Practical Guidelines to Writing Successful College Essays and Term Papers
Research is the backbone of any writing and the sources that you use for your research are equally important. Primary sources include for example, newspaper cuttings, interviews and any source that quotes directly from for example historic witness accounts. These are often considered more valuable than secondary sources. Secondary sources, are as their name suggests, second-hand accounts of events. For example, a history book written by an author using primary sources to interpret an historical event.
Your use of varied sources of research will enable you to see the weaknesses and strengths of your argument. Your paper, in effect should be a response to a debate proposal – for example, this house believes: that dieting does not work. You should in your research always be aware of what arguments the opposition are likely to put forward, so that you are responding to these arguments in your writing. For example, the response to the proposal could be, Weight Watchers is a successful organisation because its members lose weight. The weakness in the argument might be, but, how many members...