Political Science is a prestigious degree that offers bright career prospects. Upon graduating from the course, students can become politicians, consultants, professional journalists, and many more. Of course, the scale of success depends on how hard you study. If you aren’t interested in the degree, it is unlikely that you will find anything exciting once you graduate. Conversely, if you like the program and put plenty of effort into scoring high, you will end up a sought-after expert in the field.Â
Be that as it may, passion isn’t enough to get a good grade, especially when your homework is to write an essay. Without a shadow of a doubt, writing a political science essay tends to be among the most challenging home assignments. But that doesn’t mean you can’t compose an impeccable piece. Below we’ve put together practical and straightforward tips to help you build an excellent political science paper from the ground up.
Analyze the question first
Imagine planning to scuba dive. What would you need to have before diving into the ocean? Equipment! Needless to say, it makes no sense to dive without putting on swimming glasses first. The same goes for political essay writing. You can’t just start writing without knowing what you’re asked to do. Otherwise, not only will you spend hours writing the paper, but you will also highly likely miss the point and won’t reveal the main question.
Understanding the central question is a must, for it helps you find the most effective writing strategy and more. Make sure to complete this task first and foremost, and your writing process will speed up afterward.
Retrieve notes and class resources
Reaching personal notes and curriculum is an excellent way to narrow down the list of sources you use. Moreover, by looking over the notes, you will recall the classes and their contents.
When it comes to the syllabus, you can entirely rely on it and use related sources when working on an essay. However, keep in mind that although a typical writing strategy, you will need to look for more sources if you are determined to score A or A +.
Carry out research
Whether you long for an A + or just want to pass the task, researching the topic is a must. That means reading significantly more about the topic than just your notes and Wikipedia (with the last, it’s advisable to refer to Wikipedia at all costs when writing academic papers). Researching the subject is often a time-consuming, demanding process. But with the right approach, you can accelerate research and make it effective.
So here is what you can do to improve your research session. Try to start broad and whittle down the field of your research. Paradoxically, you can use Wikipedia, but only to get familiar with the last section, bibliography. The latter usually comprises a list of resources used to write an article. If you see a source, and it proves credible (published under a reliable domain, like edu or gov, is updated, and peer-reviewed), you are encouraged to rest upon it in your essay.
Also, ensure to take notes when researching. Found a source and a good chapter? Great, write down the page and paragraph. It will boost your writing process tremendously.
Plan the paper
Once you find the required number of sources, start planning the essay. Think of a stance and arguments you will take and develop within the work. They should be accurate, meaningful, and thought-provoking. Try to pair them with the sources that you’ve gathered.
Other than that, consider the structure. Review the requirements and try to find whether there are any requirements as to the paper’s structure. If not, follow a standard format: an introduction, body, conclusion. If there are, make sure to meet them.
Create a layout
It’s always great to deal with any writing assignment quickly. But this requires thoughtful and rigorous preparation. One of the most critical elements responsible for that is an outline. An outline, also known as a layout, is a simple plan. But it has so many benefits that naming it simple is wrong, to say the least.
More to the point, an outline sums up essential points the paper talks about. You can compress every paragraph into several accurate and informative sentences or create a numbered list describing every section. That’s totally up to you.
Determine how to use sources
Elementary as it might seem, working with sources is complicated. Sometimes, it’s difficult to decide whether to use a direct quote or paraphrase. This can negatively impact your writing session if you don’t decide on sources beforehand. Therefore, try to make it in advance.
Craft the first draft as quickly as possible
Let us not forget that writing a stellar paper in one sitting is nearly impossible. The most prolific and professional writers spend lots of time polishing their works, and they still hire editors and proofreaders to perfect their papers. Of course, you don’t have enough resources to hire people to check your essay. But you don’t need to do that. Instead, focus on drafting the paper fast.
Take a break before editing
Building the paper’s first version will help you project its strengths and weaknesses. Don’t be discouraged if it seems that your work contains more blunders than valuable points. It’s OK! More importantly, try to compose the draft and step away from it. Think of something completely unrelated. It will restore your productivity and approach the essay for the final stage.
Proceed to editing and proofreading
Editing and proofreading aren’t easy by no means, but they are necessary if you want to get a high grade. Since they are different, try to work on one thing at a time. For instance, you can focus on the paper’s structure and fix every error related to it. Once you do that, move to another aspect. And so on.
Conclusion
Hopefully, the article has shed light on how to write a political science essay from scratch. Remember, the writing process isn’t as hard as many depict it. Just complete the pre-writing session and have anything needed before delving into writing. Good luck!
