" (217).

Chapter 11-Developing Your Thesis Statement

This chapter is all about creating your thesis statement. The first thing the book talks about is how to use your sources and position statement to do so. The position you have taken on your issue is essentially your response to your research question. Therefore becoming the basis of your thesis statement. Before you start writing your thesis there are some things you should start with.

Reviewing your position is first. Think about your issue and the position you have taken. Ask yourself if you think that is represents exactly what you are trying to say.

Next is reviewing your notes. While doing this the book says to:

• identify important information, ideas, and arguments that you've come across in your reading
• consider whether the information, ideas, and arguments you've identified in your notes will allow you to pursue your personal, academic, an professional interests. 
• review and elaborate on ideas and arguments that you've come up with as a result of your own thinking about the subject
• consider how your own ideas and arguments might allow you to pursue your interests. 

Then reflect on your reasons for writing this paper and reflect on your readers. Ask yourself questions such as, have your purposes changed since your started? And has your role as a writer changed since you started your research project. Also consider whether or not your arguments "will help you address your readers' purposes, needs, interests, and backgrounds" (205). 

The second part to this chapter is the drafting of your thesis. First, find the most important information and ideas you have collected on your issue. A good suggestion is to even try writing out more than one thesis, exploring different options. However, your final thesis "should convey your position in a way that addresses you purpose and your readers' needs, interests, values, beliefs, and knowledge of a subject" (206). When writing your thesis also be sure to keep in mind the type of document you are going to be writing. And lastly is to focus your thesis statement. To do this you can ask yourself questions about what you think will engage your readers. 

Chapter 10-Searching for Information with Field Research Methods

Chapter 10 is another helpful tool that teaches us ways to search for information using field research methods. An important part of this chapter is to know when to use these methods. A good way to know when, is if the published sources that you're are finding don't seem to be helping anymore, if you're having trouble finding information on your issue, your issue hasn't been addressed, and lastly your issue could be better presented and researched by using a primary source.

A good way to collect information is through interviews. You have to decide who you're going to interview, then you need to plan it out by deciding where and when and how. Things like is it going to be over the phone, face to face, or through email? Another thing to make sure you're prepared is knowing the questions you are going to ask beforehand. Make sure to take notes on the information you are gives as well. The last thing is to analyze your results. Go back over your interview and notes and look for new ideas, contradictions, credible information, and anything else you find helpful.

Another way to collect information is through observations. Once you have decided that you are doing to do an observation you have to plan it out just like before with the interview. For example, what you're going to observe, things to look for, and if you should get permission before you start. Once again, after you have done the observing go back over your results. "Identify key features and patters of behavior, identify key individuals and describe their actions, look for unusual patters and actions, ask what you've learned about the issue through observation, look for patterns and actions that might be useful in providing context about the issue, look for patterns and actions that, if described, might help your readers better understand the issue or lead them to view the issue in a particular way" (191).

You can also conduct a survey. Surveys are used to gather information about peoples beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that answer the what or who questions. Surveying is similar to the other ways I have explained in the ways that you go through the same process. Decide to do it, who you're going to survey, what you're going to ask, and how you're going to present it. And lastly analyzing your results.

Using correspondence is also helpful. Correspondence is social networking sites, letters, email, and faxes. Corresponding with an expert is usually the most beneficial, you can also correspond with relatives, friends, and strangers. Just make sure to introduce yourself, explain your project, ask questions, and thank them.

The last way to collect information explained in this chapter is using public events and broadcast media. This can include things like lectures, conferences, meetings etc. Also when recording these types of events you have to make sure that you're allowed to do so.

Chapter 7-Avoiding Plagiarism

This chapter is all about plagiarism and the ways to avoid it. Knowing what plagiarism is the first step in avoiding it. The book defines it as "either unintentionally using someone else's work without properly acknowledging where the ideas or information came from or intentionally passing of someone else's work as your own" (121).

When you unintentionally plagiarize you don't use quotation marks, paraphrase that it's barely noticeable as any different from the original source, you don't make it super clear which words are yours and which aren't, and lastly you don't cite your source. When a writer gets caught unintentionally plagiarizing there are usually consequences. There is also intentional plagiarism.   This is when you take bits and pieces from more than one source and combining them without distinguishing what is what and where it came from. Also making up your own citations, copying  passages or an entire document and saying they're your own, and lastly buying a paper. Another potential way of plagiarizing is in groups.

Another part to understanding plagiarism is research ethics. This is defined as "an honest exchange of information, ideas, and arguments among writers and readers who share an interest in an issue" (124). There are three basic rules. First is to show some respect by acknowledging where your sources came from. Second, keep your information accurate. And third, use citations. We should also know what common knowledge means, which is " information that is widely known, or it might be the kind of knowledge that people working in a particular field use on a regular basis" (124).

If you are accused of plagiarism just be sure to go back to your sources and make sure you have used citations and double check the information you used, as well as talking to your teacher about ways that you can fix the problem.

Most importantly to avoid plagiarism the book suggests "conduct a knowledge inventory, take notes carefully, distinguish between your ideas and those drawn from your sources, cite sources in the text and in a works cited or reference list, recognize the misconceptions about intentional plagiarism" (126).

Chapter 6-Managing Information and Taking Notes

Chapter 6 provides the information needed to be able to organize your information, take notes, and keep track of it all. There isn't anything worse than finding a good source, or typing out a bunch of notes and then not saving it. You can organize your information in many different ways, such as in a folder on your computer or USB drive, your email, even your phone. Once you have found a place that works best for you to store your information be sure to label everything that you save. It will save you the time from having to go into the folder and click on each little thing each time you want to go back and look at something. All it takes is a few simple words that relate to what you are saving.

Taking notes is another key element to this chapter. Note taking is important because it not only is a good tool for keeping track of information and ideas you have encountered but it also helps you understand your sources better. It does this because instead of just highlighting and saving the site or page you are taking the time to read the source, comprehend what it is saying, and then writing down what is going to be most helpful to you. Also because when taking notes you should paraphrase and summarize in your own words what the document is saying therefore you're learning more about your topic and bringing your own contributions and ideas to your paper. Note taking is somewhat overwhelming to some people because they don't always know what they should be writing down or even how. This chapter helps with that. It doesn't matter in what form you write your notes as long as they are organized, and you stick with the same method throughout the entire process. As for the information that you write down.. if you think that in some way it pertains to your topic or issue write it down. You can also quote directly from the text, and in that case make sure to write down the author and where you got it from to avoid plagiarism.

The last part to this chapter is creating your bibliography. You should have a working and an annotated bibliography. One for the sites you have used and researched and the other for the sources you used when writing your paper and a few sentences on why you used that source.

Chapter 3-Developing Your Research Question and Proposal

In this chapter we are exposed to the steps it takes to develop your research question. You should start by reflecting on all the work that you have already done. Some questions to ask yourself could be, is what you have learned changed your opinion on anything? Or what else do you want to learn? And lastly how has your initial understanding of the issue shaped your exploration of your topic and issue? These types of questions will help to determine whether or not you have accumulated enough information and what if any other information you can gather. The next step is to start putting together a list of questions on your issue, focusing on information,history,goals,policies, evaluation, cause/effect, reporting,compare/contrast, etc. If you try combining some of these you can create tailored research questions. Once you have done that you should frame your argument. In this step you pick a question that you are interested in and ties in the best with your issue. You look at the question you have picked and decide whether or not you would be able to work with it. Lastly you need to narrow your research question down and figure out the real focus of you question.

The second half of this chapter is creating a research proposal. A research proposal "is a formal presentation of your plan for your research writing project" (Palmquist,50). Basically this just includes an introduction to your topic and research question, review of literature, how  you plan on collecting information, a timeline, and then your bibliography. I think that this chapter is going to very helpful when it comes time to start narrowing my topic and issue into a more formal research question.

Chapter 5-Evaluating Sources

Chapter 5 in Bedford Researcher is all about reviewing and evaluating your sources. There are many factors that you should consider when evaluating your source. Making sure it is relevant to your topic is a big one. If you include things from your source that doesn't directly relate to your topic your paper could start to go in a different direction than you had intended, and your readers won't be able to understand what you are trying to say. This goes along with evaluating evidence, is there enough evidence to prove the points made in the source? And is it the right type of evidence? Another way to evaluate a source is by looking at the author. Is the author someone who knows what they are talking about? Does the author have too much bias towards the subject? Also evaluating timeliness of your source is a good way to know if the information is recent. If you are writing a paper that involves recent issues you want to watch out for things that were published years ago because that information may not still hold true. Lastly is evaluating the genre of your source. By doing this you can get a better idea of the type of audience that was intended and the type of arguments that could be made throughout the source. Such as if it is a blog post, it is most likely going to be the authors personal opinions and observations.By doing all these evaluations you will have a better knowledge of your source and the type of information it is going to contain therefore helping you decide whether or not it is going to be useful to you when writing your paper.

