Always keep in mind that the goal of writing a paper is to make a convincing argument. The main components of a paper help develop and support an argument:  

• Thesis: This is the “roadmap” of the argument because it will tell the reader where you are headed (providing a organizational structure to the paper) and outlines the main points of your argument.
• Evidence: backs up the argument.
• Analysis: interpretation of the evidence, explains how the evidence relates to the argument.

Your thesis should take a position on an issue.  You can check this by asking yourself, “Can someone argue against it?”  If they can, you know you’ve taken a position. For example, the following is NOT a thesis because it doesn’t take a strong stance on anything:

Media are everywhere and they affect people all the time, although many experts disagree on how people are affected.

It’s hard to argue against the fact that media are everywhere and affect people, or that experts disagree about media effects.  Also, this statement doesn’t let the reader know what the author’s main points will be—it’s too general and vague.  Your thesis should outline the main points of your argument.

Remember, you can always start with a working thesis—that is, a temporary one until you “iron out the kinks”—and then refine it as you continue to work on your paper.  For instance, you could start out with the following:

Although there are many perspectives on the impact of cartoons on children’s comic development, I believe that cartoons are fundamental for children to learn how to be funny.  Children should be fed a steady diet of cartoons so that they will develop into funny people.

This is a fine working thesis because it takes a position on the issue and indicates that the author will discuss the various perspectives on the impact of cartoons, give her own opinion, and then suggest some course of action (i.e., it organizes the paper).

As this author continues to develop the paper, she will be able to refine the thesis to 1) show that she understands the complexities of the issue and 2) provide more detail in stating what the major points of the paper will be.  Her refined thesis might look like this:

Some social critics believe that television cartoons lead to the development of unsophisticated, slapstick forms of humor among children, and other observers believe that cartoons aid in children’s understanding of comic elements.  A closer examination of the research on the effects of cartoons demonstrates that a steady diet of cartoons helps children develop comic timing, understanding of irony, and appreciation of comic references.  Therefore, television networks should increase the amount of programming devoted to cartoons in order to advance the comic development of our youth.

Research papers must present a balance of evidence and analysis in order to make strong arguments.
 
Evidence
Evidence makes the difference between mere opinions and actual arguments.  Without evidence, any ideas you present are not supported.  Evidence can come from many sources, including (but not limited to):  

• information from articles and books
• specific media examples (from film, television, newspapers, etc.)
• communications theories
• research data

As you gather evidence from articles, media, and other sources, pay particular attention to things that will help you build an argument. 

Tips for using evidence
In selecting what evidence to use, think about what helps your argument.  What relates to the points you’re trying to make in your thesis?  Select carefully so that you can build your best argument.

Tips for using sources  

• Maintain your own voice.  In other words, when you’re providing evidence from another source, make sure that you include your own explanation of it and analysis of it as well, so that it bears your stamp of scholarship.
• Don’t rely on direct quotes.  You can use them, but use them sparingly.  When possible, paraphrase your source rather than directly quoting.  Save direct quotes for those bits of information from sources that are so well written that you could not do the quote justice in paraphrasing it.
• When you use direct quotes, set up the context for the quote and explain what it means so that it flows naturally into your writing.
• Always cite your sources, giving credit where credit is due.  This is so that the reader could track the information later if needed.  When in doubt, cite the source. (See citation forms if you need more information on how to cite.)

Analysis
Always analyze your evidence: why did you offer this evidence?  Why is it significant?  What does it mean?  How does it relate to your key points? (Anyone can put together these pieces of evidence, but what you say about them and how you interpret them is your own scholarship.)

As your write your paper, check to make sure the various parts fit with the main points you established in your thesis statement.  Does it follow what you set up in your thesis statement?  If not, you need to change your thesis statement to reflect the main points that you’ve actually written about, or you need to make sure that the rest of your paper is staying (and not straying from) the central argument you’re trying to make. 

BIG TIP: I highly suggest that you write an outline of your paper before you start writing the prose of the paper.  An outline will help you stay organized and will save you time in the long run.

Within each paragraph, check the organization to make sure that you are presenting your information in a logical, easy-to-follow way.  I recommend that you have the following in each paragraph:  

• Topic sentence that explains the main point of the paragraph.
• Evidence and analysis
• Closing sentence that pulls the main point of the paragraph together and/or links this paragraph with the next

In writing your conclusions, restate your thesis and the most important points that support the thesis.  Link them together in a logical way, and try to end with a “bang” by making your argument as convincingly as you can.  Don’t introduce new ideas or material at this point as they would distract from your main argument. 

This is one of the most important parts about writing a good paper.  Writing is a process: revisions can make the difference between a decent paper and a really good paper. After you’ve written the first draft, let it sit for a while to clear your mind. Then:
1) Evaluate your thesis statement: is it strong?  Does it reflect your evidence and analysis?  Revise as needed.
2) Check the balance between evidence and analysis: no evidence speaks for itself, so the ratio of evidence to analysis should be close to 50/50. You can use highlighter pens to identify the balance between evidence and analysis: highlight all the evidence in one color, and the analysis in another (you’ll probably get a lot of overlapping color).  It can be difficult to separate the two, but you can identify analysis from evidence if you remember that analysis explains the significance of a piece of information.

If you don’t have enough evidence, you’ll need to return to your sources to find more to include.  If you don’t have enough analysis, you can expand it by posing and answering the following questions:  Why is this evidence significant?  What can I conclude from this?  Why did I include this?  How does it fit in the context of my argument?  How does it relate to my central argument?

 3) Evaluate your organization and paragraph structure.  A persuasive argument depends on organization. Try using a post-draft outline in which you go through the paper paragraph by paragraph and identify the topic and purpose of each paragraph.  (If you don’t want to make a full outline, you may want to underline the topic and jot a note about the purpose in the margin.)

• Too many ideas or more than one topic covered in a paragraph?  Break  it into separate paragraphs.
• Same topic comes up over and over?  Group the related paragraphs together, consolidate them into one paragraph, or cut any redundant information.
• Sounds choppy?  Add transition sentences.

4) Argument check: did you answer the assigned topic question?  Did you do what you said you’d do in your thesis?  Challenge your argument at every point to make sure it’s strong throughout.

5) Sentence level check:  

• Clarity, accuracy: are the words you used the right fit for what you’re trying to say?  Beware of common errors, such as overgeneralizing (“Television influences every aspect of our lives.”) and including personal asides that distract from the flow of the argument (“Advertising images contribute to eating disorders in women.  In high school, I knew three girls with eating disorders.”).
• Grammar

You can get free help with writing papers at the Department of Communication Research Mentor Center, where graduate students volunteer to help undergraduates with research and writing.