A story arc is another word for "story structure," but this term goes back to Aristotle's conception of what makes an aesthetically pleasing story in Poetics. A classical story demonstrating dramatic structure generally has three parts:

1. The Inciting Incident - This part of the story sets things up, piques our interest and gives us a taste of what's to come.  The best stories begin "in media res," in the middle of things.
   
2. The second act - This part of the story builds through rising action unti...

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Chances are, you feel a severe case of anxiety in class when you need to come up with a good research paper idea. Whether you are working on a senior research paper or you need ideas for your presentation, coming up with paper ideas can be a daunting task.  Here are some tips that worked for me when I needed ideas for research papers, ideas for a senior thesis, and even ideas for a dissertation when I was contemplating writing one.

1. Write it all down.  Sometimes when you are reading, or in clas...

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Sometimes professors (or bosses) request a précis on some book or journal article.  When I first started graduate school, I wasn't sure how to write a précis. By the time I left, I found the short summary paper to be an incredibly helpful tool for studying for comps and preparing for seminar classes. Below you will find step-by-step instructions for writing a successful precis for class (or work).

1. The very first step in writing a précis is reading the reference material carefully.  While re...

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