How To Write A Term Paper In Five Easy Steps
By Sandra Loman, Term Paper Writer
If you are a student, chances are you've been asked to write a term paper many times. Yet, for all of the term papers assigned in this country, very few people actually know the correct way to write a term paper. Following is a step by step tutorial that will help you to produce a term paper that would impress even the most hard-nosed professor.
1. Have a clear idea of your topic. If you are called upon to write about The Civil War, for instance, you must decide which aspects you are going to address. There are hundreds of potential topics, ranging in specificity from the causes of the Civil War to the achievements of specific individuals involved in the war. 2. Once you know what you're going to be writing about, it is time to decide on your argument. Every term paper needs to have an argument, or else it will contain all background and summary, like an encyclopedia article. Professors really don't like summaries. An example of an argument is: "In Lolita, Nabokov uses the evil character Quilty to cast his protagonist in a sympathetic light." An example of a non-argument is "Lolita, written by Vladimir Nabokov, is a book about an impassioned child molester that was met with great scrutiny when it first came out." 3. Next, create an outline. As much as you hate doing it, it will save you time later on when you absolutely cannot fathom what you're going to write in your last three pages. To write a term paper without an outline, you must either be an exceptionally experienced writer (in which case, you may not need to read a tutorial on writing term papers), or have a great mind that can lay out the entire paper from beginning to end stick to it. Here is an example of an outline for the argument we just chose: Thesis Paragraph: In Lolita, Nabokov uses the awful Quilty to cast his protagonist, Humbert Humbert in a sympathetic light. Paragraph 2: Humbert would not be seen sympathetically without another character to put him into context. Paragraph 3: Quilty is so evil that, relatively speaking, he makes Humbert Humbert's actions seem tame. Paragraph 4: When the two characters are together, Nabokov uses specific language to show the differences and similarities between the two men. Paragraph 5 (conclusion): Nabokov needs to cast Humbert Humbert in a sympathetic light in order for the book not to come across creepy. 4. Now that we're organized, the writing process should be easy. That is, if you can write. Some tips for fledgling term paper writers:
- Write in short sentences. A sentence with more than three or four commas is rarely a good idea, unless it's a list. Readers can only juggle a certain amount of information in their heads.
For example, look at the following two passages from an actual term paper. The first is unmanageable; the second expresses the exact same argument as the first in better English.
A. For difficult children, Nichols suggests promoting positive family activities to regain their trust, which allows the child to have more respect for the parent and discipline to become more effective.
B. For difficult children, Nichols suggests promoting positive family activities. These initiatives help the children regain trust, causing them to have more respect for their parents. With this approach, discipline ultimately becomes more effective.
- Check to make sure your term paper is organized. The best way to do so is to keep the thesis statement in mind at all times. The outline above is very organized, as each of the three body points (paragraphs two, three, and four) refers to the thesis statement.
- Stay in the active voice. Instead of writing "Joanne was asked to the dance by John," write "John asked Joanne to the dance."
5. Conclude. A term paper's conclusion should answer the simple question: "So what?" This section is where you address the overall purpose of the paper. Why have you been writing? What larger implications does your argument have within the context of the book or issue you are addressing? In earlier grades, teachers insist that the conclusion's purpose is to summarize the term paper. If that's what your professor tells you to do, by all means do it. But any higher-level term paper will have a conclusion that actually adds something to the essay.
There you have it: How to write a term paper in five easy steps. If you can manage to follow these guidelines, you will be ahead of 90% of your peers. As always, if you find yourself in trouble, contact Sparrow Educational Services.
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