eBook - ePub

How to Write a BA Thesis, Second Edition

Name: How to Write a BA Thesis, Second Edition
Author: Charles Lipson

A Practical Guide from Your First Ideas to Your Finished Paper

Charles Lipson,

English
ePUB (mobile friendly)
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - ePub

How to Write a BA Thesis, Second Edition

A Practical Guide from Your First Ideas to Your Finished Paper

Charles Lipson,

About this book

How to Write a BA Thesis is the only book that directly addresses the needs of undergraduate students writing a major paper. This book offers step-by-step advice on how to move from early ideas to finished paper. It covers choosing a topic, selecting an advisor, writing a proposal, conducting research, developing an argument, writing and editing the thesis, and making through a defense. Lipson also acknowledges the challenges that arise when tackling such a project, and he offers advice for breaking through writer's block and juggling school-life demands. This is a must-read for anyone writing a BA thesis, or for anyone who advises these students.

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Yes, you can access How to Write a BA Thesis, Second Edition by Charles Lipson in PDF and/or ePUB format. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Year

Print ISBN

eBook ISBN

Subtopic

VIII

Citing Your Sources and Getting More Advice

OPTIONAL

APPENDIX 1 BEST SOURCES FOR MORE HELP

There are great resources about most topics covered in this book. If you want to find out more about one of them, here are some of the best books I’ve found.

WRITING

There are three outstanding resources on writing, all of them brief. My favorite is Zinsser. Trimble is also excellent. Strunk and White is a classic.

Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Any edition is fine.

► The classic book on writing, emphasizing brevity and clarity.

Trimble, John. Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing. 3rd ed. New York: Pearson, 2011.

Zinsser, William. On Writing Well. Any edition is fine.

► Zinsser’s Writing to Learn (New York: HarperPerennial, 1993) is also filled with good advice.

For a more advanced treatment, grounded in academic research:

Williams, Joseph. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Any edition is fine.

For helpful ideas directed at academic writers:

Becker, Howard. Writing for the Social Sciences: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

McCloskey, Deirdre N. Economical Writing. 2nd ed. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 2000.

► A little gem, directed at writers in the social sciences but useful for everyone.

EDITING

Since editing is essential to good writing, nearly all books on writing treat it extensively. Basically, editing is done is done at two levels: the overall structure of the paper (which sections should go where?) and specific sentences and paragraphs (how to write them smoothly). Good editing requires both.

To improve your own editing, you may wish to consult a couple of specialized texts:

Murray, Donald M. The Craft of Revision. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth-Cengage, 2013.

► Concentrates on the large issues of editing, particularly the paper’s structure.

Ross-Larson, Bruce. Edit Yourself: A Manual for Everyone Who Works with Words. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.

► Focuses on line-by-line changes. Ross-Larson has also written some brief books, available on Kindle, about how to write better sentences and paragraphs.

BEST PRACTICAL GUIDES TO CURRENT ENGLISH USAGE

Garner, Bryan A. Garner’s Modern English Usage. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Associated Press. The Associated Press Stylebook 2018. New e-books appear annually.

► Reporters use the AP Stylebook as a standard guide to usage. For example, what are the standard terms today for the spouse of a same-sex couple (male or female)?