I would like to take some time to discuss how to begin writing your research paper. Because this is a longer piece of writing than you are used to, it might seem a bit daunting or intimidating at first. Please remember that it is merely your effort to educate your audience about a topic you now understand. As long as you have found some quality sources and learned some basic information about your topic, you will be more than capable of creating a clear, well-organized first draft.
Here are some suggestions for getting started and a brief description of the process you should go through to help articulate your ideas.
1. Make sure you have information to address all of the topics of discussion in part one. Refer to the assignment sheet as you read and keep track of which information comes from which sources. As you progress, you may find that you need to do some additional research to "fill in the blanks" and make sure you are addressing all required topics.
2. Take notes / write down where you find specific examples, facts, case studies, expert opinions, etc. that address the different topics in part one. If your source is electronic (online) you will probably want to have a print version to read and mark. Don't try to just remember what your articles say -- a written record, note cards, post-its, etc. will help you recall the relevance/significance of different sources as you write.
3. How to begin? You may start your paper with a traditional introductory paragraph -- establish a hook, transition with the significance of this general discussion, provide a thesis, and then present an overview of the general structure of your paper. for examples, if I were to write about human rights violations associated with drug trafficking, I might want to include the following in my intro paragraph:
--The hook could be a case study. I could take two or three sentences--or even a brief paragraph--to describe the concrete problems faced by an individual victim of this HR abuse
--My transition sentence would make a connection between this specific example and the broad pattern of HR problems to be discussed in the paper
--My thesis would clearly state why people need to know about the issue and why it is significant to contemporary lives; it might also call for action to end or mitigate the effects of the HR violation
--My overview would raise the three-part structure of the paper.
4. As you develop the body of part one, make sure you attend to the basic organization of the discussion. Address all of the topics called for in the assignment. However, you do not need to keep the same order. In fact, in some cases you might be discussing more than one of the required topics at a time. As you develop your draft
