Going from a “B” to an “A”:
Things You Need to Know When Writing a Term Paper

Executive Summary

For students writing terms papers, following a few handy and practical tips can often lead to a stronger term paper and better grades. This report will describe a number of these tips which, although they may not be found in most writing guides, can be invaluable to your term paper’s success.

Give the Customer What She/He Wants

While university professors are, theoretically, supposed to be objective and rational individuals, in reality all have their biases and agendas. These are often evident to students in the subject matter of a course, or from the professor’s lectures. For example, in a course with reading material prominently featuring anti-American/anti-Establishment critics such as Noam Chomsky, it would be wise to assume an anti-American/anti-Establishment thesis for your term paper.

When writing a term paper, ALWAYS have your reader in mind. If your economics professor is very conservative, it would not be wise to write a term paper arguing in support of socialism. Conversely, if your professor focuses on race and gender studies, a paper criticizing affirmative action would likely get a hostile reception.

In almost all cases, give the professor what he or she wants to hear. This is not the ideal of term paper writing, but it is the reality. Simply put: if the professor is hostile to your thesis from the start, he/she will see mistakes and rate them more negatively than would otherwise be the case.

Hooks

Consider how your professor will be grading your term paper. He/she will likely have at least a dozen, and probably several dozen, papers to grade at the same time. One constant reality of university is that ALL professors/instructors hate marking! In this context, if you can make yourself stand out from the crowd – but in a positive way, not by arguing a position contrary to your professor’s biases – he/she will naturally be inclined to grade your term paper favourably.

An interesting topic, and an opening sentence that “hooks” the reader’s attention from the start of the paper, are two key ways of making your paper compelling and enjoyable to read. A strong conclusion that packs a punch - instead of limply concluding the paper – reminds the professor of what you have done. If your professor enjoys reading your paper, you get a good grade; it is that simple.

You Can Never Have Too Many References

Given the number of papers they will be grading at the same time, professors often resort to “short cuts” to get a quick sense of the value of a paper. One of these is checking the “Works Cited/References” section at the conclusion of your paper. Naturally, they will be looking for whether you followed the appropriate style guide (e.g., MLA, APA etc.), and whether your sources are actually scholarly as opposed to Internet sources and websites. However, they will also be looking at the number of references, and whether these references are appropriate to your topic.

To put it simply: in the eyes of professors, a large number of references indicate “effort” in the research process. The degree of effort that a student seems to have put into a term paper often makes a big difference in consideration of the final grade. This is especially so with marginal papers, such as those which fall in between a “B” and an “A”. If you have a lot of references, provided these references are cited in the text and are not just dropped into the “Works Cited/References” section as “padding,” then there is a strong likelihood that your final grade will be upgraded even when there may be problems in other areas (i.e., grammar).

A handy way of achieving this effect, while not actually spending the time and energy in reading a large number of books, is to “gut” a number of scholarly sources for good quotes. Much like “gutting a fish” – quickly separating the wanted from the unwanted parts – you select one or two quotes per source. This gives the impression that you have conducted substantial research, much more than you actually have, but will usually be rewarded with a higher grade.

Editing

Finally, always review your term paper before submission for spelling, grammar and structural issues. While Spell Checkers may find most typos and misspelled words, misspellings that are themselves words (e.g., “by” for “boy”) will not be caught by a Spell Checker. In a submitted paper, the presence of a number of similar errors and typos, which should have been caught in re-reading and editing, makes an impression of “sloppiness” in the mind of your reader. If such “sloppiness” leads your professor to the natural conclusion that you cannot be bothered re-reading your own term paper before submission – a term paper that the professor is compelled to read as a part of the teaching process – then it is only realistic to assume that your professor will be very critical in marking that same term paper. Thus, an investment of a few minutes of time in the editing process can result in a significant improvement in the final grade of the term paper.