Getting Started

Using this Guide

This Guide is organized around the general arc of a research paper or project, but the writing process is often much “messier” in reality than the steps outlined here. For example, you may develop an idea, but subsequently need to revisit the relationship between your argument and evidence after further research. You likely will move back and forth between initial research and developing your topic and thesis. This Guide is not designed as a template to follow in strict sequence. Use the sections that seem most helpful to you, and re-visit them as you write.

Writing for classes is often one of the primary means of communication between you and your instructors. This kind of writing differs from other types of communicative writing such as emails or text messages, in that you are often asked to demonstrate and push your understanding of course concepts through your writing.

As a student, writing is also for you. The various stages along the way to a completed assignment can be opportunities for you to explore, develop, challenge, refine, and clarify your ideas for yourself. Experiment with your writing process to see what works best for you. Take charge of your own writing!

Follow all instructions from your instructors.  The ideas in this Guide are supplemental material only. This Guide does not substitute any course guidelines or input from your instructors.

Understanding the Assignment

Assignments in the Geography Department will range widely, depending on the course, instructor, and area of specialty within geography. You may be asked to complete: lab reports, making maps and other kinds of visual representations of information, critical essays, research papers, analyses of policies and laws, scientific papers, writing for popular audiences, even some creative writing. For this reason, it is important to be able to understand what your instructors ask in their assignments.  

Before starting work on an assignment, consider the questions below. Revisit these questions as you work.

• What are the expectations of the professor, in the context of this course?
• Are you expected to develop a thesis?
• What is the general content of the assignment? (topic, scope, types of information to include and consider)
• What is the purpose? (explanation, exploration, critique, argument, comparison)
• Who is the intended audience? (reader’s level of expertise, amount of background)
• What are the format and style instructions?
• What are the steps in writing your assignment?
• Is there a particular genre expected for the assignment? (e.g. research essay, lab report, summary, personal reflection)

Ask your instructor for clarification. Sometimes assignments are open-ended on purpose, to allow you a broad range of possibilities to pursue. Other assignments are quite narrow, to allow you an opportunity to develop skills in a particular area.

Portions of this section adapted from: Writing Center, U MN, Spring 2010.

Tips on Critical Reading

There are different ways to read, just as there are different purposes to reading. When reading for pleasure, you may lose yourself in the narrative, linger over a particular image, or otherwise escape to a different state of mind.

When reading for coursework and in order to write a paper, your purpose is usually to understand not just what the reading is about, but how and why the author writes what they do. You can work to develop and improve this critical approach to texts throughout your research and writing process.

Here are some general tips for critical reading, that may be useful both for course readings and reading as research for a writing project or assignment:

• Identify what you’re reading for.
• Allow enough time to read, and take your time.
• Break the linear tradition that suggests you should read, think, then write. Instead, reading actively means you will be developing questions, arguments, and ideas as you go.
  • Stop to ask questions. Challenge the writer. Make note of these observations and critiques as you read. Try to see the issues from several perspectives. Go back to the text once you are writing to re-read and reconsider the text and your own ideas about it.
• Remember that re-reading is part of effective, critical reading.
• Engage with the text to get the most out of it.
  • Read with a pen or pencil, marking key statements, sections, or points – including those that are confusing. Make notes in the margins. Take notes that reference specific pages, so that you can find these key points later on.
• Can you explain both “What the text says” and “What the text does”?
  • Challenge yourself to provide a summary of key claims. Also ask yourself to provide an understanding of the purpose of the text (to report or state facts, to contest a certain idea, to persuade, to explore, and so on).
• Situate the writer and text.
  • When was the text written? This very basic question can often provide valuable insights into the perspectives in the text. Try to situate or place the author and text relative to other pieces or writing or authors you have been reading.
  • Ask questions about the writer’s authority and agenda. What is the author’s context, purpose, and intended audience?
  • For more information about evaluating sources, see Some Basic Starting Points for Research.
• Notice your own reading habits, and think of how you might improve them. Experiment to see what works the best for you.

This section adapted from:
University of Minnesota’s Writing Center: “Student Writing Support, Quick Tips” series (accessed 2010), after Student Writing Guide, 2004. Also, Dartmouth College, Writing Program, “Coming up with your topic” section, accessed March 5, 2010.