Executive Assistant

It is important for every paper, no matter what the length, to have structure. Headings assist structure and help the reader to know your main points. Headings (Introduction, Analysis and Conclusion) are examples. Double space and use APA style. if you need information on APA:

Go to: http://www.apa.org/,

Or, http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspx

Begin with a title of the work. A quote from someone famous right after the title of the work can capture the reader's interest. Quotations that synthesize a paper can often be found during research. I usually write my title the very last.

These are the main parts of a paper.

I. Introduction (or "Statement of the Problem")

II. Analysis (or "Research Findings")

III. Conclusions ("or what I think should be done based upon my research")

IV. Bibliography ("Sources of the research")

I. Introduction

Start this section with some quotes using the material researched. The introduction is usually only one paragraph long. In this section you will clearly state the problem you addressed in the paper. "The purpose of this work" is a great way to start. I usually do not write the Introduction until I have written the Analysis (think about it - how can you introduce what you have not written?). Thus, after the Analysis section is written, go back and write the Introduction. You will probably have three main points of analysis that you will want to quickly explain in the Introduction.

II. Analysis

This section usually has four paragraphs. The first paragraph is an "advance organizer" paragraph and explains that you have read through the assigned materials and that you have come up with (usually) three analyses that apply to the question or topic assigned.

Each of the next three paragraphs will have at least one citation directly tied to the assigned text (or texts). You may add other citations but you must have three separate references to the readings. Each paragraph will have a different slant on the question or topic assigned.

For example, if the question asks you to analyze the mission statement of a business, then in the first paragraph you would find a pertinent sentence in the text that would analyze the assigned mission statement from one way of thinking. Be sure to use the proper APA "in text" citations.

In the second paragraph you would identify and cite another part of the text that could be used as another analysis of the assigned mission statement. Repeat these steps for the third paragraph of analysis.