I received the following notes from my tutor. Although it’s geared towards writing History papers, I think the format of putting forth a paper is applicable for other essays. Hope this will be helpful to all those writing papers out there.

WRITING HISTORY PAPERS ‘WORKSHOP’
By Daniel Jew

Overall goal / first principles:

To present a reasonable / logical argument in a coherent and convincing manner

1. Introduction

(a) State your thesis (what you agree / disagree / set out to prove)

(b) Define key terms and limit the scope / focus if necessary

(c) Outline the theoretical framework that you are going to ‘measure’ your answer against, if any.

(d) Outline your main points of argument

(e) Two methods:

(i) The ‘murder mystery’ method
· One should be cautious not to lose the interest of the reader halfway through the paper
· Hint in the introduction, but only flesh out the point of view at the end

(ii) The ‘male-unable-to-multitask’ method
· Preferred academic method
· State concern in the introduction and justify why it is worth raising the concern

2. Body – Logic and Arguments

(a) Elements of arguments

(b) Fundamental Argument (Thesis)

(c) Supporting Arguments

(d) Topic sentences (supplemented with examples)

(e) Counter-argument

(f) Premises and assumptions

(g) Historical Facts and Data

(h) Illustrations, examples and anecdotes

3. Referencing

Rationale / first principles
(a) Credit / honesty
(b) Substantiate
(c) Reflect your readings

4. Conclusion

What is it for? Some ideas:

(a) To reiterate / summarise the argument and show that the thesis has been proven

(b) To consider / evaluate wider implications of the thesis

(c) To make relations with other topics – or even other subjects

Some other random tips:

(a) Write the bibliography first

(b) Don’t indent the first paragraph; indent all other paragraphs

(c) Proof read your work!