writing a literary paper.docx

7/25/2019 Writing a Literary Paper.docx

1/39

Writing a Literary Paper

1. A research paper about a literary topic will focus on the works used more than on any other

source.

A. For example, if you are writing a paper on rap music as poetry, your paper will focuson the individual rap songs much more than on any source that will explain modern

music.

B. If you writer a paper on ally !amb"sShe Comes Undone, the paper will use the novel

to the extent that it may be the only source used in writing the paper.

#. $otice how the sample paper %&ide &hows for 'aisie(uses only the )enry *amesnovel What Maisie Knew.

+. he first step in writing the paper is then to decide on what work that you want to write and

read that work so thoroughly that you understand it enough to write on it.

A. If you need to use other sources to help you understand the work and you use those sources inwriting the paper, remember that you have to cite those sources as the writer of %-uiet 'oments

of indness/ !ove in 0$eighbor osicky(does in her paper.

B. If you use only one source, as in %&ide &hows for 'aisie,(you will have only one works citedentry.

2. 3nce you have read the works, decide what you want to do with the paper.

A. #ome up with a topic that will give you enough material for a 456 page paper.

B. For example, if you read *ames7s %he Beast in the *ungle,( you may decide that youwant to write about *ames7s description of the destructive nature of materialism onpersonal relationships.

#. If you read illa #ather"s One of Ours, you may decide to write about how I

becomes a type of redemption for #laude7s life.
http://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/What%20Maisie%20Knew.htmhttp://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/Neighbour%20Rosicky.htmhttp://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/Neighbour%20Rosicky.htmhttp://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/What%20Maisie%20Knew.htmhttp://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/Neighbour%20Rosicky.htmhttp://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/Neighbour%20Rosicky.htmhttp://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/What%20Maisie%20Knew.htmhttp://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/What%20Maisie%20Knew.htm


2/39

8. 3nce you have a topic, arrive at a thesis that will make a point about your topic.

A. 'ake sure the thesis is specific enough that you can write 456 pages about that thesis.

1. As you have learned in composition classes, the more specific your thesis is the easier your

paper is to write.

+. 'ention the author and the work in the initial thesis.

B. )ere are some sample thesis statements/

19 'ark wain shows how racism can corrupt good people inHuckleberry

Finn.

+9 he climax of &tephen ing7s The Standrepresents the classic struggle of goodversus evil.

29 heodore oethke7s %:legy for *ane( illustrates how powerful the single image

of an act is in influencing the imagination.

89 In ;he &wimmer,; *ohn #heever uses the metaphor of the swimmer to

describe the escape of a modern man from his personal life.

49 InHondo, !ouis !7Amour7s title character represents the ideali


3/39

C. If you can7t find support for your thesis, you will have to change your thesis.

=. Follow the standard procedure for writing a paper using sources.

A. )ave an introduction that gets the readers7 attention in your paper as well as presents thethesis.

B. he body of the paper contains the textual evidence and explains to your reader how your

thesis applies to the work.

1. It is not enough to say that your evidence or ?uotation is an example of a

particular point.

+. ou must explain how it is an example.

#. )ave a conclusion that summari


4/39

hilip7s drawings of the small towns represent his incapacity for seeing beyond the

building and to the people who occupy them. For example, when hilip is making a drawing of)ori


5/39

12. Hse direct ?uotationsproperly.

A. emember that anything that appears in ?uotation marks in the work will produce a ?uote

within a ?uote in your paper.

B. -uotations longer than 85typed lines should be set off as long direct ?uotations.

19 emember not to put ?uotation marks around long direct ?uotations unless they

represent a ?uote within a ?uote.

+9 emember to indent long, direct ?uotations 1G spaces from the left margin

only.

#. In a 456 page paper, try to use no more than two long, direct ?uotations

18. #ite all direct ?uotations and paraphrases with a parenthetical citation that contains the page

number from which the material came.

14. )ave a works cited page that lists all sources used in writing the paper.

1=. &ome possible general topics for your 456 page paper/

19 Hse one of the thesis statements from point 8 of this handout.

+9 :xplain how wain7s or )owells7s or *ames7s works fit into the realistic definition of

literature.

29 :xplain how a $ative American writer7s works are distinctively related to the $ative

American culture.

89 Hsing African5American writers, explain how their works reflect the experience of African5

Americans in the time period in which the writer is working.
http://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/Quotation%20mark%20rules.htmhttp://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/Quotation%20mark%20rules.htm


6/39

49 :xplain how authors or an author describe the influence of materialism on American society.

=9 :xplain how a particular writer uses rhetorical devices to get readers to see a subect as she orhe sees it.

69 Cescribe obert Frost"s attitude toward death.

D9 Cescribe how the Cepression is reflected in the writings of *ohn &teinbeck or illiam

Faulkner.

