by Cal Newport
The straight-A approach, on the other hand, is to separate these components into distinct challenges, each of which can be handled by a fine-tuned and efficient system. Each of the three components remains difficult, but by separating them and applying systematic strategies to each, no part of the paper writing process comes even close to the agonizing approach employed by most students. As Gretchen, a straight-A student from Skidmore, emphasizes: “The key to effective paper writing is breaking down the task into manageable units.”
The straight-A strategy is made up of eight steps. We start by discussing how to find a topic that will hold your interest and how to locate a thesis within the topic that is both interesting and supportable. From there, we move on to the research effort. This step is crucial, as research, perhaps more than any other part of the paper-writing process, is where the most time can be wasted. We present a streamlined system for gathering and annotating the right material as quickly as possible. After research comes argument construction. There is, unfortunately, no simple system that guarantees a smart argument. But we do describe helpful strategies for gathering feedback on your argument and recording it in an outline format that best facilitates the steps that follow.
Next comes the writing. At this point, you have already figured out exactly what you are going to say and how you are going to support it, so this step has been reduced to constructing clear prose for a well-understood argument. As a result, we don’t spend much time here. The sooner you dispel the notion that writing is the most important part of paper writing, the easier it will become for you to reap the benefits of the straight-A approach. Anna, a straight-A student from Dartmouth, sums this up succinctly when she notes: “Once I have the structure, the paper writes itself.”
Finally, we tackle editing. Some students spend too little time on this step and subsequently hand in papers with stupid grade-busting mistakes. Other students spend way too much time on this step, and thus make the paper-writing process much longer than it need be. To alleviate these problems, we conclude Part Three with a specific three-pass process that will consistently transform your paper into something worthy of submission—without wasted effort.
Don’t be intimidated by the number of steps—many of them describe very short (and quite painless) procedures, such as finding a topic or asking your professor for his opinion of your thesis. We separate these small pieces into their own steps, however, because it allows us to focus on their importance and gives you a plan for completing them—even if their time demands are minimal.
One last note: Not all papers are made equal. Writing assignments can vary from a three-page analysis of a book chapter to a fifty-page mini-dissertation based on exhaustive research. In recognition of this variation, we distinguish two different types of writing assignments: research papers and critical analysis essays. The steps that follow will discuss both of these types separately to ensure that your paper-writing process is as efficient and targeted as possible for each specific assignment.
Research Papers vs. Critical Analysis Essays
Writing assignments come in many varieties. Some require a lot of original research, whereas others require only a critical discussion of a topic introduced in class. Some have ulcer-inducing length requirements, whereas others ask for only a handful of pages. We capture these differences with the simple classification scheme of research papers versus critical analysis essays. Some assignments, of course, may fall outside of these two descriptions, but, for the most part, they capture the major variations in paper writing. All of the advice that follows explicitly describes which of these two types it applies to.
Research Papers
A research paper requires you to choose a topic within provided parameters and then devise an original thesis relevant to your chosen topic. For example, the broad parameters for your topic choice might be “anything involving the British Empire,” the specific topic you choose from within these parameters might be “public schools and the British Empire,” and the thesis you choose might be “the public school system in nineteenth-century England had a curriculum specifically tailored to the requirements of the British Empire.”
Research papers require original research to support your original thesis, and, accordingly, their page lengths are long and their due dates are generally a ways off from when they are assigned. If you spread out the work appropriately and choose the right topic, research papers can provide a rewarding intellectual challenge. Proposing and supporting an original argument is exciting. However, if left until the last minute, these assignments can become a nightmare. More than a few students have suffered a nervous breakdown from the stress of tackling a major research paper at the last moment. So for these assignments in particular, take careful note of the scheduling recommendations that follow.
Critical Analysis Essays
Critical analysis essays are the bread and butter of most liberal arts classes. These essays are short, and they typically require you to analyze one or more of your class reading assignments. They are often set up as a comparison, for example: “How do Nordlinger and Hopkins differ in their approach to understanding American Isolationism. What cultural and theological sources account for these differences?”
Critical analysis essays differ from research papers in several significant ways: Topics are provided in advance, your thesis is nothing more than a specific answer to the question asked in the assignment, and there is little-to-no original research required. Not surprisingly, these essays require less time to complete than research papers. Their goal is to test your understanding of the material presented in class, not to seek out and present new ideas.
Don’t get the wrong idea—these essays are not necessarily easier than research papers. College writing assignments follow a simple rule: The required precision of your thinking works in direct proportion to the constraint of the material. That is, the more specific the assignment, the more subtle and detailed your thinking must be. So beware. If your assignment covers only one chapter, then you’re going to need to understand every word of that chapter and be able to articulate your analysis with precision.
