Have you ever started writing one of most important term papers in your semester and got stuck right after turning on the computer? I, guess, most students experience theses feelings at least several times during their school life. This article is to help them to avoid these unpleasant and not very exiting feelings.
The process of writing a term paper is complex enough and should be understood properly, before getting started. Let’s look at it step by step, in order not to miss important points.
The first and one of the most important steps is to choose the subject for your term paper. If the school does not give you the concrete subject it can become a problem, because there is great number of topics all around you, which seems to be suitable enough for writing, but it is very important to choose the BEST one. The word “best” is a wide concept, so let’s see what it includes: first of all the topic of the term paper should be interesting and understandable for you. The second characteristic of the “best” topic is its narrowness. You have to make sure that the topic is not very wide, because in this case you might lose your focus, and the teacher will not get your point. At the same time, if the topic is too narrow you might find you have nothing to write about.
In order to choose the topic, you should read the text book several times very carefully and then choose the question which really interests you and which you want to meditate upon. The term paper requires you to show how you can examine the subject and to prove your point, so go ahead, show what you can! It is helpful when the topic is stated as the question, then you have what to look for!
The next step is to choose sources. In order to provide relevant and right information in your term paper, you have to research several sources. It is good to compare the information and write only the facts that you know for sure, then you will definitely have no problem proving your idea to the teacher if the questions will appear. You have to be sure that your sources are not too old (well, of course if the paper does not require using some historical sources).
After you have read through ALL your sources organize the ideas in your head. Make it clear for yourself how these ideas should flow in your term paper, one by one. It is good to make notes of your ideas. When writing notes do not forget to notice the sources from which you have taken the ideas. It will help to save time in the future. You will not need to go back to the source to check if it is the one used. When choosing the ideas from the sources, be sure not to misunderstand the writer and not to misinform the audience. You have to include ideas that both support and deny the idea you research in order to open your question as clear as possible.
After you are done with your notes, make an outline of your term paper. Organize the notes by topics and put them in the right order. The more detailed will be the outline the easier it will be for you to write the paper.
When writing the term paper, follow the outline. Make sure to open all points mentioned in the outline. It is important to fulfill this formula: firstly, say what you want to say; then, at the end, repeat what you have said. This will make the audience to absorb and to understand all the information.
The last but not the least is proofreading and revising the paper. When you reread the paper try to look at it critically as if you are a teacher. Make your paper sound good; take away vague and unnecessary words, because they often take away the attention from the other more important things.
The term paper requires a lot of serious work try to show the teacher that you have really carefully researched your question and know everything about it. I can tell for sure that if you will follow all the steps described above, you will have no problem writing and defending your term paper.
