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            How should you organize college papers?  Is there one standard method?  What do college instructors expect?  What you will learn from this chapter is how the average successful college writer (and professional worker) learns to construct his or her papers.  These methods are based on the learning and the trial-and-error experiments of millions of college students and professional workers.  It is how most college students actually learn to write, whether they receive good instruction on how to do this or simply develop their skills through their own hard-won experiences. 

            How should you format college papers?  The truth of the matter is that different departments and disciplines have different organizational expectations.  For example, an upper-division (junior or senior) business class instructor will expect a very distinct format when you are asked to write a "proposal" or a "recommendation report"; an instructor in an upper-division psychology course will want a rather specific format if he or she assigns you a "case study"; a lab course will have a specific format for a "lab report" or "scientific report"; and, as most people recognize, a journalism instructor will expect several different forms, each distinctive, such as a news article, an editorial, and a magazine interview.  There are many other formats, as well, ones that you will need to learn as you go through disciplinary and departmental courses and majors.  Some of the most important and basic of these are represented in the chapters in this online handbook.

            However, the good news is that college composition instructors generally have in mind, as your primary format for writing, a general organization that is rather familiar to most composition and English instructors.  In addition, this same format is accepted--even required--in a large number of lower-division (first- and second-year) departments and disciplines.  What follows is a discussion of what this pattern is not, what it is, and how you can focus your own writing methods to develop this pattern.  

            Here is a common understanding from grade school of how to organize a paper.  This model is okay as a beginning method of organizing.  However, the purpose of showing it here is to eventually discuss how you can and should go beyond it, for it is just too simple for college writing.  Some of you already may have learned how to organize better than this: you might have learned in a high school English class (or even in middle school or junior high), in another college class, or in a job.  For now, though, here is the common grade school model.  I call it the "ruler" method of writing.  

            When you were in grade school, how did you tend to organize your ideas for writing?  Many people simply wrote each idea down and then discussed it.  Often, they wrote about it in the same order in which they first thought about it.  If, for example, you developed ten ideas or thoughts, the result could be represented as a series of thoughts something like this:  

The next step was to fill in each thought with with supporting information, and then to add  tot he whole paper a brief introduction and conclusion.  This method can be called the "ruler method" because the result looks like a school ruler with divided sections:

THE RULER

            Another guideline people learned, often late in grade school--or even later--was to develop each idea into a complete paragraph.  Sometimes, of course, paragraphs were combined, but the overall effect still was of a ruler method of writing--the ideas were written down, often in the same order the person first thought of them, and there was simply a flow from introduction to one idea, then to another idea, and eventually to the conclusion.  If the paper became long enough, it was called a "report," and it would look something like this:

THE RULER As a Report--How It Is Written

            There also was some revising and editing to do, of course, but it didn't usually change the organizational pattern or format of the paper very much.  (If it did, you were lucky enough to have a writing teacher who was ahead of his or her time).  The layout of the ruler report--the finished product--looked pretty much like how you would expect a ruler to appear if you stood it on its end, like this:  

THE RULER As a Report--The Finished Product (4+ pp.)

Shorter versions of this "ruler report" may have fewer ideas and fewer paragraphs.  However, they contain or use the same organizational pattern:  the writer has written down several major ideas, tends to keep them in the same order he or she thought of them, and develops each one into a paragraph or two, step by step.

            The grade school format above is very useful, as far as it goes.  However, some high schools--and almost all colleges and universities--take this format a few important steps further.  They do so for two reasons: (1) the papers become much more interesting and powerful to write and read, and (2) they better emulate or mirror what you will need to write in your college courses, in public life, and in your professional careers.

            The most basic developmental-level college model sometimes is called, in its very simplest form, the "five-star thesis" or "five-paragraph thesis" because it often has five paragraphs.  Often this pattern of five is first introduced in high school (occasionally earlier).  It looks like a series of layers, somewhat like the layers of a cake (with the introduction--the frosting--coming first) or, perhaps, of geological strata (such that the deeper the reader "digs" into the paper, the more interesting he or she may find it): 

LAYERS of a 5-Star Thesis

            The format of this layered, 5-star thesis includes basic principles on which the majority of college and professional papers are built.  However, in most college and professional writing, there are more than just five paragraphs, sometimes many more.  The typical short or medium-length college or professional paper often has one- (or sometimes two-) paragraph introduction and conclusion.  The body of the paper--the part between the introduction and conclusion--usually is layered or divided into two to five sections.  Each section then has several paragraphs of its own.  The most common layering or division is to have three to four sections:

