哈佛论文写作教程 Strategies for Essay Writing.docx

哈佛论文写作教程 Strategies for Essay Writing.docx

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哈佛论文写作教程StrategiesforEssayWriting

HowtoReadanAssignment

Assignmentsusuallyaskyoutodemonstratethatyouhaveimmersedyourselfinthecoursematerialandthatyou'vedonesomethinkingonyourown;questionsnottreatedatlengthinclassoftenserveasassignments.Fortunately,ifyou'veputthetimeintogettingtoknowthematerial,thenyou'vealmostcertainlybegunthinkingindependently.Inrespondingtoassignments,keepinmindthefollowingadvice.

∙Bewareofstraying.Especiallyinthedraftstage,"discussion"and"analysis"canleadyoufromoneintrinsicallyinterestingproblemtoanother,thenanother,andthen...Youmaywindupfollowingagardenofforkingpathsandloseyourway.Topreventthis,stopperiodicallywhiledraftingyouressayandrereadtheassignment.Itspurposesarelikelytobecomeclearer.

∙Considertheassignmentinrelationtopreviousandupcomingassignments.Askyourselfwhatisnewaboutthetaskyou'resettingouttodo.Instructorsoftendesignassignmentstobuildincomplexity.Knowingwhereanassignmentfallsinthisprogressioncanhelpyouconcentrateonthespecific,freshchallengesathand.

Understandingsomekeywordscommonlyusedinassignmentsalsomaysimplifyyourtask.Towardthisend,let'stakealookattwoseeminglyimpenetrableinstructions:

"discuss"and"analyze."

1.DiscusstheroleofgenderinbringingabouttheFrenchRevolution.

"Discuss"iseasytomisunderstandbecausethewordcallstomindtheoral/spokendimensionofcommunication."Discuss"suggestsconversation,whichofteniscasualandundirected.Inthecontextofanassignment,however,discussionentailsfulfillingadefinedandorganizedtask:

toconstructanargumentthatconsidersandrespondstoanamplerangeofmaterials.To"discuss,"inassignmentlanguage,meanstomakeabroadargumentaboutasetofargumentsyouhavestudied.Inthecaseabove,youcandothisby

∙pointingtoconsistenciesandinconsistenciesintheevidenceofgenderedcausesoftheRevolution;

∙raisingtheimplicationsoftheseconsistenciesand/orinconsistencies（perhapstheysuggestalimitedroleforgenderascatalyst）;

∙evaluatingdifferentclaimsabouttheroleofgender;

∙andaskingwhatisgainedandwhatislostbyfocusingongenderedsymbols,iconsandevents.

AweakdiscussionessayinresponsetothequestionabovemightsimplylistafewaspectsoftheRevolution—theimageofLiberty,theexecutionsoftheKingandMarieAntoinette,thecry"Liberte,Egalite,Fraternite!

"—andmakeseparatecommentsabouthoweach,being"gendered,"isthereforeapowerfulpoliticalforce.Suchanessaywouldoffernooriginalthesis,butinsteadrestatethequestionaskedintheassignment（i.e.,"TheroleofgenderwasveryimportantintheFrenchRevolution"or"GenderdidnotplayalargeroleintheFrenchRevolution"）.

Inastrongdiscussionessay,thethesiswouldgobeyondabasicrestatementoftheassignmentquestion.Youmighttestthesimilaritiesanddifferencesoftherevolutionaryaspectsbeingdiscussed.Youmightdrawonfreshorunexpectedevidence,perhapsusingasasourceanintriguingreadingthatwasonlybrieflytoucheduponinlecture.

2.AnalyzetwoofChaucer'sCanterburyTales,includingonenotdiscussedinclass,asliteraryworksandintermsofsources/analogues.

Thewords"analyze"and"analysis"mayseemtodenotehighlyadvanced,evenarcaneskills,possessedinvirtualmonopolybymathematiciansandscientists.Happily,thetermsrefertomentalactivityweallperformregularly;thetermsjustneeddecoding."Analyze"meanstwothingsinthisspecificassignmentprompt.

∙First,youneedtodividethetwotalesintoparts,elements,orfeatures.Youmightstartwithabasicapproach:

lookingatthebeginning,middle,andend.Thesestructuralfeaturesofliteraryworks—andofhistoricaleventsandmanyothersubjectsofacademicstudy—mayseemsimpleorevensimplistic,buttheycanyieldsurprisinginsightswhenexaminedclosely.

∙Alternatively,youmightbeginatamorecomplexlevelofanalysis.Forexample,youmightsearchforanddistinguishbetweenkindsofhumorinthetwotalesandtheirsourcesinBoccaccioortheRomandelaRose:

banter,wordplay,bawdyjokes,pranks,burlesque,satire,etc.

∙Second,youneedtoconsiderthetwotalescriticallytoarriveatsomerewardforhavingobservedhowthetalesaremadeandwheretheycamefrom（theirsources/analogues）.Inthecourseofyouressay,youmightworkyourwaytoinvestigatingChaucer'sbroaderattitudetowardhissources,whichalternatesbetweenplayfulvariationandstrictadherence.YourcomplexanalysisofkindsofhumormightrevealdifferingconceptionsofmasculineandfemininebetweenChaucerandhisliterarysources,orsomeotherimportantculturaldistinction.

