HOW TO WRITE A PAPER: THE CRASH COURSE

RULE #1 (the only rule): The purpose of writing an academic paper is to convey information.

DO NOT RELY ON GENERALIZATIONS, YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES, OPINIONS, OR ANY OTHER UNSUPPORTABLE ABSTRACTIONS; THESE THINGS ARE DEVOID OF ANY REAL INFORMATION.

Examples of Bad Habits:Many people say that gay marriage should not be protected by the law.Who are these many people?

Some agree that gay marriage should be protected by law.Who are these some people?

Abortion is a common topic debated throughout the country.What makes it common? This is a bland and vague descriptor. Also, introducing abortion as a topic is redundant writing; its like writing, this thing is a thing. Refrain from describing issues as topics. For example, why not just write, Abortion is debated throughout the country.? I know what youre saying, this is still a bit vague. Right, you are! Weve fixed the sentence a bit but its still far too general and certainly too obvious. Consider omitting all forms and constructions of sentences like this; they are general and obvious, they rely on speculation, and (most importantly) they are devoid of any information.

Both authors do a good job of getting their points across.While Im glad you approve, this statement is opinion oriented and devoid of any real information. Rather than admit your approval why not explain what exactly the points are?

The author makes the reader feel that abortion is murder.The reader is irrelevant. When you evoke the reader youre doing one of two things: 1. Youre talking about every reader, at every time, in every place, across all cultures, from every socioeconomic background, from the past, present, and future, or 2. the reader that is you. Such constructions are devoid of any real information; they rely on opinion and speculation. Omit this construction from your writing.

So, how do I write a paper without using all these useless constructions Ive been encouraged to use since Ive been able to type a thought??? Glad you asked.

STEP #1: SUSPEND YOUR JUDGMENT.An academic paper is not about you; its about the text(s) and how they work. The first

step is excluding the word I from your writing. Again, refrain from using generalizations, your opinions, experiences, abstractions, etc. When you rely on such things its a clear indication that you didnt read the text, or rather, you didnt actively read the text. When you have read an article, essay, book, etc. and have really engaged with the information there is never any shortage of things to write about. If you have trouble with this I would refer you to How To Be A Demanding Reader by Adler & Van Doren. Active Reading is the most crucial part to writing an academic paper; you cant do one without the other.

STEP #2: STICK WITH THE TEXT(S).Write about the text(s) and only the text(s) and focus on how they work.

If you dont know where to start here are some templates. You can begin EVERY paper you will EVER write with these templates. These templates works across all subjects (English, History, Sociology, Economics, Psychology, etc.; any class where you have to write about articles or bookshint: its all about books).

TEMPLATE #1 FOR EVERY INTRODUCTIONTHE SETUP:

In (the article, essay, book, etc.) X by Y, the author states

For example: In the essay Death and Justice: How Capital Punishment Affirms Life by Edward I. Koch, the author argues in defense of the death penalty.

Youre now in a position to discuss the text and only the text. Now keep going: What is Kochs argument? How does he defend the death penalty?

TEMPLATE #2 FOR EVERY INTRODUCTIONTHE INTENT (FIND A PATTERN):

This paper will

Explain to your reader what your intent is in the paper. What exactly do you plan to do. To make this part most effective FIND A PATTERN WITHIN THE TEXT(S), for example: This paper will compare Kochs use of emotional examples in correlation with factual evidence the author has taken from scientific studies.

TEMPLATE #3 FOR EVERY INTRODUCTIONTHE SO WHAT?:

Through this careful examination the evidence will reveal

Youve told us what youre talking about (Template #1). Youve told us how youre going to

talk about it (Template #2). Now you have to tell why youre talking about this (Template #3).

For example:Through this careful examination the evidence will reveal how the use of emotional appeals complicate and hinder the authors argument. (Notice that Ive stuck with the textemotional appeals dont complicate and hinder ALL arguments just this specific authors argument; Kochs argument.)