LAYERS of the Average College/Professional Paper

            Beyond this, it becomes difficult to show a "typical" pattern--one that all college teachers use--because there are so many variations.  For short papers of a few pages or less, most teachers are happy with the pattern above.  For medium papers of five to ten pages in length (or for longer papers), some teachers still prefer the pattern above, with additional paragraphs added to each section.  However, other teachers prefer a less rigid pattern based more on the development of your ideas, a pattern with more of a flow.  Each of these two patterns are illustrated below.  Subtitles sometimes are added to the first type, as below, but usually not to second type: 

            How do you know which pattern to use?  This answer cannot be stressed too many times: Ask the teacher.  Ask for sample papers, talk with your teacher in class and/or afterward, and take an early draft or outline to his or her office to ask what pattern she prefers.
              

            The short answer is, often--at least in your first two or three years of college--to not start by ordering.  This is because you may work best with a type of paper unfamiliar to you if you start by freewriting.  This means that you develop a series of notes or a rough draft simply by writing whatever comes to your mind about your subject.  Such freewriting actually is the most common way of writing in some disciplines, such as English, the humanities, philosophy, and other liberal arts, even at the highest professional levels.  If you don't yet know what you will say or how you will say it, freewriting can help.  

            However, you might, instead, be the kind of person who writes best by starting with some kind of outline of your overall thesis or central idea, and the points or parts of your paper.  In addition, if you have become used to writing a certain type of paper and/or you are in a discipline or profession that has rigid writing requirements (such as those for writing a police report or a business recommendation), you may find it more practical to start with an outline, whether rough or detailed.  Starting with a rough outline generally means writing a phrase or a sentence or two for each main section, or a word or phrase for each major paragraph.  After that, you then can fill in the details by further outlining, or you can freewrite each section or paragraph.  Whichever method you use to fill in details, you always can come back to it later and revise it--add, subtract, expand, limit, add examples, etc.  Rough outlining probably is the most common way of writing in the professional world, especially in professional fields or jobs that have very specific types of written documents with very specific organizational forms for content.  

            In any case, the way you start is up to you: it is a combination of the type of discipline and paper, of your experience with writing that type of paper, and of your own particular abilities and preferences for developing ideas.  See the "First Drafts" chapter for more details.

            If you start with some kind of outline, your organizing task is simpler.  You can develop your rough outline according to the parts and steps of that type of paper.

            If, however, you are starting by freewriting or note taking, then at some point you will need to organize your freewritten comments, notes, or thoughts.  Often, the more you have written, the better: you will have the ideas expressed more clearly on paper, and you will be able to make faster, better connections between the different ideas.  

            For example, I first learned to organize my own college papers well during my second year of college (there was no "Composition I" course at my college).  We usually had to write at least three short papers in every course.  For each paper, I learned to spend several days writing many paragraphs of notes on separate sheets of paper.  Then I would put words to the central point I wanted to make by writing it down in a sentence or two.  Next, I would cut some of my sheets of paper apart with scissors to make sure that every important idea was on a separate piece of paper.  Then I spread all the pieces of paper, uncut and cut, on the floor of my room, and I would look for patterns. I preferred the three- or four-section method of layering, so I would try to shuffle my pieces of paper into three, four, or sometimes five major groupings.  I might spend a day or two doing this, carefully tiptoeing through the papers each time I entered or left my room, sometimes trying two or three different methods of grouping before settling on the on I liked best.    

            Once I had settled on one grouping, I would pick up one of them and place the pieces of paper in the order I thought would be clearest for my readers to understand my arguments and proofs.  Then I would add sentences at the beginnings and ends of these pieces so they would flow together.  Sometimes, but not always, I had to rewrite the original paragraphs entirely or, at least, reorder what I had said.  At other times, my original paragraphs fit well with little or no change--just a beginning or ending sentence to help connect them to the paragraphs before and after.  

            Once I was done, I would write my conclusion--almost always just one medium to long paragraph.  The last thing I would do was write my introductory paragraph and decide on my final title.  I learned to do these two parts last because it is important to sound in a title and an introduction like you know what you are going to say.  And I wouldn't always know this exactly and perfectly well until I was done with my paper.  

            What organizational methods can you use to develop a pattern for your own papers?  In some disciplines, there is a set pattern to use, and an instructor should show this to you.  In others, you simply are free to develop your ideas in a pattern of your own choosing.  If the latter is the case, you might, for example, organize your ideas by three or four periods of time, or perhaps three or four different types of theories, or by three or four main arguments.  You might organize your ideas by author or type of author, by reading, or by other means.  

