Michelle McLean - Homework Helpers: Essays & Term Papers

Table of Contents

My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who has made this book possible.

Krista Goering, my wonderful agentit is a true pleasure to work with you.

Adam Schwartz, Michael Pye, and everyone at Career Press, for all their help and support. A special thanks to Kirsten Dalley and Diana Ghazzawi, for all your hard work in making this book the best it can be. I greatly appreciate all that youve done.

Christine Fonseca, author of Emotional Intensity in Gifted Studentsyou are the best critique partner and truest friend anyone could ask for. I dont know what Id do without you. Thank you for everything.

Toni Kerr, Bethany Wiggins, Bonny Anderson, Cole Gibsen, Elana Johnson, and Kristal Shaff for always being there with your help and support. My life has been brighter with the six of you to light my days, and I thank my lucky stars for each and every one of you.

Patrick McDonald and the rest of my Querytracker.net familythis journey would never have happened without you. A special thank you to Carolyn Kaufman, for convincing me to send this book out into the world.

And last, but certainly never least, to Tom, my children, and the rest of my sweet family, for all their love and support.

Introduction

Few tasks in our educational and post-educational careers can be as daunting and overwhelming as a writing assignment. Research papers and the assorted forms of essays often seem simple enough when discussed in a classroom or writing forum, but when faced with a blank page, many people simply dont know where to begin...or how to reach the conclusion.

In my experience, someone who is already frustrated will quickly become more so and give up altogether when presented with pages of formal, in-depth, textbook-like material. The last thing any confused student or writer wants to do is wade through hundreds of pages of technical material, trying to figure out how to do what he or she needs to do, especially when that material only serves to add to his or her stress.

Textbooks in particular tend to be long-winded and boring. The information is presented in such a complex way that, though it is accurate, it is too difficult for many students and beginning writers to follow. Ive often wondered why someone didnt just write an easy, nononsense guide that told you exactly what you needed to doand used examples. (I love examples! You could tell me how to do something a hundred times, and Ill just look at you like a cross-eyed monkey. But show me how to do it, and I can understand.)

I searched the bookstores for a guidebook that would teach students and writers how write essays, one that would explain the rules without using fancy language and hard-to-understand terms. And I couldnt find one. There were some that were okay. But they were either a little (or a lot) too technical or just plain boring. There was only one thing to do: I wrote my own book.

My goal in writing Homework Helpers: Essays & Term Papers was to give the confused and frustrated masses a quick, easy-to-read, narrative guide with simple, step-by-step processes and fun examples to follow. This book presents tips, steps, and information on research papers and several different types of essays, including the SAT essay, in a narrative manner simple enough for a junior high student to understand, yet thorough enough to assist a graduate student. It allows non-student users, such as freelance writers or bloggers, the opportunity to have thorough instruction without stepping foot in a language arts class. Additionally, Homework Helpers: Essays & Term Papers is written in a format that enables readers to quickly skim for the information they need without bogging them down in unnecessary pages of confusing material.

Lets face it, youre going to have to tackle writing assignments whether you want to or not. But there is no rule that says it has to be a miserable experience. Writing can be fun. I promise!

Before you can begin to write an essay or paper, you need something to write about. You will most likely be assigned a topic one of three ways:

No matter which of these is true for you, you will always have some choice in the topic of your paper. What do I mean by that? Well, regardless of your subject matter, you will need to find a certain aspect of that topic to focus on. Otherwise, youd end up with a book instead of an essay.

In most classes, your teacher will assign you a list of topics or let you choose a topic within a set of guidelines. Say, for example, you are reading Romeo and Juliet in your English class. You are asked to write about any topic that is related to the play. With such a rich text, it is impossible to discuss every idea, character, theme, or storyline presented in the play, so you must narrow your focus to just one of them. This isnt as hard as it might sound, even if you hate your subject. You just need to find something about the play that interests you. Do you like action and blood and danger? You could focus your paper on the conflicts between the two families and the numerous fights that erupt between them, or the deaths that occur as a result. Do you like romance or forbidden love? Focus your paper on the relationship between Romeo and Juliet. Do you like nature? Focus your paper on the plant imagery in the play and what it might symbolize. Politics? Focus on the political undertones in the play.

Maybe you need to write an essay on Napoleon Bonaparte for your history class. Find something about Napoleon that interests you. You can focus on his vast military campaigns, personal life, fashion sense, love life, political prowess, residences, or pets. How did his choice of clothing or favorite breed of dog influence French culture? How did France fare under his leadership? Why was his hand always shoved inside his vest?

Find something about your topic that wont bore you to tears and make that your focus.

Now, take your topic and make a list of everything you can think of that relates to that topic. You can include information you know, as well as information you want to find out. Lets say you have to write an essay on a country of your choice for your geography class. You chose Guatemala. Here is what your list may look like: