Beginning with prewriting and continuing through the various steps of the process, students will develop skills in writing a research paper that adheres to MLA guidelines (for more information, click “help files” on the upper right of this module page).Please complete steps 1 and 2 below, and then press “Done” in this Module to unlock Exam 8 for submission of your prewrite and first draft. You will submit the Prewriting (topic selection, brainstorming, and clustering), the Outline, Research Questions, Definition of Terms, and the First Draft in the Module 8 Exam.
After you receive an Exam 8 grade, you should come back to this module, go to the second page, and follow the steps to complete your edited and revised paper. The revised paper will be submitted in the Final Exam on your student dashboard.
Getting started (Submit in the Module 8 Exam):
1. Prewriting (5 pts.)
2. Outline, Research questions, and Definition of Terms (5 pts.)
3. First Draft (5 pts.)
*Note: Any submitted paper that shows evidence of plagiarism will not be accepted.
Intentional Plagiarism: This is when a student submits a “copy and paste” paper that is word for word from published or online sources.
Unintentional Plagiarism: This is when a student neglects to properly give credit to a source, or an idea from another party. Please refer to MLA guideline resources for help in this area (for more information, click “help files” on the upper right of this module page).
Step 1: Choose a topic for your research paper.
1. Choose an objective topic. An objective topic does not include any personal bias. It presents information and facts from an “objective” viewpoint. On the other hand, a subjective topic would have a personal bias. Writing about your personal experience at a physical rehab facility would be subjective. Writing about the various equipment and services provided by a particular physical rehab center would be objective.
2. Choose a topic that presents various viewpoints. For example, a topic dealing with the rising costs of college tuition would involve researching various responses from the viewpoints of the administration, the teachers, the students, and the parents.
3. Limit your topic. If a topic is too broad, you will have much difficulty writing your paper.
Step 2: Submit the pre-write for this paper.
Note: You may choose to use the material that you utilized for Module 1: The Writing Process (if it pertains to the topic of the research paper.) The pre-write will include the following items:
1. Limited topic.
2. Brainstorming and clustering of your ideas in response to the research that you have gathered.
3. Outline of your writing plan for this research paper. The outline should include a thesis statement in the introduction.
4. Four research questions that pertain to your topic. (Please refer to Module 1 -The Writing Process-for guidelines.)
5. Your first draft.
Please review Module 1 as you work through each of the steps above. Your first draft should not be heavily edited, and you shouldn’t be focused on formatting, etc. You should save and submit your first draft prior to making any changes so that your instructor can see the improvements made during editing and proofreading.
Submission Instructions:
After your first draft is complete, submit it in the Module 8 Exam. Wait for your instructor to grade the Module 8 exam prior to editing, proofreading, and revising your final paper. If your final paper looks the same as the first draft, points will be deducted from your grade.
After you receive your Exam 8 grade, review the second page of this module for instructions on submitting the final paper.
As you work on the assignment, please review the note on plagiarism if you have any questions as to what you may or may not use from the presented materials and/or outside sources in your paper.
Write your assignment out on paper or type it using a word processing program in your computer. Once you have completed the assignment, press Done on the lower right corner of the module page to open the exam. In the exam, you may type your assignment, copy and paste your writing into the blank or upload a file containing your work.
