How to Write a Paper

Compiled from many sources; revised by L. Thornton, made into powerpoint by J. Pound, and shamlessly made “pretty”

by C. Murphy

The Title

Vital because it is the reader’s first impression. CLARITY IS ESSENTIAL

Three to avoidThe title of the work: “Hamlet” or

“Shakespeare’s Hamlet”“An Analysis (or Discussion or Interpretation,

etc.) of Hamlet”The creative title that means something to you

but not to the reader: “She Loves Him, She Loves Him Not”

How to develop a good Title

Think about the title while working on the paper

Brainstorm and generate a list of possibilities

It MUST contain:AuthorWorkTopic

Examples of Effective titles

Fathers and Sons in Shakespeare’s Hamlet Fate vs. Choice in Shakespeare’s Romeo and

Juliet Use a phrase from the work that is related to

your topic or that appears in a key passage and add a subtitle with the required author/title/topic “A Little More than Kin”: Fathers and Sons in Hamlet

Be creative AND keep the required elementsShe Loves Him, She Loves Him Not: Dido’s Changing

Love for Aeneas in Virgil’s The Aeneid

The Introduction

Yes, they are hard to writeHow do you introduce something you have

not written yet when you do not know what it is you are going to say?

It can either draw the reader in or turn the reader off

The IntroductionDO NOT

Make the mistake of trying to write it firstTurn the reader off by making a general,

sweeping, trite openingBegin with a “since the beginning of time”

openingExample: “Throughout history, fathers and sons

have had complicated relationships.”

Begin with the thesis. (The thesis is the LAST SENTENCE!)

The Introduction: How to BeginEasiest:1-3 sentences of summary about the play,

novel, passageOne sentence thesis at the end

Harder: Quotation

“A little more than kin, and less than kind.” Hamlet’s first words immediately draw attention to the nature of his relationship with his step-father, Claudius.

The Introduction: How to Begin

Hardest: A Brief Example or Anecdote (BE CAREFUL!! THIS MAY LEAD TO PLOT SUMMARY)

Having only recently seen off Laertes with his blessing and with advice about the virtues of honesty, Polonius hires one of his sons friends to spread false rumors about Laertes’ behavior that he might “by indirections find directions out” (3.2.72). Such deception, however, is common to the father-son relationships in Hamlet.”

The Thesis

Last sentence of your introductory paragraph (my preference)

One sentence (my preference)

Stated with enough clarity and economy that the reader knows EXACTLY what the paper will argue

Do not confuse the topic with the thesisTopic: The paper’s subject Thesis: The paper’s argument about the

subject

Bad Example #1: “Hamlet contains many father-son relationships.” Yeah, SO?Ask: “Is this a statement with which someone

could reasonably disagree?

Bad Example #2: “By examining the various father-son relationships in Hamlet, we can determine Shakespeare’s views about them.”What ARE Shakespeare’s views? What will your examination of the play’s

father-son relationships reveal?

It is not necessary to announce your thesis with such expressions as “This paper will argue” or “In this paper I will show that”.

Three characteristics of a good thesis Non-trivial, something that must be PROVENClearly expressed so that the reader knows

exactly what you are trying to proveFairly specific

A road map of the body of the paper

The Body Paragraphs

Your excellent thesis provided a road map

The body MUST FOLLOW the map

Lead the reader through your argument, step by step

Body Paragraphs

Four features of body paragraphs

Paragraph unity

Paragraph transitions

Paragraph coherence or “flow”

Paragraph development

Paragraph Unity

Each paragraph must make a single, main point

DO NOT shift topicsDisunity frustrates readers

What am I supposed to be getting out of this?What point is the writer making?What am I supposed to be looking for?

Since your teacher is your reader, it is best to avoid frustrating him or her.

Paragraph UnityThe expression of that single, main point is

made in the topic sentence, which is the first sentence of the paragraph (my rule)Work at writing an explicit topic sentence for

every paragraphAsk “What is the point that I want to make in

this paragraph? What is it, exactly, that I am trying to say?”

During revision, make sure that EVERY sentence in the paragraph relates to the single, main point made in the topic sentence

Paragraph Transitions

The topic sentence must establish a transition from the previous paragraph

Relate main point of the new paragraph relate to the main point of the previous one

Chronological structureGood idea for your paperBad idea for your transitions/argumentReview transitional words/phrases

Paragraph TransitionsNo Paragraph Transitions

Thesis

BP 1

BP 2

BP 3

Paragraph TransitionsGood Paragraph Transitions

Thesis

BP 1

BP 2

BP 3

Paragraph Transitions

Each paragraph relates to thesisEach paragraph relates to other

paragraphsTransitions make it possible for your

READER (me ) to follow your ideas and argument

Paragraph Coherence or “Flow”

How you move from sentence to sentence within a paragraph

ClarityGrammatical

Sentence StructureVerb Tense

IdeasRelated to the topic sentenceRelated to sentences before and after

Paragraph Coherence or “Flow”

Avoid the machine gun styleEach sentence fires a new but self-contained

bullet of informationRelationship between each bullet unclear to

the reader“Choppy”Turns into plot summaryArgument is lostReader must become “mind reader”

Paragraph Development

Main point spelled out clearly and thoroughlyWithin the topic sentence—first sentence of the

paragraph

Main point supported with good textual evidenceQuotesParaphrasing (if directed by your teacherChoose the best evidence: that which most directly

proves your pointCut ALL text evidence that does NOT support your

point

Paragraph Development

How many quotes? It depends!You must examine your CLAIM (thesis)

If you claim that something is true throughout the work, then your proof must come from several places

Seldom will one quote sufficiently prove your point (except for TAKS)

Generally more is better (I like three)

Paragraph Development

Incorporating quotesGive adequate context for the quotation

Where within the story the quote occursWho is speakingWhat, exactly, is happening at this point

Paragraph DevelopmentIntegrate the quotation smoothly into your

own prose (words)Grammatically correct

Commas

Quotation mark

Syntactically correct No fragments or run-ons

Stylistically correctMLA format

Author and page number after the sentence, before the period.

Paragraph Development

EXPLAIN your quotes/paraphrase/proofWhat the quotation showsHow it supports or illustrates your pointDO NOT assume your reader is following your

logic