Porter 1
Ann Porter
Professor Belz
English 1302
March 21, 2021
Outline – Research Paper – Ultimate Outsiders
Thesis (this should be your preliminary research paper topic/full introduction paragraph written out completely—cut and paste it here)
II. Define outsider in general (use a topic sentence to
introduce the topic of the paragraph here)
A. utilize dictionary definition you obtained from the online dictionary (type out quote with source reference word for word as it appears in the original source) *remember that names of websites are typed in italics [example: dictionary.com]
B. Explain how there might be different kinds
of outsiders based on your specific topic
III. Present one of the outsider characters in one of the stories – mention name of character and how he/she is an outsider here (this should be in topic sentence format)
A. write out quote from text (one of your 2 primary sources/one of your 2 chosen short stories) to support this idea/definition {be sure to include the author’s
last name/ Example: “Quote word for word” (Baker).}
B. use secondary source (online journal article you obtained from the HCC library online database) quote to further explain idea
IV. Present the other outsider character from the other story and discuss how he/she is an outsider (topic sentence format)
A. write out quote from text (primary source) to support this idea/def.
use secondary source quote to further explain
this definition/issue—write out quote here
V. Discuss one similarity between the two characters
(topic sentence format)
A. utilize textbook (primary source) quote
B. utilize secondary source quote
VI. Discuss one difference between the two characters
(Topic sentence format)
A. utilize textbook (primary source) quote
B. utilize secondary source quote
VII. Conclusion Paragraph – Write a paragraph discussing potential solutions to the outsider problem; use a modern day example; insert a short personal example related to the general topic; or, give your personal opinion about the topic.
Please note – the above sample is a detailed guideline for your research paper rough draft you will complete. Nevertheless, you may alter the ideas to conform to your essay topic. For example, you may wish to create body paragraphs where you use only one quotation instead of two; you may want to focus on more than one difference or similarity between characters; etc. Feel free to make changes to the general content, but be sure to utilize proper ‘full essay’ structure with well developed paragraphs per the Essay Writing Guidelines handout posted in the document sharing list in mywritinglab. You are required to type out your quotes in full with the author/critic’s last name and the page number. In other words, when you cite the journal articles, you need to include the author’s last name and the page number.
example: (Baker 237)
Remember that your two chosen stories from the approved research paper readings are ‘electronic’ sources so you will only include the author’s last name in the parenthetical reference. When you cite the online dictionary definition, you need to refer to the website in the signal phrase or the parenthetical reference (example: dictionary.com).
You will not be submitting an outline as shown above—you are using the outline as a guide for your developmental structure of your rough draft. The rough draft will NOT include Roman numerals and letters—you will write paragraphs in essay format.