Analysisinvolvesbothasetofobservationsaboutthecompositionorworkingsofyoursubjectandacriticalapproachthatkeepsyoufromnoticingjustanything—fromexcessivelistingorsummarizing—andinsteadleadsyoutoconstructaninterpretation,usingtextualevidencetosupportyourideas.

SomeFinalAdvice

If,havingreadtheassignmentcarefully,you'restillconfusedbyit,don'thesitatetoaskforclarificationfromyourinstructor.Heorshemaybeabletoelucidatethequestionortofurnishsomesampleresponsestotheassignment.Knowingtheexpectationsofanassignmentcanhelpwhenyou'refeelingpuzzled.Conversely,knowingtheboundariescanheadofftroubleifyou'recontemplatinganunorthodoxapproach.Ineithercase,beforeyougotoyourinstructor,it'sagoodideatolist,underlineorcirclethespecificplacesintheassignmentwherethelanguagemakesyoufeeluncertain

MovingfromAssignmenttoTopic

Atonepointorother,theacademicessaymanagestointimidatemoststudentwriters.Sometimes,wemayevenexperiencewhatiscommonlycalledwriter'sblock—thatawfulexperienceofstaringatanassignment,readingitoverandover,yetbeingunabletoproceed,tofindawayintoit.Buttheprocessofwritingtheacademicessayinvolvesaseriesofmanageablesteps.Keepingthisinmindcanhelpyouworkthroughtheanxietyyoumayatfirstfeel.Ifyoufindyourself"clueless"aboutbeginninganessay,itmaybebecauseyouhaveskippedanimportantstep.Youmaybetryingtocomeupwithathesisbeforefindingandnarrowingyourtopic.

EnteringtheConversation

Trytoapproachthewritingofanacademicessayasagenuineopportunitytoconnectwiththematerial,tothinkinaconcentratedandstimulatingwayaboutthetextsyou'vechosen,toarticulateyourownideas.Inshort,thinkoftheessayasachancetochallengeyourselfandtocontributetotheon-goingconversationamongscholarsaboutthesubjectunderdiscussion.What'satstakeisyourownintellectualdevelopment.

Writingisnotplayingsomeoneelse'sgame.Successfulwritinginvolvesthecreationandframingofyourownquestionsaboutthesourcesyou'vechosen.Youwanttoattendtotheassignmentatthesametimethatyoulocateandarticulateyourown,particularinterestinit.

PrimaryandSecondarySources

Ifyouwerealawyerandhadtopresentacaseforyourclient,theworstthingyoucoulddowouldbetofaceajuryandspoutoutrandombeliefsandopinions.（"Trustme.Thisguy'sreallyhonorable.He'dneverdowhathe'saccusedof."）Instead,youwouldwanttolookforevidenceandcluesaboutthesituation,investigatesuspects,maybeheadforthelibrarytocheckoutbooksoninvestmentfraudorlock-picking.Whateverthecircumstance,youwouldneedtodotheappropriateresearchinordertoavoidlookingfoolishinthecourtroom.Evenifyouknewwhatyouhadtoargue—thatyourclientwasnotguilty—youstillwouldneedtofigureouthowyouweregoingtopersuadethejuryofit.Youwouldneedvarioussourcestobolsteryourcase.Writinganacademicessayissimilar,becauseessaysareargumentsthatmakeuseofprimaryandsecondarysources.

Primaryacademicsourcesaresourcesthathavenotyetbeenanalyzedbysomeoneelse.Theseincludebutarenotlimitedtonovels,poems,autobiographies,transcriptsofcourtcases,anddatasourcessuchasthecensus,diaries,andCongressionalrecords.

Booksoressaysthatanalyzeanothertextaresecondarysources.Theyareusefulinsupportingyourargumentandbringingupcounter-argumentswhich,inanacademicessay,itisyourresponsibilitytoacknowledgeandrefute.

Thesearethebasicrulesthatdeterminewhetherasourceisprimaryorsecondary,butthereissomeambiguity.Forinstance,anessaythatadvancesanoriginalargumentmayserveasyourprimarysourceifwhatyouredoingisanalyzingthatessaysargument.Butiftheessaycitesstatisticsthatyoudecidetoquoteinsupportofyourargumentaboutadifferenttext,thenitsfunctionisasasecondarysource.Therefore,alwayskeepinmindthattheacademicessayadvancesanoriginalargument—yourargument,nottheargumentoftheauthorofyoursecondarysource.Whilesecondarysourcesarehelpful,youshouldfocusyouressayononeormoreprimarysources.

SubjectstoTopics

Inthecourtroom,thetopicisneverahugeabstractionlike"jurisprudence"or"thelegalsystem"oreven"capitalpunishment"or"guiltandinnocence."Allofthosearesubjects.Atopicisparticular:

TheCaseofSo-and-Sov.So-and-So.Academicarguments,too,havetopics.Butifyoutriedtowriteanessayusing"TheCaseofSo-and-Sov.So-and-So"asatopic,youwouldn'tknowwhattoputinandwhattoleaveout.You'dwindupreproducingthecourt'sownrecordofthecase.

NarrowingtheTopic

Thetopicofanacademicessaymustbesufficientlyfocusedandspecificinorderforacoherentargumenttobemadeaboutit.Forinsta