Step 1
Target a Titillating Topic
Remember: A topic does not equal a thesis. A topic describes an interesting subject or area of observation. A thesis presents an interesting, specific argument about that subject or observation. Let’s look at some examples:3*
* * *
Topic
Thesis
There are interesting similarities between the art of Caspar David Friedrich and Washington Allston, even though they on different continents. (observation)
These similarities derive from Friedrich and Allston’s shared connection to Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his prescient worked brand of early postmodern philosophy.
The early work of Faulkner (subject)
Faulkner’s early style was influenced by the European modernists.
During the first half of the twentieth century, New York’s Chinatown boomed while other immigrant communities struggled to find a financial foothold. (observation)
The cultural institutions of mainland China, when exported to American immigrant populations, provided a support system and organizational structure well suited to mitigate the specific challenges of building financial security in a new country.
* * *
As mentioned, for a critical analysis essay, the topic is provided, so this step won’t be applicable. For a research paper, however, you get to choose the topic—so we’ll focus on the specific case of research paper topic selection for the remainder of this section.
Choosing a Research Paper Topic
Typically, the professor will provide some loose parameters. For an art history course, these might be: “Any artist covered in the class
so far.” For a political science class they might be: “Economic policy and Latin America.” The key is to choose a topic, within the constraints of the assignment, that excites you. All work that follows on your paper will stem from this topic; if you are not intrigued by the idea, then the paper-writing process will be tedious. If, on the other hand, you are fascinated, or at least curious, then the process will be that much easier.
The best way to identify a titillating topic is to start looking for one early. “I work on topic ideas in my head and on scraps of paper beginning anywhere from a week to a month in advance of the actual deadline for a paper,” explains Doris, a straight-A Harvard student. Follow this approach. On the very first day of class, read the description of the research paper(s) that will be assigned. The syllabus should describe each paper’s topic parameters, and the professor will usually discuss these assignments briefly early on in the term. Once you know the parameters for the paper, you should constantly be on the lookout for a particular subject or observation that interests you. If one reading assignment really grabs your attention, jot down the topic so you’ll remember it later. If a professor poses an interesting question during class, or piques your curiosity by describing a compelling open area of research, make a note of it. As Sean, a straight-A student from Yale, explains: “Keep an eye out for concepts that interest you in the readings and lectures. If there’s something that grabs you, it will probably make a good topic.”
If you have trouble finding a topic in advance, you have two options. First, as Chien Wen, a straight-A student from Dartmouth, advises: “Approach your professor with some ideas you have and let him recommend some appropriate readings.” Professors know their field well, so they should have no trouble pointing you toward some resources to help flesh out your initial thoughts. Second, as Chien Wen also advises: “Read your primary sources carefully.” Grab a textbook or similar general source from the class, and then skim through and look for angles that catch your attention, passages that make you ask “why,” or descriptions of competing arguments debating an interesting subject. “Be imaginative and intuitive—look for unusual connections between individuals, ideas, and broader themes,” says Chien Wen.
In general, the more care you take during this first step, the easier the rest of the paper-writing process will be, so take your topic choice seriously.
Step 2
Conduct a Thesis-Hunting Expedition
Now that you’ve found a topic that excites you, you need to construct a thesis that makes a compelling argument concerning this topic. Once again, for a critical analysis essay, most of the work toward constructing your thesis has already been done for you. Typically, the essay prompt will contain a specific question (i.e., “How do the two arguments differ?” or “Why does the author say this?”), and your thesis is a summary of your answer. For a research paper, on the other hand, you might be dealing with a very broad topic that requires significant digging to find an interesting and supportable idea that can be expanded to fit the required page limit.
In both cases, some initial research is required. A thesis devised from scratch is dangerous. Without some initial exploration, you have no idea whether or not your idea is viable, and there are few experiences worse than being forced to restart a paper after many hours of work. At the same time, however, you don’t want to dedicate days to intensively reading every book in the field in search of a perfect thesis, because this would be inefficient.
For a critical analysis essay, the solution is simple: Review both the reading notes and lecture notes that relate to the essay prompt. And that’s it! This should provide a rough idea of how you are going to answer the question posed by the assignment. Therefore, your thesis has been found. Even though it’s simple, don’t skip this step for critical analysis essays. The earlier you develop an idea of what you are going to say, the more time you have to refine the nuances of your argument.
For research papers, on the other hand, the task of finding a thesis is more complicated. No sources have been preselected for you, and no specific question has been provided. All you have is a general topic that you thought up yourself. Now you must wade into a vast sea of knowledge and somehow find enough material to devise a strong thesis—while avoiding drowning in the sheer volume of available information.
