The Research Paper

Final Draft

The final draft of your research paper is due to Turn It In by midnight on Thursday, May 12.
Please have a hard copy to turn in on Friday, May 13. However, before you turn it in, you still
need to add an introduction and conclusion, as well as do some revising to the writing you have
already done.

The Introduction Paragraph

In the classical argument this would be considered the exordium, or the spot where you establish
a rapport and a relationship with your reader. It is your introduction ​ without ​the thesis.
● Attention Grabber (2­3 sentences)
○ Anecdote, quote, shocking statistic, analogy
○ Explain relationship to issue as needed
● Transition to topic and Narratio (3­4 sentences)
○ Introduce your topic. What is the issue? This is your chance to give a general
overview of the controversy and definition of the topic. You do not want to be too
specific here or give your thesis; that information will be following in the narratio.

The Conclusion Paragraph

● Restate your thesis (1 sentence)
● Call to action (2­3 sentences)
○ What would you specifically like to see done about your topic?
○ Who can do it?
○ Why must it be done?
● Show the importance of your argument (2­4 sentences)
○ Do not rely on summary. Think of this as the rallying cry to end your speech.
○ Make your topic bigger. What does it show about humanity or culture?
○ Use rhetorical devices to drive the point home. (parallelism, rhetorical questions,
etc.)
● Full circle ending?
○ If applicable, bring back to your attention grabber.

Please revise your Narratio, Confirmatio, and Refutatio as necessary. Use the formatting
checklist on the back to guide you through the format of the final draft.
 Formatting Guide and Checklist

● MLA format ­ This will be a major part of your grade

__________12 point Times New Roman font
__________1 inch margins
__________Double­spaced
__________Proper heading
__________Proper header
__________Creative title (no bold, no underline)

● Subheadings
__________Include a subheading (left justified ­ no bold, no underline) for each section of the
Paper. You do not need a new page for each section. Just include subheadings.
__________Introduction, Narratio, Confirmatio, Refutatio, Conclusion

● Works cited
__________Begins on a separate page after essay
__________Includes ALL works referenced in paper (narratio, confirmatio, refutatio)
_________ Works Cited title (no bold, no underline)
__________Alphabetical order
__________Double spaced without extra lines between entries
__________Hanging indent

● Citations ­ Information below is from Purdue OWL

○ Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that
corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film
name).
○ You do not need to give paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web
browser’s print preview function.
○ Unless you must list the Website name in the signal phrase in order to get the
reader to the appropriate entry, do not include URLs in­text. Only provide partial
URLs such as when the name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like
CNN.com​ Forbes.com​
or​ as opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or
http://www.forbes.com.