Writing A Term Paper
What is an essay or term paper?
 A piece of academic writing that contains an argument or
claim.
 An argument is a coherent series of statements that are based
on some premise and which lead to a conclusion and which is
generally intended to persuade
 A Claim, in academic terms, is something that is asserted to
be true or valid, and which must be based on factual
evidence. Academics critically analyse and evaluate the
evidence upon which claims are based.
 This means it must address an issue or raise a question and
present the appropriate data or information to illustrate it in
a logical sequence, and then analyse and comment on it
critically
Because it is an argument, an essay, has a definite structure
 Introduction
•The what/who; what when; where, of the general topic and
specific focus of the essay
•The why and how, the central issue, claim or question
addressed, and the aims and outline structure -- .A statement
of the argument and an indication of the evidence you intend
to marshal in support of it
Conclusion..
• refers back to the introduction - how the aims were met.
• a summary of the argument and the subsidiary arguments used
to demonstrate it.
•limitations of the present work
•suggestions or recommendations for future study or research
Body
Scene Setting
•the presentation and analysis of that evidence
•The theoretical context/background to the question/issue
raised, which may include ideas or hypotheses or reference to
previous research as well as fully-fledged theories.
•The situational context/background section will specify the
who/what/where/when/how /why and show the link between
the theory etc. chosen and any practical applications or
provide the historical context within which the theory
evolved.
•The rationale or justification for the links between the
theoretical and situational contexts need to be given.
•Examples
Analysis/ explanation
•an examination of the results or outcomes or changes including the expected and unexpected - in detail,
•a comparison between theories/theory and practice,
predicted and actual results.
•This may include discussion of/comparison/contrast with
similar studies or different approaches (theory or
practice) with reference to other writers'
experience/theories and your own deductions/inferences
based on the previous sections
Evaluation
•discussing problems and remedies, whether they exist in the
theory (theories) or in practice or in both and what contribution
they make to understanding and knowledge (to what extent the
theory was able to predict practice/how far practice followed the
theoretical guidelines);
•the need to modify or adapt the theory or methods of
application;
•any areas ignored by the theory/research or any imbalance
(perhaps gender bias) of emphasis or application, all leading to
suggestions and recommendations in the conclusion
Introduction and Conclusion –10-15%
Scene Setting – 50% maximum for purely descriptive elements
Analysis and Evaluation – 30% minimum
Selecting a Topic
Anthropology of Art
too broad
The Art of Africa – An anthropological approach
too broad
The Art of the Dogon – An anthropological approach
just right
The Art of the Dogon between 1750 and 1880
too narrow
Anthropology Encyclopedias
GN307 .E57 1996
Encyclopedia of social and cultural anthropology
Barnard, Alan (Alan J.)
GN307 .E53 1996
Encyclopedia of cultural anthropology
Levinson, David, 1947GN25 .C66 1994
Companion encyclopedia of anthropology
Ingold, Tim, 1948-
GN307 .W56 1991
Dictionary of concepts in cultural anthropology
Winthrop, Robert H.
GN11 .S49 1986
Macmillan dictionary of anthropology
Seymour-Smith, Charlotte.
Turn the topic into a Question
The cultural construction of Gender
Is gender a cultural construction?
 provides focus and direction. When you have a
question you are forced to answer it, and forced to come
to some conclusion.
 an argument is a reply to a question whether implicit
or explicit
Analyse the Question
 Helps to maintain topic focus
 Helps make your note taking more efficient.
 the structure of your essay emerges from the analysis of the
question.
Brainstorming. Think of as many other related questions as you
can
•alternatives
•opposites
•definitions
•implications
•exceptions
•qualifications
•comparisons
•examples
•who, what, where, when, and why
The cultural construction of Gender – Is Gender culturally
constructed?
What is gender?
Why gender and not sex?
What does cultural construction mean?
Why cultural instead of, say biological?
Who says it’s a cultural construction
Is gender constructed?
If so how is it constructed?
What are the theories of gender construction?
What are some examples?
What are the implications of gender being culturally constructed?
