chapter 13
Top 10 Tips for Constructing the Perfect Paper
1: Get Right to the Point
A great paper needs to get off to a great start. Don’t plan to ease into the paper topic with a long introduction (unless otherwise instructed). The professor doesn’t want to hear general background information, or how the assigned topic is interesting but difficult, or what thought processes you went through while writing the paper. Professors don’t want to suffer through elaborate stage setting, whether it takes the form of flowery opening paragraphs or ridiculously basic ones.
Professors want to see your answer ASAP. Like the hungry diner, they want to get to the meat and potatoes right away. So the introduction to your paper needs to be short. It needs to tell the reader what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. It needs to include only the materials relevant to the task at hand. Begin to answer the question in the very first sentence....
