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Turning your QUEST outline into a paper

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The QUEST paper starts with a literature review (the findings section) that covers the scope and severity of the issue, causes, and consequences, continues with an evaluation of 3-4 solutions, and concludes with a recommendation about the best solution.

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�What is a literature review? �

This is a common type of writing in college. You, the writer, walk your reader through some of the important research that experts have done on your topic.

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Don't just blindly follow the order of your Source Checks. You'll find yourself referring back to the same source multiple times, and choosing which sources to talk about first, second, etc. based on the point you're making in that paragraph. Describe the conversation (academic discourse) between experts in your field as you cover scope and severity, causes, and consequences of your issue.

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Academic Discourse

(this slide is from Ms. Reddy :)

What?: Discuss and analyze the differing views within your social issue

    • Acknowledge supporting and conflicting viewpoints
    • Relate them to the big picture
    • Evaluate their credibility
    • Use academic language

How?: Within each section of your paper

    • Summarize, quote, and/or paraphrase (with citations!)
    • Link arguments together with transitions
    • Include your opinion/conclusions/analysis (without using the first person)

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�How you describe that "conversation" between sources will depend on what you found...look for themes/threads/patterns... �

For example...

  • Did you find 3 different causes of your issue, and some sources focus on one and some on others?
  • Is there a most important cause or consequence? (you may want to build that section from least to most important)
  • Is there a disagreement between your sources? Is there an "outlier" source that talks about something the other sources didn't?

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�How you describe that "conversation" between sources will depend on what you found...look for themes/threads/patterns... �

For example...

  • Has there been an evolution of thinking or change of focus in the field of your issue?
  • An increase/decrease in your issue?
  • Increase/decrease in research on it?
  • Gaps in the research? (ex: most sources about anti-Asian hate crimes don't separate subgroups within "Asian" which makes it hard to assess hate crimes against specific groups)

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Attributive Tags Review!

Attributive tags or signal phrases are short phrases you use before a quotation or fact from a research source to show where the idea originated.

Why?

  • They give your writing or speech credibility, because your audience knows that your ideas are backed up by evidence from experts.

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Attributive Tags Review!

Why?

  • Attributive tags also help evidence flow smoothly into your speech or writing instead of just being “thrown in there.”
    • Quotations without attributive tags or analysis around them are sometimes called "dropped quotes" or "hit and run quotes" because they feel abrupt and lack the necessary context for the reader to see what the writer is using that evidence for.

Write your attributive tags thoughtfully. If you say “According to [source]” every time, you will sound repetitive. There are many ways to attribute your source.

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Attributive Tags Review!

How do you introduce quotes or paraphrases? Attributive tags! No "hit and run" quotes

According to…

According to the Red Cross…

[Source] writes/explains/

demonstrates/comments/ notes/discusses…

Fred Froodle, director of the International Bee Research Association, explains that pesticides may contribute to CCD…(15).

[Source] points out/emphasizes/highlights/focuses on…

Stephen Hawking’s article in Scientific American focuses on...

Neutral Tags...

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Opinionated Tags…

Opinionated tone/stating a claim:

[Source] agrees with/confirms/ disagrees with/contradicts/ contends

The International Labour Organization confirms Amnesty International’s claim that child labor is increasing…(“Child Labor Statistics”).

[Source] claims/argues/ contends/suggests/asserts/

believes/proposes…

CDC Director Thomas Frieden claims that the Ebola epidemic is far from over…(2).

 

[Source] estimates/predicts

 

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the U.S. government will spend…(“2016 Budget Estimates”).

 

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Data-related tags...

Sharing data or study results:

[Study/experiment/report] from [source] found/discovered/ revealed/concluded…

A Stanford study revealed…(Wilson et al.).

 

A [Year] study/report by [source] found that…

A 2014 Stanford study revealed…(Wilson et al.)

Data from [study/experiment/

report/source] shows/indicates that…

Data from the 2010 Census indicates that people under 18 make up 24% of the population of California (“2010 Census Data by State”).

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Transitions

Use transitional words and phrases to help link your different pieces of evidence and analysis of them together meaningfully. For example:

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Comparison:

Along the same lines… Likewise…. Similarly…. In the same way…. X source also…

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Contrast:

Although… Nevertheless… However… By contrast… Whereas…

Even though… Conversely… On the contrary… On the other hand…

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Addition:

Also… Furthermore… In addition… Additionally… Moreover…

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Example:

For instance… For example… Specifically… As an illustration… As a case in point…

*These examples are from the book They Say, I Say by Graff and Birkenstein (232-233). More examples here.

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Recap: To make your paper, you should have added the following to your outline…

  • Complete sentences, correct indents, double-spaced
  • Topic sentences
  • Transitions between ideas
  • Attributive tags
  • Explanation/analysis of evidence
  • Conclusion sentences (shouldn't have parenthetical at end of paragraph)

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Document order for final draft

  1. Final Draft
  2. Works Cited
  3. Rough Draft
  4. Outline

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Helpful resources at irvington.org/mla

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Creating Parenthetical citations

Using attributive tags

A-list words