English 102: Organization: Debate vs. Research

Here's a quick overview of the difference between the Debate paper and the final Research paper. The Debate paper is focused on the sources. The final research paper is focused on your thesis.

Some people make the mistake of focusing their Debate paper on the thesis instead of the sources. Others make the opposite mistake of focusing the Research paper on the sources instead of on the thesis.

The Debate paper goes source by source:

Introduction
First Source
Second Source
Third Source
and so on

A more detailed explanation of the Debate paper can be found in the Debate Paper Outline handout.

The Research paper goes point by point.

It is focused on your thesis.
It uses parts of the sources to support parts of the thesis.

Introduction

State the question, with necessary background info
State your answer to the question (your thesis, the point you will try to prove)

First major point to support the thesis

Here you might use part of Source #1 to provide statistics
Part of Source #2 to provide an interpretation of those statistics
Part of Source #3 to provide some other facts you need for this major point
You'll also add your own perspective, tying all these parts together into the single point you want to prove

Second major point needed to support the thesis

Here you might use a different part of Source #2 to provide some other statistics
Part of Source #4 to provide some other facts
Part of Source #5 to provide an interpretation of those facts
Part of Source #1 to provide a different interpretation
Here too you'll tie all these parts together into the single point you want to prove

And so on for all the points you need to prove to prove the thesis. Again, the difference is that the Research paper focuses on your own thesis, and uses the sources as needed to provide support for the thesis.

A good rule of thumb: Most paragraphs in the Research paper should cite more than one source. If your paper typically cites only one source per paragraph, that’s a sign that the paper should be re-organized.

Think of a car engine: when we do critique, we're not driving the car (what you do normally when you read). Instead, we're popping the hood and taking the engine apart to see how it's made and find the broken pieces. Now, with the final research paper, you've got ten or more engines in front of you, and you're pulling them apart, taking pieces from one and pieces from another and putting them together into a new engine, one you build yourself. Don't just present the reader with one engine and then another and then another. Build your own, single engine from the parts of the others.

Remember: In the Debate paper, go source by source. Give a summary and a critique of each source and explain how it answers the research question. In the Research paper you will go point by point to support your own thesis.