In other words, this is one of those great time-savingtools that I promised to show you! This is not a compli cated job, but it is animportant one.

Essential ingredients: 3x5 INDEX CARDS

Tocreate your bibliography, you’ll need a supply of 3 x 5 index cards. You canbuy these for next to nothing at most dime stores, bookstores, and officestores. (You’ll also use index cards when you take notes for your paper, so buya big batch now. A few hundred cards ought to suffice.)

While you’re stocking up on index cards, pick up one ofthose little boxes designed to hold the cards. Put your name, address, andphone number on the box. If you lose it, some kind stranger may return it. Ifnot, after you dupli cate all your work, I guarantee you’ll never lose oneagain.

Researching in Detail

If you ever thought being adetective or investigative reporter would be fun, then get ready to enjoy your self! It’s time to follow up all of those research leads you found, track down theevidence, and uncover the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Inother words, it’s time to start taking notes.

When you writeyour paper, you’ll work from your notes, not the original reference materials. Why? Because it’s easier to turn a few cards than flip through hundreds ofpages or a dozen open computer windows in search of the information you need.

Inthis chapter, I’m going to show you my own special system for taking notes. Master it it will be a huge help when you sit down to organize and write yourpaper.

Organizing Your Research

“ORDER ANDSIMPLIFICATION ARE THE FIRST STEPS TOWARD THE MASTERY OF A SUBJECT."

THOMAS MANN

Y our research is done.

Your Rough Draft

'/ ALWAYS DO THE FIRST LINE WELL, BUT

I HAVE TROUBLE DOING THE OTHERS.”

MOLIERE

Documenting Your Sources

You must give credit to thesource of any fact, expression, or idea you use in your paper that is not yourown.

Formany years, the preferred way to credit (or docu ment) sources was thefootnote. Two other forms of documentation, endnotes and parenthetical notes, are popular now as well. For convenience, I’ll refer to all of these differentforms collectively as “source notes.”

Whose rules are they, ANYWAY?

In an earlier chapter, we discussed the fact that differentauthorities have set out different rules for bibliography listings. The same istrue for source notes. Ask your instructor whose rules you are to follow.

Ifyour teacher doesn’t have a preference, you can use the method that seemseasiest to you. Use the same method consistently throughout your paper don’tuse a footnote on one page and an endnote on another.

I’m going to give you the MLA rules for three basic typesof materials: a book, a magazine article, and a news paper article. You canconsult the MLAHandbook for Writers of Research Papers or other reference books if you want specificexamples of how to prepare notes for more complicated types of material.

A REMINDER OF WHAT NEEDS DOCUMENTATION

You need a source note when you put any of the follow ingin your paper:

- Quotations taken from a published source.

Revising Your Masterpiece

You can breathe a big sigh ofrelief your rough draft is done!

Nowyou need to take that rough-cut diamond and polish it into a sparkling gem. Inthe remaining chapters of this book, we’ll revise your rough cut and revise itagain until we arrive at your final draft.

As we’ve done with other parts of your assignment, we’llbreak this process into several steps.

Inthis chapter, we’ll work through two of those steps. First, you’ll edit yourpaper for content and clarity. Then you’ll work on the finer points grammar, spelling, sen tence construction, and so forth.

Compiling Your Final Bibliography

By the time you’ve completed therevision process outlined in Chapter 9, your paper should be in very goodshape. Give yourself a round of applause!

You still need toprepare your final bibliography, which I’ll show you how to do in this chapter. Lastly, you’ll need to proofread your paper and type your final draft. Thosesteps are covered in Chapter 11.

“Works consulted” vs.“works CITED”

Yourteacher may ask for a “works consulted” bibliogra phy, alist of all reference materials you reviewed during your research, even if nothing from them was incorporated in your paper. Oryou may be asked to do a “works cited” bibliography, listing only the materials you mentioned in the footnotes, endnotes, orparenthetical notes.

Ifyour teacher does not specify which type of bibli ography to include, choosethe first. It will be a better indication of the range of research you’ve done.

There are some very specific technical rules you mustfollow when preparing your bibliography. These rules are the same whether youare doing a “works consulted” or “works cited” bibliography.

Your bibliography listings contain virtually the sameinformation as footnotes or endnotes. But as we’ve already learned, there aretwo big variations: (1) The for mat and punctuation are different, and (2) thepage number references are different.

Applying Finishing Touches

Can you see it? That light at the end of the tunnel? Youshould you’re 99 percent of the way through the research paper tunnel.

Don’tshut down your mental engine just yet, though there are a couple of trickyturns left to negotiate.

First, you need to proofread your paper. Then, you need to type or print out a perfectcopy of your manu script and proofread it again.

Tobe a good proofreader, you need a sharp eye. Unfortunately, your poor eyes areprobably pretty tired by now. And you’ve become so familiar with your paperthat it may be difficult for you to see it clearly. You’re likely to readphrase by phrase, rather than word by word. And that means that you’ll likelyskip right over some typos and other errors.

Inthis chapter, I’ll show you some tricks that will help you overcome theseproblems and catch all those little bugaboos in your manuscript.

Essay Tests and Oral Reports

Approach essay questions the sameway you would a paper. While you can’t check your textbook or go to the libraryor online to do research, the facts, ideas, comparisons, and whatever else youneed are in your own cerebral library your mind.

Don’tever, ever begin writing the answer to an essay questionwithout a little “homework” first. I don’t care if you’re the school’sprize-winning journalist.

First, really lookat the question. Are you sure you know what it’s asking? What are the verbs? Don’t “describe” when it calls for you to “compare and contrast.” Don’t“explain” when it tells you to “argue.” Underline the verbs. (See page 114 fora list of the most-used verbs in essay tests and what each instructs you todo.)

Then sit back aminute and think about what you’re going to write. Or less than a minute, depending on how much time you have, but don’t just start writing.

You need to budget your time for an essay test just as youshould for any test the mathematical calculations are just easier. Fivequestions in 50 minutes? Doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out 10 minutes peressay.

Writing with ADD

Justwhat is ADD? It’s probably easiest to describe as a person’s difficulty withfocusing on a simple thing for any significant amount of time. People with ADDare described as easily distracted, impatient, impulsive, and often seekingimmediate gratification. They have poor listening skills and have trouble doing“boring” jobs (like sitting quietly in class or, as adults, balancing a checkbook).“Disorganized” and “messy” are words that also come up often.

Hyperactivity, onthe other hand, is more clearly defined as restlessness, resulting in excessiveactivity. Hyperactives are usually described as having “ants in their pants.”ADHD is a combination of hyperactivity and ADD. According to the AmericanPsychiatric Association, a per son has ADHD if he or she meets eight or more ofthe following paraphrased criteria:

1. Can’t remain seated ifrequired to do so.