Writing a good paper goes beyond good knowledge of the content and the subject. However, knowledge of the content in depth forms the foundation and the key to a proper ethics paper. The ethics paper includes an analysis of the theories found in the discipline, their application in real life situations, their criticism by different scholars, and their contribution in the discipline to facilitate the knowledge and understanding of the concept of ethics in societies and different work environments. Therefore, the acquisition of such information and knowledge is important if a student is to write an excellent paper as it enables the student to ensure the flow of ideas as well as logical analysis of facts and information supported by the knowledge learnt in the classroom and through research. In addition, learners should possess good writing skills to facilitate the writing of an excellent ethics paper. Such writing skills include the ability to produce original work by way of avoiding plagiarism at all costs, understanding their audience, planning on the paper, and ensuring excellent paper formatting skills. This blog article explores the requirements for writing an excellent ethics paper and provides a guide to new learners regarding the important skills and concepts that they should learn to facilitate writing of an excellent ethics paper.
Content of the Ethics Paper
Writing an excellent ethics paper requires a deep understanding of the principles and the concepts analyzed in Ethics as a subject of study. The excellent paper implies that the learners introduce the paper, whereby they explain the meaning and the importance of ethics as a subject of study. Ethics refers to the field of study that focuses on teaching students on the moral judgment of what is right and what is wrong. The concept of ethics is guided by principles and theories, which are often criticized to support or negate some actions in societies or in different fields of work. Such principles include subject relativism, cultural relativism, the divine command theory, Kantianism, Act utilitarianism, Rule utilitarianism, social contract theory, and the Rawl’s theory of justice. Learners should possess sufficient understanding of all these theories including their principles, their contribution to the study of ethics, the criticism against them, and the concepts that support the theories. Along with that, the learners must develop adequate critical skills to facilitate the analysis of each of the theories, and make comparisons between different theories regarding their effectiveness in achieving the objectives of Ethics as a subject.
In addition, an excellent ethics paper should present ideas in an organized manner, whereby each fact and concept should be supported by the information found in the discipline and the guiding principles and theories. Connecting the paper content with the theories and principles of the discipline helps in providing the audience with detailed information and promotes a better understanding of the subject of study. Additionally, providing support of ideas using the established frameworks, which include the theories and principles of ethics, facilitates building of confidence among the audience regarding the reliability of the information therein since they are in a position to identify the facts contained in the paper. Furthermore, the ideas should be well planned and organized to facilitate a good flow of information, which is important in enhancing the understanding of the issue among the audience of the paper.
Writing Requirements
Prior to writing the ethics paper, a learner should conduct a sufficient study on the intended audience of the paper. Different categories of audience have different needs for the acquisition of information. Further, different audiences understand content differently based on their level of education, cultural backgrounds, and their interest in acquiring the information. Hence, understanding the audience forms the basis of the selection of the topic of study, planning on the process of writing, engaging in collaborative work, and the selection of the elements of style and formatting. For instance, in cases whereby a learner is writing content for young children, he or she may choose formatting styles and graphics such as cartoons and other forms of drawings to capture the interest of the audience so that they can easily understand the message that the writer intends to pass. Conversely, in cases where the learner intends to pass messages to older people or to institutions, the content should be organized in such a way that the topic and the headings are clear and captivating in that they create the interest of the audience by preparing them to what they expect from reading the text.
In addition, once the learner has studied the audience and identified their needs and ways of generating their interest to read the text, he or she should embark on the planning for the content to be included in his or her text. Planning involves the selection of the topic to be discussed, the concepts to be included in the text, and the arrangement of the concepts in a logical manner to enhance the understanding of the ideas being discussed. Some topics of discussion require collaborative efforts with more experienced individuals in the same field including educators and established researchers to enhance acquisition of adequate and reliable information. Further, the planning process involves the selection of the appropriate formatting styles and elements to match the needs of the intended audience. Effective formatting elements are very necessary to make sure that the information is passed effectively to the audience. This is through enabling them to understand the subject well.
Steps of Writing an Excellent Ethics Paper
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Step 1: Topic Selection, Reading and Thinking
The first step in writing an excellent paper involves thinking and reading about the topic that one intends to write about. The learner should sample different topics and select the best, whereby he or she acquires relevant information on the topic through reading, observations, examining surveys and studies, and reviewing the literature written by previous researchers. This enables the learner to gain sufficient knowledge on the topic, which acts as a guide in the writing process. Once the learner gathers the relevant information to write the paper, he or she should consider thinking more about the subject of the study, which facilitates the production of an original piece of work that is supported by the facts and theories studied in the classroom. Each person possesses a different view regarding given situations whilr the varying perceptions on similar topics help in creating interest among then audience to read one’s content.