Put it together:In the essay Death and Justice: How Capital Punishment Affirms Life by Edward I. Koch, the author argues in defense of the death penalty. Kochs argument is split between stories of personal experience and statistics taken from government sponsored studies. While the personal stories offer a bit of color to the otherwise clinical presentation of hard numbers, the authors attempt to inject the statistics with humanity is ultimately ineffective. This paper will compare Kochs use of emotional examples in correlation with factual evidence the author has taken from scientific studies. Through this careful examination the evidence will reveal how the use of emotional appeals complicate and hinder the authors argument.

BOOM! A clear, concise, and workable thesis is born.

STEP #3: FOLLOW THROUGH WITH YOUR FRAME.With a good setup like the introduction above all you have to do is pick out the

instances in the essay where there are emotional appeals and instances of clinical facts. Introduce these instances, discuss them, compare them; How do they work? Why does one work better than the other? Since youve found a pattern (see Template #2) all you have to do is write about that pattern and NOTHING ELSEeverything else is irrelevant, superfluous, and otherwise devoid of any pertinent information (see Rule #1).

Separate each piece of evidence you are going to present. Make sure you have quotations that concisely support your claim. For this example its as simple as introducing instances of emotional appeal and clinical stats; give each example a paragraph or two. Remember to FRAME YOUR QUOTATIONS (see handout on framing quotations). A hanging quotation without any context or explanation is the equivalent of a hit and run car accident; youve hit the reader with information but have surrendered any and all accountability for its inclusion.

The key to using evidence effectively is DEFINING YOUR TERMS and the BECAUSE.

#1 Define Your Terms: In this example, the death penalty, does the author think the death penalty should be used for all crimes? Does the author give indication as to the differences between the methods of capital punishment (electrocution vs. lethal injection)? Define what you mean by emotional appeal? Define what you mean by factual evidence? How do these two things differ, why do they differ? How will this affect your argument?#2 BECAUSE: Dont just present a quote and follow it up with, In other words or What the author is saying; writing a paper is not a translation testthis is an exercise in redundancy. Rather stick to the text(s) and how they fit within the frame of your argument. For example:

In this example the death penalty works (this way; insert how it is defined here) because

In this example Kochs view supports/complicates this view (your initial claim; insert initial claim here) because

You dont have to necessarily use this construction but if you cant offer a because you have not completed your statement.

Developing a thesis is more than repeating an idea.

The Wrong Way: I better have my one idea and be able to prove to everybody that Im right.

What this does is eliminate any careful attention to detail and out goes any evidence that doesnt fit. What ends up happening is you will begin to prove a generalization that is generally true. This is bad. Muy mal!

The model explained above (The Wrong Way) becomes an argument with an overly general claim followed by examples that superficially corroborate that general claim. This is the model of the Five-Paragraph-Essay.

Analysis, again, is breaking something down to its component parts and looking at how those pieces work together. Each example should not just stand alone, and certainly cannot speak for themselves. Your evidence should be part of a larger pattern of similar evidence not an isolated instance.

Working With Evidence:Using evidence is more than just proving that your claims are correct. As you deal with the process of writing a paper and allowing a thesis to evolve, youll find that exploring greater ideas of complication within a given subject entails more than just the simple corroboration of facts.

Using evidence in such a matter is the equivalent of simply answering a what question, but remember the moving question behind an analysis is how.

The problem with much writing is that people are taught to arrive prematurely at an idea and then proving that idea by attaching it to a number of examples (This is the method of the Five Paragraph Essay).

Evidence doesnt necessarily prove your claims, rather evidence should be understood as a means to test your claims.

You should ALWAYS use evidence to:

Test your ideas

Refine your ideas

Develop your ideas

Evidence rarely, if ever, can be left to speak for itself. When a writer leaves evidence to speak for itself, he or she is assuming that it can be interpreted in only one way, and that readers necessarily will think as the writer does.

The relationship between evidence and claims is rarely self-evident. Working with evidence effectively calls upon you making the Implicit Explicit! Writers who think that evidence speaks for itself often do very little with their evidence except put it next to their claims. For example:

The party was terrible: there was no alcohol The party was great: there was no alcohol.

Just juxtaposing the evidence with the claim leaves out the thinking that connects them, thereby implying that the logic of the connection is obvious.

When working with evidence think like a movie director: Pan, Track, and Zoom.