E9 Hsing a particular author, explain how her or his life is reflected in her or his writing.

1G9 #ompare the works of any two authors.

119 :xplain how loneliness is a maor theme in twentieth century American literature.

1+9 :xplain how nature becomes a character in )amlin >arland7s @or some other naturalist7s9works.

eturn to 3!.

-uiet 'oments of indness/

!ove in ;$eighbour osicky;
http://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/Default.htmhttp://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/Default.htmhttp://www.northland.cc.mn.us/owl/Default.htm


7/39

illa #ather once wrote about human relationships that they ;are the tragic necessity of

human lifeJ that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half the time greedily

seeking them, and half the time pulling away from them;" @Willa Cather on Writin"11G9. Anton

osicky, in #ather"s short story ;$eighbour osicky,; has found the way to cope with this ;tragic

necessity; and indicates that #ather saw that the secret all along lay in performing ordinary,

day5to5day kindnesses that arise out of a contentment with oneself and one"s life.

#ather describes osicky"s ability to love in a variety of ways. Hsing an omniscient point

of view, #ather moves in and out of various characters7 minds as she develops osicky"s story

and his ability to have satisfactory relationships through his ?uietly creating love in those around

him. By shifting point of view from osicky to those who contemplate him, #ather emphasi


8/39

;I think it"s good for five or six years yet, maybe more, if you"ll take the

strain off it. &it around the house and help 'ary. If I had a good wife like yours,

I"d want to stay around the house.;

)is patient chuckled. ;It ain"t no place fur a man. I don"t like no old man

hanging round the kitchen too much. An" my wife, she"s a awful hard worker her

ownself.;

;hat"s itJ you can help her a little. 'y !ord, osicky, you are one of the

few men I know who has a family he can get some comfort out ofJ happy

disposition,5never ?uarrel among themselves, and they treat you right. I want to

see you live a few years and enoy them.;

;3h, they"re good kids, all right,; osicky assented. . .

;And how"s ollyK I was afraid 'ary mightn"t like an American

daughter5in5law, but it seems to be working out all right.;

;es, she"s a fine girl. Cat widder woman bring her daughters up very

nice. olly got lots of spunk, an" she got some style, too. Ca"s nice, for young

folks to have some style.; @;$eighbour osicky; 12=D9

his conversation reveals a great deal about osicky"s family/ they care for each other,

they work together but independently as well, and they can adust their own lives to

accommodate others. )uman relationships based on such cooperation are not destined to be

;tragic,; but fulfilling because the individual does not have to lose himself inside the


9/39

relationship. &uch a relationship arises out of the common, ordinary moments of life. illa

#ather remarked in an interview, ;"After all, it is the little things, the things that never ?uite come

to birth. &ometimes a man"s wedding day is the happiest day in his lifeJ but usually he likes most

of all to look back upon some ?uite simple, ?uite uneventful day when nothing in particular

happened but all the world seemed touched with gold;" @>ather, Interview 849.

&uch ordinary movements of life are what characteri


10/39

contributes more to art than all the culture clubs. often your find such a woman

with all the appreciation of the beautiful bodies of her children, of the order and

harmony of her kitchen, of the real creative oy of all her activities, which marks

the great artist. @#ather, Interview 869

osicky, like the farmer"s wife, loves his family, but he also loves his own life and what he has

created of himself. #ather places osicky"s source of contentment in his having been able to

escape poverty and the city to live in the country where he does not have to hurt others and

where he can express his happiness in the generous act of giving his horses an extra measure of

oats.

For #ather, such moments are the true substance of art, particularly the art of creating a

satisfying whole life. he person, the artist, who can draw together these moments, as osicky

does, is a person with true power for creating goodness in herself or himself and in others. 3ne

small act of kindness builds upon another and creates happiness for the giver as well as the

recipient. In her analysis of ;$eighbour osicky,; &usan osowski says of such material/

hese are unconventional materials for fiction, for here important moments are

?uiet ones when action is suspended, and the most powerful character is one who

does little, in the ordinary sense of things. he story"s most dramatic scenes occur

when action is stopped and osicky does nothing. olly awakens to life while she

sits ?uietly beside her sleeping father5in5law, and Coctor :d awakens to the

beauty about him while he sits silently beside the graveyard where osicky lies

buried. @1E+9


11/39





seeking them, and half the time pulling away from them;" @Willa Cather on Writin"11G9. Anton

osicky, in #ather"s short story ;$eighbour osicky,; has found the way to cope with this ;tragic


day5to5day kindnesses that arise out of a contentment with oneself and one"s life.