Not surprisingly, the straight-A students interviewed for this book have mastered the art of conducting research paper thesis-hunting expeditions. Their goals are twofold: (1) find an interesting thesis that can be supported within the scope of the assignment; and (2) minimize the time required to conduct this search. Accomplishing both of these goals sounds hard, but straight-A students get it done. What’s their secret? One simple phrase: Start general, then move one layer deep. Let’s take a closer look at what this really means.
Start General, Then Move One Layer Deep
“I usually begin with basic sources,” explains Chris, a straight-A student from Dartmouth. “If I’m doing a paper on the Kurds in Turkey, for example, I get a recently published general history on this topic.” Similarly, if your topic is Faulkner’s early writing, you might find one or two Faulkner biographies and then focus only on the chapters dealing with his early years. If you have a hard time finding a few general sources for your topic, then ask your professor—he’ll have plenty of titles to recommend. In addition, keep in mind that most courses set up a reserve shelf at the campus library. This shelf contains books that were selected by the professor because of their relevance to the course. Typically, you can check out reserve books for only a couple of hours at a time, so they should always be available to the students who need them. This is a great place to find general sources.
So that’s step one (the “start general” part of the strategy). The reason we need a second step is because you shouldn’t expect to find your thesis idea in a general source. Of course, you might get lucky and find an interesting thesis during this first step. In general, however, overview sources will be much too broad to reveal a targeted and interesting argument that hasn’t already been written about extensively.
The main reason you found these general sources is to get at their bibliographies. As Chris goes on to explain: “I read any chapters from my general sources that look useful for my paper. I then look up the sources used in that chapter.” In other words, the second step of your thesis-hunting expedition is to examine the list of books and articles cited in the relevant sections of your general sources. From this list, choose the cited works that look the most promising, and then go find them in the library. These sources will be more focused—perhaps journal articles or books addressing only a small number of specific arguments. You are most likely to come across an interesting and appropriately targeted thesis idea using these more focused sources.
Let’s apply this approach to our Faulkner example from before. Perhaps one of our general sources cites a journal article on the influence of a specific European modernist writer on Faulkner. You find this journal article, and while reviewing it you notice that it mentions, in passing, a list of other modernist writers who might have had a similar influence. Aha! Now this could be an interesting thesis. You might choose one of these modernists from the list and then look for historical evidence of their connection to the primary writer.
Perhaps, instead, one of the general sources talks about a period of Faulkner’s life that he spent in Europe. Maybe it also mentions that our only records of this travel are letters written by the young author himself, and then it provides a citation to a collection of these letters. You then locate these letters, begin to read through them, and notice that he mentions a particular bar in London several times. This too might be a source of a fascinating thesis. You could investigate the intellectual climate of London nightspots of the time and posit their potential influence on Faulkner’s work. From there, perhaps the core of your paper could be to present a piece of writing from right before the trip, and another from right after, and th
en argue which stylistic changes may have been influenced by his foray into the intellectual intensity of the London literary milieu. The key is to keep in mind that even very small observations can lead to large, interesting discussions.
How do you know your thesis idea is good enough to support an insightful paper? “A great thesis typically has at least these four qualities,” explains Christine, a straight-A student from Harvard. “It’s provocative, nuanced, direct, and inclusive.” She goes on to warn: “A thesis should, at the same time, also show a grasp of the complexities of a subject—‘in this poem, X symbolizes Y because Z’ is a weak type of thesis structure, far too reductive and simplistic—don’t be afraid to leave room for ambiguity and unresolved issues.” Wendy, a straight-A student from Amherst, puts it simply: “The most important part of your paper is the thesis. Once you have a solid thesis, the rest just falls into place.”
Here’s the tricky part: Your thesis will change and evolve as you continue the paper-writing process. This is inevitable, because you haven’t done your exhaustive research yet. At this early stage, your thesis more likely explains the type of connection or answer you hope to find, rather than the final connections and answers themselves. To revisit our Faulkner example, your early research may indicate that the social milieu of a certain London nightspot influenced a young Faulkner, but you might not yet know all the ways this influence was manifest. More research is required, and that’s okay. You should embrace this evolution of your ideas as the process continues. For now, it’s sufficient that your fledgling thesis looks like it’s on the path toward fulfilling the properties mentioned above. In other words, before continuing, make sure that your preliminary research strongly indicates that something similar to your thesis idea will be supported by the more detailed investigations to follow. Be honest with yourself: If you made up your thesis simply because it sounded cool, but have no real reason to believe it to be true, then you’re courting a paper-writing disaster. If, on the other hand, several pieces of early evidence point to the types of interesting connections described by your thesis, then you’re on the right track.