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How do I write a paper?
i. focus: find an idea, theme, topic, symbol, issue
ii. material: look at primary texts, criticism, bibliography, definitions
iii. structure: compose an outline
a) introduction
1. salient point, observation
2. connect this to an issue
3. raise question(s) about this issue
4. operationalize question(s) into a strategy or procedure to finds
answers
5. provide list of steps, chapters; survey of main part, maybe of
conclusion
b) main part
- flesh out steps, chapters (do what you announced)
c) conclusion
- unify issues, evaluate
- avoid mere repetitions of observations
Remember: order your argument logically; provide transitions
“Paragraph Structure”:
- English essays are written in paragraphs, which are a
basic unit of thought and composition
- every paragraph is written around a TOPIC, often
introduced in a “topical sentence.” It is something
like the heading of a paragraph.
- paragraph structure involves a DEVELOPMENT of
the topic within the paragraph. You develop the
topic you write about.
- an element of TRANSITION is necessary to
connect the paragraphs, either at the end of the old
paragraph or at the beginning of the new one
- a paragraph shouldn’t be longer than a page—
remember: for a new topic, start a new paragraph
- usually a paragraph should be a third of a page

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(minimum 8 lines, 5 sentences)
- once you know how to write: there is no rule without
exception!

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How to write better papers:
Style:
0) keep the language simple in order to express complex ideas—not the other way
round
1) avoid “diagonal” development by association ….
à remember: paragraphs should focus on a “topic,” i.e., they should have a
conceptual center!
2) use a person’s whole name the first time you mention him or her in your paper,
then limit yourself to the family name
3) even if you keep on writing about the same person, mention his or her name at
lease once in each paragraph.
4) avoid expressions such as “clearly,” “in fact,” and “indeed,” which are often
meaningless (remember Ezra Pound’s advice to T.S. Eliot: “perhaps be damned!”)
Composition:
5) chapters are usually at least three paragraphs long
6) avoid too much repetition of your points: be concise!
7) rather than announcing that you want to do something, do it (and elaborate your
argument)
8) make your argument progress from point to point; avoid making the reader go
back and forth between different issues. Your argument should flow—don’t go
back and forth …
9) your argument should be intrinsically connected—simply numbering the issues
does not connect them
à here is a bad list:
*1. Napoleon, 2. The French army in Algeria, 3. A new museum in Paris, 4. The
glory of French culture, 5. Napoleon’s love affairs
10)taxonomies are fine as an organizing principle, but transitions are also very
important because they provide causal connections in your argument and make it
ultimately convincing or not convincing (remember paragraph structure!)

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Formal things, layout:
11) book titles are in italics
à He was reading Oliver Twist.
12)in handwriting you underline because you cannot use italics! Because both have
the same function, you should not mix them (as I am doing here!)
13)“articles,” “poems,” or “chapters” of a book are in quotation marks
à William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow” is an objectivist poem.
14) emphasis is also indicated with italics
à If you do this, I’ll leave you!
15)… when you are presenting a technical term for the first time, you can put it
between quotation marks!
à Next is the officer’s rank of “colonel.” A colonel is …
Punctuation:
16)introduce quotations with a colon (whole sentences)
à As Whitman writes: “Trippers and askers surround me, / People I meet …”
17)introduce quotations with a comma (partial sentences)
à Whitman writes that “trippers and askers surround” him.
18)place a comma before the grammatical subject of the main clause if the
adverbial clause can be misread
à “While she was leaving, Peter sang a song.”
à Because I didn’t eat, Peter called the doctor.
à When, once again, I didn’t hit, Peter said I should get new glasses.
19)put appositions, interjections between commas
à The new teacher, a very strange person, didn’t know much.
à My kindergarten teacher, whom I loved very much, died last year.
But: no comma for defining clauses! (hint: often you can drop the relative
pronoun) à The dog that I loved best died last night.
20)put expressions such as however, for example, for instance, etc. always between
commas, of course!
à He does, however, like Spanish wine.
à He, for example, likes Spanish wine.
à They would go to Spain, for instance.

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21)no commas for defining clauses (This information is relevant; it is a defining
element that should not be separated from the noun phrase)
à The man whom you should all know is Jesus Christ!
à The woman who loved Romeo was Juliet.
à It was the time when the days started getting short.
22)but put non-defining clauses between commas (the merely provide additional
information and are not necessary for the definition of the NP)
à The man, whom they all recognized, was Napoleon.
à The man who loved her, who was a famous pianist, was Chopin!
à It happened in the fall, when the days started getting short.
23)if two clauses can be grammatically free-standing sentences with different
subjects and predicates, separate them by a period or a semicolon (;), not by a
comma! Commas usually separate lists. The only reason to use a semicolon
instead of a period is to indicate the close association of the two separate
statements.
à Fribourg is in Switzerland, Freiburg in Germany.
à Fribourg is in Switzerland; Freiburg is in Germany.
à Dogs bark at night; cats sing love songs.
Syntax:
24)word order; remember SVO and ASVOA (Adverbial-Subject-Verb-Object-
Adverbial)
à I love Lucy.
à He gave me a book to take home.
à Today I will be driving my new car to school for the first time.
25)avoid long insertions and chopped-up sentences (German syntax). Remember: an
English syntax that flows naturally uses as few commas as possible … there is,
usually, no comma between SVO in English, except for insertions …
Note that too many insertions make for a bad style!
à Today, on first October, a Monday, I will be driving my new car, a Chevy, to
school for the first time.
26)split up long and confusing sentences: always simplify!
à * In the other direction is Huningue there are two borders the German
border and the Swiss border.

