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SUCCEED IN SCHOOL
Our handbook will provide you with the research paper help that you need. Just follow our step-by-step guidelines and you will have a term paper that you can be proud of.
Step 1: Selecting Your Term Paper Topic
Selecting a topic is the most important step in the process of writing a term paper. But how do you decide on a subject for your term paper? Well, our best advice is that you begin by asking a few questions.
- Do you have a hobby or a special interest?
- Is there something you would like to learn more about?
- Is there a topic related to the course you are taking, or to your major, that might make a good topic for your term paper?
- Have you had a personal experience that might be of interest to others?
- Do you know someone who would make an interesting research topic?
While you are asking the above questions, it is a good idea to be making a list of anything that might make a good topic for your paper. Don't worry about what you put on the list, just brainstorm all the ideas you can come up with.
Once you have made a list of topics that you might be interested in researching and writing about, you will need to think in terms of your instructor. What term paper topic would likely be something your instructor would approve? To determine this, ask yourself:
- Does my topic have a serious purpose?
- Is my topic one that would interest the academic community?
- Can my thesis be proven in my paper?
If you are planning to research and write about a famous (or historically significant) person, a person's contribution to society, or a significant body of work, it is likely you are on the right track.
If you are still having difficulty coming up with a topic on your own, try visiting the Open Directory Project. This site will provide you with lists of broad topics, which are then broken down into more specific topics. These specific topics lead you to pages with links to relevant websites, which may act as resources for your term paper.
For example, if your instructor assigned a research paper on a person who has made significant contributions in the field of computer science, you could go to the Open Director project and type "computer people" in the search box. After you click the Search button, a page comes up that has the following links:
- Society: People: College Life: Carnegie Mellon University: Faculty and Staff (22 matches)
- Games: Video Games: Simulation: God Games: Little Computer People (4)
- Shopping: Health: Disabilities: Assistive Technology: Computer Access (8)
- Computers: Human-Computer Interaction (3)
- Computers: History: Pioneers
After reading down through the list of potential areas of the Open Directory where you might find information, the last one seems the most promising. Therefore, you click on Computer:History:Pioneers.
This click brings you to a list of people in the computer field. Read down through the list, clicking on any that interest you. For example, if you decided to see what information was available on Grace Murray Hopper, you would click on her name and be brought to a page that has several articles listed about her.
Click on the articles and see how much information is really available on this person. If you are satisfied that there are sufficient resources for you to begin your project and that you would like to learn more about this woman, you have completed Step 1 in the term paper process.
Another way of narrowing down a good term paper topic is to think of some questions about topics in the news. Once you have a question, think of an answer. Format it in the form of a statement. Now you have the first draft of your thesis statement. For example: Should the federal minimum wage be adjusted annually? A possible thesis statement would be: The minimum wage should be adjusted annually to help poor, working families keep up with the increasing cost of living.
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