Ideal for beginning writers, this guide explains how to use source material--from the library, personal experience, the Internet, and field research--to form the basis of a composition. From the author of the discipline's definitive research paper guide, this new writing text teaches students how to find, evaluate, and incorporate valid source material, examining the differences between good sources and those that offer insufficient or suspect evidence. Helping students frame their thesis, it offers methods for finding an argument and avoiding common fallacies. In addition to explaining how and where to discover valuable source material, the text demonstrates techniques for critical reading and for choosing the best sources for quotation and paraphrase. Numerous readings, including two complete student sample papers, appear throughout the text in various stages of completion, demonstrating the techniques covered in the lessons. The performance stage is covered in depth--framing the text, documenting it accurately, and polishing it for the reader.