Organizing

When writing a research paper you have a great amount of information that needs to be picked through and analyzed in order to make a strong argument. The best way to find the best information and make connections with random facts is to organize. You can either choose to make a visual diagram of the information that you have or you can make an outline, summarizing your whole paper. The visual flow chart is a great way to see how your paper is going to line up and where you need to start. You are able to make connections and group all the random information into different groups of bubbles, that can later be turned into paragraphs. An outline works pretty much the same way, just without a visual chart to go by, but small points and details about main ideas. With these different types of organization you need to spotlight exactly what it is that you are arguing. Start off with the question you are trying to answer or the problem that is going to be discussed. In the outline, the sources need to be integrated, in order to remember where you got the information from. If there are direct quotations used in the paper these need to be noted and cited. With an outline set up you will be able to write the paper much easier because now there is a guideline to follow. Outlines are very useful, and are defiantly recommended when writing a long research paper.
                                     -Cody