NC State Writing and Speaking Tutorial Services
WRITING A GOOD TERM PAPER:
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMPOSITION AND CITATIONS
Most instructors take both content and composition into account in evaluating student term papers. Content refers to the substance of the paper, including the information, definitions, and theories that it contains. Composition refers how the paper is written, such as the how the subject is organized, the clarity and readability of the text, the grammar and spelling, and the format of footnotes or citations. The suggestions below are directed toward improving the composition of papers.
Organizing Your Paper
Good organization makes it easier for the reader to follow your ideas and understand your key points. The following are several keys to good organization.
Suggestion 1: Construct an outline of your paper before writing it. The outline is for your use, however, so don't submit it with your paper unless instructed to do so by the teacher. Before writing your paper, however, you may wish to show an outline to your instructor for suggestions on the paper's content and structure.
Suggestion 2: Give special thought to the first paragraph. The most important paragraph, and the most difficult one to write, is normally the first one. It should do two things.
First, it should introduce the topic of the paper (don't keep the reader guessing what it is about), in a way that will arouse the interest of the reader. Interest may be stimulated by a brief explanation of why the topic is important.
Second, it should provide an overview of how the paper is organized. The overview, or "road map" explains how the topic is developed in your paper.
Suggestion 3: Divide your paper into sections with headings. The longer a paper is, the more important it is that it be broken into sections that assist the reader to identify its structure. A paper of 7-10 pages might be divided into 3-5 sections. For longer papers it may be advisable to divide sections into subsections with a second level of headings.
Suggestion 4. The final paragraph should be devoted to your conclusions. The second most important paragraph of a paper is the final one. Give it some careful thought. What are the principal ideas that you would like to leave with the reader.
Constructing Paragraphs
Good papers also have well structured paragraphs that help the reader follow your train of thought. There are several ideas to keep in mind here.
Suggestion 5. Paragraphs should average about half a page in length. The best length for paragraphs will vary somewhat depending on content. However, be sure to avoid writing a paper with lots of short paragraphs having only one or two sentences, which makes the paper choppy for the reader. Likewise, avoid overly long paragraphs that take up a page or more, which are tedious for the reader who is looking for breaks.
Suggestion 6. Structure your paragraphs. A well constructed paragraph begins with an introductory sentence that explains the subject or theme of the paragraph. The main text of the paragraph then develops or explains the subject, often by providing facts, figures, and examples. Finally, the last sentence of the paragraph should bring some bring some closure to the topic, and perhaps anticipate the next paragraph.
Writing Sentences
The building blocks of well written papers are the sentences. Good paper organization and paragraph structure will not compensate for poorly written sentences.
Suggestion 7. Write in the active, rather the passive, voice whenever possible. An example of the active voice is---"Iran attacked Kuwait in 1991." Expressed in the passive voice the sentence would read--"Kuwait was attacked by Iraq in 1991." It is not always possible to use the active voice, but when used it gets the message across more clearly.
Suggestion 8. Avoid unnecessary verbiage by expressing your ideas in as few words as possible. When writing ask yourself whether certain words can be deleted without altering the meaning of your sentence. Avoid unnecessary phrases such as "One could make the point that .................."
Suggestion 9. Avoid complicated sentence structures. Such sentences are often awkward and difficult to the reader to comprehend. Divide such sentences into two or more sentences. Simple, straightforward sentences add power to your writing.
Using Quotations
It is tempting to insert sentence or paragraph length quotations from authorities, perhaps because you assume they can express an idea better than you can. Keep in mind, however, that your instructor is more interested in evaluating your writing, not that of the experts.
Suggestion 10. Use direct quotations sparingly. They should be used only in situations in which the specific wording is especially important or clever. Limit the direct quotation to as short a passage as possible. And don't just paraphrase the original quotation. Your instructor is more interested in your wording of ideas.
Suggestion 11. Introduce direct quotations by mentioning the author in the text of your paper. For example, you might write [This observation was made by Garrett Hardin, who wrote that "freedom is the recognition of necessity---and it is the role of education to reveal to all the necessity of abandoning the freedom to breed."1 Do not simply place quotation marks around a sentence or paragraph without mentioning in the text whom is being quoted--a footnote does not suffice.
Copy-editing and Proofing
Good writing doesn't just happen, it is the result of hard and persistent work. Professional writers may go back over their text five, ten, or even twenty times to improve the readability of the text and to make sure it expresses their ideas accurately and clearly with correct grammar. Students can't be expected to revise their papers that many times, but be sure to allow some time for editing and proofing your paper.
