1st Draft

Every writer knows that the secret to good writing is draft and revision. Writing several drafts will improve any research paper. The required 1st draft may be any 4-5 page (or more) section of your proposed final paper: the beginning, middle, end or any combination.

You must include footnotes/endnotes. You must include an outline page. (The outline page is not part of the required 4-5 pages).

Your outline should loosely follow this format:

I. Introduction (What is your research question? By now you should have narrowed this to a topic that can be properly covered in a one-semester term paper. It is probably much narrower than your original question.)

II. Proposed Thesis statement (This should be a working thesis. In other words, from what you have found so far, what do you plan to argue in your paper?)

III. Evidence (In this section outline the paper's story and suggest what types of evidence you plan to use to support your proposed thesis statement. In other words, in general, what sources are you planning to use. What events, ideas, and people they discuss help to support your thesis? You should have a list bullet list of subtopics in this section of your outline that suggest the subjects you will cover in your paper.)

IV. Summary and Conclusion (You will probably not have a summary or conclusion yet. But include space for this section of your paper on your outline---remember, an outline is a map that helps you plan where you are going with your paper.)

Your outline maybe be longer than this example suggests. However, all outlines must include the elements listed above.

The Draft Narrative:

In order to get appropriate feedback on your work, note in your draft where you plan to make changes, and/or highlight the holes that still exist in your paper.  This is a requirement for full credit.

Prepare your 1st draft in Microsoft Word or Word Perfect. Use 10 or 12 point Times Roman or Courier Font.

All text should be double-spaced and all footnotes/endnotes single spaced.  Using a large font or extra spacing only makes your paper look "so high school."

There is no requirement to post your first draft to the discussion board or turnitin.com

The grade for your paper will be based on the following rubric:

1) Outline: 10 points

2) Substance (4-5 pages of text that provide evidence that you are moving forward on your topic. This must include a proposed thesis statement.
15 points

2) Proper use of citations (footnotes or endnotes)
10 points

3) Evidence of an integration of primary and secondary sources
10 points

4) Basic use of good grammar and style
5 points

Total--50 points