#ather describes osicky"s ability to love in a variety of ways. Hsing an omniscient point

of view, #ather moves in and out of various characters7 minds as she develops osicky"s story




12/39

;I can"t make my heart go no longer"n it wants to can I, Cr. :dK;

;I think it"s good for five or six years yet, maybe more, if you"ll take the

strain off it. &it around the house and help 'ary. If I had a good wife like yours,

I"d want to stay around the house.;

)is patient chuckled. ;It ain"t no place fur a man. I don"t like no old man

hanging round the kitchen too much. An" my wife, she"s a awful hard worker her

ownself.;

;hat"s itJ you can help her a little. 'y !ord, osicky, you are one of the

few men I know who has a family he can get some comfort out ofJ happy

disposition,5never ?uarrel among themselves, and they treat you right. I want to

see you live a few years and enoy them.;


;And how"s ollyK I was afraid 'ary mightn"t like an American

daughter5in5law, but it seems to be working out all right.;

;es, she"s a fine girl. Cat widder woman bring her daughters up very

nice. olly got lots of spunk, an" she got some style, too. Ca"s nice, for young

folks to have some style.; @;$eighbour osicky; 12=D9



accommodate others. )uman relationships based on such cooperation are not destined to be


13/39

;tragic,; but fulfilling because the individual does not have to lose himself inside the



to birth. &ometimes a man"s wedding day is the happiest day in his lifeJ but usually he likes most

of all to look back upon some ?uite simple, ?uite uneventful day when nothing in particular




14/39

and a canning establishment, and thoroughly enoys doing it all, and doing it well,

contributes more to art than all the culture clubs. often your find such a woman

with all the appreciation of the beautiful bodies of her children, of the order and

harmony of her kitchen, of the real creative oy of all her activities, which marks

the great artist. @#ather, Interview 869



escape poverty and the city to live in the country where he does not have to hurt others and

where he can express his happiness in the generous act of giving his horses an extra measure of

oats.

For #ather, such moments are the true substance of art, particularly the art of creating a

satisfying whole life. he person, the artist, who can draw together these moments, as osicky




hese are unconventional materials for fiction, for here important moments are

?uiet ones when action is suspended, and the most powerful character is one who

does little, in the ordinary sense of things. he story"s most dramatic scenes occur

when action is stopped and osicky does nothing. olly awakens to life while she

sits ?uietly beside her sleeping father5in5law, and Coctor :d awakens to the

beauty about him while he sits silently beside the graveyard where osicky lies

buried. @1E+9


15/39

Although the story opens with a reference to osicky"s ;bad heart,; we are shown instead the

power of a good5heart, one that sees that human happiness and fulfilling human relationships

come through the ?uiet kindnesses that should fill a person"s day.

orks #ited

#ather, illa. Interview with :leanor )inman. = $ov 1E+1.#incoln Sunday Star$ Willa

Cather in %erson& 'nter(iews$ S)eeches, and #etters. :d. Brent !. Bohlke. !incoln/ H of

$ebraska , 1ED=.

#ather, illa. ;$eighbour osicky.; The !merican Tradition in #iterature. :d. >eorge

and Barbara erkins. 1Gthed. &horter ed. Boston/ 'c>raw5)ill, 1EEE. 12=65D=.

#ather, illa. Willa Cather on Writin"& Critical Studies on Writin" as an !rt. $ew ork/

nopf, 1E8E.

osowski, &usan. The *oya"e %erilous& Willa Cather+s omanticism. !incoln/ H of

$ebraska , 1ED=.




16/39



seeking them, and half the time pulling away from them;" @illa #ather on riting 11G9. Antonosicky, in #ather"s short story ;$eighbour osicky,; has found the way to cope with this ;tragic


day-

to-

day kindnesses that arise out of a contentment with oneself and one"s life.

#ather describes osicky"s ability to love in a variety of ways. Hsing an omniscient pointof view, #ather moves in and out of various characters7 minds as she develops osicky"s story




17/39


;And how"s ollyK I was afraid 'ary mightn"t like an American daughter-in-law, but itseems to be working out all right.;

;es, she"s a fine girl. Cat widder woman bring her daughters up very nice. olly got lots

of spunk, an" she got some style, too. Ca"s nice, for young folks to have some style.; @;$eighbour

osicky; 12=D9



accommodate others. )uman relationships based on such cooperation are not destined to be;tragic,; but fulfilling because the individual does not have to lose himself inside the



to birth. &ometimes a man"s wedding day is the happiest day in his lifeJ but usually he likes mostof all to look back upon some ?uite simple, ?uite uneventful day when nothing in particular




18/39

he farmer"s wife who raises a large family and cooks for them and makes their clothes and

keeps house and on the side runs a truck garden and a chicken farm and a canning establishment,and thoroughly enoys doing it all, and doing it well, contributes more to art than all the culture

clubs. often your find such a woman with all the appreciation of the beautiful bodies of herchildren, of the order and harmony of her kitchen, of the real creative oy of all her activities,

which marks the great artist. @#ather, Interview 869



escape poverty and the city to live in the country where he does not have to hurt others andwhere he can express his happiness in the generous act of giving his horses an extra measure of

oats.

