Once your outline is developed, insert your resources from your notes making sure to cite sources according to MLA or APA standards. Again you will need to follow your professor’s preferences for in-text citation, footnotes, or endnotes.
In-text citations, also referred to as parenthetical citation, are simply short cues that direct the reader to where you found the information. For example, let’s say you use a statistic like "15% of Americans agree with the privatization of Social Security." If your professor requires parenthetical citation you will need to include the author’s name, date of publication, and page in parenthesis after the statistic.
EXAMPLE
-the privatization of social security is not a popular option, as only 15% of Americans agree with this option. (Author, year of publication, p. X). (APA style)
Once the sources have been inserted into your outline, you can then flesh out your first draft. Don’t worry too much about flow, transitions, and wording at this point. For the first draft you just want to get your information organized and put down in your own words. After you have the first draft written you can reorganize the information so that your supporting information builds an understanding of your topic in a logical fashion. For argumentative papers begin with your weakest point and end with your strongest point, and for informative papers use chronological ordering.
I find that it is helpful to read the essay out loud in order to find grammar and typing mistakes as well as word flow problems. As the student reads through the essay they should make notes of these mistakes and flow of information problems so that they can go back and make changes. This process will need to be repeated several times until the essay seems reasonably perfected.
Once a "good" draft is completed the student should then get out their rubrics sheet and use it as a checklist to make sure that their paper is formatted correctly and that it contains all of the elements that their professor is looking for. These elements will probably include:
Good transitions between paragraphs
Proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation
Proper parenthetical citation, footnotes, or endnotes
Logical organization of information
Supporting information for each point made
Clearly stated thesis statement
Effective summary and conclusion
Properly formatted bibliography
Proper margins and spacing
Properly formatted title page
Proper headers and/or footers
Include name, class, university, and professor, and date on the title page, or on page one of the essay body
If there is time, it is also a good idea to have a friend or a student teacher read through the essay with a copy of the rubrics sheet to see if they think that the paper conforms to the standards outlined by the professor. They can make suggestions on revisions that need to be made, find type o’s that the student missed, and point out areas where the wording is confusing. With these suggestions a final revision can be done that makes the paper top notch.