A VISUAL GUIDE TO ORGANIZING YOUR PAPERS

 

Suggestions for Introduction:
  • Discuss related history
  • Use an anecdote
  • Use a provocative quotation
  • Ask a rhetorical question
  • Relate a dramatic episode
  • Use wit, humor (if appropriate)










  • Does your title capture your reader's interest?
  • Does it hint at the direction of your subject matter?



















Suggestions for Conclusion:
  • Suggest a larger pattern
  • Use a "clinching" quotation
  • Draw inferences from your presentation of ideas
  • Look forward and make predictions
  • Suggest solutions, resolutions





Reminders:
  • A thesis sets forth the main idea of your paper; a topic sentence sets forth the main idea of your paragraph.
  • An effective thesis has an "edge" to it, one that arouses your reader's interest.
  • Tailor it to the scope of your issue, not to a multi-volume set