Paper Writing Resources

Please follow the links below for help with your papers.

Pre-Writing Strategies
Don’t neglect this crucial stage of the writing process. Make sure that you give yourself enough time to brainstorm and to organize your thoughts.

 

Thesis Construction
A good thesis is the key to a good argumentative paper. Make sure that you can summarize your argument in a single concise sentence. I often ask students to begin their thesis statements with the following phrase: “In this paper, I will argue that . . . ” Make sure that what follows is actually an argument, not a statement of fact. Make it as specific as possible.

 

Development and Continuity
The biggest problem I see with many papers is that the writer states a thesis at the beginning of the paper but never returns to it. When writing a paper, you need to give your reader a sense, throughout the paper not only of what is being argued, but also where the reader is in that argument at any particular moment. The best way to accomplish this is to use transition statements in two ways:

  • To make a transition between the previous paragraph and the current one
  • To remind the reader how these points relate to the overall argument of the paper.

Furthermore, it’s important that you remember that you need to develop your argument in the course of your essay. Make sure that your ideas build organically upon one another and that the various sections of your paper cohere into an overall argument that moves the reader from Point A to Point C.

 

Working With Quotations
Learning to quotations into your essays is one of the best ways that you can improve your work. Please check out the following resources.

 

Analyzing Literary Texts
A few rules of thumb:

  • Make sure the context is clear (ie., explain who characters are when you introduce them for the first time
  • Avoid plot summary. Make sure that your examples help convince your reader of your argument. Provide plot summary only insofar as it will help your reader understand your analysis of the scene.

    • More info:

  • Writing About Literature (OWL at Purdue) – note the importance of a debatable thesis
  • Literature and writing essay resources: Analyzing a passage (Goshen College)

 

Avoiding Plagiarism
I take plagiarism extremely seriously; I will report all violations of academic integrity. Please check out the following resources on plagiarism and get in touch with me if you have any questions.

In short, if you’re using material that is not your own, you need to cite it and quote it. Ignorance of the rules of plagiarism is not an adequate defense.

 

Paper Formatting, Source Citation, and Works Cited
Most papers for my classes require sources to be cited in MLA Format. Please refer to the following guidelines.