Effective thinking in the process of writing enables one to explore the subject study effectively through making their own observations regarding the topic of study and providing important and unique insights regarding the problems that are being analyzed in the text. Further, thinking is important in developing the paper as the writer’s ideas from the paper since they are the ones that generate interest among the audience to read the paper following their originality in the content analysis. Along with that, the arguments and the critique should be presented by the writer in response to the information contained in the source materials, which comprise of the research findings by the previous scholars form the most important part of the paper, since they enable the audience acquire unique and new information and learning. In addition, thinking enables the vital facilitating of understanding among the audience as it enhances the flow of ideas and content while reading.
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Step 2: Organizing Thoughts on Paper
The aspect of organizing of thoughts on the paper forms an important concept in ensuring that learners introduce an excellent ethics paper. Organization of thoughts involves establishing a skeleton of the work that the student aims to produce. The skeleton comprises of the framework, which carries the major arguments of the work, and the major sub-topics that relate to the learner’s thoughts regarding the topic of interest. The outline is important in organizing the writer’s thoughts, which is crucial in ensuring the flow of the paper, with minimal reference to the readings used in planning and organizing the content. In addition, the skeleton facilitates the organization of the content in terms of the topics and sub-topics to be applied in each section, and the points to be discussed in each section and paragraph. For instance, the ethics paper should comprise of headings that discuss the theories relating to the topic of study and the personal views regarding the topic, among others. Separation of different ideas into different parts and paragraphs is important as it enhances better understanding among the audience through the logical arrangement of ideas and concepts.
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Step 3: Writing with the Reader in Mind
Writing with the reader in mind comprises of including a clear introduction, which acts as a map to guide the reader on what to expect from reading the essay or report. The introduction comprises of all the content that the writer intends to cover in the major essay, which includes a brief explanation of all the sections that are discussed in the main essay or paper. In particular, the introduction should contain a thesis statement, which acts as a guide to the essay, as it directs the essay towards answering the thesis question. The introduction should be short, clear and informative, indicating and explaining the topic of discussion, and containing a thesis statement that explains to the audience what the writer is defending. In addition, the introduction should be structured in a way that it guides the audience on the content organization of the main essay and ensures that issues are organized to flow in a logical manner.
For instance, the explanation of the main issues, the connection between the issues and the ethical theories should come before the findings, recommendations, and conclusions in the introductory section. Collectively, the introduction part should indicate the writer’s main line of argument, contain a thesis statement, and explain the major structure of the paper in the most concise manner. For example, if a learner considers writing about the morality of drug abuse, he she may consider an introduction such as; ‘In the paper, I shall strongly defend an anti-drug abuse position by arguing on the line of the negative effects that drug abuse poses to our societies’. Such an introduction is sufficient and effective in informing the reader about the topic of discussion, the reader’s position, and the approaches that the writer applies to arrive at his or her position. Notably, the introduction is captivating; hence, it attracts the attention of the audience to read the paper to the end.
Once the writer ensures that the introduction covers all the requirements of excellent writing, he or she should proceed to the body of the paper, which covers the discussion of the major issues and the conclusions required to summarize the major points. The organization of the content in the body should be logical in that the audience should be able to analyze the flow of information and link the ideas from the basic to the complex ones. To achieve this objective, each paragraph should contain a thesis statement, which may be in form of a question that the paragraph focuses on answering. In addition, each sentence found within a paragraph should be clear, grammatically correct, well punctuated, and well constructed to enable the audience understand the intended content, without ambiguity. Further, the sentence organization should be logical to facilitate understanding of the content under discussion.
It is significant that the writer ensures that each paragraph carries unique information and avoids repetition of major ideas, which can lead to lack of interest among the readers. However, all the paragraphs should be linked with transitional sentences to promote the continuity of the essay and the logical content organization. Further, while writing the body of the essay, the writer should constantly refer to the essay skeleton to ensure that the major points are discussed and headings are arranged systematically to enable the audience link the major issues presented in the paper. In addition, the writer should ensure constant checking of the logical consistency in the essay organization and effective coverage of the major points in the essay. This is important to make sure that all the points outlined in the essay skeleton are discussed in depth to promote the understanding of the writer’s ideas in the essay. Checking is done through the cross-examination of the essay versus the skeleton to guarantee that each topic is covered, and the topics are organized according to their importance, begging with the major topics and minor topics follow. Along with that, the checking process involves the examination of the different points to ascertain their appropriateness and sufficiency within a given sub-topic.
