Paper submission at the bottom of the page

First Draft

Once your proposal for your final paper has been accepted, you can begin working on your first draft. This process—proposal, first draft, final paper—is to give you a sense of the time and effort it takes to formulate a well-written research paper. In addition, the comments you receive should help you improve future papers that you may write or projects you may work on. You need time to articulate a question that could be come an important problem to be addressed. You need time to conduct research, and you need time to then present your findings in a way that the reader can follow.

A research paper is itself a strange activity: you are imagining a conversation with many experts in the field (the books and articles you read) and synthesizing this information into a coherent narrative that a reader can follow. The fields we are working on this semester are very broadly defined as “media studies” and “literature,” though you may add or subtract fields depending on your topic (translation, adaptation, gender, etc.). You want to be sure that you adequately address these fields in your written presentation. If you find you have too many fields or too many problems to adequately address, come see me for help on narrowing your question/problem dynamic.

Outline

With any longer paper, you should consider outlining how you think your presentation of the information should look. You can think of this outline in terms of sections: you should have an introduction that includes the texts, the question/problem you are addressing, and your method. Your problem and method will become your thesis, which informs the reader 1) what you are doing, 2) how you are going to do it, and 3) why such a problem/method combination is important. Thereafter, your writing should offer an exposition of the the primary text(s) (literary artefacts) through your particular method and offer conclusion. You should outline according to the required word count or page limit, as well as the number of texts you will analyze. A comparative research paper will have a slightly different outline than a research paper on a single work.

You don't have to submit an outline for your first draft, but it will help you reduce the amount of revisions necessary for the final paper.

Writing

It is important to remember that the writer chooses every word, comma, period, and quote. It is the writer's responsibility to judge whether or not the reader needs this particular quote, that particular word or sentence, or even a particular paragraph or section. Writers should continually ask her/himself, “Is this information related to my thesis and necessary for the reader? If so, how?” If not, then you should consider revising or deleting it. Unnecessary information--even if you find it interesting--is like a telephone call in the middle of a serious conversation. It usually spoils the flow of your narrative.

In relation to media, your outline is the “mental map” you have formulated prior to writing. As you write, however, your map will change as you engage new information. Writing (or typing) is itself a form of thinking, which requires you to go through the processes in order to reach a conclusion (see embodied cognition). We think differently with a pen than with a computer or through speech. It is often the case that your main argument or central problem does not appear until the very end of this writing process. Finding this main argument requires time to edit and reorganize your draft.

As you reread your written words, pay special attention to your conclusion because your thesis or argument often appears only after you have conducted your research. Stylistically, however, this information needs to be presented first to gain the reader’s attention (a reader who doesn't know what they are reading will usually stop if the thesis is not presented early). Give yourself time to edit: use it reorganize your writing based on your thesis (move it to the beginning!) and offer the necessary adjustments to the rest of the paper.

Style and Editing

As you write, you would do well to categorize your self as an “author” who has to communicate through words to an absent reader. This problem is one related to style and rhetoric: how does your writing reflect your own absence in a way that the reader can still follow your words to achieve some sort of communication? What does the reader need to be present in the words you write in order to follow your claim?

Visual Cues

• Title: Offer a title that may change once you have written and edited your work. Use this title as a flexible guide: change it if necessary.
• Grammar and spelling: Reread your paper for grammar and spelling mistakes, run-on, fragment, or unclear sentences. If you are not sure you know what you mean, the reader will surely not be able to follow. As a rule, simplify and clarify.
• Paragraphs: Limit each paragraph to one idea. More than one idea per paragraph is like a conversation with several people speaking at once.
• Sections: Consider using sections titles from your outline to help keep focused and the reader following.
• Transitions: Transitions are necessary between each section, paragraph, and sentence. Each idea needs a directional marker: from where have you just come and where are you going? These transitions guide the reader since you cannot be there.
• Citations: All references to works should be properly formatted and should be used to support a claim or introduce a new claim that you will address. Citations should never stand alone: they always need “context”. In relation to speech, a citation is an expert who supports your claim. Give this expert the context they need to be the most effective.
• Quotes: borrowed words should also never stand alone. Quotes need context, either though your introduction, interpretation, or comparison. Quotes are part of the conversation between experts. Situate them in conversation; don’t force an author to talk to the wind. Also, don't rely on paraphrase of an important passage. Give the text to the reader.
• Reader questions: imagine and address issues or questions a reader may have. If you notice a problem in your argument or in your method, address this in your writing with support. Imagine other potential questions a reader may have and be sure you address them as well. If the problems you begin to see are so broad that you cannot address them completely, you might need to reframe your original question/problem binary.

Timeline

Plan to finish well before the submission deadline, at least 2-3 days, ideally a week. Since writing is a type of thought, you don’t know what you will write until you write it. Time between writing and editing allows you to reread your writing literally "with new eyes." Writing without editing is mere brainstorming: you need time to turn this brainstorming into a narrative the reader can follow. This can take several days to several months, depending on the length of the writing.

What to submit for your first draft

The more you have completed of your final paper (10 pages), the more polished it will be for your final submission. If you follow the steps above and submit a complete draft that you have edited, you may not have to make changes for your final submission. That said, the draft is a chance for you to receive comments on the form, style, and content. Hopefully these comments will help you with this and future writings.

1. Submit at least 5 pages that include the texts, method, and potential problem. Provide as much of your analysis as you have written.
2. MS Word document (Double Space, 12 pt., TNR Font, Normal Margins).
3. Updated bibliography that follows the proper format (CMS Quick Style Guide).
4. Though it is not necessary, you can submit an outline and I will give you feedback.