Is there anything else that’s culturally constructed such as race?
The Essay Plan
Write down all you know about the topic.
Put the questions in some sort of order
Consider the type of writing - description, comparison,
theoretical, case study etc.
Key argument/issues/questions
Time frame – reading, writing, downtime,
Select a working title
Research
Before you begin your research, or when you begin a fresh
research session, quickly read over the essay topic and your
plan to refresh yourself about what it is you’re looking for.
Begin Research Early
Sources of Information
•encyclopedias
•Introductory texts
•Internet
•Books
•standard works
•Reading lists
•Bibliographies
•Periodicals
•Library catalogues
•Archives
work up a reading list or bibliography
of potential sources of information.
Resources
Anthropology Index Online
http://aio.anthropology.org.uk/aio/AIO.html
Anthropological Plus
Article First
(JSTOR)
Electronic archive of many journals
Coverage begins at start of each journal and stops within 3-5
years of the present.
Provides full text of journals.
eHRAF
Bibliography of Native North Americans
Ingenta
•Indexes articles from some 20,000 journals in all
disciplines.
• Coverage is from 1988 to the present.
• Tables of contents of journals are e-mailed as each
issue is published.
• Alert searches are run against new records and emailed each time database is updated.
• Provides document ordering at user's cost
Social Sciences Citation Index H83 .S642 2000
Social Sciences Abstracts (Wilson)
•Indexes and abstracts articles from 400+ Englishlanguage periodicals from a broad array of social sciences
disciplines.
• Coverage is from 1983 to the present with abstracts
from 1994 to present.
Sociological Abstracts
•Indexes and abstracts articles from 400+ Englishlanguage periodicals from a broad array of social
sciences disciplines.
• Coverage is from 1983 to the present with abstracts
from 1994 to present.
Academic Search Premier
•Provides coverage of some 4300 periodicals with fulltext of some 2600 peer-reviewed scholarly publications
covering many academic areas of study, including social
sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences,
engineering, language and linguistics, arts & literature,
medical sciences, and ethnic studies.
• Coverage varies with the journal, with some going back
to the 1970's, but many not starting until the 1990's.
• Includes fulltext articles
• Includes image collection of photos of people, places,
history, natural science, maps, and flags.
Assess the text
Skimming
Scanning
Index
Reading in Depth
read critically
Does what the author say make sense?
What premises is his or her argument based on?
What is the context in which the argument is presented,
especially important if it is an older text.
What is the main point the author is trying to make?
Has he or she made it successfully and supported it with
appropriate examples and illustrations.
Is the author saying something new or just synthesizing the
ideas of others?
Does what he or she have to say agree or contradict what
other authors you have read say.
Taking Notes
1. Know what kind of ideas you need to record
2. Don't write down too much
•
record only ideas that are relevant to your focus on
the topic; and they will mostly summarize rather than
quote.
•
Copy out exact words only when the ideas are
memorably phrased or surprisingly expressed--when
you might use them as actual quotations in your essay
•
Otherwise, compress ideas in your own words.
Paraphrasing word by word is a waste of time.
Choose the most important ideas and write them
down as labels or headings. Then fill in with a few
subpoints that explain or exemplify
•
Don't depend on underlining and highlighting. Find
your own words for notes in the margin
3. Label your notes intelligently
 record bibliographic information in a master list when you
begin looking at each source.
 Use authors name and brief title/date on tye cards or
sheets you take the actual notes on
 Try as far as possible to put notes on separate cards or
sheets. This will let you label the topic of each note.
 label the topic of each note.
 Leave lots of space in your notes for comments of your
own -- questions and reactions as you read
 Put page numbers in the margin for direct quotes and
paraphrases
Writing
Order your notes
Write an outline of the argument
Be Objective
•Since the aim of an essay is to persuade, it requires presenting a
well-reasoned argument rather than an appeal to emotion
•Don’t omit contrary opinions or facts
•Don’t fail to support opinions with facts, and
•Don’t use emotive language
Avoid colloquialisms
Signpost
•using a word or phrase that informs the reader the point in the
