Assignment Sheet: Research Paper: Introduction to Communication
1. Decide on a Topic and Develop a Tentative Thesis for the Paper; Topic Must Relate to the
Field of Communications.
After doing some preliminary research, you should be able to come up with a topic. The topic is
just a general idea or aspect of the paper; it is not your thesis. After deciding on a topic, you
need to focus the topic into a tentative thesis statement.
2. Create a Writing Plan: The Outline
After deciding on a thesis for your paper, your next step is to create outline. The outline will
divide your thesis into several related subtopics/headings.
3. Take Notes from the Secondary Sources
In the library, locate books and/or journals that discuss your topic. When you find an essay or
book, scan through it to see if the author(s) discusses an aspect of your topic that ties in with
your thesis in some way. When you do research, you try to locate information you can use in
your paper. Carefully evaluate the credibility of your sources. When you find a secondary
source that you think you can use in your paper, you need to make note of the source using
MLA documentation.
As you read through the source, have your writing plan in front of you, and look for any
information in your source that you think you might be able to use in your paper. You are
looking basically for insightful comments from other authors that you can “borrow” and use to
support and develop your thesis. Once you have found some information that you think you
might be able to use, get out an index card and make a note of it. The information you record
might be a direct quote, a paraphrase, or a summary of material from the source.
Use the subtopics/headings from your writing plan to help you identify where the notes might
be used in your paper and include near the top of the note card the last name of the author of
your source and the page number where you note originates.
5. Write the Paper
After you have done all (or at least most) of your research, you are finally ready to begin writing
your paper. Take it one step at a time. Look at your writing plan and decide which subtopic you
would like to write on first. Then take out all of the note cards you have with that heading of
your subtopic (both from your primary and secondary sources). If you have done a thorough
and careful job of taking notes, all the support you will need for that subtopic will be on the
note cards.
Assignment Details:
Length: 4 to 5 pages, not including the Work Cited page
MLA Documentation
Format: Double-spaced, page numbers top left
Rough Draft due: December 1, Final Draft due: December 6

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