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Writing papers is one thing you can guarantee yourself that you will have to do in college, along with other educational requirements. For some people, it might be a frustrating experience or a great opportunity to show their knowledge on a given topic; or sometimes both. Everyone has methods that work better for them than others and they learn to embrace those specific methods. Simple strategies such as outlining and good research can make writing a paper a more pleasant and less nerve-racking experience.
The first thing I do when I have to write a paper is I try to determine what exactly the prompt is asking me to write about. This might seem obvious but, on occasion, I might misread or simply misunderstand a prompt which could result in writing a completely different paper than what was asked of me. Once I completely understand what is asked of me, I start to think about what I already know about the topic and what I need to know in order to write my paper. I then start my research on the topic and start taking notes on what I will need to incorporate into my paper.
Once I feel I have an adequate amount of information to use in my paper, I draw up an outline which has many little points. Sometimes taking a topic and turning it into a paper is difficult because I feel like once I state the main point, there is nothing else to write about. But a well written paper requires an elaborate and detailed response to the prompt so these bullet points that I make help me keep the flow of my paper going as I discuss each point in its own paragraph.
Typical outlines aren't the only way I prepare to write my papers. I often tend to simply start writing random paragraphs about my subject, in no particular order, and slowly begin to bu...
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...it to make sure that it makes sense to someone other than me.
After my paper is written and finalized, I begin my works cited page. This is simple because as I research my topic, I take note of where I get my information from and keep the sources typed in the same file as my paper. To create my works cited page, I simply take the sources I actually used in my paper and I format them onto my works cited page in MLA style.
I am just beginning my college career and that means many more papers to come. I may not always be so enthusiastic about writing them but as long as I use this strategy to tackle the assignment, it will be fine. Learning to break down a paper into small parts instead of looking at it as one whole, big, daunting assignment has helped me a great deal and allows me to put more focus into each paragraph or topic, resulting in better written papers.
Both of the articles “Dancing with Professors” by Patricia Limerick and “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott resolve the issues faced by college students when writing papers. The first article, “Dancing with Professors,” explains why college professors expect more elaborate papers even though they assign dull and un-motivational reading to their students. On the other end of the writing spectrum, “Shitty First Drafts” explains how valuable the first draft is to students, and why students should not feel weary about writing them.
Many times, my writing consists of a solid introduction with a good idea, but it wanes as it nears the ending and the conclusion is not effective so as to remain consistent with the proper sequence of the sentence (2-3-1). The reader of my work must distinguish the most important points of the work, understanding the general theme, while remaining captivated by a consistently interesting paper. If a primary point exists, it needs to be expanded, emphasized, or supported. The work needs to remain interesting and captivating throughout. For the reader to infer my opinion on the subject matter, I must show approval or disapproval of it in some way.
Writing a college paper, document, or thesis will always revolve around a theme or a set of questions that need to be answered. How that paper is developed depends on the process used by the author as there are many different ways to approach a written assignment. The article by Catherine Savini, “Looking for Trouble: Finding your way into a writing assignment”, essentially tells us that in order to write an informational paper we must first look for the problem, detail questions related to the problem, and then try to provide some type of answer for the questions.
When approaching your paper, you must consider what your writing situation is. That will help you identify who your readers will be and why they would read your paper. Once you understand that you can start generating ideas and topics that you would like to write about. To generate ideas about your paper you can brainstorm, free write, and cluster ideas as they come to you. Then, when you have your ideas written down you can refine your topic and start to develop a research question. At that same time, you can start to read, evaluate, and collect the information you have found. It is also a good time to take notes or highlight what you think is important and begin to take a position. Next, you can start organizing your argument, sources,
This year in College Writing one has been very interesting. I understand now that there is a lot more that goes into writing a paper than I first thought. I especially realize this when I look back at one of my first papers which was the descriptive essay titled, "The Hidden Truth."
