You should follow certain writing conventions. First, your paper should be well written. I have delineated what I mean by well written in the first section of this paper. Second, I would like you to follow the technical writing format described in the second section of this paper. Technical writers have developed a plethora of tricks to make writing simple and reading easy.  Outlined in the second section of this paper are some of these tricks. Third, please use APA style for your references. This style is described in various writing style manuals that you should own by now, if not you can either acquire one from the book store or use one in the Writing Center. Feel free to use the Writing Center consultants or trusted friends to help you with your writing. Your editors should stick to grammatical errors and issues related to style. The ideas presented should be yours and yours alone.
 

The following list of "Criteria of Good Writing" was developed by Mary Washington Faculty (Drs. Bill, Ferrell, Huller, Hanna, Manning, & Wishner) at a Writing Intensive Retreat a couple of years ago. These criteria make good sense and I hope that they prove useful to you.

1) Adherence to the assigned task.

2) Clear, sufficient, but limited purpose

3) Solid development of the paper's purpose or thesis, with relevant and ample supporting details.

4) Freshness of thought

5) Focus (no wandering from the papers purpose or thesis)

6) Organization suitable to the task

7) Straightforward, clear style.

8) Standard use of language, punctuation, etc.

Most of the time, you will not use the word "this" without an immediate referent, i.e. instead of writing "from this I conclude" you would write "from this approach I conclude," or "from this research I conclude," or "from this theory I conclude." While it may be possible to effectively use "this" to refer to something presented earlier in a sentence or in a paragraph, often there are more than one possible referents that the "this" might imply. If you are going to use "this" without an immediate referent, please make sure that there is only one referent for the "this". If you are not sure, play it safe and use a referent.

Please use nonsexist pronouns. In other words, use he/she or her/his, instead of he or his. If the gender of the person you are referring to is obvious, then of course you should use the appropriate gender pronoun.

Please do not use plastic report covers. A cover page and a staple on the top left corner will suffice. This approach makes managing a large quantity of papers easier.

Finally, papers should be typed and double-spaced. The double spacing gives more room to write editorial comments.
 

The format that I expect is a typical technical writing format. This approach includes an introduction to the topic and to the paper itself, breaks the paper up into sections and subsections, uses headings and subheadings to highlight key areas, and uses a summary/conclusion section to tie the sections together. Tables and graphs may be incorporated to expedite presentation of lists and to present data. In the rest of this section, the format is described in more detail.
 

Introductions

       An introduction to a term paper should do at least four things in sequence. First, it should introduce the reader to the topic or thesis of the paper. The writer should not assume that the audience has previous knowledge of the topic. Therefore, present salient definitions regarding the topic early. Specifically, present a brief description of the topic area and relevant definitions in the opening paragraphs. References should be used to illustrate that the definitions and/or descriptions presented are ones commonly accepted by the researchers/writers in the particular field of study.

Second, some where in the introduction the writer should present specific studies (study results, theories or models) that are relevant to the thesis -- again, use references to document the information you present. If the writer is particularly skilled, entwining the specific studies with the definitions/descriptions noted above will enhance the paper. The specific studies presented should set the stage for a discussion of the problems your paper will explore or the thesis you intend to present.

Third, in the introduction, the writer should not talk about solutions nor draw conclusions regarding the thesis or "problem". A simple statement of the thesis or evident problem is sufficient. At this early point in the paper the purpose is to inform the reader of the situation, i.e. presenting the "symptoms," not a "diagnosis," a proposed "treatment," nor a probable "prognosis." To quote Dragnet's Sergeant Joe Friday: "All we're interested in are the facts." Also, it is best to save the brilliant but subtle insights to present in the body of the paper, where there is more room to effectively explain them and to provide supporting evidence.

Fourth, you want to entice the reader by telling them why exploration of this topic could prove beneficial. To accomplish this task the writer should present the specific thesis or problems explored in the paper. The final facet of the introduction should introduce the reader to the paper. The writer should tell the reader what to expect in the rest of the paper. Three of the questions the reader should expect to have answered in this section of the introduction include:
 

1) What is the purpose of the current paper?

2) How is it organized?

3) If the reader continues to read this document what will be presented?

Finally, the last sentence of the introduction should provide an easy transition to the first section of the paper.
 

Sections and Subsections

     Papers are easier to read and understand if you break them into manageable chunks, i.e. sections and subsections. Just as a paragraph should contain one and only one idea, a section should contain one particular facet of the topic you are exploring. In this paper, the variety of topics related to paper format are encapsulated in a section on format and the section on "Format" into subsections on "Introductions," "Sections and Subsections", "Headings and Subheadings", "Summary and/or Conclusions" and "Tables, Graphs and Lists". Note that in the paragraph introducing this section I told you (the reader) that these were the topics would be presented.

