SORTING

1. SORTING Research Paper

2. Research Writer YOU • Give as much information on the divisions you have chosen as possible. • You may have something about the general topic that doesn’t apply. • You need to decide what main areas you will cover. • Some of your cards may not fit. • You will need to weed them out.

3. Writing the paper • Entering a field over 1000 years old • It has its own rules • One major rule is honesty • Be fair to your material (don’t say the source said something it did not say) • Tell WHERE you got each piece of information • Don’t use author’s words as your own (even with a citation) unless quoted. That is PLAGIARISM

4. THESIS STATEMENT WILL BE COVERED BEFORE WRITING. FOR NOW, WE WILL JUST SORT THE CARDS.

5. PRE-SORTING • Stack the cards on desk by source • Look at source cards • Have you corrected them? • If you haven’t, go to the library and get that done. You will loose points on the final paper if this is incorrect on the Works Cited page. Use your YELLOW SHEET. • Remove your source cards • Put them somewhere safe • They are needed for Works Cited page • If you lose them, you will need to REMAKE them • REMEMBER: you cannot turn in a paper without a Works Cited page

6. SORTING- first round • Refer to topic on upper left hand corner • If you did not do this correctly on your notecards, you will have to do it before you can begin the sorting process • Can you “see” categories that the cards fall into? • Try to get your notecards into 3 or 4 categories. THESE ARE YOUR ROMAN NUMERALS. Depending on your paper, you may have more than 3 or 4. If you have TOO many more, you may be breaking it down too far. • Repeat this process for each source • Your sources are now mixed together • They are now divided by categories, not by sources

7. SORTING- second round • Take up your first stack • We will now divide into A, B, and C • How far you need to go will be determined by what you have

8. SORTING- third round • Now sort your cards into details • REMEMBER: Rule of outlining: if you have an A, you must have a B. Two minimum, but no limit on how many. (If you have A-J, however, maybe you need 1’s and 2’s. Again, if you have a 1, you must have a 2, but there is not limit on how many.

9. SORTING- fourth round (if needed) • Pick up the 1. • Divide it out. • These will be little a’s, b’s, and c’s • Continue until you only have a few cards or LESS in each stack • If you need to go further, use the divisions of i, ii, iii, iv • NOTE: You may have notecards from more than one source that say the same thing. Keep them together for now. There are two ways to treat them that we will go into later.

10. Find some way to group these so they do not get mixed up! • Post-it notes • Color code on edges • Swatch of color on the front • I recommend labeling them • IA,IB,IC1, IC2, etc. • This will help you with writing your outline

11. PROBLEMS • Left over cards • Some you just don’t need • Place them in an “I don’t know stack.” • Do NOT throw them away just yet in case you change your mind • Any areas needing more information? • Do more research and make cards • Insert cards where needed