1. Korizan

    Korizan Member

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    Opinion paper

    Discussion in 'Research' started by Korizan, Dec 17, 2014.

    Hello guys.

    I was asked to write an opinion paper and a research paper for my English class. I successfully scored 10/10 on my research paper, now I need to write the other paper. I do not fully understand the difference between writing an opinion paper and research paper. I do not want you to help me on my assignment, but to give me tips on how to point out those differences.

    If you want to take a look on this assignment, it is bellow.

    Choose a topic worth arguing about—something you think is important, about which

    there are divergent opinions. This could be a big topic—important to many people—or a

    small topic—important to few people. However, big or small, it must be a topic on

    which different people hold very different opinions. Then, in one or two sentences,

    clearly present the topic and state your personal opinion on the topic.

    1. Submit your topic and opinion statement together.

    After your topic and opinion statement are approved, read lots of stuff online until you

    have at least four distinct English-language sources that provide the information you

    need to defend your opinion on the matter against other opinions. As you read, create a

    reference list of the sources you will use to support your opinion and to outline clearly

    one or more contrary opinions.

    This is crucial: You need to find sources that argue opinions contrary to your own. You

    also need to find sources that support whatever statements of fact you use to support

    your own opinion.

    Organize this opinion piece as an essay, with an introduction, body and conclusion. The

    introduction will introduce the topic and end with a statement of your opinion; the body

    paragraphs will support your opinion and refute contrary opinions; the conclusion will

    summarize and restate your views on the topic.

    2. Submit the complete essay and reference list together.


    Thanks.
     
  2. Feral Inferno

    Feral Inferno Member

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    Lol, I first read that as onion paper... :rofl:

    The difference between research papers and opinion papers is the same as objective and subjective, respectively. One is written with presentable facts, the other is written with your own views.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2014
  3. Korizan

    Korizan Member

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    But in both paper i need to present in-text citation and provide sources.

    When i finish, the papers, they look alike.

    It looks very odd when I look at them L

    Does it need to be like that?
     
  4. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    You should ask your teacher. He/she will know the answer because he/she is the one who assigned the paper.
     
  5. Korizan

    Korizan Member

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    i see
     
  6. Feral Inferno

    Feral Inferno Member

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    Unless you need to research other people's opinion.

    I failed English class all my years in school...
     
  7. Korizan

    Korizan Member

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    well my topic is about Video Games, so it a bit easier
     
  8. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    I may have the wrong end of the stick, but I think that what you want looks something like:

    I chose to write about Lemming Migration because...(give reasons) [That's your topic]
    I think that this is ... (give your opinion) because of the reasons given by Smith, Jones and Davies (and give relevant quotes from these three). I find that the refutation by Schweinsteiger to be disingenuous because... (and quote him too)
     
    GingerCoffee likes this.
  9. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    The in-text citation on the opinion paper is the proof/verification that what you think about the subject, is actually correct. It's something to back up your argument/your ideas.

    So, off the top of my head, lets say the argument is to bring back the death penalty. The facts would be anything you can find that relates to why it was banned, why it should be brought back, who would benefit, who wouldn't benefit and how to get around the problem of hanging an innocent person.

    The opinion paper would be why YOU think it should be brought back (or not) based on research that states ......

    So you could say you believe it should be brought back because the problem of hanging an innocent man (as did happen to Timothy Evans who was hanged for the murder of his wife when it was actually John Christie that did it) can now be disregarded because we have made significant advances within the field of DNA to prove innocence or guilt.
     
  10. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    A research paper would be centred around facts, an opinion paper would be built around opinions.

    So, for example, a research paper on video games could go into the technology behind them, or the history of their development, or the current market for games of different sorts. Your sources would be factual - tech specifications, major points in history, market information - whatever. There's still going to be SOME opinion that creeps in (like, whether the points you've selected as the 'major' points in history are the same that someone else would select) but the main basis of the paper is factual. You should have a topic sentence and central idea, but probably not a thesis.

    An opinion piece would reverse that relationship. There should be some facts in order to back up the opinions, but the opinions are the main focus. The topic would likely be something more controversial, like maybe the treatment of women in the video game community, the role of video games in a well-adjusted child's life, or predictions about the future of a specific video game company. You should have a thesis: a clearly stated opinion that your paper supports with arguments from your sources.

    I taught high school English for ten years and that's how I'd explain the difference. But, really, I agree with thirdwind. Best bet is to ask your teacher.
     
  11. theoriginalmonsterman

    theoriginalmonsterman Pickle Contributor

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    A good argument I wrote a paper on is if Shakespeare was really the writer of his plays. There's a bunch of different theories explaining how different people were the ones who were actually Shakespeare. If you're into that sort of stuff it's an interesting argument to discuss especially in essay form.
     

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