How to Research

Research sounds intimidating, but for English essays in undergraduate studies, it is very similar to any other essay. The difference: you're interacting with quotes from outside sources rather than just from the poem, short story, play, novel, etc.

The best way to combat the stress of a research paper? I know this isn't what students like to hear, but you'll need to break it down into steps.

For this ENG 103 class, I actually require some of these steps, but I've also included the steps that I can't exactly regulate for you.

H E R E are the S T E P S!

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First Step: Carefully Read the Prompt to Gauge the Professor's Expectations.

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You'll want to spend about 15-20 mins carefully reading the Essay Prompt (and any other necessary documents, such as the explanation of the literary theories and the Research Paper Timeline that we have in our class) so that you have a clear understanding of what your professor expects of you. Each teacher is different, so this is particularly important because audience awareness helps you to tackle the assignment and move forward with confidence. This should include underlining, highlighting & annotating!

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Second Step: Brainstorm Ideas for the Beginning of an Outline.

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I always always always recommend setting a timer on your iPhone for about 20-30 mins. to free-write anything that comes to mind concerning the prompt. Don't worry about grammar, sentence structure, or strict clarity.

**However, DO NOT BEGIN RESEARCHING YET. This risks just saying what everyone else is saying, and it ultimately risks plagiarism. Research doesn't begin until the fourth step.**

For this particular research paper in ENG 103, I recommend having the Literary Theory Overview on-hand as well so that you can figure out which theory you feel is most applicable to the play and you should have read the play (if you haven't.... well, you'll need to read it before you can even get started).

Once your timer goes off, sift through your ideas to try to develop what's known as a "working thesis". This is just the beginning stage of your argument, and it has room to grow along the way. Think of it as a skeleton of your argument.

You'll pull up the outline document and fill in the thesis and body paragraph arguments(Letters A-C in your outline). Remember, the body paragraph arguments are supposed to prove your thesis in specific ways without overlapping. Leave the rest of the outline blank for now.

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Third Step: Re-Read the Text (the poem, play, short story, novel, etc.)

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Re-read the text and annotate according to the working thesis that you've constructed. Find quotes that you can plug in to your outline. Place the quotes in their appropriate spaces in the outline I've provided for you.

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Fourth Step: Research

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Use only the Citrus College databases for this paper (no Google). After you find your quotes, plug them into their appropriate spaces in the outline I've provided.

Here's a video link to refresh on the research process with databases:

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Fifth Step: Plug-In the Final Pieces of Your Outline

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After you've plugged in your quotes within your outline, you're going to need to explain the significance of each quote in relation to your paragraph's argument. Basically, you'll need to analyze why that quote is significant and what it proves. Why did you choose that quote?

How much analysis do you need? Well, it should be enough to thoroughly explain its importance, but if it helps, it should be a 1-3 ratio. For every line of quote, you should have 3 lines of analysis. It's not exact, but you get the idea that the analysis should be longer.

QUOTES SHOULD BE LESS THAN THREE TOTAL LINES FOR A 4-5 PAGE PAPER. FOR OUR ESSAYS, NO BLOCK QUOTES.

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Sixth Step: Rough Draft

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Now, it's time to translate your outline into a rough draft! If you spent time on each piece of your outline, this should be a smoother transition because you'll soon realize that your rough draft is basically done! You just have to flesh it out into paragraph form, paying attention to MLA format (See the Helpful Docs posted on Canvas for MLA review).

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Seventh Step: Revise Draft to Work Towards a Polished Final Draft

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Work through revisions, carefully reviewing your professor's comments on Canvas.

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Eighth Step: Works Cited Page

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For the articles you utilized from the Citrus College databases, you should already have those citations (they're automatically generated for you. please see research video for this).

For the play, you can use online generators! A works cited page should only take you a few minutes because of these great tools available for you.

I would recommend Easybib or Knightcite. Here's a helpful video: