It doesn’t matter what faculty or department you’re from; chances are, you’ll have to write a paper at some point in your university career. Some may dread it, but as weird as some may think, I love writing papers. There’s just something so satisfying about articulating my thoughts on a topic backed by research gathered from a hundred sources. It’s cathartic, enjoyable and, as Ken from the Barbie movie said, sublime! Oftentimes, one of the most intimidating parts of writing a paper is figuring out how to start and, afterward, how to organize their thoughts in a clear and concise manner. So, I’m here to give a breakdown of my thought process when writing a paper alongside an example, and hopefully, this will help you manage your ideas as well! (Note that this is from my perspective as an arts student, so it might not necessarily transfer as well to other disciplines. Nevertheless, I hope this can still provide some guidance!)
Step 1: Pick a topic
This is going to be your broadest category, and oftentimes, it will be limited by the subject matter of the class you’re taking. If you’re given free rein, first consider what discipline you want to write about and, specifically, pin down an issue you want to explore. Once you have that topic, you, of course, must do some research and learn about it so you have some general background.
Example: I was taking a class called “From Mozart to K-Pop: Musical Narratives.” Thus, my topic was looking at Korean ethnomusicology and, more specifically, K-Pop. The issue I sought to address was the effects of globalization on Korean contemporary music. By taking the class, I gained general knowledge and perspectives about the genre.
Step 2: Ask a question
Once you’ve determined the topic and explored it, you’ll likely wonder about the things you’ve learned. It can stem from questioning the ordinary and trying to figure out all the layers behind it. Primarily, your questions will likely be formatted as a how, why, or to what extent question. This will be the nucleus of your paper, which will centre around trying to answer this gap in scholarship. But it’s not enough to just have a question: why this question? What drew you to it? Why is it so important to address? It is wise to do an inquiry of this as it will give purpose and drive the paper. Finally, draw other, more specific questions that support your central question. What information do you need in order to reach a conclusion? This initial phase is incredibly important to figure out.
Example: Because my class looked at the influence of Western musical culture on K-Pop, my central question was: How Korean is K-Pop? My reason for asking this was because there is significant discourse debating the cultural authenticity of K-Pop as Korean music. I was interested in observing these trends in K-Pop as it rises in prominence as a player on the global stage. Thus, some questions I sought to answer were: to what extent is K-Pop Korean music? What makes K-Pop Korean? If you take these elements away, is it still Korean music? Or is there a deeper essence that makes K-Pop Korean? And what direction is K-Pop heading towards?
Step 3: Define the limits of your research
So now you have a question, but how will you answer it? Information is boundless, and it’d be impossible to have a complete, all-encompassing study of any given topic. Thus, it is important to narrow things down to a specific scope; you have your what, so specifically, who, when and where in the context of your question. It’s impossible to research the entirety of history and the whole globe within one paper, so give specifics. Don’t be concerned with needing to be extremely comprehensive as we see patterns in time and space. Information from one context can be extrapolated and used to compare and contrast with other contexts. One paper is meant to be used as one of many with others to build a database rather than be the end-all and be-all. In addition to your scope, how are you going to analyze and view this issue? In other words, with what lens are you going to approach your research? Whether it be Marxism, queer theory or any other lens, this will help shape your paper with a specific point of view.
Example: As I am looking at K-Pop, I would be focusing largely on the last few decades of history in Korea in relation to popular music. The research will primarily revolve around the case study of BTS, as they are arguably the most prolific group to come from K-Pop and, therefore, are influential trendsetters and leaders of K-Pop. Finally, as I will be looking at the impact of globalization on K-Pop, I will be using some key terms from Appadurai: global cultural flow, deterritorialization and cultural imagination.
Step 4: Make a claim, take a stance
This is your argument or position on your question and will also be the basis of your thesis statement. You should demonstrate your perspective on this issue in an easily understandable way. You should also know what you are trying to prove and its relevance in the grand scheme of things. What greater commentary are you trying to make with your paper? Explaining the purpose of the paper besides simply answering the question is integral for the reader to understand in what context this research provides value.
Example: In sum, my perspective is that K-Pop is still Korean music. This is because I believe that due to the fracturing of the post-war Korean identity and the digital age assisted by the pandemic, hybridization has embedded itself as a part of the Korean cultural DNA. Though K-Pop has strong Western elements, so long as it maintains some Korean essentials, I would still consider a K-Pop song Korean. Ultimately, I want to demonstrate that despite the impacts of Western colonialist and imperialist ideology, we live in a world now where this influence has been adapted and transformed in a culturally distinct way, thus reclaiming fractured cultural identities.
Step 5: Do your research and analysis
This step ties back into step 4 in terms of supporting your claim, but with your ideas about an issue, you now need to support it with your evidence from research, whether it be other academic sources or statistics. Your work to back your claim should also be summarized and integrated into your thesis.
You can use online databases like jstor.com or check the U of A’s library for books and sources, conduct studies and surveys or more. Ultimately, this is where you need to gather information and connect the dots to tie back to your answer (which should be reflected in your body paragraphs).
Example: This paper would be backed by literary studies regarding K-Pop’s history, specifically in regards to the genesis of the genre and contemporary effects of globalization through the pandemic and social media. I would also do a musicological analysis of a selection of BTS’s songs demonstrating the paradigm shift in the proportion of Western to Korean elements in their music over time.
Step 6: Put it all together
Now, with all the information you’ve gathered, you need to organize everything in a cohesive way. Start with an introduction that gives background, context and your thesis statement with your claim and an explanation of your reasoning through your research. Then, going through the research itself, make sure to always relate each paragraph back to the original intent of the paper. Finally, end with a conclusion to restate your thesis, supplemented by the academia given and an evaluation of what your work entails, i.e. what could this mean for the future? What further lines of inquiry would be of interest? This shows the potential for how your scholarship can be built upon moving forward. And with some proofreading and revisions, you should have a pretty solid paper on your hands! I hope this explanation of my thought process when writing papers gives you some structure that will help you when writing your own! Though by no means an easy task, I believe in you and your capabilities, so if you ever feel yourself derailing, check back on these steps to get back on track. Good luck!