Suggestion #12. Read back over your paper and revise it several times to improve the text. Word processors make it much easier to edit text since words and phrases can easily be added, deleted, or moved around. Reading your paper out loud to yourself helps identify awkward sentences and errors in syntax.
Suggestion #13. Run the spell checker in your word processing program before printing the paper. There is no excuse for most misspellings now that spell checkers are a standard feature of word processing programs. Keep in mind, however, that spell checkers will not pick up a misspelling that matches up with another word. You may also improve your paper by running a grammar checker.
Citing Sources in Term Papers
Numerous formats for citations have been developed in the sciences and social sciences. Any one of them can be adopted for your paper as long as it is applied consistently. The suggested formats are described in this section.
What Should be Cited
1. Ideas or opinions that are specific to a certain article, book, or report.
For example:
An overlooked explanation of the French Revolution is food shortages resulting from several years of unusually cold weather caused by a major volcanic eruption in Iceland.
2. Statistics or other types of specific information.
For example:
In 1990, 6.5 million hectares of tropical forests were lost to slash and burn agriculture and 4.5 million hectares to commercial logging.
If current trends continue average global temperatures are expected to increase by 1 to 3.5 degrees C. and sea levels to rise by 10 to 90 cm by 2100.
3. Direct quotations that are placed within parentheses
What Does Not Need To Be Cited
1. Class lecture notes
2. General knowledge
For example:
The Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.
The world's population now exceeds a billion people.
How to Use the Parentheses System of Citations
1. In the text paper of your paper enclose the following information about the source of a preceding idea or information within parentheses:
(Author(s) last name, date of publication, page references)
For example:
The environment in the former Soviet Union was ravaged not because the laws were weak, but as a result of authoritarian governments that emphasized economic growth and the buildup of armaments (Feshback and Friendly, 1992, p. 3).
Pakistan is a very poor country with an GNP/capita of only $490 and an illiteracy rate of 62% (US State Department, 1999).
2. At the end of your paper list all of the works you have cited in alphabetical order by author's last name. When there are multiple works by the same author, arrange them by date of publication. If no author is listed, alphabetize an item by the first primary word the title.
3. The following formats are suggested for the list of references (you may substitute italics for underlining, but do not do both):
Feshback, Murray and Albert Friendly (1992), Ecocide in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. New York: Basic Books.
Lang, Wilfred (1991), "Legal Aspects of Transboundary Pollution in Europe," pp. 123-34 in Joan Debardeleben (ed.), To Breath Free: Eastern Europe's Environmental Crisis. Baltimore, MD: John's Hopkins University Press.
Sullivan, James B. (1992). "Technology Transfer: The Climate Change Challenge," Journal of Environment & Development. Vol. 1, No. 1 (Summer), pp. 117-32.
United States Department of State (1999). "Pakistan," Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/pakistan.html
United Nations Environment Program (1993). "Climate Change and the Special Concerns of Small States," Climate Change Fact Sheet #203, http://www.unep.ch/iucc/fs203.html.
4. An exception is newspaper articles that need only be cited in the text in parentheses.
For example:
Participants at the United Nations Food Summit debated a goal of reducing the number of chronically hungry people, currently 840 million, by half by 2015 (Christian Science Monitor, November 13, 1996, p. 19).
How to Use the Footnote or Endnote System of Citations
1. Place the number of your footnote or endnote at the end of the sentence that contains the specific ideas or information that you have drawn from the reference. The numbers (1,2,3....) should be in consecutive order from beginning to end.
For example:
The environment in the former Soviet Union was ravaged not because the laws were weak, but as a result of authoritarian governments that emphasized economic growth and the buildup of armaments.1
2. Include the specific information about the source in a footnote at the bottom of the page OR an endnote at the end of the paper. The page reference refers to specific location in the work where the information is found.
3. The format for footnotes or endnotes is as follows (you may use italics rather than underlining, but do not use both):
1Murray Feshback and Albert Friendly, Ecocide in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia (New York: Basic Books, 1992), p. 3.
2Wilfred Lang, "Legal Aspects of Transboundary Pollution in Europe," in Joan Debardeleben, (ed). To Breath Free: Eastern Europe's Environmental Crisis (Baltimore, MD: John's Hopkins University Press, 1992), p. 125.
3James B. Sullivan. "Technology Transfer: The Climate Change Challenge," Journal of Environment & Development. Vol. 1, No. 1 (Summer, 1992), p. 123.
4Christian Science Monitor, November 13, 1996, p. 19.
5 United States Department of State, "Pakistan," 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/pakistan.html
4. You may also include a bibliography of the works you have cited using the format suggested for citation system of references (see above). In a relatively short paper such a bibliography is not necessary unless the instructor requires one.
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Last revised: 12/31/02