I am an English major. As an English major, I have to take two English seminar classes. For my seminar one class, I had to write a 12 to 14-page research paper. At first, it sounded extremely scary; however, the way my professor prepared the class for the final paper made it a lot easier to get the paper done.
But even with all her help, there were many things that I learned when working through this paper. So, here are eight things that I learned when working on my research paper!
1. Pick your topic early.
It is important to pick your topic early so that you can begin to brainstorm. This is something that I kind of did. I had a general idea what I wanted to write about, but how I was going to go about actually put my thoughts in words, I was clueless. However, I wish I picked my topic out just slightly earlier than I did so that I had more time to prepare my ideas.
2. If you do not like your original topic, change it.
If you do not like what you are brainstorming about with your first topic idea, you can change it! But as mentioned in the first one, make sure you have enough time to change it. By picking your first topic early on, you have time to change your mind and choose a different topic.
3. Make sure you like your topic.
You're going to be writing paragraphs on paragraphs about the topic you choose. You will be spending a lot of time reading about it. You will need to become what I call a mini-expert on the topic, so make sure you like what or who you are writing about. For my essay, I was lucky that I was able to write about one of my favorite poets, so it made the paper just a little bit more tolerable.
4. Begin your research early.
This is something that I wish I did. When you're writing a paper of this length, you'll have to know a lot about the topic, and that means reading multiple books and articles related to the topic. Give yourself time to read everything you need.
Another reason to begin your research early is that when doing all this research, you will come across information that does not relate to your topic, so it is good to give yourself enough time to know what information you need and what you don't need. This also relates back to picking your topic early.
5. Only use information related to your topic.
This one is kind of obvious, but when you have to become the expert of a topic and you have a 12 to 14-page requirement, you could get carried away in what is useful and what is not. Like I mentioned in the last tip, you will come across information that you will not need. So, make sure you only use what will emphasize that point of your paper.
Although the family background of Charles Dickens might sound interesting, it might not be relevant to a topic that might be focusing on his use of irony in his text.
6. Have a lot of information about your topic.
This might sound contradictory to the last tip, but I promise you, it's not. When doing your research, make sure you find as much useful information that you can. The more useful information you have, the easier your paper will be because you will know a lot about what or who you're writing about.
The 12 to 14-page requirement should come easy because you know a lot on the topic and that will enhance your argument. Even if you do not use all the information you found, it is better to have more than not enough.
7. Give yourself some time to re-read your primary and secondary sources.
You are reading and writing a lot during this research paper, so it is okay to forget what happened in the book or what a critic said about the author you chose. Those things will happen, so make sure you re-read and you are clear about what is happening. This is something that I made sure I did as soon as I started thinking that two different poems were actually one.
8. EDIT, EDIT, EDIT!
The biggest tip that I could give and wish I had prior to embarking on this paper journey is to please edit! Rewriting your thoughts and reworking your thesis and ideas are your friends. Make sure you keep going back to your thesis so that your paper reads smoothly.
Your thesis and the original topic idea is on page one. When you get to page 10, you might forget the point you're trying to make, or you might have a new idea and want to incorporate it in. Going back and re-reading what you said will help your essay be smooth from start to finish.