argument he or she has reached or the direction it is taking.
•There are three major difficulties with the functionalist
approach to understanding society’
Use subheadings
The First Draft
The primary purpose of the first draft is to get your ideas into some
coherent order—to fashion your essay into an argument.
Polishing it comes later.
Do it quickly
leave it for a day or two.
Edit the rough draft
are the points made relevant?
is it on topic?
does it fully answer the question?
is the argument logical?
are the points in the ‘right’ order and supported with examples?
is it convincing?
is it the right length
Read through your essay with cohesion in mind. Is the
relationship between one paragraph and the next clear?
The Second Draft
The purpose of the second draft is to achieve clarity—saying
what you mean.
•Are the sentences in each paragraph are ordered logically
•Are the sentences grammatically correct including ensuring
that they are actually sentences.
•Delete any repetitive or extraneous material
•Ensure paragraphs are linked and that the essay flows
easily
•Ensure that the style is appropriate and consistent
The third draft
The third draft is for editing and polishing.
•Here you want to make sure that you’ve used the right word
in the right place;
•that there are no spelling mistakes;
•that the essay says exactly what you want it to say, and does so
concisely and clearly.
Tips
Tip: If you know it’s going to take several days to write your essay,
leave yourself a note at the end of each session about the direction
you intended the argument to take. This way you can pick up where
you left off. If you’re using a computer leave a symbol, such as an
asterisk, so that you can go immediately to the spot where you left
off by using the find facility.
Tip: Use a thesaurus and dictionary to ensure that you are using the
right word.
Tip: If you’re using a computer print out a copy of the second draft
and edit it on paper. You will be surprised at how much you will
pick up by seeing it in a different format.
Tip: To ensure that the material you are presenting has relevance
put yourself in the reader’s place and ask yourself ‘why is the
author telling me this’. If the knowledge is not essential to the
argument then perhaps it should be eliminated.
Tip: Keep deleted sentences and paragraphs in a separate file or at
the end of your document. You may find later that something you
have deleted is actually worth including. Before beginning the final
edit, read through your essay and the deleted material to see if it
contains any relevant information that needs to be included.
Tip Don’t forget to make backup copies of your essay on floppy
disks as well as on the hard disk. You might also consider making a
copy in straight text format in case your computer crashes in which
case you can use almost any computer to complete it.
Tip When you begin to write try and ensure that you have a
minimum of two uninterrupted hours, otherwise you’ll find that you
have to stop just when you’re getting into it.
Tip: If you get stuck and don’t know what to write next. Try:
•taking a break
•working on a different part of the essay
•talking about the difficulty with a friend. The solution often
occurs to you when you verbally state the problem.
•Going back to your plan
Tip: Learn to use the split-screen facility of your word processor. (Or
keep two documents open simultaneously.) You may find it easier to
cut and paste large chunks of text.
Tip: learn to use your word processor’s shortcut keys in order to
manoeuvre around your document—especially how to go to the
beginning and end of your document and to the previous insertion
point.
Tip: Put your essay aside for a few days give it a friend, relative or
partner to read.
Tip: Tell a friend or relative what the argument of your essay is, or
what it is that you’re trying to say. Then copy it down and use it for
your introduction. By verbalizing your argument you tend to say it
in simpler terms making it clear to both you and your reader. By
telling a friend you force yourself to make a clear statement of it.
Tip. Read your essay out loud.
The Elements of Style by William Strunk
http://coba.shsu.edu/help/strunk/
To present a coherent, clearly-worded essay based on research, you
need to be able to:

determine what the question asks,

plan the essay,

know where to find the relevant information,

know how to extract that information by reading critically,
•
with purpose, and by taking notes,

critically analyse the issues,

argue a case,

structure the information and your ideas logically,

express your ideas with clarity,

edit your writing and present your work professionally,

be original,

focus on the topic consistently, and,

manage your time.