Pan, Track, and Zoom

Pan: the camera pivots around a stable axis, giving the viewer the big picture. We can see everything from a distance. Pan provides context, some larger pattern. Pans establish the representativeness of the example the writer alter examines in more detail, showing that it is not an isolated instance.

Track: the camera no longer stays in one place but follows some sequence of action. A writer tracks by moving in on selected pieces of the larger picture and follows them to make telling connections among them.

Zoom: the camera moves in even closer on a selected piece of the scene, allowing us to notice more of its details. A writer zooms in by giving us more detail on a particular part of his or her evidence and then makes that detail say more.

Strategies for Using EvidenceChronological Order:

Paragraphs separate the process or series of events into major stages.

Classification:Paragraphs divide the material into major categories and distinguish between them.

Increasing Importance:Paragraphs are arranged so that the most important point comes last, thus building the

essays strength.Cause and Effect:

Indicates casual relationships between things and events.

Comparison and Contrast:Involves lining up related ideas for a detailed account of similarities and differences. In

this kind of essay it is important to decide whether you are concentrating on similarities or differences.

STEP #4: CONCLUSION: THE FINAL SO WHAT?".Dont just rehash your thesis; that would be an act or redundancy. Bring your reader full circle, create closure not be literally restating what has already been written but by revisiting the way your paper began; return to the way you began but with an update; how has your thesis changed/evolved?

What a Conclusion Should Do:Just as an introduction eases the way into your argument, and your evidence shows the path

through, so too does the conclusion escorts your reader out of your paper. If your argument is a series of driving directions going from point A to point B then your conclusion is walking your reader to the door.

Your conclusion or your final So, What? should answer a question or questions:Where does this get us? or Why does this matter?.

The best way, however, is to make the overlying question within your conclusion:

What have we learned?

Remember your thesis should evolve over the course of your paper, with every new piece of evidence something is not only proven but something has changed. So dont get bogged down with repetitive measures, rather focus on the changes that have occurred over the course of your argument.

A conclusion should do these three things: It restates your thesis in its most evolved state. As you introduce your

evidence throughout your paper you are invariably supporting your thesis/argument but once you introduce something new the original part must change in some waythis is why we call it an evolving thesis.

It takes into account the changes that have occurred.

It comes full circle: that is, it creates a sense of closure. How is this achieved? By revisiting the way the paper began. Try returning to some key phrase or unifying theme from the context established in the introduction.

Common Mistakes in Conclusions:Redundancy: dont just restate things, this is the model of the Five Paragraph Essay.

Raising a Totally New Point: this will distract and bewilder. This can sometimes stem from the writers desire to not be repetitive or redundant. Always be mindful of relevance.

Overstatement: writers can sometimes be confused over how much they should claim in their conclusion. Make sure to be modest in your culmination, now is not the time for grand exits or ostentatious outbursts. Keep it simple. Qualify your final judgments and draw the lines at relative stability.

Anticlimax: try not to end with a deferment, concession, or any general acknowledgment to a rival position. Youve made your case this far, so stand your ground!

Anatomy of a ParagraphTopic sentence the first sentence of the body paragraph reinforces the thesis (by using its language) and introduces the topic of the paragraph.

Elaborate the topic sentencea sentence or two that explains the topic sentence in more detail.

Set up a quote a sentence or an introductory phrase that provides context for the quote. To do this, discuss the situation in the story or article so that the quote youre about to give makes sense to a reader who has never read the story/article youre writing about.

Deliver the quote/example.

Interpret the quote in a sentence or two, interpret the implied meaning of the quote by referencing particular language in the quote. (Even if the quote seems obvious, you should still say something about what the author is attempting to say implicitly.) Use interpretive language like: This quote reveals, The author is suggesting that, Here we can see that the author is implying.

Set up and deliver another quote/example and interpret again. (You could provide up to three quotes/examples per paragraph.) In a paper where you are synthesizing two sources, each paragraph or section of your paper should contain both sources.

Analyze In three to four sentences, explain in detail and specificity, how the quotes youve provided support both the topic sentence and the thesis statement. To make your analysis specific, address the language of the quotes directly (rather than vaguely). Be sure you take your reader step-by-step through your thought process, meaning dont assume your reader knows how the quotes relate to the thesis. (This is the most important part of the paragraph!)

