When writing a research paper, it can be easy to feel as if it is so many facts that you are teaching your reader, that the essay is boring. There are two important ways to make an essay your own- and not another boring paper. 

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1. Imagery- Imagery can even be in research papers! Example: I have a research paper on MLK Jr. and the Selma march.

Here's a hook: Imagine a very hot day: the kind of southern summer day where everything is humid and all you want is an ice tea. On this particular day, however, you are marching. You look to your right and left and see others marching with you, sweat pouring down their face and a grimace of pain here or there from tired, aching feet. 

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2. Discussion/ Analysis-
This is the important part of your essay (from a teacher's perspective anyway). This is the part that shows your thoughts, as opposed to showing that you can repeat information from others. This is where you are applying what you have learned to real life- applying it to your readers' lives- giving them something they can take away from the essay other than facts.

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Here's some advice from USC Libraries (http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/discussion).

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The purpose of the discussion/analysis portion of the essay is to interpret and describe the significance of your findings in light of what was already known about the research problem being investigated, and to explain any new understanding or insights about the problem after you've taken the findings into consideration. The discussion will always connect to the introduction by way of the research questions or hypotheses you posed and the literature you reviewed, but it does not simply repeat or rearrange the introduction; the discussion should always explain how your study has moved the reader's understanding of the research problem forward from where you left them at the end of the introduction.

This section is often considered the most important part of your research paper because this is where you:

1. Most effectively demonstrate your ability as a researcher to think critically about an issue, to develop creative solutions to problems based upon a logical synthesis of the findings, and to formulate a deeper, more profound understanding of the research under investigation.

2. Present the underlying meaning of your research, note possible implications in other areas of study, and explore possible improvements that can be made in order to further develop the concerns of your research.

3. Highlight the importance of your study and how it may be able to contribute to and/or help fill existing gaps in the field. If appropriate, the discussion section is also where you state how the findings from your study revealed new gaps in the literature that had not been previously exposed or adequately described.

4. Engage the reader in thinking critically about issues based upon an evidence-based interpretation of findings; it is not governed strictly by objective reporting of information.

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