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The best way to revise your work is to read the paper aloud after a waiting period. If you are not using a word processor that moves your material around for you, avoid the necessity of recopying your work by using scissors to cut out material that belongs elsewhere. Be sure to cut out, or move in your word processor, any documentation that belongs with the passage you are moving. Simply tape the whole insert where it belongs; you may need to cut that page in order to insert the interpolated material. It is essential that you keep the footnote or parenthetical reference with the material it do...

There are several reasons why, before you begin to do your research, it is important to prepare a preliminary bibliography even though it will include books you will never see or use. 1. You must be sure that adequate information on the subject is available to you and that your thesis is not hackneyed. 2. You must allow time to order any pertinent published materials that you may need to obtain through the interlibrary loan service. There is often a nominal charge for postage, and you should be prepared to wait at least a week. 3. You need to become familiar with the type of res...

The history paper differs from other academic papers because it involves 1) the transformation of facts into evidence, and 2) the transformation of evidence into an argument. The solid history paper will offer insightful interpretations of the evidence. Generally, historical writing involves the analysis of primary or secondary sources. References to the primary sources should be considered chronologically, while references to secondary sources need not be structured in sequential order. Instead, essays on secondary sources should be ordered by ideas and logic. When gathering your histor...

An art history paper differs from a history paper in that the analysis of art involves what you see. What makes writing an essay on art a challenge is the translation of the visual (the painting) into the verbal (your brilliant essay). This translation requires an understanding of the language of the discipline. Look at your assigned reading to find the art jargon that art historians employ or check out art dictionaries. Online art dictionaries also allow you to load up on vocabulary that convinces people you know what you're talking about. Even more preferable than an art dictionary is pickin...

Writing your first paper in Film Studies 101 might feel weird. Unlike a history, science, or English paper, but similar to an art history paper, a paper on film requires that you comment on what you see instead of what evidence you read. Because a film's thesis is not clearly delineated, identifying themes and formulating arguments presents a challenge. Here are some questions to consider when analyzing a film sequence: How is camera placement and movement used in the sequence? How does the angle of camera placement (high-angle, low-angle) affect the meaning of individual shots? ...

I heard one professor one time define philosophy this way: "Philosophy involves sitting in a room and deciding there is no such thing as reality and then going to lunch. You should major in philosophy if you plan to take a lot of drugs." Since neither your professor nor you accept this position, you should lay off the drugs and learn how to write a solid philosophy paper. Philosophy papers revolve around arguments—making them and analyzing them. When you make an argument in a philosophy paper, every premise must be explained and every step of logic must be guided. Because these new argument...

The history paper differs from other academic papers because it involves 1) the transformation of facts into evidence, and 2) the transformation of evidence into an argument. The solid history paper will offer insightful interpretations of the evidence. Generally, historical writing involves the analysis of primary or secondary sources. References to the primary sources should be considered chronologically, while references to secondary sources need not be structured in sequential order. Instead, essays on secondary sources should be ordered by ideas and logic. When gathering your histor...

Finding a topic that will interest you, one that is worth your time to investigate and one for which you will have the necessary time and materials, is an extremely important step in writing the research paper. You need not be familiar with a subject before doing research on it, but you should have some interest in the general area it involves because you will be working with that subject for a long period of time. When the general subject is not assigned by your instructor, you can usually find one by examining your own interests, your background, or the other courses you are studying. The...

There is always more than one way of accomplishing any task, and doing research is no exception. After much trial and error, the experienced researcher usually arrives at some system that has proved itself to be the best for him or her. However the individual systems may vary, there are ten basic steps that provide a logical method for research. They result in an ease of procedure for the researcher, the ultimate economy of time and effort, the assurance that comes from following a time-tested procedure, accuracy in the result, and the most universal acceptance by examining scholars. As you pr...

Research is the disciplined process of investigating and seeking facts that will lead one to discover the truth about something. This truth, stated as one's thesis,* is a result of the facts one discovers, and it must be proved conclusively to the reader by the facts selected. The thesis may not be a statement of preconceived opinion or prejudice, nor may the paper be a stringing together of related quotations and a collection of footnotes. The research paper, a formal presentation of these discovered facts, provides the evidence one needs to defend the opinion expressed as the thesis. Cons...