term paper for American history class
ahmed98
GuidetoWritingTermPapers.docxGuide to Writing Term Papers – Dr. Prince
Getting Started
1. Choose something you are interested in! Writing over topics you loathe only makes the assignment unbearable. Instead, find a topic that interests you.
2. Begin finding sources now! Everything needs to come from the OSU Library: www.library.okstate.edu.
3. Prove everything – your paper should focus on the source material. You will construct an argument, but remember that you need to prove everything you write.
4. Save the thesis for last! Write about what you find in the movie/book and your sources first. Then see what you have proved.
5. With the thesis, set up your paper’s argument. Introduce the topic, and tell the reader what you are going to prove.
6. Make an argument – the goal is to compare the fictional movie with the historical reality. Feel free to say the movie is terrible!
7. Find good sources – make sure the sources are relevant – do not just make them fit.
8. If you need help – let me know! I will be more than glad to help with editing, finding sources, comments, etc.
Stylistic Guidelines
1. Write in the third person – No “I,” “We,” “You,” “Us,” or things like that. Write with confidence and authority – in theory, you are proving what you are saying.
2. Use active voice – it makes the paper much more readable. For instance, “The Germans invaded France.” As opposed to “France was invaded by the Germans.” – It sounds better, gets more to the point, and helps keep reader interest.
3. Vary word choice – do not be repetitive, try to vary your words within paragraphs to increase readability. Using a thesaurus is helpful, though do not get to crazy with word usage!
a. Note – this is a freshman paper, so do not worry too much about this.
4. Avoid, or at least use carefully, flowery language – for instance, historically a person “dies” not “passes away.” This is not to say you need to be boring with your language, but rather be sure to convey your meaning at all times
5. Avoid contractions and colloquialisms – the goal is formal academic writing.
6. Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! And did I mention, proofread! Always be sure to finish your paper in enough time that you can read it critically.
Citations
1. Cite everything that is not common knowledge. The old metric was common knowledge was that “George Washington was the first president.” At bare minimum, you should cite at least once per paragraph.
2. Use Turabian style footnotes – the best place to see the appropriate style guidelines is http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html
3. The paper must be cited! Some omissions are understandable, but an uncited paper could be seen as plagiarism.
4. Cite as you go – nothing is worse than having to remove good information because you cannot remember where you got it.
If unsure – refer to the Reading Yesterday, Writing Today part of your textbook.
Remember – to insert a footnote, click where you want the note, then in the header bar of MS Word click: Reference → Insert Footnote. Then, at the note, type the appropriate citation.
