Political Parties & Social Movements

Political Parties and Social Movements

Final Paper

Instructions:

Everything I write strikes me as good for nothing

Anton Chekhov

Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers

Isaac Asimov

Final Paper:

Writing is important. It has always been and still is. And there is no clear indication that it will stop being important for quite a while. Writing allows you to focus and develop your thinking skills as well as projecting ideas in a more calmed and slow reflection. It could even turn into a personal trip. Writing makes others read you. Writing rocks.

Now, in these times of fluidity and liquid learning some might question the use of writing a paper for your class. We firmly believe in writing as a way of learning and growing, especially in the social sciences where there is a tradition of elaborating arguments, defending positions, deciphering theories and drawing conclusions. Needless to say, writing well implies reading a lot and rehearsing enough. And that is what we do in this class.

Terms and conditions

Topic

Free topic as long as it is related to the class in a manner that you can explain and justify to the professor. Think about a topic, turn it into a research question and answer it thru the paper.

Length

Paper length is 25003500 words (min.-max.). Papers below/above the requested word count will be penalized with a 5% of the paper grade per each 100 words short/long. When in doubt ask professor. Flexibility can be contemplated for a mastery paper.

Deadline(s)

Deadline ONE You need to upload thru Turnit in your topic proposal and little explanation of what your problem is, why you are interested on it and how you think it is current and worth researching about. No more than 300 words. Do not just write a lame title and send it with nothing else, not even a subject in the email. You will get no answer.

Deadline TWO Your final paper

Structure

Writing isnt easy. Pay attention to how you do it. For help please take a minute to read thru the basics. It is for grad school but serves for you

(https://www.gradschools.com/get-informed/student-guide/how-to-structure-an-academic-paper

).

Title

May sound slightly obvious, but you need a good catchy title for anything you write from emails, to job/school applications to love letters. Please try your best. It sets the tone for what it follows. A boring, predictable title does not look promising.

Introduction

What is your problem/question? Introducing the problem; why you want to write about this and why is it interesting (salience!); basic elaboration in a seductive & puzzling way; early theoretical background (theories, authors, works, etc.); expected findings and a tentative structure to follow (i.e.: This paper will proceed in X parts. An introductory section /chapter will …. Then a first section will deal with … Moreover, Chapter 2 will introduce the data (if)s… Chap 3 will establish the main discussion and, finally, the conclusions should wrap up the main findings…. Something along those lines.

Body

Main sections/chaps/parts.

Here you present data, discuss problem and attempt to solve the puzzle. Number of sections depend on you but take into consideration that for 3000 words a good estimate would not be to have TEN chapters. Probably 2 / 3 will do.

Conclusion

Conclusions are important. They remind the reader the main arguments/discussions, the direction of the inquiry and draws the findings to which the paper has arrived. As a rule of thumb, reserve at least a TEN per cent of the paper length for conclusion.

References

You have no idea how important referencing is. Ideally, someone would have taught you something about it, but it is not a great mystery to find a (JUST ONE) referencing style (MLA, Harvard, Chicago, etc.) and sustain it thru the paper. I use Harvard because I find it easy and intuitive

(https://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/harvard/journal-articles

).

But there are millions of tutorials online. Or you might ask your professor who will happily help. Does not add up to the word count.

Others

You might want to have an appendix with data/images/visuals and the like. This does not count for the word length so do not hesitate to do it visually accessible for the reader. Small does not mean better, colors and simplicity appreciated.

Cover page never hurts, especially in non-printed versions. Save the planet. Of course, an effort on creativity, artsy design and good visuals will definitely be appreciated. Refrain to just add it for the sake of making it look longer.

Spelling and Grammar

Most of us are not native English speakers/writers. So please run a spelling and grammar check before delivering your final draft. You might want to remember, for instance, that in Spanish we normally use much longer sentences, drift around long paragraphs and interestingly end up using many more words to say something, oftentimes not necessarily clearer. We do not want to write the Quijote here.

There is a really nice, entertaining and short book titled Improve your written English. Master the essentials of grammar, punctuation and spelling and write with greater confidence. You can eye thru it (for free) at

http://toefl.uobabylon.edu.iq/papers/itp_2015_12653122.pdf

Footnotes

Perhaps something old school, but useful and beautiful. A way to complement the main text and add a little show off because you are good. See this for help

(https://www.scribendi.com/academy/articles/what_are_footnotes.en.html

).

Anything else? Just ask ASAP as you have the question. Questions posed the day before the deadline do not look good on you.

So, what are you going to write?

Ideally, you will be engaged and committed to the project. You can only do that by working on it. Allow time to think about your topic, brainstorm on the different research questions possible, pick the one who interests you most and at the same time seems feasible and doable within your capabilities and time available. Be realistic about it. We all have good intentions till the work load sets in and then panic. Procrastination, for obvious reasons, not recommended.

Writing is an experience. Wonderful or dreadful depending on you. The satisfaction of having a good thing in your hands, working enthusiastically, progressing efficiently, coming to good conclusions, delivering with excitement and receiving a good grade for your effort is unparalleled.

Your call.

Enjoy the ride.