Most sources can be evaluated using those different approaches. The two sets of sources that you might have challenge with evaluating using the above guidelines are digital and field sources. With digital sources the websites might not contain all the information that you are looking for. However you can usually find links to a different site that will tell you more about the author, or FAQ's. For field sources some questions that you can ask would be are the questions in an interview, a survey, or correspondence still relevant to your research project? Is the information you collected in an observation still relevant? And are the individuals you interviewed or corresponded with as qualified and knowledgeable as you expected?

Chapter 4-Reading Critically

Being an active reader...or reading critically is a good technique to have. For those of you that may not know what this means, being an active reader is someone who isn't JUST reading the text, you are making notes, asking questions, underlining things, reading for meaning, making connections and thinking about how it applies to you and your paper. Reading critically also means reading with an attitude. When you first start out with your topic you may have more of an attitude of wonder and curiosity, but as you continue researching and reading you become more engaged and start thinking of questions and having a more open mind that allows for creative thinking and ideas to think about while reading. 

Some strategies to use to ensure that your are reading actively are things like identifying key information, ideas and arguments, write down questions, take notes, and marking your source. Annotating your sources is another way to do this as well, because you are not only writing down what was important but it is a helpful tool if you ever look back on that source and wonder why you chose it.

Important things to pay attention to as you read are the type of source it is, the main point, things you find hard to understand, reasons and evidence. Knowing these things you can learn a lot more about the source and your topic as well. However you don't want to spend too much time on one source if it doesn't contain the type on information you would include in your paper. It's usually a good idea to just skim through it first and if you catch anything that could be useful go back and make notes next to it and highlight things. 

In my opinion skimming is extremely helpful because it saves you a ton of time when finding sources. You don't have to read the entire source to find out if it's going to be of any use, with skimming you can get the general idea and know if there is anything you would include in your paper. And once you have done that then you can go back and read it thoroughly and actively and pick out what is most important.

Chapter 2-Exploring and Focusing

How can you start writing a paper if you don't know anything about your the topic you are writing on? Well this is what this chapter is all about...exploring your topic. One thing you can do to get some information about your topic is to talk to others. Anyone who knows about it or have been in some way affected by it could help you gain insight that you wouldn't necessarily be able to get from any other source. Observations are also a good way to learn about your topic. Depending on your topic you can observe peoples reactions to it and things like that. But the main way to gather information is through different sources such as your library, the news, the internet. However once you start gathering information make sure that you are taking notes on what you find and staying organized so you know where it came from.

The other part to this chapter is focusing on an issue. Identifying different ways to approach your topic is going to be helpful when collecting your information as well. You want to try and find the central concepts, broad themes, and the disagreements to your topic. After finding these things you can start to figure out which issues you are most interested in and begin to get rid of the ones that aren't. A strategy in doing this could be asking some of the same questions I had referred to in an earlier post such as are my readers going to be interested in this issue? does it fit the type of paper I am writing? Etc.

From my experience I have found that this is helpful to lay out the different issues that relate to your topic and evaluate them, because it's easy to stray from your main points and start talking about other issues.

Chapter 1-Getting Started

After reading chapter one from Bedford Researcher, I feel a little bit more prepared for the getting started process of writing a research paper. This chapter begins with explaining how to  research and write with confidence. All it takes is a little bit of personal investment in your writing and understanding your topic. To do these things ask yourself questions about the type of assignment you have been assigned and how it would help with pursuing your future goals. Even if at first the assignment may not interest you, you can still find ways to make it at least somewhat intriguing by relating it to yourself. Understanding the research writing process is also helpful, not knowing what it takes to write a research paper could make it a bit more challenging. "Learning about your topic, taking a position on that topic, and sharing your position with your readers" (Palmquist,4). Those things are what a research paper is all about. Once you understand and work with those, they will help you in accomplishing your paper.

Another important aspect in the getting started stage of writing your paper is making sure that you are organized, and not just with doing things step by step, but with your sources as well. Keeping the sources you have found in one place makes it easier to go back and look at them later. Developing your own strategies to help you manage your time will be a big help throughout your process.

Choosing a topic as always one of the hardest things for me when I get assigned a writing project. The best thing to do is to look at what your teacher has asked of you and what they expect in your paper and go from there. A couple things you can ask yourself are who is reading your paper? what is going to influence my readers? and what type of document am I writing? Brainstorming is one of the best ways to start getting your ideas out. A few different types are free writing, looping, and clustering.

This is only the getting started stage of writing a paper, and I think by knowing these things I will be able to look back at this and use it when writing my paper.