For #ather, such moments are the true substance of art, particularly the art of creating asatisfying whole life. he person, the artist, who can draw together these moments, as osicky




hese are unconventional materials for fiction, for here important moments are ?uiet ones whenaction is suspended, and the most powerful character is one who does little, in the ordinary sense

of things. he story"s most dramatic scenes occur when action is stopped and osicky doesnothing. olly awakens to life while she sits ?uietly beside her sleeping father-in-law, and

Coctor :d awakens to the beauty about him while he sits silently beside the graveyard where

osicky lies buried. @1E+9

Although the story opens with a reference to osicky"s ;bad heart,; we are shown instead thepower of a good-heart, one that sees that human happiness and fulfilling human relationships


orks #ited


19/39

#ather, illa. Interview with :leanor )inman. = $ov 1E+1. !incoln &unday &tar. illa

#ather in erson/ Interviews. &peeches, and !etters. :d. Brent !. Bohlke. !incoln/ H of

$ebraska , 1ED=.

#ather, illa. ;$eighbour osicky.; he American radition in !iterature. :d. >eorge

and Barbara erkins. 1Gth ed. &horter ed. Boston/ 'c>raw5)ill, 1EEE. 12=65D=.

#ather, illa. illa #ather on riting/ #ritical &tudies on riting as an Art. $ew ork/

nopf, 1E8E.

osowski, &usan. he Loyage erilous/ illa #ather"s omanticism. !incoln/ H of

$ebraska , 1ED=.


20/39

Although the story opens with a reference to osicky"s ;bad heart,; we are shown instead the

power of a good5heart, one that sees that human happiness and fulfilling human relationships


orks #ited

#ather, illa. Interview with :leanor )inman. = $ov 1E+1.#incoln Sunday Star$ Willa

Cather in %erson& 'nter(iews$ S)eeches, and #etters. :d. Brent !. Bohlke. !incoln/ H of

$ebraska , 1ED=.

#ather, illa. ;$eighbour osicky.; The !merican Tradition in #iterature. :d. >eorge

and Barbara erkins. 1Gthed. &horter ed. Boston/ 'c>raw5)ill, 1EEE. 12=65D=.

#ather, illa. Willa Cather on Writin"& Critical Studies on Writin" as an !rt. $ew ork/

nopf, 1E8E.

osowski, &usan. The *oya"e %erilous& Willa Cather+s omanticism. !incoln/ H of

$ebraska , 1ED=.


21/39

Writing Research Papers

Writin" is easy$ !ll you do is stare at a blank sheet of )a)er until dro)s of blood form on your

forehead$ --- .ene Fowler

A maor goal of this course is the development of effective technical writing skills. o help youbecome an accomplished writer, you will prepare several research papers based upon the studies

completed in lab. 3ur research papers are not typical ;lab reports.; In a teaching lab a lab report

might be nothing more than answers to a set of ?uestions. &uch an assignment hardly representsthe kind of writing you might be doing in your eventual career.

ritten and oral communications skills are probably the most universal ?ualities sought by

graduate and professional schools as well as by employers. ou alone are responsible for

developing such skills to a high level.

Resources for learning technical writing

Before you begin your first writing assignment, please consult all of the following resources, in

order to gain the most benefit from the experience.

>eneral form of a typical research article

&pecific guidelines @if any9 for the assignment M see the writeups on individual lab studies

'c'illan, L:. ;riting apers in the Biological &ciences, hird :d.; $ew ork/

BedfordN&t. 'artin"s, +GG1. I&B$ G521+5+4D4656 @:-HI:C for Bios +11, 211,

recommended for other science courses that include writing9

riting portfolio examples @pdf9

As you polish up your writing skills please make use of the following resources

Instructor feedback on previous assignments

#ommon errors in student research papers

&elected writing rules@somewhat less serious than the other resources9

For Biosciences maors the general guidelines apply to future course work, as can be seen by

examining the guidelines for the advanced experimental sciences research paper@Bios 2119.Instructions for authors from the *ournal of Biological #hemistry editorial board may be helpful

as well. heir statement of editorial policies and practicesmay give you an idea of how material

makes its way into the scientific literature.
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html#formhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/bios211/rice_only/Writing_examples.pdfhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.htmlhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/wrules.htmlhttp://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~bios311/bios311/sciarticle.htmlhttp://www.jbc.org/misc/edpolicy.shtmlhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html#formhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/bios211/rice_only/Writing_examples.pdfhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.htmlhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/wrules.htmlhttp://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~bios311/bios311/sciarticle.htmlhttp://www.jbc.org/misc/edpolicy.shtml


