How To Write A Good Paper: The Ability To Write Well 287238
How To Write A Good Paper1 The Ability To Write A Good Paper Is One O
How to Write a Good Paper 1. The ability to write a good paper is one of the most important skills that a college graduate can bring to the job market. A more immediate benefit is that it can raise your grade in this course. 2. A paper should address a well-defined question, bringing logical arguments and factual evidence to bear in answering that question. You should assume that the reader is not very familiar with your topic area, and therefore you need to describe some background material to put your question in context. It may take a few paragraphs to define the question precisely. The body of the paper presents the logical arguments (and perhaps some definitions of terms) and the evidence supporting or casting doubt on the statements you make. The final paragraph should review the arguments that you have made and should restate your main conclusions (with appropriate qualifications). Below I give some examples of how to frame the question of your paper.
The last page of your paper should be a list of references. You should refer to these references in the body of your paper, sometimes giving the page number when you are citing a particular fact or idea. Feel free to list the Weil textbook, the Mishkin book, and the tables in the Reader among your references.
Examples of paper topics and possible ways to approach them: a. Is education one of the keys to economic development? You might start out by explaining that education is one form of human capital, which enters directly into the production function. You could also point out that the level of education might affect political institutions, community organizations, and the quality of government bureaucracy; thus its effects are not limited to the direct contribution of human capital in production. Education might also affect crime rates and the level of fertility. Having explained the various ways in which education might affect development, you would turn to the evidence that education makes a positive contribution to development. There is evidence on the productive effects of human capital at the level of individuals—more educated individuals earn more—and evidence at the level of countries—more educated countries have higher per capita incomes. In both of these correlations questions of causation have to be addressed, because the correlations might be explained by higher incomes causing education or some other variable causing both income and education. b. Is governmental corruption the most serious obstacle to development in poor countries? You might start out by describing the various ways in which corruption in government can hinder development. One way to think about this question is to describe the various ways in which government policies can promote or hinder development, and then think about how corruption would influence government performance in each of these areas. You could also look at correlations between governance measures and income or growth rates for some evidence on the effect of corruption on development. You would have to explain the two-way causation between per capita income and corruption. c. Are differences in development mainly explained by culture? You might describe the various ways in which a progress-resistant culture might inhibit development. (You should probably devote some space to defining your terms.) I think the distinction between personal culture and civic culture is important. Then you could discuss the evidence that various aspects of culture are obstacles to development. As always in discussing evidence, you should be sensitive to the possibility of causation running from development success to a progress-prone culture as well as causation running from a progress-prone culture to development success. d. What are the development priorities in country X? Your country of interest might be a development success or a development failure, or somewhere in between. To the extent that your country has been successful, you should explain what the country has done right, and if possible why the country has done those things. Was it good government performance or good business performance despite an inept government? To the extent that your country has failed in some ways to develop, you should explain what obstacles have been and what has prevented the government from dealing with those obstacles. In many countries, it should be easy to describe what steps by the government would promote development (e.g., better education policies, more infrastructure, better legal systems) and you should spell this out. But it is more challenging and more interesting to explain the political or other obstacles to implementing these policies.
Grammar and style. Please run spell-check on your paper. The following common grammatical mistakes should be avoided. (a) Run-on sentence. Example: Economists had a naïve view of government, they thought government officials were honest and competent. Here two sentences have been separated by a comma, rather than a period (a semi-colon would also be correct here). (b) Sentence fragment. Every sentence has to have both a subject and a verb. (c) The contraction of “it is” is “it’s;” the possessive form is “its.” (d) The verb affect is spelled with an “a.” The consequences of an action are its effects, spelled with an “e.” Example: The break-up with his girlfriend affected his emotional health, but its effects on his diet were minimal. Two notes on plagiarism. (1) Students sometimes commit the crime of plagiarism without realizing it. Whenever you use the words of another author, you must put the words in quotes and give a citation to the source, including the page number. It is quite permissible to include fairly long quotations from sources, but most of the paper must be your own words. The basic idea is that you must not present other people’s work as your own. (2) When you list a source at the end of your paper, it is assumed that you have actually consulted that source. However, there is an exception to this rule: Suppose you are reading an article by Jones, who cites an article by Smith, and you want to acknowledge that the information or idea that you are presenting comes from Smith. Then you should list Smith, but add “as cited by Jones.” Again, the basic idea is that you must not present other people’s work as your own. Topic: Why did the Black Death have different effects in Western Europe and Egypt? Resource: 1. S. J. Borsch, 2005, The Black Death in Egypt and England 2. David Herlihy, 1997, The Black Death and the Transformation of Europe Request: The paper must address a well-defined question and must make use of reasoning related to course material. To write a paper, you must hand in a sheet of paper describing the topic and listing at least a couple of sources. The topic sheet is due by November 20 and the paper itself is due by December 4. Earlier submissions are welcome, and they will increase the opportunity for my comments on your paper. The paper should be about 8 double-spaced pages. The paper should contain a list of sources at the end. The body of the paper should contain specific references to these sources.
Paper For Above instruction
The Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, profoundly impacting societies across Europe and Egypt in different ways. Understanding why the Black Death had varying effects in Western Europe and Egypt involves exploring the historical, geographic, social, and economic contexts of each region, as well as the specific circumstances surrounding the pandemic's spread and mortality rates.
Historically, Western Europe and Egypt had different societal structures, medical knowledge, and levels of urbanization, which contributed to disparate outcomes during the Black Death. Europe in the 14th century was characterized by fragmented political entities, feudal systems, and burgeoning urban centers that facilitated the rapid spread of the plague. In contrast, Egypt, governed by the Mamluk Sultanate at that time, had established a more centralized administrative structure and different trade routes, which influenced disease transmission dynamics.
Geographically, Europe’s dense network of towns and cities, coupled with poor sanitation and high population density, created fertile ground for the spread of the deadly bacteria Yersinia pestis. Conversely, Egypt’s environment, including the Nile River and desert regions, likely played a role in limiting the spread and severity of the pandemic, although certain urban centers like Cairo experienced significant mortality.
Socially and economically, the impact of the Black Death varied markedly. In Europe, the massive loss of population led to labor shortages, a decline in agricultural productivity, and social upheaval. These changes accelerated the end of the feudal system and contributed to economic transformations, including the rise of wage labor and more mobile populations. In Egypt, however, the socio-economic effects were somewhat different, and some regions experienced less dramatic demographic declines, allowing for continued trade and stability in certain sectors.
Modern scholarship offers various explanations to these differences. Borsch (2005) emphasizes the role of regional trade networks and urbanization in Europe's disease spread, while Herlihy (1997) discusses the cultural and administrative factors influencing mortality and societal resilience. Both authors highlight that differences in health infrastructure, environmental conditions, and social organization contributed significantly to the varied impact of the pandemic.
In conclusion, the contrasting effects of the Black Death in Western Europe and Egypt can be attributed to a complex interplay of geographical, social, political, and economic factors. While Europe’s dense urban centers and fragmented political landscape facilitated swift and widespread disease transmission, Egypt’s centralized governance and environmental conditions offered some degree of resilience. Analyzing these differences enhances our understanding of historical pandemics and the importance of context in shaping societal responses to such crises.
References
- Borsch, S. J. (2005). The Black Death in Egypt and England.
- Herlihy, D. (1997). The Black Death and the Transformation of Europe.