Option #1: 10-page Final Paper
1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:
An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates
the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with
specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a
cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper
is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.
In a narrative/interpretive paper, a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph
could still be helpful to your reader to signal what your story/narrative is about. A
narrative demonstrates through narrative writing (i.e. personal story, stream of
consciousness, poetry or lyricism, short story/vignettes) rather than making a “claim” or
analysis outright. A narrative inquiry leaves room for audience interpretation.