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27)parallel grammatical structures are preferable
(use the same preposition and generally repeat grammatical structures: this
makes your argument clearer!)
à Bob likes to go to the mountains and Billy likes to go to the sea.
This is better than:
à *Bob likes to go to the mountains and Billy enjoys swimming.
Expressions:
28)“on the other hand” must always be preceded by “on the one hand.” Otherwise
use the term “conversely”
29)if ≠ when (causality ≠ temporality)
à When it rains it pours.
à When it’s over, he’ll go home.
à If he loses, he’ll go home.
à If you say so, it must be true!
30)like ≠ such as (similarity ≠ example)
à Many industrial cities are like Mulhouse.
à The are very few industrial cities such as Mulhouse.
à Alsacian sounds like Swiss German.
à It’s difficult to learn a language such as Alsacian.
31)use “when” for time and “where” for space
à It was at moment when it happened that I realized …
à Rome was the place where the meeting took place.
à It was in class when it happened.
à It was in class where it happened.
Franglais:
32)avoid Franglais: not “his husband” but her husband! Not equally (également) but
“at the same time”
à *She was making love to his husband.
Number:
33)be careful about number: in English you usually don’t follow the grammatical
number of the word but the intended number of the concept!
à A lot of people are poor.
34)much ≠ many (“much” is only used for uncountable quantities; use “many” with
countable items)
à There were many lumps of sugar in his tea.
à There was much sugar in his tea.

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Reference:
35)the reference of pronouns always has to be clear
(note: in English it is perfectly good style to repeat proper names)
à I told Jack to inform Pete because Pete doesn’t know.
à Sandra will always support Angela, who is, like Angela’s sister, a very
important person in her life, but Sandra will never ask Angela for help.
36)remember: pronouns must always refer to a “noun.” If you want to refer to a
larger unit, a phrase or a paragraph or some issue, use a demonstrative (“this is”
rather than “it is”).
à My training in the Circus was an important period in my life. It was when I met
my wife.
à My training in the Circus was an important period in my life. This is what you
have to understand!
37)the relative pronoun “who” is used for people—“which” is used for things
à The actor, whom she didn’t like, was American.
à The actor whom she didn’t like was American.
à The film, which was by an Italian director, was about bicycles.
38) “this” always refers to something close, in immediate proximity—“that” refers to
something more distant.
à This is my hometown.
à That was my hometown.
à This is what I like and that is what you like!
à Look at this car over here and at that car over there!
39)you always “come here,” but you “go there”
à On Tuesday he’ll come here and on Thursday I’ll go there!
Prepositions:
40)look up prepositions in the Advanced Learner’s Dictionary when you are uncertain
41)in ≠ into (static position ≠ movement/placement)
à He was in the house.
à He drove into the house.
Linking words and logic of argument:
42)avoid double disjunctions in the same sentence
à *He objects to racism but he is a racist. Nevertheless he hates foreigners.
à *The man has a gun. But he fights. He finds a dragon but he shoots it. But it
doesn’t die. But it eats him up. But …
à *Still, I don’t feel bad that I did it, because I had to do it, but it would have

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happened anyway.
43)don’t use disjunctions in a conjunctive argument.
à *I am against it but I dislike fighting.
à *I hate fish but I don’t like vegetables.
44)avoid two causal adverbials in the same sentence—usually this doesn’t make sense
(limit yourself to one causality per event—otherwise things get too complicated)
à *Therefore I love her because she is so pretty!
à *For all of these reasons we have to do it if necessary.
45)generally avoid hypotactical connections if not necessary
(better place the two issues in a so-called “paratactical,” parallel structure)
à change “he is resigned to let go of it” to “he is resigned and lets go of it”
à *In order to get out of the car to open the door he looks for the handle to pull
on it!
Better:
à In order to open the door and get out of the car he looks for the handle and
pulls on it!
46)generally, watch the logic of your argument. There is more logic in writing than
you think!
Time:
47)if you want to use the perfect tense—learn how to use it
48)remember that a text is always in the present: use the present tense when you
refer to it:
à “When Ahab dies …” (because he dies in a book—the text is always there!)
49)only refer to story events in the past (or future) in relation to other story
events
à At the end of the novel Ishmael remembers how Ahab was killed by the whale.

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Literary criticism:
50)avoid mentioning the critics you quote only in brackets. Integrate the quotation
into your main text.
51)quotations don’t explain themselves (not even if you quote famous critics).
Comment on them! The reader wants to know what you think and see your mind at
work.
52)always know exactly whose opinion you are reporting (the author’s? a critic’s?
your own?)
53)put page reference always at the end of the quotation
54)block quotations are at least 6 lines
55)avoid ending a paragraph on somebody else’s words: always have the last word in
your own paper (note: we are interested in your ideas!)
56)… but only be personal when it is necessary!
57)material which interrupts the development of your argument can be put in the
footnotes
58)only summarize the parts of the plot that are relevant to your argument.
(always remember: discussion is more interesting than summary!)
59)don’t present background information which is not relevant to your argument
60)avoid conclusions that merely repeat what you’ve said before
61)the paper should be structured by your argument, not by the linear progression
of the text you are discussing; it should be structured by you, not by the author
you are writing about (to some extent this even applies to the French
dissertation)
62)have all of the sources you quote in the bibliography; don’t put them in footnotes