I am familiar with the basic essay outline. The one that includes the thesis, the introduction, three body paragraphs, along with three main points each, and a conclusion. This outline has guided me through my writings. Along with the essay outlines there are also article outlines that were previously mentioned that guided me through the main points of different articles. I have realized that outlines are highly valuable to a paper. They were very helpful in the consumerism assignments like Joan Smith’s “Shop Happy” because I was able to use an outline to grasp the main point and the argument being stated. Once I understood the main point it was easier to understand my main point to create my thesis. For example: Smith’s main point was that consumerism is becoming socially influenced from all ages. Since my paper was arguing that as well I was able to use quotes to influence my paper. I also learned about comparing and contrasting the authors views. If I am trying to get the audience to notice different perspectives it is best to include the contrast or comparison inside the introduction to lead my reasonings.
I start my writing process with a list of possible topics to research. Once I have chosen a topic, I tend to do some initial research to get ideas for subtopics within the paper. I then start my online document and work on my introduction and, more importantly, my thesis or hook statement. I also add a brief explanation of the topic of each paragraph and proceed to look for evidence such as direct quotes to support the body of my paper. After I have found my evidence, I am able to develop my ideas around it. Usually, if I feel that the paragraph does not fully support my argument or topic, I add in more evidence and continue to build the section. While working on my body paragraphs, I also tend to go back to my introduction
iting term papers and essays can be an intimidating chore for many students. Fear and procrastination can lead to stress, delay and ultimately poor grades. In fact, that is exactly what happens for most students. This article will let you in on the secret of undergrad academic writing, and give you a few basic tips for how to get top grades on a term paper. I once submitted a terrible paper.
For instance, a good paper is one that follows the instructions provided, besides adhering to the rules of grammar and syntax. Before you start writing, you could search for great papers template online, from which you can get an idea on the formatting of your own paper. Here are other useful tips to get you started on your journey towards exemplary
Second, focus on your topic. Narrowing your topic before you begin, and again several times as you proceed, will help you write a thorough paper, one that treats its subject accurately. Once you get into the library, you will find dozens of temptations to expand and extend your project. The clearer you are at the beginning about your project, the better off you'll be.
Research papers are some of the most important papers in our life. Many of them are done incorrectly but still get to the point which is okay but rather hard. People rarely write perfect papers but if you have the correct ideas and format then writing a perfect research paper is possible. Writing a research paper can be fairly easy as long as you have the correct mindset going into it. Most of the paper is about your format and how you word things.
When I write a paper, I usually tend to write and edit at the same time. I could never continue writing without correcting my mistakes and making sure everything seems perfect. However, throughout this course, it made me realize that I should write everything on my mind, when writing a paper, just like I would in my notes. Later on, I should revise and edit my paper, making sure to cut back ideas and sentences that are off topic. Additionally, I’m the type of person that likes to write with no boundaries. Writing my research argument essay, made me realize that I could stick to a structure and yet bend the rules a little bit. When we started with this assignment, I was truly excited to research and write about a topic that I am passionate about. When we were asked to form an outline, I was bummed. I felt like I wasn’t able to form ideas or narrow down my topic, let alone write...
Prewriting of any paper, first entails a topic, without a topic we would have nothing to write about. I like to use Mind mapping, when I write my research papers; I take a whiteboard and put my topic in the center of the board in a circle. Then I add extensions to the topic with more circles that are connected to one another by a single line between one another. These added circles will be my topic of paragraphs and the information I will be discussing within them. I usually do 4-5 sentences within my paragraphs with a closing statement and then transition to my next paragraph. I write about 3-5 different paragraphs and then with a closing statement that backs up the information that I have presented for my readers to read. Mind mapping is the biggest part of writing a paper, due to the changes you make as you develop your arguments or statement that you want to convey in your paragraphs from your mind maps data.
I used scholarly articles and different websites on the internet to gather as much information as I could about my topic. I used summary, quotation, and paraphrasing in my paper. An example of this is when I talked about the signs and symptoms of depression.
The title of this assignment is “How to Produce a Top Class Academic Paper”. This assignment will help the reader gain knowledge on “How to Produce a Top Class Academic Paper” by discussing the important features of an academic paper which includes the structure/layout of the paper, the importance of referencing and also plagiarism. This assignment will first look at the structure/layout of the academic paper by discussing the introduction, the main body and the conclusion, the importance of referencing will then be discussed and finally, Plagiarism will be examined.