If there is anything that college can promise you, it is that you will have to write a lot of papers. Almost every single class you have in college will probably include a final research paper or essay. Even if it is not required, many professors will offer extra credit papers of some kind.
Today, so many people have failed to grasp the finer details of the English language. High schools just don’t seem to provide students with the knowledge they need for a successful writing career. Even more problematic is how many people neglect the English language on a regular basis. Text messaging and social networking have played an important role in ruining the population’s English skills.
To make matters even worse, most colleges and professors require deep research and critical thinking. The papers that college students are assigned are not quick summaries of a book or a personal essay. College papers are typically argumentative and require a unique thesis with strong references. Particularly for freshmen, it can be very hard for college students to write a good college-level paper.
The truth is that professors are getting away from the content of the paper. Nowadays, they are more concerned with your connection to the course’s material and your own grammar skills. If you make a few connections to the class and cite your work properly, you will probably get a very good grade. So, how does a struggling college student write such a paper?
The first thing you need to do is give yourself as much time as possible to write the paper. Stephen King himself could not write an A paper in four hours. Most people do their best work when they take frequent breaks. Split the paper into multiple sections. Give yourself a whole day to make a strong introduction and another day for a strong conclusion. Then, depending on the length of the paper, work on two or three paragraphs a day. This is especially helpful for anyone that has a job or other responsibilities. You can sneak in a few writing sessions whenever you get the chance.
Next, reread your content. Read it again. Then, read it again. And finally, read it again. The more times you read the paper, the better you will understand the information. You will find many places to tweak your paper and make it more appealing. Remember, do this in short segments. It will probably only take you about ten minutes to re-read a seven page paper. As long as you have given yourself extra time to review your work, you shouldn’t have any problems finding time to proofread. As long as you don’t have obvious spelling, grammar, and citation issues, the teacher will not be too harsh on your English skills.
The content of your paper, obviously, has to go with the topic of your paper. However, if you make a strong and distinct thesis, you will not have a problem filling in information. The thesis is your main goal in the paper and it is one of the biggest grading factors. Be sure to clarify your thesis and focus on that topic all throughout your paper. If you get off topic, your grade will probably go down.
Now, teachers like to see how you use class vocabulary or information. Most professors will give you a good grade on a paper if you make connections to other things they have taught. You could probably get away with using completely useless information as long as you somehow tie it in to the information you learned in class. Pick a few vocabulary words to use and cite a couple of quotes the professor might have used. This will help your grade tremendously.
The last thing you need to do to write an A paper in college is use original content. Obviously, avoid plagiarism. But, just as import, try to avoid sounding like a robot. Handing in a generic paper that sounds like the other 30-40 paper the teacher has to grade is not going to help you very much. Even if you have a few errors in the paper, the teacher will most likely give you a few bonus points for not boring them to death. Throw in some big words from the thesaurus and include some rare quotes from people and you will have a stand-out paper.
As you can see, writing a college paper is less about context and more about sucking up to the teacher. Avoiding common mistakes and throwing in a few extras in the paper will make a world of difference in the overall grade. Reserve time, proofread your paper, use course information, and make your paper sound unique. If you follow those few simple steps, you will have an A paper. The more you do it (and you will have to do it a lot) the better you will get at it. Before long, you will be able to knock off A-quality papers in no time at all.
