Elliot Gaines, Ph.D.

COM 200 Writing to Communicate

Notes for the final paper:

As, the syllabus indicates, the length requirement for the paper is 3-4 pages.

The following section offers an approach for accomplishing the challenges of writing the final paper:

• Pull together your topics from papers #1, #2, and #3, and decide what themes unify the research. The themes are always questions to be answered, or problems to be solved. Introduce your themes based on the findings and results from your three article review papers.

• Use transitional sentences to help the reader move from the introduction to the evidence, and from the evidence to your conclusion.

• After describing evidence that each author contributes to understanding the problems and answering the questions, think about what we learned from these studies. In your own words, tell the reader what the studies produce that is a new contribution to solving the problem or answering the question.

• Begin with the preceding rough draft. Next, proof read and begin to revise your wording. Use precise language to make your text clear and focused. Briefly introduce your topic, transition to the evidence provided in your readings, and conclude with a concise description of what the reader should have learned by reading the paper.

• You should spend most of your time re-writing. Eliminate unnecessary language. Make sure everything is clear. Define new terms and explain all special language and assumptions specific to the research.

• Be concise without leaving anything out.

• Be patient, and persistent.

• Keep proof reading and re-writing.