Jennings, Levell 1

Strategy Toolbox
Chapter 7
1. Keep the audience in mind at all times
a. is your writing/work audience appropriate?
2. Research the topic and know it inside out before you begin the paper
3. Characteristic Features
a. An explicit position
b. A response to what others have said or done
c. Appropriate background information
d. A clear indication of why the topic matters
e. Good reasons and evidence
f. Attention to more than one point of view
g. An authoritative tone
h. An appeal to readers values
4. State a clear and concise thesis. Include all of the topics you wish to
discuss/argue in the paper
5. Always use trustworthy sources
6. Is the conclusion FORCEFUL and MEMORABLE?
7. Think hard about your purpose
8. Think about your stance
9. Consider the larger context
10. Consider your medium
11. Consider matters of design
12. Brainstorm and generate ideas
13. Clear thesis that states the position explicitly
14. Appropriate stance and tone
15. Effective opening, does the introduction capture the audiences interest?
16. Know when to give credit, is the work youre citing copyrighted? How much of the
piece are you using? Are you using the piece repeatedly? Do you have commercial
intent? Then you probably need to copyright.
Chapter 13 & 14
17. Arguments: Decide on your stance, decide why the issue is important, and
decide how to best portray your argument depending on the audience.
18. Purposes of arguments: to understand, to explore, to inform, to convince or
persuade, to make decisions, to reach consensus.
19. It is always good to analyze whats at stake when arguing a point. If it is an
argument that affects many people in a major way, then the author may want to be extra
careful when writing to ensure the audience gets the best possible portrayal of the issue
(and the solution).
20. Narratives are a good way to portray an argument, but should usually be backed
up by some other element, cannot have a personal story alone.

Chapter 18 RESEARCH (and finding bad research)

21. Use research or studies that have numerous trials, large sample sizes, and a
control group

Jennings, Levell 2
22. Be careful not to trust research which justifies causation with correlation of data
23. Most good research includes a section in their conclusion suggesting their own
flaws in research which can be remedied in future studies.
24. Choose the databases for research wisely. Generally: .org, .gov, google scholar,
jstor, etc.
25. Look for good references and an unbiased sponsor of research.
26. Trust your gut
27. Use Snopes for anything that seems sketchy
28. Be careful of biases and biased results
29. Whats the purpose of the article?
30. Are any counter arguments presented?
Works Cited Builder (MLA)
31. The easiest way to cite your sources is using the cite option on Google Scholar
for all articles that need citing.
32. Your citations need to have a hanging indent, and no numbering
33. If this is not an option, Perdue Owl is a great resource to learn how to cite
manually
34. Title the Works Cited page Resources
35. Sites such as easybib or citationmachine are good outlines for sourcing, but you
have to ensure that all the given information is correct, and all needed information for a
complete citation is given.
36. EXAMPLE

Resources

Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources (US). Committee on Care, Use of Laboratory Animals, and
National Institutes of Health (US). Division of Research Resources. Guide for the care and use of
laboratory animals. National Academies, 1985.
Samson, Robert A., Ellen S. Hoekstra, and Jens C. Frisvad. Introduction to food-and airborne fungi. No.
Ed. 7. Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (CBS), 2004.
Ward, Neil B. "The exploration of certain features of tornado dynamics using a laboratory model." Journal
of the Atmospheric Sciences 29.6 (1972): 1194-1204.