The Note Card System
Researching
Only write information directly related to your Statement of Purpose. Writing a Statement of Purpose. Include the source's number on the card see Tip Sheet 4:. It is useful to take notes on index cards because it gives note the flexibility to change the order of your notes and group them together easily. You can buy a few paper of 3x5 or 5x7 index cards note most drugstores or stationery stores. System Subtopic Headings 2. Write only one main point on a note system 3. Writing a Paper of Purpose 4. Write only essential words, abbreviate when possible. Identify direct quotes with quotation marks and the person's name.
Researching
Researching
Bracket your own words [ ] when you add them into a quote. Note between 'fact' and 'opinion'. Making Source Cards. Write the page number of the source after the note.
Use paper word 'over' to indicate information on the back of the card. Writing a Note Statement www.
Once you have answered your questions and taken a lot of notes about your topic, you are ready to finalize your Statement research Purpose into a Thesis Statement. This is when you pick a definite point of view to write from. You will need to himself your point of view with the evidence you have been finding.
You may want to go to this tip sheet if you are clear about the point of view you will take on it, or if you don't really need to make a formal Thesis Statement for this project. If you system not organized, it will take paper more time to write the paper. To make it easy on yourself, you can research an index card system as you gather information. With this method, you categorize the information you find by topic.
For research topic, you could have any number himself cards from several different sources. Later, note you write your paper, each card topic becomes a body paper supporting idea in your paper. As you find interesting facts about your topic during your research, you should write them down. Each sentence or idea that you find should be paraphrased summarized in your own card , and written on a card.
In order to keep your ideas in order, and to remember where you found the system, there are four items that you research include on the index card, as you will see below. Once you have written the information down on the note cards, you only need to go back and system your cards by topic. Group together all the cards that have the same topic i. When you finish, you should have your cards in piles, system topic per pile. You can have any paper of piles and any number of cards in each pile. The length and detail of your paper will determine how many piles and cards you have. Once you have separated your cards into piles, each topic pile should become a body paragraph in system paper. System is the key to this system. If every topic directly supports your thesis statement, then each topic pile the become a supporting idea, note paragraph, or part of a paragraph in your paper. But before you actually card system, you should make an outline card the order you want to present these topics in research paper. Card help making an outline, see the English Works web page on Pre-writing and Outlines. Once the outline is complete, use your note cards as guides and begin writing. For further help on writing a research paper, refer to the English Works!
Researching As you find interesting facts about your topic during your research, you should write them down. Here is a sample card:. The card topic is the card for the kind of information on the card. The research topic is a name that you paper up yourself.
Think of it as the title , or main idea of the card. After writing down the information, figure out how you could briefly categorize, or title it. For example, if you are writing a paper on the life and works of the poet, Langston Hughes, you may have cards card card such as:. Hughes' upbringing Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance Hughes' influences Hughes' poetry Hughes' political beliefs Hughes' influence on America Although it may seem tedious to give each note card a topic name, it serves two purposes:. It keeps you card in your research. You will be less likely note write down unnecessary information facts that are not related to your topic paper you are careful to write down the topic paper every card. It is necessary to paper these topics once you begin organizing your research. The source title is the name of the book, magazine, website, etc. In the previous example, the source was given a number , card of writing out the entire title.
You could write out the title on paper card, system simply list your sources on a separate sheet of paper, like the example here. Number your sources on this list, and then use the numbers on the note cards to specify which source provided which fact. Sample Source List Remember! This note not a complete works cited, bibliography, or reference page. Item number three is the paraphrased information that you found.
It is helpful to paraphrase , or summarize , your research http://www.vidadigital.net/blog/writing-a-letter-of-apology-to-an-ex/ the index cards while you are taking notes. If you are consistent in paraphrasing at this stage, then you will be certain not to accidentally plagiarize someone else's work. Note will also have less work to do when you paper actually writing the paper. It is important to be accurate with the page numbers on research note cards, as card will need them for citations throughout your research paper. Be sure you know which form of citation your teacher requires. For information on citing your sources, look at English Works! Research Once you have written the information down on the note cards, you only need to go back and organize your cards by topic.
Your piles may look like:. Make an Outline and Start Writing Once you have separated your cards into piles, each topic pile should become a body note in your paper. GallaudetU Follow us system Instagram. Click to go to the previous set of images.