I mportant, R elevant, or of V alue . Often you will find several possible purposes for focusing your discussion. If you have plenty of material on one purpose or are writing a short paper, focus on just one. If you can't find much information or are writing a longer paper, you may select two or three related purposes to focus on or you may group similar purposes into categories which can become the focus of your paper. It is much easier to shuffle notes on notecards when trying to decide on the organization of a paper than marking sections on sheafs of notes written on notebook paper.
Limit notes on notecards to specific topics.
If the notes on cards fit broad categories, it will be harder to sort and shuffle the cards. I recommend that you list a heading on each card, in pencil , which indicates the topic. As you review and revise, you can change these pencilled headings. State your thesis clearly and concisely, focusing on what is significant, important, relevant, or of value . Some teachers, including me, will allow you to make references to your own opinions, values, etc., in reference to you subject, but these comments should be limited to the conclusion or, possibly, the introduction, and should be sparing.