22/39

General form of a research paper

An obective of organieneva, Bookman, )elvetica,

etc.

ext should be double spaced on D 1N+; x 11; paper with 1 inch margins, single sided

$umber pages consecutively

&tart each new section on a new page

Adhere to recommended page limits

'istakes to avoid

lacing a heading at the bottom of a page with the following text on the next page @insert

a page breakO9

Cividing a table or figure 5 confine each figureNtable to a single page

&ubmitting a paper with pages out of order

In all sections of your paper

Hse normal prose including articles @;a;, ;the,; etc.9


23/39

&tay focused on the research topic of the paper

Hse paragraphs to separate each important point @except for the abstract9

Indent the first line of each paragraph

resent your points in logical order

Hse present tense to report well accepted facts 5 for example, "the grass is green"

Hse past tense to describe specific results 5 for example, "hen weed killer was applied,

the grass was brown"

Avoid informal wording, don"t address the reader directly, and don"t use argon, slang

terms, or superlatives

Avoid use of superfluous pictures 5 include only those figures necessary to presenting

results

Title Page

&elect an informative title as illustrated in the examples in your writing portfolio example

package. Include the name@s9 and address@es9 of all authors, and date submitted. ;Biology lab P1;would not be an informative title, for example.

Abstracthe summary should be two hundred words or less. &ee the examples in the writing portfolio

package.

General intent

An abstract is a concise single paragraph summary of completed work or work in progress. In a

minute or less a reader can learn the rationale behind the study, general approach to the problem,pertinent results, and important conclusions or new ?uestions.

Writing an abstract

rite your summary after the rest of the paper is completed. After all, how can you summari


24/39

course of changes in synthetic rate, as measured by total counts per minute @cpm9.; his sentence

provides the overall ?uestion, methods, and type of analysis, all in one sentence. he writer can

now go directly to summari


25/39

Writing an introduction

he abstract is the only text in a research paper to be written without using paragraphs in order toseparate maor points. Approaches vary widely, however for our studies the following approach

can produce an effective introduction.

Cescribe the importance @significance9 of the study 5 why was this worth doing in the

first placeK rovide a broad context.

Cefend the model 5 why did you use this particular organism or systemK hat are its

advantagesK ou might comment on its suitability from a theoretical point of view as well

as indicate practical reasons for using it.

rovide a rationale. &tate your specific hypothesis@es9 or obective@s9, and describe the

reasoning that led you to select them.

Lery briefy describe the experimental design and how it accomplished the stated

obectives.

&tyle/

Hse past tense except when referring to established facts. After all, the paper will be

submitted after all of the work is completed.

3rgani


26/39

his should be the easiest section to write, but many students misunderstand the purpose. he

obective is to document all speciali


27/39

>enerali: method, and many other well known procedures in biology and biochemistry.

&tyle/

It is awkward or impossible to use active voice when documenting methods without

using first person, which would focus the reader"s attention on the investigator rather thanthe work. herefore when writing up the methods most authors use third person passivevoice.

Hse normal prose in this and in every other section of the paper M avoid informal lists,

and use complete sentences.

hat to avoid

'aterials and methods are not a set of instructions.

3mit all explanatory information and background 5 save it for the discussion.

3mit information that is irrelevant to a third party, such as what color ice bucket you

used, or which individual logged in the data.

Results

he page length of this section is set by the amount and types of data to be reported. #ontinue to

be concise, using figures and tables, if appropriate, to present results most effectively. &ee

recommendations for content, below.

General intent

he purpose of a results section is to present and illustrate your findings. 'ake this section a

completely obective report of the results, and save all interpretation for the discussion.

Writing a results section


28/39

I'3A$/ ou must clearly distinguish material that would normally be included in a

research article from any raw data or other appendix material that would not be published. In

fact, such material should not be submitted at all unless re?uested by the instructor.

#ontent

&ummari


29/39

If you prefer, you may place your figures and tables appropriately within the text of your

results section.

Figures and tables

:ither place figures and tables within the text of the result, or include them in the back ofthe report @following !iterature #ited9 5 do one or the other

If you place figures and tables at the end of the report, make sure they are clearly

distinguished from any attached appendix materials, such as raw data

egardless of placement, each figure must be numbered consecutively and complete with

caption @caption goes under the figure9

egardless of placement, each table must be titled, numbered consecutively and complete

with heading @title with description goes above the table9

:ach figure and table must be sufficiently complete that it could stand on its own,

separate from text

Discussion

*ournal guidelines vary. &pace is so valuable in the *ournal of Biological #hemistry, that authors

are asked to restrict discussions to four pages or less, double spaced, typed. hat works out toone printed page. hile you are learning to write effectively, the limit will be extended to five

typed pages. If you practice economy of words, that should be plenty of space within which to

say all that you need to say.

