Agree with Carlson.
The main goal is to argue YOUR point as well as you can. IMO showing other theories is a big NO NO, unless you're using them to illustrate their flaws.
Exp: If my subject was global warming, and I had a theory about ways to stop it, I might talk about Kyoto to show where my theory improves on Kyotos flaws. You want to make your thoery look superior to any alternative you show.
Overall structure I use:
-The first few sentences of your paper should objectively introduce the subject. Explain what's going on and why it's important. From that people can think of all the alternate theories they want. You don't need to do it for them and there's usually too many to sumarize anyway.
-Then state what you're argueing and your thesis statement.
-Then about 3 paragraphs backing up you arguement(s) with theory, examples and just good arguements in general.
Give opinions confidently and back them up with facts/examples. Don't be a pansy and write to soft. A good paper has a bit of arrogance to it.
Think of yourself as a salesman who needs to convince the reader of your theory, not just explain the subject.
-Conclusion should recap each arguement and again demonstrate how they relate to your thesis and the subject.
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