the next stage you can concentrate on improving
the paper by elaborating on the details
of your presentation. This rough draft should be
clear and concise and should accurately
present the information you secured in the
course of your research. If it is appropriate to
use a chart or table to support your argument,
note the place in the text where it belongs.
After presenting the facts and viewpoints based
on your research and evaluating
them, you need to arrive at a concluding
paragraph that can be supported by what you
have established.
At the conclusion of this phase of the project,
it is essential to pause for several
days, so that you will have an opportunity to
gain a fresh overview of what you have
written in your rough draft. After the
appropriate interlude, reread the draft to see if it
is
properly organized and if there is continuity
between the paragraphs. If not, amend it by
relocating paragraphs or merely adding
appropriate connecting phrases. While making
any of these necessary changes, make notes
about any other alterations you wish to
incorporate in the text and proceed to work on
the next stage of the term paper.
Semifinal Draft
Examine each paragraph carefully to see that
the opening sentence serves to introduce the
theme of the paragraph. The balance of the
paragraph should provide the supporting detail.
Evaluate the paragraph for clarity and
elaborate where necessary to be sure that you have
fully expressed your thoughts. However, try to
avoid excessively lengthy paragraphs.
The effort that you put into preparing the
semifinal draft will determine how much
work will be needed for the final draft. You
should use a word processor or computer to
prepare your paper. This makes correcting much
easier and should obviously facilitate
carrying out any alterations due to grammatical
errors.
At this point, you should once again set your
paper aside for a few days before you
tackle the final draft. During this interlude,
it would serve you well if you were able to
arrange for an outsider to review your draft,
especially a person who is qualified to
check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation,
as well as for clarity and continuity. With
potentially useful comments in hand, you are
now in a position to review your semifinal
draft and get the paper ready for
submission.
Final Draft
Your term paper will need a title page. If a
format has not been assigned by the instruc-
tor, prepare a title page on your own. It
should contain the title of your paper, the course
name, number, and section, the name of the
instructor, and your own name. The title you
select should be informative and
attention-grabbing.
Your final draft should incorporate the
comments that you feel are appropriate from
an outside reader. In rereading it, try to
avoid radical alterations that may introduce new
difficulties in continuity and exposition. This
stage is designed to put the final touches
on your paper, rather than make major revisions
of it.
The final copy should have a two-inch border
along the left margin (for comments)
and should be double-spaced (except for lengthy
quotations, which can be single-spaced).
All text pages should be numbered, preferably
using the format page 1 of 10, page 2
of 10, etc. Place your name at the top of each
page to ensure that it will not be lost. If a
table of contents is needed, prepare
one.
References should be numbered sequentially in
Arabic and placed as close to the
relevant material as possible. They should be
identified, preferably on separate pages at
the end of the paper. Your instructor may
provide references and a style manual or sheet
showing how these should be presented. If none
is provided, your librarian can show
you a source for this information.
Find a suitable presentation binder for your
term paper, one that will make a posi-
tive impression without being flashy or costly.
Make sure the pages are in the proper
order before you insert them in your
binder.
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