            If you are completely free to develop the layers of your main sections or ideas as you choose, you may want to consider a successful method used by many magazine writers.  This method is, in the body of your paper, to offer your most important or interesting section or idea first, your second most important or interesting idea last, and the least interesting information in the middle.  Here is how this method might be applied to the two methods from above of layering a college paper:

            Of course, many papers cannot be so easily divided because the layers are based on a progression of historical time or some other required order.  However, if all else is equal, the above system is a useful one for encouraging your readers to become more involved in your paper.

________________________________
\         MAIN IDEA:        /
 \       topic sentence       /
  \--------------------------/
   \       DISCUSSION:      /
    \      background      /
     \--------------------/
      \DETAILS: Quotes,/
       \Facts, Examples,/    
        \ Paraphrases, /  
         \  Numbers,  /
          \  Graphs  /
           \--------/
            \CONC./
             \    /
              \  /
               \/

            This pattern may result in many paragraphs or just one longer one.  See "Paragraphing" for more details on how to develop individual paragraphs beyond this model.

            Some disciplines and professions require subtitles, and some don't.  Some instructors, such as those in Business, almost always expect students to use subtitles.  Others, such as those in English, may make subtitles optional or even forbid them.  It is very important to ask your individual instructor (or, in the work world, your superior) whether subtitles are expected or accepted.  If they are, then traditionally they are used at the beginning of each major body section, at the beginning of your conclusion, and, often (but not always) at the beginning of your introduction.  They usually are simply underlined, even with the left margin, and not typed in bold, italics, or a larger size (though in business and advertising, larger, bold, and/or italicized type sometimes is used).  Often the subtitle for the introduction is called, simply, "Introduction," and the final, summarizing end often is called "Conclusion."  The subtitle of each body section usually has a name--one or a few words--that announces the content or main idea of the section:                          

Title

            How do topic sentences fit into this pattern?

            Introductions and endings can be very simple, or they can contain some of the very best writing in your paper.  Much depends on the type of paper you are writing--the discipline or profession, your audience, and the length of paper.  Or starters, the great majority of introductions and endings are just one paragraph each.  Why?  It is because an introduction or an ending is supposed to be just a taste, a quick statement of the whole paper, that is something easily read and easily remembered.  There is an old guideline taught in speech classes that applies here: 

The introduction and the ending are where you "tell them what you're going to say" and "tell them what you said."  (The body is where you "say it.")  This function often is easily accomplished in just one paragraph.  Here are, for example, several possible types of introductory and ending paragraphs (these examples are not hard and fast rules, but rather just general possibilities):  

Introductions

Conclusions

            When do you write introductions and endings?  As you may have noticed above, when I told my own story of organizing papers in college, I learned to write my the body of a paper, then its conclusion, and only then would I write the introduction.  By the time I had written everything else, my introduction would sound like I knew exactly what I was talking about--which I did, by that time.  

            As I mentioned above, while some conclusions are as simple and straightforward as can be, others are more complex, more interesting.  Let me try for the latter here.  As I sit writing this, at this moment I am on the tip of a large peninsula in Michigan, forty miles north of Traverse City.  I can see no other human beings or their buildings and ships anywhere around me.  In front of me, Lake Michigan stretches, sun shining off the water.  Above, a sky of several hues of blue is patchworked by white clouds; below them, the water is light blue close to shore, turning a deeper sapphire far out.  The beach in front of me is a mix of small rocks and large, sand, short bushes, and stunted trees.  A few minutes ago, a pair of wild swans floated just a few yards offshore in front of me, and I think there is still a large egret by the shoreline, hiding from me by some brush.  The scene is simple, beautiful, and natural.  Everything is in its right place, and yet there's a tinge of excitement, too--because I know the power of the lake and the sudden storms that come off it, day or night.  All of these things are how a good conclusion should feel to readers.  In fact, so should your entire organization.

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Most recent update: 8-13-04  

         

CollegeWriting.Info is at http://www.CollegeWriting.info.     First publication: 1 Jan. 2004 (unless stated otherwise above). Contents and Page Design © 2002-2004 by Richard Jewell.  Nonprofit copying for education is allowed. Images courtesy of Barry's Clip Art, Clip Art Warehouse, The Clip Art Universe, Clipart Collection, Microsoft Clip Art Gallery and Design Gallery Live, School Discovery, and Web Clip Art. Click here to contact the author: Richard Jewell.  I welcome questions, suggestions, and notes about links.

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