Find two to six reputable secondary sources and review them carefully. At least one of these sources should be a peer-reviewed journal article accessed through the AU Library databases (unless your tutor has agreed to waive this requirement).
Hint: In Part 2, Section 1 of Acting on Words, read the segment “Primary and Secondary Sources” for a sound explanation of these types of sources. That section also provides helpful guidance on getting started with research and locating reputable sources. Your tutor will also be pleased to help.
Based on the information you found in your research, as well as your own brainstorming, develop a straightforward thesis that is sufficiently limited in scope (meaning that you can do justice to it in a short essay).
Create a very brief outline of the main points you plan to cover in your essay.
Before proceeding further, ask your tutor to review your thesis statement and your very brief outline.
Write the first draft of your essay. Your essay must be approximately 1,000 to 1,200 words in length (about four double-spaced typed pages).
As you write, integrate information from your research. Of the two to six sources you located and reviewed in Step 3, choose at least two (and no more than four) secondary sources to use within your essay, and then add quotations and paraphrases from them. Every time you paraphrase or quote, follow these four steps to cite and integrate the source properly:
Introduce the source.
Present the research.
Credit the source parenthetically.
Discuss.
In other words, include “quotation sandwiches” and “paraphrase sandwiches” in your essay. Don’t just drop in quotations or paraphrases from sources into your essay. (Some experts call these “hit-and-run quotations,” “dropped quotations,” or “floating quotations.”)
If your essay exceeds the length requirement, it might be returned to you for revision.
Create a bibliography that lists every source you cited in your essay. (In MLA style, this page is titled “Works Cited,” while in APA style it is titled “References.”) Take this task seriously. We expect you to pay very close attention to detail and follow samples for each entry. We recommend the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) for all citation matters. Remember that your tutor is there for you, so if you have consulted the citation guidelines and still have questions, please ask for help.
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