A strong term paper can only be defined by the quality of the writing and argument. Since this project is usually the culminating activity that proves whether or not a student understood the course, it is important that the project is done to the best of the student’s ability. There are several qualities that can determine whether the writing is weak or strong. These are eight ideas that will help your final project be something that the instructor can give a good grade to:
Each writing assignment needs to a have an argumentative thesis statement that guides the focus of the project. The writing assignment needs to consistently refer back to the thesis. If it strays from the focus, the assignment will not be successful - it will immediately become weak. The thesis can be referenced in each topic sentence and the content of each paragraph should refer to the topic sentence in that paragraph.
The thesis should be well developed to be defined as “strong.” This is done paragraph by paragraph with the content used in the sentences. In each paragraph, you need to include include plenty of support for your point. The support needs to be cited and explained so the reader knows how the information supports the argument you are making. When the project is strong, the reader should not have any questions by the time he is finished reading it.
Every writing assignment is meant to have an audience and when you craft a term paper, you should be aware of your audience. It should be more than just your instructor. It is important that your project does not show any bias towards readers who might be from a different background than you are. Your work should include appropriate language and enough context clues and citations so your reader can fully understand the terminology that you are using.
The assignment needs to be organized per the required style. This means that you might need a methodology section, a literature review section, and a collection of appendices. It is vital that you look closely at the requirements and organize it exactly the way you should. Along with meeting the style requirements, you should also develop your term paper based on the strengths of the argument.
The difference between a strong project and a weak project is the voice that you use while writing. A weak project would be writing in a conversational style and filled with idioms. A strong assignment would be written in a professional style using the appropriate terminology for the topic. There should not be any text-lingo or unnecessary abbreviations. It should be written in the 3rd person and not include any first- or second-person pronouns.
Your sources should be cited correctly and included in the bibliography. There is no reason to include sources that you did not cite in your project. Your instructor will notice these errors and you will lose points because of it.
Strong writing assignments are proofed and edited thoroughly. There should not be any mistakes that can be easily caught. Every letter that should be capitalized, should be capitalized. Every piece of punctuation should be properly used. Even the cited text should be formatted correctly.
Whether you are using MLA, APA, Chicago Style, or another formatting option, you should follow all of the rules exactly as they are described. The headings should be perfect, as well as the title page, and the content of the term paper. Since there are plenty of style guides available, there is no excuse for mistakes in formatting.