Common Assignments: Micro-Theme Papers
If you have been an online student long enough, you have likely noticed significant overlaps between the types of assignments you encounter. A different kind of paper, a micro-theme paper, takes the depth and workload of a research paper and condenses the process in order to produce a solidified product. The micro-theme paper will stretch you to grow and adapt as a student, researcher, and writer. As a rule, always check the course syllabus for specific assignment guidelines and nuances.
What is a Micro-Theme Paper?
The micro-theme paper is a condensed version of a research paper that seeks to refine the quality of research and writing through a significant editing process. While a research paper is focused primarily on the time and space to fully develop a thesis with argumentation, a micro-theme paper is focused on distilling the same level of research with less prose. A newer assignment type, the micro-theme paper, will often take the place of a normal research paper in a class’s assignments since it takes the same amount of time, if not more, to complete well.
Why Write Micro-Theme Papers?
Built on the premise that the best research and writing isn’t always the longest or wordiest, the micro-theme paper will teach you to prioritize only the most important arguments and research findings. A normal research paper may contain a helpful six-line block quote that contains significant evidence for your argument. A micro-theme will not have the requisite space for the full quote, so you would need to find ways to skillfully explain the concepts in your own words or pull out the essential elements of the quote. Quality writing is edited writing; first drafts of research papers may contain errors or lines of argument with no conclusion. The micro-theme paper will help expose some of those flaws that you might improve as a writer. Some flaws could include writing sentences or paragraphs that are clunky, wordy, or unnecessarily long or failing to answer questions brought up previously in the paper.
What is in a Micro-Theme Paper?
The contents of a micro-theme paper may differ slightly, but the core of each will remain fundamentally the same. Since the goal of both is to develop an argument based on a specific thesis and then edit the prose down, the following items will be essential to each paper type:
Thesis and Condensed Argumentation
The first essential item may seem like a simple, no-brainer answer, but a quality thesis will guide the entire process of writing and editing. Argumentation will likewise be shaped by a thesis that is clear and straightforward. A bad thesis for a micro-theme paper could produce a paper with multiple branches of argumentation that do not meet back up in the end. Learning to do the research on the front end to find a thesis that is clear will help save time during the editing process.
Learning Quality Editing Skills
The second essential item is the most difficult item to grasp and master for some people; editing your own work is a skill that takes time and endurance to learn. You may be the kind of writer who writes and completes a question, essay, or paper in one draft and then submits it with no revisions or editing beyond basic spelling and grammar using your word processor’s checks. Learning to proofread your own work carefully will help you be a more concise and consistent writer. A concise and consistent writer is one who can produce 5-to-7-page micro-theme or 12-to-16-page research papers on the same topic.
