Lecture #3-A:
How to write a great paper.
by Darcy A. Santor | June 2022
Writing is one of the most painful, time-consuming, and important activities that you will have to tackle while at school. But it is really important. Papers count for about 30 percent of your grade in most courses, which means you should be spending about 30% of your time working the paper – that’s about 3 hours a week.
But, it is easy to put off and avoid. In fact, some students actively avoid courses in which they are required to write. Why wouldn’t you? After all there are so many other things to do that are more enjoyable and far less taxing.
Whether you are writing a paper for a course or making a video, or just trying to persuade someone to your way of thinking, writing is how you find your voice and clarify what you think.
In this course, we will take you through the entire process of writing, from selecting a topic to doing the research, crafting your arguments and polishing your prose. You will be introduced to the strategies to ensure that you avoid plagiarism and the 20 most common mistakes that first-year students make.
We will provide you with example papers that illustrate how to develop a thesis statement and structure an argument. You will also be given a firsthand demonstration in class on how to write every section of a typical paper at university.
Every week, you will be given a small manageable activity (e.g., select a topic, find 10 papers, extract the research), which when taken together will add up to a finished paper in just 10 classes. You will be provided detailed feedback and then be provided with the opportunity to fix what needs to be fixed and re-submit.
Resources: Please download the worksheet before the seminar and complete the surveys after the seminar.
