Introductions and Literature Reviews

Writing literature reviews is one of the trickiest things you’ll have to do in graduate school.  It is even more tricky because a lot of professors will want you to do things that are pedagogically valuable but so tailored to the specific class they are teaching that it can be hard to generalize the lessons…Continue Reading Introductions and Literature Reviews

Outlining Your Prospectus

Your dissertation committee will be in charge of the specific guidelines of your proposal (length, format, expected scope, etc.). That being said, all effective proposals do at least four things: Contextualize and ask an answerable question; identify what existing scholarship has and has not done to address that question; explain how the researcher will answer…Continue Reading Outlining Your Prospectus

Introductions Done Three Ways

Some professors will tell you that the introduction should be the last thing that you write.  Some will tell you that it should be the first.  Both strategies probably have merits, but what’s most important is keeping in mind the purpose of your introduction.  Your introduction should “introduce” your paper, sure, but what does that…Continue Reading Introductions Done Three Ways