A healthy paper needs depth and coherence. Here are some tips and steps to follow for writing the main part of the paper:
- First, properly organized your note cards as to which part of the outline they connect with; simply put all the note cards for each section of the outline together. Each section of the outline should have some note cards. If one doesn’t, you may have to get more notes.
- Re-read your outline carefully. Know what each section is trying to prove, and keep that in
mind.
- Begin writing, using as many of your own thoughts as possible. Every time you use a note
card, write the last name of the source's author and the page number at the end of the sentence before the period, like this:
Some psychologists believe that “it can be predicted with great
accuracy which five year-olds will later commit crimes” (Carkner 34).
[a more detailed explanation of parenthetical citation is found on a separate page of this website-- look at the navigation bar]
- As you write, try to include a mix of quotations types (direct, hybrid, or paraphrase) so that you don’t over-use one kind. It is good style to have AT LEAST 50% OF ALL QUOTATIONS OF THE INDIRECT KIND. Indirect quotes, remember, are quotes in which you put the words of the passage into your OWN words (paraphrase).
- Avoid putting just one quote after another, ESPECIALLY DIRECT QUOTES. Never put
direct quotes back-to-back. Use as much common knowledge material as you can so that on a typical page you don’t have too many quotes. Every time you use a source, you should analyze that source to show how it helps to prove your thesis.
- USE YOUR OUTLINE! Your outline, along with your thesis, will guide you through the paper. If you have solid headings in your outline, use them for transitions (connecting sentences and phrases) between sections of the paper.
- Double check. Make sure ALL information that you have borrowed is CITED. Once again, citing information is giving credit to the source.
- Make sure each paragraph has a TOPIC SENTENCE that will be developed.
- Blend material from your notes into your own sentences.
- USE TRANSITIONS! Transitions are words and phrases which CONNECT parts of the paper to each other. Sometimes they are as simple (but important) as the word ‘this’ or the phrase ‘on the other hand.’ THE IMPORTANCE OF USING TRANSITIONS WELL CANNOT BE OVERSTATED. They are what holds the paper together, in a sense. Many of your transitions will grow out of your outline. Be careful not to use the SAME transitions over and over (“Another problem…” “Another problem…”). You can find a graphic with examples of transitions to your left under the "transitions" tab.
Writing a Conclusion:
Just like the introduction, well-written conclusions usually begin with, or at least contain DETAILS. As a matter of fact, the best way to incorporate details in the conclusion is to go back to the introduction. If you wrote an anecdote about a young criminal, refer to that story again here. Maybe finish the story. Did he get help? Did he go to jail? If you began a paper on pollution with a description of a particularly polluted lake, again refer to that lake. Did the lake get cleaned up? Is it still bad? It makes little difference what details began your paper. You can always come back to them in the conclusion.
Of course, you also have to re-state or punctuate your main point/ THESIS STATEMENT. It is generally unnecessary to just list the main points of each section again. Try to say it in an original way rather than just repeating your thesis word for word.
Have the last sentence be food for thought for the reader. Make it interesting, even provocative if possible. Perhaps even a question might work. Remember, this is the final impression you are leaving on your reader!