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Step 4: Checking for Mechanical Errors
Once the writer has ascertained that all the important points are included in the essay, sufficiently discussed and organized in a logical manner, he or she should embark on ensuring that the paper is free of mechanical errors. Checking for mechanical errors is important to avoid cases of lack of understanding among the audience due to poor spelling or sentence structure, among others, which may lead to ambiguity or lack of understanding of the major ideas. Checking the paper involves proofreading of the paper several times and making corrections where necessary before the paper is presented to the audience. Apart from the grammatical errors and the poor sentence structure, errors of plagiarism may arise in the writing process. Plagiarism may promote a negative view of the paper since the paper is considered to lack originality in the presentation of ideas, which is against the interests of the audience. The audience is usually interested in generating new knowledge and analyzing different points of views in regard to the topic that was initially discussed by other scholars. Therefore, a repetition of similar ideas in a similar manner in the paper may discourage the audience from reading it, as they may find it boring due to the lack of creativity displayed through repetition of ideas. Hence, it is important for writers to pass their papers through special programs to ensure that their work is free from any form of plagiarism including self-plagiarism to promote an aspect of originality in their work among the intended audience.
Characteristics of Excellent Ethics Papers
Writing an excellent ethics paper requires that the learner to provide an informative and clear introduction, guide the audience on the topic of discussion, and the expectations of the ideas and concepts covered in the paper. Further, an excellent ethics paper comprises of a thesis statement, which acts as a guide to the audience, as it reflects the argument that the writer is presenting in the paper. In fact, the thesis statement should guide the writer in establishing a broader view regarding the topic of discussion. For a learner to achieve the quality of an excellent essay, he or she should provide the reasons for his views as discussed in the essay. Hence, it is important to conduct adequate research and literature to facilitate the provision of supportive ideas on the views that the writer generates through creativity and critical thinking.
An excellent ethics paper requires that the writer provides a consideration for the objections to the arguments that relate to the topic of study as explained by other critics and researchers. In addition, the writer should provide objections to the thesis as it promotes the presentation of a more realistic issue, which considers both the positive and negative ideas that affect the topic of study. Furthermore, the writer should consider adequate exposition of the arguments presented in the essay to promote a clear understanding of the topic and the ideas containing therein among the audience. In excellent papers, arguments are organized clearly using transitory sentences to link ideas in a manner that leads to understanding of the arguments among the audience through logical organization.
Additionally, excellent essays have a logical structure, whereby the writer begins with the explanation of the basic concepts before analyzing the complex ideas, which enhance the writing of the findings and the conclusions to summarize the major ideas of the paper. Further, the discussion of the ideas in the main body of the paper should consider creation of an appropriate tone when relaying ideas to the audience if the writer is to ensure that the audience understands the content and the writer’s motivation towards writing the paper. Therefore, since most papers in the ethics discipline focus on ethical issues that may lead to the development of feelings and emotions, the writer should strive to achieve discussions that cannot be considered as passionate or emotional. because the reason for this is the fact that including emotions in the paper may distract the audience from the major topic, and focus more on the emotional discussion rather than the ideas and views being communicated in regard to the topic.
An excellent ethics paper should present an overall clarity in the presentation and analysis of ideas. The writer should ensure that the ideas are communicated in the simplest way to facilitate understanding. Hence, the information contained in the paper should be free of any errors and mistakes to avoid instances where sentences fail to make sense or comprise aspects of ambiguity. In addition, excellent ethic papers are non-religious because the issue of ethics affects people from all over the globe as they are universal and not dictated by religion. Hence, an excellent paper should take a philosophical approach since they focus on discussing topics that analyze wrong and right in societies. Therefore, following the larger concept of ethics, which focuses on the concept of morality, the topic of discussion should examine the wrong and the right in line with the topic as it relates to people despite their religious diversity. Finally, an excellent essay is well planned, and it follows a logical presentation of ideas, which are easily understood among the audience.
Tips for Writing an Excellent Ethics Paper
Learners should focus on producing excellent ethics papers through ensuring that their papers contain a topic, which the learner explores. In addition, the learners should outline the relevance of their topic, which acts as a point of interest among the audience. Furthermore, the learners should include a thesis statement, which gives the paper direction, as the writer explores the facts and ideas that surround the topic and enables the learner to provide a comprehensive conclusion on the topic of discussion. The learners should also ensure acquisition of sufficient information to enable them link their ideas to theory and the findings of previous researchers. Finally, learners wishing to write an excellent ethics paper should consider simplicity in their writing, revision of their work, avoiding errors, and ensuring adequate reading and research on the topic of discussion.
Writing an excellent ethics paper requires that the learners conduct adequate research on the topic of study through reading related texts, and thorough analysis of surveys and interviews, among others. However, possessing adequate information alone is not sufficient to produce an excellent paper. Rather, possessing the required writing skills enables the learner to present the paper in an organized manner by ensuring a logical sequence of introducing and explaining the information and the learner’s ideas. Researching and reading supports production of excellent ethics papers, and the understanding of the ethical theories enables the writers to link theory to facts explained through the theories. Excellent papers should be well planned, organized, and simplified to enhance the audience understanding. Furthermore, learners should avoid errors in their paper and ensure originality to facilitate the creation of interest among the intended audience.