General intent

he obective here is to provide an interpretation of your results and support for all of your

conclusions, using evidence from your experiment and generally accepted knowledge, ifappropriate. he significance of findings should be clearly described.

Writing a discussion

Interpret your data in the discussion in a))ro)riate de)th. his means that when you explain a

phenomenon you must describe mechanisms that may account for the observation. If your resultsdiffer from your expectations, explain why that may have happened. If your results agree, then

describe the theory that the evidence supported. It is never appropriate to simply state that thedata agreed with expectations, and let it drop at that.

Cecide if each hypothesis is supported, reected, or if you cannot make a decision with

confidence. Co not simply dismiss a study or part of a study as ;inconclusive.;


30/39

esearch papers are not accepted if the work is incomplete. Craw what conclusions you

can based upon the results that you have, and treat the study as a finished work

ou may suggest future directions, such as how the experiment might be modified to

accomplish another obective.

:xplain all of your observations as much as possible,focusin" on mechanisms.

Cecide if the experimental design ade?uately addressed the hypothesis, and whether or

not it was properly controlled.

ry to offer alternative explanations if reasonable alternatives exist.

3ne experiment will not answer an overall ?uestion, so keeping the big picture in mind,

where do you go nextK he best studies open up new avenues of research. hat ?uestions

remainK

ecommendations for specific papers will provide additional suggestions.

&tyle/

hen you refer to information, distinguish data generated by your own studies from

published information or from information obtained from other students @verb tense is an

important tool for accomplishing that purpose9.

efer to work done by specific individuals @including yourself9 in past tense.

efer to generally accepted facts and principles in present tense. For example, ;Coofus,

in a 1EDE survey,foundthat anemia in basset hounds was correlatedwith advanced age.Anemia isa condition in which there isinsufficient hemoglobin in the blood.;

he biggest mistake that students make in discussions is to present a superficial interpretation

that more or less re5states the results. It is necessary to suggest whyresults came out as they did,

focusing on the mechanisms behind the observations.

Literature ited

lease note that in the introductory laboratory course, you will not be re?uired to properly

document sources of all of your information. 3ne reason is that your maor source of information

is this website, and websites are inappropriate as primary sources. &econd, it is problematic toprovide a hundred students with e?ual access to potential reference materials. ou may

nevertheless find outside sources, and you should cite any articles that the instructor provides or

that you find for yourself.


31/39

!ist all literature cited in your paper, in alphabetical order, by first author. In a proper research

paper, only primary literature is used @original research articles authored by the original

investigators9. Be cautious about using web sites as references 5 anyone can put ust aboutanything on a web site, and you have no sure way of knowing if it is truth or fiction. If you are

citing an on line ournal, use the ournal citation @name, volume, year, page numbers9. &ome of

your papers may not re?uire references, and if that is the case simply state that ;no referenceswere consulted.;

%arts of a research )a)er&Qitle pageR QAbstractR QIntroductionR Q'aterials and

'ethodsR QesultsR QCiscussionR Q!iterature #itedROther resources&Q#ommon errors in student research papersR Q&elected writing

rulesR

ommon !rrors in "tudent

Research Papers

his is not an exhaustive list. ith every new lab protocol, you folks come up

with the darnedest ways of messing up a perfectly good paper. )owever, if youheed the comments here your reports stand a much better chance of being

mistaken for professionally written research papers.

#uotes

hen you write a paper related to literature, history, current events, and many
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#titlehttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#abstracthttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#introhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#methodshttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#methodshttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#resultshttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#discussionhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#literaturehttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.htmlhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/wrules.htmlhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/wrules.htmlhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#titlehttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#abstracthttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#introhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#methodshttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#methodshttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#resultshttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#discussionhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.html#literaturehttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reporterror.htmlhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/wrules.htmlhttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/wrules.html


32/39

other fields, direct ?uotes may be essential to a full discussion of the subect. In

science, there is very rarely any call for a direct ?uote. 3n student papers, there

is no reason at all to include direct ?uotes, except in the case when the studentdoesn"t understand the concept and uses the ?uote to avoid having to explain it

hisNherself. 3bviously, this doesn"t go over too well with the grader. As a rule,

do not use direct ?uotes in a scholarly technical paper. our own thoughts mustbe expressed, not those of someone else.