    Within the paper, organize sections in such a way that the reader is building understanding of the area as he/she reads. Often, it is easiest to organize your sections by how much you have to say about a given topic. Typically, the more you have to say about a given facet of your topic the more important that particular facet is to your presentation of the topic. Sometimes, however, the various facets of a topic have a "built-in" order, i.e. it is impossible to write about "B" until you have effectively explained "A". In these cases, even if you have a lot more to say about "B" than "A", "A" must come first.

    Sections, themselves, are easier to read if you further organize them into subsections. As I noted earlier, tackling a topic by breaking it into "digestible" bits greatly facilitates the ease with which a reader can assimilate the logic and structure of the your paper. In particularly long sections, like this one, an introductory paragraph that introduces the reader to the section may be useful.
 

     Headings and Subheadings     Headings and subheadings, using underlined (or "bolded") titles, to introduce a section and indented titles like this one to introduce subsections, help the reader understand the way you have structured the paper and to organize the material in the way you intended. Headings and subheadings also make it easier to keep track of where the reader is in the paper and to return to a particular section or subsection if (when!) interrupted. Thinking about the reader's task and making your paper "user-friendly" can go a long way to increasing the accessibility of your logic and understanding of your thesis. Headings and subheading are like menus and sub-menus in a computer program, they make the users/readers work easier. Sub-subheadings may occasionally be appropriate. Table one illustrates two approaches to the use of multiple levels of headings, subheadings and sub-subheadings that you may find helpful as you write your term paper. You may use either approach or one of your own. If you develop your own make sure it is consistent throughout your paper.

Summary and/or Conclusions

     The final section of your paper will be your reference section. However, the final part of the body of your paper should be either a summary section, where you highlight the key points of the entire paper, or a conclusion section where you present to the readers your conclusions. A "Summary and Conclusions" section is also an alternative. Here you start by highlighting key points from the various sections, draw them together if appropriate and then present to the reader your conclusions or "what next" proposals.

Tables, Figures and Lists

    Tables, figures, and lists are particularly useful when attempting to present a lot of detailed information, to illustrate data, to graphically portray a relationship between variables, to graphically present a conceptual model, or to summarize key points. Table one is an example of the use of a table to present essential points discussed else where in the paper. Figure 1 is a graphic displaying the outline of this document. Illustrated earlier in this document are two approaches to lists.

    There are a number of different rules regarding Tables and Figures and these rules vary a little bit from one style to another. I am not going to be a stickler on the format you use for Tables and Figures for this paper, but I would recommend that you use either APA or MLA style just for the practice. However, please try to integrate the tables and figures in the body of the paper, instead of attaching them to the back.
 

     I have tried to highlight most of the important points I can think of regarding my term paper assignment. Stated briefly:
 

1) In introductions: Tell'm what you're goin' to tell'm!  And how you will structure the tale!

2) In the body of the paper: Tell'm in as clear, and straight forward a way as possible!  Be Consistent in style and use sections and subsections with clear headings and subheadings.

3) In the summary/conclusion section: Tell'm you told'm!  Reiterate key points and themes, identify weaknesses and future directions.
 

Click here if you find writing harder than calculus!

Approach one

Paper titles should be centered and underlined

Introduction starts below the title as in this paper.

Section headings

Section titles are underlined and set one line above the first line of the opening paragraph.

Subsection headings  Subsection headings are indented, underlined, and then separated from the first sentence by a set amount of space. The amount of space may vary from paper to paper but should be consistent within the paper.

• Sub-sub section headings - are often not set apart from the sentence they precede. There is a variety of approaches to sub-subsection headings. The "bullet" approach I've used here is common in industry, but very uncommon in journal articles.
 

 

Approach two

PAPER TITLES ARE DONE IN

ALL CAPITAL LETTERS AND NOT UNDERLINED

Introduction starts below the title and describes why the topic is important, as well as the outline of the paper.

Section headings

Section headings are underlined and set two lines above the first line of the opening paragraph and three lines below the last sentence of the last paragraph.

Subsection headings

Subsection headings are underlined and set one line above the first line of the opening paragraph, and two lines below last paragraph.

Sub-sub section headings        Subsection headings are indented and underlined and then separated from the first sentence by a set amount of space. The amount of space may vary from paper to paper, but it should be consistent within the paper.