Research Paper Draft and Bibliography Assignment  (PDF)

Draft Checklist

Paragraphing and Topic Sentences

As you develop the paragraphs in your draft, be sure that each paragraph begins with a topic sentence (Hunter College Library Website). The topic sentence is the controlling idea of that paragraph, taken from the roman numeral section in your outline (usually the first sentence of that outline section). This topic sentence should always support your thesis. Does each topic sentence support your thesis?

*If the topic sentence is unrelated to  your thesis, you need to edit the topic   sentence to make it applicable to the thesis or revise the thesis.

Within each paragraph, the topic sentence must then be supported by evidence which should also be in that section your outline (this is where having citations in your outline will save you time).  This supporting evidence should always support the topic sentence of that paragraph. Is your topic sentence directly supported by related evidence in the paragraph?

*If the supporting evidence is unrelated to the topic sentence, you need to remove this evidence  and conduct more research for evidence to support the topic sentence or revise the topic sentence.

For additional support with paragraphing, use this resource (Hunter College Library Website).

Bibliography Resources

MLA  (MLA Official Website)

APA  (APA Official Website)

Be sure to provide the correct citations within the paper and in the bibliography, in order to avoid plagiarism, which is a violation of college policy (NYCCT Library Website).