$erb tense

Hse of the wrong verb tense, at best, is irritating to read and reflects poorly on

the student"s writing skills. At worst, the reader can be confused as to whatfacts are already known and what was newly discovered in the actual study that

is the subect of the paper. As a rule, use past tense to describe events that have

happened. &uch events include procedures that you have conducted and resultsthat you observed. Hse present tense to describe generally accepted facts.

e soughtto determine if mating behavior in Siphophorus helleri isrelated to

male tail length by placing combinations of two male fish with different length

tails in the same tank with a female fish.e foundthat protein synthesis in sea urchin embryos treated with

actinomycin C wasconsiderably less than in untreated embryos. his finding

agrees with the model stating that protein synthesis in +8 hour sea urchinembryos isdependent on synthesis of new messenger $A.

eference to results of a specific study should also be in past tense.

Abercrombie and Fitch reportedthat 2GT of the public is allergic to wool.'ixing tenses is even worse 5 this sort of thing hurts my ears. Hnfortunately,

the people who read the news in television and radio broadcasts are fre?uentlyunaware of verb tense at all.

wo guys roba li?uor store downtown. he robbery occuredat midnight last

night.

Qfrom a newspaper articleR wo inmates hidein trailer to escape &.#. prison.

he last one had me pu


33/39

Incomplete sentences, redundant phrases, obvious misspellings, and other

symptoms of a hurriedly5written paper can cost you. lease start your work

early enough so that you can proofread it. #heck spelling of scientific names,names of people, names of compounds, etc. &pelling and grammatical errors

can be embarrassing. &ince many very different terms have similar names, aspelling error can result in a completely incorrect statement.

hen you print off your paper, please make sure that tables are not split overmore than one page, that headings are not ;orphaned,; pages submitted out of

se?uence, etc. emember, someone has to read this thingO If the reader is an

editor or reviewer, you might get a reection notice because you were toosloppy.

Irrele&ant information

Anecdotal information

&ometimes you may feel the need to ustify a statement or procedure by stating

;"the instructor told us to do this instead of that.; ou might think it appropriate

to write ;we used 'icrosoft :xcel to produce a graph of x versus y.; &uch

information is anecdotal and is considered to be superfluous. In some casesomission of anecdotal information is unfortunate. apers in the older literature

tend to be a lot more exciting and often more informative for those not "in the

know," because the researcher could report how a conclusion was reached,including the reasoning and various sidetracks that led himNher to conclusions.

he writer could actually tell the story of the investigation process. 'odern

papers omit such information because the volume of literature is so great, mostof us doing a search don"t have time to wade through more material than we

need. ublication costs are too high to permit printing of superfluous

information.

A research paper summari


34/39

Including material that is inappropriate for the readership

It isn"t necessary to tell fellow scientists that your study is pertinent to the fieldof biochemistry. our readers can figure out to what field@s9 your work applies.

ou need not define terms that are well known to the intended readership. Forexample, do you really think it is necessary to define systolic blood pressure if

your readership consists of physicians or cardiovascular physiologistsK

"ub)ecti&ity and use of superlati&es

echnical writing differs from the writing of fiction, opinion pieces, scholarly:nglish papers, etc. in many ways. 3ne way is in the use of superlatives and

subective statements in order to emphasi


35/39

can never know if a model as we describe it presents an accurate picture of any

natural process. e can never look at the original blueprint to check our

conclusions. &o... your data may strongly support a position, or they may allowyou to reect a hypothesis, but they aren"t likely to provide anything close to

proof.

Grammar and spelling

lease avoid obvious grammatical errors. >ranted, you aren"t writing an:nglish paper @heck, an :nglish teacher would tear my own writing style to

shreds9. )owever, clear written communication re?uires proper sentence

structure and use of words. 'ake sure that your sentences are complete, thatthey make sense when you proofread, and that you have verbNsubect

agreement.

&pelling errors in a paper make you look amateurish. For example, absorbance

is read from as)ectro)hotometer. ou don"t read absorbencyfrom as)ectrometer. orse, they can change the entire meaning of your writing. 3ne

letter changes the chemical compound you describe. I know the action of

cyclohe/imidein eukaryotic cells, but I do not know the action ofcyclohe/amide.

Inaccurate word or phrase

#hanging temperature had the following affecton the subect.

"Affect" is a verb. ":ffect" is a noun. hat happened to the subect was an effect.

he temperature change affected the subect. lease learn the difference.he data lead to the assum)tionthat x has no relationship to y.

If you base a conclusion on data, then your conclusion is a deduction, not anassumption. In fact, in experimental science assumptions are usually avoided.

A purpose of controls is to eliminate the need to assume anything.

3ur inability to ensure that all cells in the population were in the same stage ofdevelopmentskewedour data.

his statement doesn"t reveal very much. he writer intended to say that the

data points were more scattered, that is, the non5uniformity of the populationresulted in unacceptably high experimental error. he word "skew" means

"having an obli?ue positionJ turned or twisted to one sideJ slantingJ sloping." It

can be used as an adverb or noun as well. In statistics, the word refers to anasymmetric distribution of data. $owhere in the definition is there anyreference to the state of being incorrect or more scattered. hus, not only is the

word overused, it is also misused.

e rationali0edthe finding that blocking the sodium pump had no affect onuptake of glucose by suggesting that the symport mechanism depends solely on

the sodium gradient, which persists long after the pump is shut down.


