Unno one of the challenges of writing papers in the humanities is that courses and instructors have different requirements and expectations. Nevertheless, there are certain things that tend to be consistent across the curriculum, such as focus and simplicity, basic forms of argument, documentation, and writing as a craft. when you begin to understand these basic elements, then the variety of requirements and expectations will actually become a source of inspiration and wisdom rather than confusion and frustration. That is because you will begin to understand that they are like variations on a theme. as you master these variations, your repertoire will increase, and you will become like a master musician on paper, freely able to move between genres and styles. focus and simplicity starting with a good focus will help you to keep your paper manageable. If you start with a narrow focus, you can always expand the range of your topic later in the paper. If, however, you begin with a large topic, you may find that you have taken on too much to cover within the suggested page length.

For example, it is easier to write a focused paper on chuang tzu's view of illusion in the butterfly dream than chuang tzu's view of reality. These topics are related in such a way that the former has implications for the latter but need not cover every aspect of chuang tzu's view of reality. Taking one idea, one passage, or one image from the text as your main focus can provide a very good focus for your paper. Keeping your prose simple will help you to communicate your ideas directly and effectively. As a rule, write natural english, don't make your sentences too long, limit the number of ideas per sentence, and don't use too many difficult words.

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Some people have the impression that academic prose is supposed to be difficult and convoluted not true! use natural english in which your ideas flow in an unforced manner. There are times to use complex sentence constructions and technical terminology, but your use of them will be much more effective if you keep your writing simple and straightforward. forms of argument: thesis, evidence/counter evidence, conclusion the most basic form of argument in the humanities paper is to present a thesis, to back up your thesis with evidence usually textual while taking counter evidence into account, and to bring the paper to a conclusion. Other times, it is more indirectly stated, but the direction of the paper should be clear in either case. The second example is an introductory paragraph that states its case more indirectly. In dakota a spiritual geography, kathleen norris argues that the significance of the western plains has been largely overlooked.

She bases her views on two fundamental ideas: the plains have a unique place in the united states both geographically and culturally, and they are an indispensable part of the larger interrelated whole called america. She is right to identify the characteristics of plains culture and life and to try to relate it to the larger life of the nation. However, she tends to overemphasize the impact that a greater awareness of the plains can have for all americans. In dakota a spiritual geography, kathleen norris writes about her life on the western plains of the united states. She describes it as a kind of monastic world in which she has come in contact with her spiritual roots through the lives of the people there, the land, and the solitude of her own inner life.

She does not falsely idealize life on the plains as some kind of paradise away from the urban jungle. In fact, she is critical of the insularity and pettiness of the small towns in which she lives and works. Rather than detracting from the positive sense of her life there, however, her critical perspectives make her work more real and lead the reader to want to get to know her and the plains better. evidence, counter evidence. in order to present the actual argument or ideas of the thesis/introductory paragraph, one needs evidence, and in most courses, this takes the form of textual evidence. His argument will be more convincing the more evidence he is able to collect, but his narrative will be even more compelling if he is also able to take into account counter evidence.

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Sometimes, counter evidence is presented subtly in the form of alternative interpretations and multiple perspectives: another possibility is. Sometimes, the evidence is cited in detail one might quote a journal entry, for example other times, only a page reference is provided. Similarly in an academic paper, one might quote a paragraph or simply provide a page reference depending on what is needed. One place where a legal case differs from the academic paper is that, in the former, the introduction of massive amounts of evidence is often used to confuse or attack a position. In the academic paper, you want to do the opposite: use an appropriate amount of evidence to tell your story in a compact, concise manner. One of the worst things you can do in writing a paper is to reach the suggested page length by putting in filler.

It may contain some summary of your findings, but it should not merely reiterate your introductory or thesis paragraph. First, since the reader will have gained knowledge from reading the body of your paper, you can state your findings in a more finely nuanced manner than you did at the beginning. Second, there may still be some questions that remain, or your paper may have uncovered additional questions that show the significance of having proposed the thesis in the way you did. In this sense, it can be effective to end your paper with some insightful questions.