ENG 1002 Writing Resources | R. Rambo Home Page

English Composition 2

Breaking the Paper Down

Writing a college level paper can be an overwhelming assignment especially when it is for an English class. Students will not only be graded on the content of the paper but also for several other aspects including grammar, punctuation, organization, style, and mechanics. I find it less stressful to break the paper down into several phases such as planning, writing, and revising, and I concentrate on one phase at a time.

The planning phase is probably the most important phase of the paper and begins when you receive the assignment. I make sure I understand the assignment before I read the source material. After I read the source material, I start brainstorming ideas for possible main claims. I just write as much as I can down in a notebook and am not concerned with any organization at this point. For example, for my paper on the interpretation of the play Anitgone, I started out writing down specific traits for Creon, who is one of the main characters. That branched out into notes on the underlying reasons of why he possessed those traits, and if his personality affected his actions. I generally spend several days just brainstorming ideas and rereading the source material. The key is to write down as many ideas as possible even if they sound crazy and you think that you may never use them. You may not know what direction your paper will take until you start writing, so it is better to have more options. One method that has helped me is to write down my ideas when they come to me no matter where I am or what I am doing. During this class, I had several ideas come to while I was at work, and I did not have my notebook. I would just make a note of it in my phone and then add it to my notebook later. Once I have ideas for several claims, I reread the story and look for specific evidence that supports each claim. The strongest claims will have the most supporting evidence, and your thesis should be based upon one of these claims. This is how and when I typically develop my thesis. Another important aspect of the planning phase continues into the other phases and that is time management. This is crucial in developing a strong paper, and I suggest that you look at your calendar and set up specific times when you will work on your paper. You may have to sacrifice some things to create time, but a rushed paper will not be the best paper that you can write. After I have gathered all my ideas and evidence from the planning phase, I move into the writing phase.

The writing phase typically begins with organizing the jumbled mess of notes from the previous phase. I do this by going through each note and labeling it to correspond with the intended body paragraph. This was helpful during the assignment of comparing multiple stories (James Joyce's "Eveline," Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," and Luis Valdez's Los Vendidos) surrounding the theme of conformity and rebellion. On the left margin before each note, I wrote down "EC" which stood for "Eveline's conformity." This let me know later that this particular note was intended for my body paragraph that explained Eveline's conformity. The next note may have been "ER" for "Eveline's rebellion," or "LC" for "The Lottery's conformity." After all the notes and quotes are labeled, I begin an outline for the body paragraphs. The top lines are the main points of each paragraph. Underneath each main line, I add several subpoints and any quotes that will be included in that paragraph. For example, for my paper on T. Coraghessan Boyle's short story "The Love of My Life," the top line for my first paragraph addressed the main characters' perceptions of the way things were supposed to be. Underneath, I included several pieces of evidence from the story to support that claim and my own personal thoughts and analysis. I repeat this step for each body paragraph. After the outline is completed, I write each body paragraph by hand. At this point, I am just trying to piece together each point in a logical manner that is understandable. This usually takes some time and I typically focus on one body paragraph per day depending upon when the paper is due. Once all the body paragraphs are written, I move into the revision phase.

The revision process begins when I open Microsoft Word for the first time. I start with the body paragraphs and type my handwritten paper into the word document. This is where I start revising the paper because I do not just copy my handwritten paper verbatim. I often rephrase sentences, change sentence structure, word choice, add thoughts or remove sentences in every one of the paragraphs, and I feel this early revision strengthens the paper. This is the whole reason that I take the time to write the entire paper by hand. While typing my paper about "Eveline," I thought that her fear was the reason for her conformity, which it arguably was. However, when I started typing that paragraph, I realized that her fear also contributed to her rebellion. This early revision allowed me to go back into the story and find more evidence that supported that claim and I created an entirely different paragraph for Eveline's rebellion. I repeat this process for all the body paragraphs. After the body paragraphs are complete, I write the introduction and conclusion paragraphs minus the thesis. I write these paragraphs last, so I can tailor them to correspond with the direction my paper went. I feel you sometimes “find” your paper along the way and you may go in a completely different direction than what you initially planned. After the paper is completed, I print it out and read through it several times. I find it easier to spot errors this way, and I typically find quite a few. I am also looking for any weak spots in the paper or claims that may not have enough supporting evidence. If I find a weak claim, I go back through the story looking specifically for evidence to support that claim. If I am unable to find additional evidence, I consider removing the claim from the paper altogether or search for an outside source. After the revision is complete, and I am satisfied with my paper, I give it a title and complete the works cited page.

Breaking the paper down into several smaller steps has worked well for me, and I hope that I was able to explain it effectively. The key is to concentrate on one step at a time through the planning, writing, and revision phases. This method can make the task of writing a college level paper less overwhelming.