Why are Term Papers So Hard to Write?

It’s that time of year again. Your semester will soon be drawing to a close, and you’re stuck with one of the worst assignments in the history of education – the dreaded term paper. Term papers have annoyed, vexed and destroyed student’s academic lives since their inception. The paper is one of the most hated and least understood of all higher learning tasks – but why? What makes a term paper so much harder than other writing assignments? By understanding the issues that cause term papers to be so difficult, students may be better able to approach these assignments in the future. Read the list below to understand why term papers are difficult, and plan ahead for your next one!

What Makes a Term Paper Difficult

There are many competing factors that contribute to the difficulty of term papers. First of all, a term paper is essentially a research paper in disguise. There’s very little difference between the two, so difficulties with term papers are bound to overlap with research papers. The main factors working against students writing term papers are the following:

1. The thesis. Theses, even in a normal essay, are tough to perfect. Add on the fact that you’re supposed to be addressing an unidentified issue in a general field with little to no guidance, and you’re practically screwed. Many students struggle with term papers simply because it’s difficult to compose a thesis with the entire semester’s learning as a starting point. How do you even choose a topic to begin with? It’s a mess.
2. The research. If students do manage to develop a thesis, they still have to find good research to back it up. This can be an entire horrible escapade in and of itself. If your topic or thesis is specific or complex, you’ll have a nightmare of a time trying to find support. Even if your thesis is more general, it’s still a headache trying to sort out the good material from the bad. You need to, though; nothing’s worse than a term paper built on weak support.
3. Length and interest. Term papers are, honestly, long. Usually, they’re longer than any other paper you’ll likely to write that year. Students that are weak writers find these papers impossible as a result. What adds to the paper’s difficulty is an honest lack of interest. If your topic is boring, or you get tired of the paper, it’s showing in your work – and it’s working against you, forcing you to take even longer on the term paper. Length and interest go hand-in-hand, because the longer the paper is, the less interesting it can become.