Presenting Your Work

Now's the time to take all your research and turn it into your final product.

Step 1 - Write the first draft

You've got an outline, you've picked how you'll present your research and you know how to use inline citations to avoid plagiarism. You're ready to write.

Using a word processor is helpful. You can start with your outline and fill in ideas and research as you go. Just remember to keep track of which source the research came from.

When you've got a first draft, print it. Your teacher might want to see it.

Step 2 - Editing & Rewriting

Schedule a few days for this step in order to create a quality product.

  1. Stop and check that you've met the requirements of the assignment.
  2. Check that you've followed your outline.
  3. Read your draft to see if it supports your thesis or purpose statement.
  4. Reread your draft out loud to see if it flows and makes sense.
  5. Make sure that every paragraph has a topic sentence that connects in some way to the previous paragraph.
  6. Check that each section's opening paragraph connects to your thesis or purpose statement.
  7. Go back do steps 3 - 6 again. Continue to edit and rewrite as you need to. Try recording yourself reading, then you can listen for problems. Try reading paragraphs in reverse order - start with the last paragraph and work backwards.
  8. When you're happy with your draft, check the spelling and fix all errors.
  9. Then run the grammar checker and fix any major mistakes like using the wrong word (eg: there / their / they're). Don't make all of the suggested changes, just the necessary ones.

When you've finished editing, have someone else read your work and look for problems with meaning, flow, spelling and grammar. Go back and fix the problems that they found, then check again.

Finally, make sure you've used the correct format for all inline citations and your reference list and do a self evaluation. Then you can hand it in.

Last updated: April 4, 2008