An instructor will frequently distribute copies of an example of term paper elements in order to teach students how to write those elements well. Students who receive such examples of term papers should take care to pay attention to the details contained therein, because term papers stand or fall on the accuracy of their details.
The instructor is quite likely to provide an example of term paper research citations, because the citation of research sources is the most complex technical element of a term paper. The student should carefully note which identifying information the citation contains, such as the author's name, the title of the work, the place of publication, the publisher, and the copyright date, and he or she should also carefully note the sequencing of such information. As arcane as some of these details may seem to the student, they are all very important: the instructor grades the accuracy of research citations scrupulously, because they provide an objective measure of the term paper's success.
Instructors also often hand out examples of term paper thesis statements in order to show students how to write them well. Good thesis statements do not say, "I think that this book was good"; instead, they say, "The symbolism found in Herman Melville's masterpiece Moby Dick rises to a crescendo in Captain Ahab's death scene, which incorporates [symbol A], [symbol B], and [symbol C], each of whose growth one may trace throughout the novel." The key difference between the former sentence and the latter is that the latter introduces the term paper's argument.
Examples of term papers may teach other elements of the process as well, including how to use sources appropriately within one's paper, how to create a strong argument, and how to write catchy introductions and conclusions. The student should pay close attention to all the examples an instructor provides, because they offer a window into the instructor's wishes for the term paper project and consequently his or her rubric for grading.