36/39

A definition of "rationali


37/39

hat is the basis for expecting a particular resultK :xplanations may not be

easy and your explanation may not be correct, but you will get most or all of

the available credit for posing a reasonable explanation, even if it is not ?uiteright. &uperficial statements, on the other hand, will cost you.

Anthropomorphism

&ometimes you cannot easily find the right wording in order to explain a cause

and effect relationship, or you may not understand the concept well enough inorder to write an explanation. Anthropomorphism is a type of

oversimplification that helps the writer avoid a real explanation of a

mechanism. A couple of examples should make the point for you.

&odium wants to move down the chemical gradient toward the compartmentwith the lower concentration.

he thought behind the statement is correct, but the statement does not

represent the correct mechanism. &odium has no free will. It tends to move

toward the compartment with lower concentration because the probability of asodium ion moving through a channel on the more concentrated side of the

membrane exceeds the probability that an ion will move through a channel on

the less concentrated side. If you don"t want to explain the principle behindosmosis, you can simply state that osmotic pressure tends to drive sodium from

the more highly to less highly concentrated side of a membrane.

he :& works furiously in a vain attempt to restore the chemiosmotic

gradient

ow. ell, the adverb ;furiously; is not only subective, but it normally

applies to a deliberate action. e know that the :& @electron transport

system9 is a set of carrier complexes embedded in a membrane, and that itcannot be capable of a deliberate action. &omething that cannot act deliberately

cannot think, either. here is a physical cause and effect relationship between

the :& and the chemiosmotic gradient that does not re?uire attributing a freewill to any part of the system.

ommon mista(es in reporting results

Con(erted dataare data that have been analy


38/39

3nce you have presented converted data, do not present the same data in a

different way. For example, if the data are plotted, then don"t include a table of

data as well. resent a figure @such as a graph9 if appropriate. If the data arebetter represented by a table, then use a table. he caption with any figure or

table should include all pertinent information. 3ne should not have to go intothe body of the paper to find out the results of statistical tests on the data, or

the rationale behind a curve fit.

aw data are not usually included in your results. aw data include lists of

observations, meaurements taken in order to obtain a final result @e.g.,

absorbance, relative mobility, tick marks on a microscope reticule9.

Hse an appropriate number of decimal places @if you need decimal places atall9 to report means and other measured or calculated values. he number of

decimal places andNor significant figures must reflect the degree of precision of

the original measurement. &ee our analytical resources for information onuncertain ?uantities and significant figures. &ince the number of significant

figures used reflects the level of precision of the measurement or calculation,

there is never any need to ?ualify a measurement or calculation as "about" or

"approximate."

>raphs and other pictures that represent data are called figures, and are

numbered consecutively. ables are distinguished from figures, and are

numbered consecutively as well. For example, a paper with two graphs, areproduction of a segment of chart record and two tables will have figures 1, +,

and 2, and tables 1 and +. Co note that I distinguished graphs from chart

records. $ot everything with gridlines is a graph. >raphs are analytical tools.#hart records are raw data @which may be presented in results as an example, ifappropriate9.

Co not draw conclusions in the results section. eserve data interpretation for

the discussion.

The significance of +significance+

e have a statistically significant difference when analysis yields a very low

probability that the difference was due to sampling error @random error9 alone.

If sufficient data are collected, and statistical significance is not achieved, theinvestigator can conclude that the null hypothesis is supported U there is no

significant difference.

!ack of a significant difference does not mean that the result itself is

insignificant. A finding, for example, that there are no intrinsic differences infundamental mathematical ability among racial groups would be a very


39/39

significant finding. &ignificance in this study refers to the importance of the

result. ;It is significant that we found no significant differences among the

groups studied; is a valid, though perhaps confusing, statement.

here is a tendency among students to reect a study as inconclusive ustbecause no statistically significant differences were found. &uch reection

suggests a misunderstanding of the scientific method itself. ou can conclude

something from even the most poorly designed experiments. In fact, most well5designed experiments result in support for the null hypothesis. Be prepared to

interpret whatever you find, regardless of what you think you should find. he

purpose of experimental science is to discover the truth 5 not to make the dataconform to one"s expectations.

Copyright and Intended UseVisitors: to ensure that your message is not mistaken for SPAM, please include the acronym "ios!" in the

su#$ect line of e%mail communicationsCreated #y &a'id () Caprette *caprette+rice)edu, (ice Uni'ersity - .ul /0

Updated !1 Aug 12
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/copyright.htmmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/copyright.htmmailto:[email protected]

writing a literary paper.docx

Documents