Transition to the next body paragraph In one sentence, take the reader out of this body paragraph and set up the topic of the paragraph to come. Dont think of this as reading like a topic sentence, but rather as a preview for what is to come in the next paragraph.

Considering the above, a well-developed paragraph should be at least 11 sentences (and as many as 14).

But What Are They Doing? Use verbs that fit the action: You MUST avoid the bland formula of she says, or they believe. Language like this works well enough but it ultimately fails to accurately reflect whats been said. Authors you summarize at the college level seldom simply say or discuss things; they urge, emphasize, and complain about them.

Verbs for Introducing Summaries and Quotations:Verbs for making a claim-argue -insist-assert -observe-believe -remind us-claim -report-emphasize -suggest

Verbs for expressing agreement-acknowledge -endorse-admire -extol-agree -praise-reaffirm -celebrate the fact that-corroborate -support-do not deny -verify

Verbs for questioning or disagreeing-complain -qualify-complicate -question-contend -refute-contradict -reject-deny -renounce-repudiate -deplore the tendency to

Verbs for making recommendations-advocate -implore-call for -plead-demand -recommend-encourage -urge-exhort -warn

How to clarify the statement They are the same but

different.The simplest outline for overcoming the redundancy and madness of the same but different comment is twofold: First, you have to figure out What They Say and secondly What I Say.

What They Say:This is what we call the subtle art of summary and the quotationTemplates for introducing something implied or assumed:

One implication of Xs treatment of ________________ is that __________ X assumes that ______________ While they rarely admit as much, _____________ often take for granted

______________Templates for introducing an ongoing debate:

In discussion of X, one conventional issue has been _____________. On the other hand, _______ argues _____________. On the other hand, _______ contends ______________. Others even maintain

____________. When it comes to the topic of ______________, most of us will readily agree that

_____________. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of ______________. Whereas some are convinced that ______________, others maintain that_____________.

In conclusion, then, as I suggested earlier, defenders of _____________ cant have it both ways. Their assertion that _________________ is contradicted by their claim that _____________.

Templates for introducing summaries and quotations: X advocates a _____________________. They celebrate the fact that _______________________. ____________, he admits.

What I Say:Three ways to respond Yes / No/ Okay, But

AGREEMENT: YOU MUST DO MORE THAN SIMPLY ECHO THE VIEWS YOU AGREE WITH. As you agree it is important to bring something new and fresh to the table, adding something that makes you a valuable participant in the conversation.

Templates for Agreeing: Xs theory of ____________ is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult

problem of _____________.

Those unfamiliar with this school of thought may be interested to know that it boils down to ____________________.

X agrees that ________________, a point that needs emphasizing since it appears that ______________.

If X is right that ____________________ then we need to reassess the popular assumption that __________________.

DISAGREEMENT: YOU MUST DO MORE THAN SIMPLY ASSERT THAT YOU DISAGREE WITH A PARTICULAR VIEW; YOU HAVE TO OFFER PERSUASIVE REASONS WHY YOU DISAGREE. Disagreeing is more than adding not to what someone else has said. As you disagree it is important to not just simply contradict the view you are responding to; this fails to add anything interesting or new. Give reasons why you disagree: the argument fails to take relevant factors into account; it is based on faulty evidence; it rests on questionable assumptions; it uses flawed logic, is contradictory, or overlooks what you take to be the real issue.Templates for disagreeing:

X is mistaken because she overlooks _________________. Xs claim that _____________________ rests upon the questionable assumption that

_________________. X contradicts herself. On one hand, she argues _____________. On the other hand,

she also says ___________. By focusing on ____________, X overlooks the deeper problem of

________________.

Agree and Disagree SIMULATNEOUSLY!!! (They are the same but different)Templates for agreeing and disagreeing simultaneously:

X is right that _______________, but she seems on more dubious ground when she claims that ___________.

While X is probably wrong when she claims that __________________, she is right that _______________.

While X provides ample evidence that __________________, Y and Zs research on ___________ and ____________ convinces me that ____________ instead.