essays
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How To Write Term Papers
Some thoughts while grading essays:
1) Write simply.
2) Deleteany unnecessary words that you don't need.
3) Use short words. This isn't the SAT or ACT vocabulary quiz, it's an essay. Make it readable. Don't try to wow anyone with big words. Big words are a distraction in ordinary writing. Save them for when you need them.
4) Write short sentences. As your sentences increase in length, the number of things that can go wrong in the sentences increases.
5) Bad writing is like a food stain on your shirt. No matter how good your ideas, the stain and the errors will make the strongest impression.
6) Know your point, and make your case. If you don't have a point, you're not writing a paper; you're just writing words. When you've got a point to make, state it plainly. Then help others see why they might agree with you.
7) Avoid sweeping generalizations. Go ahead and be bold in your essays, by all means. Try out strong ideas. But be clear about exactly which ideas you are presenting, and why. Avoid saying things like "since the beginning of time, this has been the case." Rather, say "this has been the case at least since 1641 when Descartes published his Meditations."
8) Edit. Then edit again. Don't think of proofreading as giving your writing a once-over before handing it in. Read what you've written, then read it again and again. Does each sentence lead into the next? Does each paragraph follow smoothly from what came before it? Is your opening line clear and compelling?
9) Love your reader. Try to put yourself in your readers' shoes. One helpful way to do this is to ask a friend to read your writing aloud to you. Listen for where they stumble or hesitate. Those are probably times where your writing is not clear.
10) Make writing a habit, not something you only do when you must. Like any other skill, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.
*****
P.S. I've edited this post. Even after you write something, go back and read it again and keep editing. It's good exercise.
1) Write simply.
2) Delete
3) Use short words. This isn't the SAT or ACT vocabulary quiz, it's an essay. Make it readable. Don't try to wow anyone with big words. Big words are a distraction in ordinary writing. Save them for when you need them.
4) Write short sentences. As your sentences increase in length, the number of things that can go wrong in the sentences increases.
5) Bad writing is like a food stain on your shirt. No matter how good your ideas, the stain and the errors will make the strongest impression.
6) Know your point, and make your case. If you don't have a point, you're not writing a paper; you're just writing words. When you've got a point to make, state it plainly. Then help others see why they might agree with you.
7) Avoid sweeping generalizations. Go ahead and be bold in your essays, by all means. Try out strong ideas. But be clear about exactly which ideas you are presenting, and why. Avoid saying things like "since the beginning of time, this has been the case." Rather, say "this has been the case at least since 1641 when Descartes published his Meditations."
8) Edit. Then edit again. Don't think of proofreading as giving your writing a once-over before handing it in. Read what you've written, then read it again and again. Does each sentence lead into the next? Does each paragraph follow smoothly from what came before it? Is your opening line clear and compelling?
9) Love your reader. Try to put yourself in your readers' shoes. One helpful way to do this is to ask a friend to read your writing aloud to you. Listen for where they stumble or hesitate. Those are probably times where your writing is not clear.
10) Make writing a habit, not something you only do when you must. Like any other skill, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.
*****
P.S. I've edited this post. Even after you write something, go back and read it again and keep editing. It's good exercise.
Scholia, Essays, and Education
In an earlier post I spoke of the pleasures of finding marginalia in others' books, and of writing one's own marginalia. The word "marginalia" means, of course, "things [written] in the margin." In a way, the aim of education is to prepare us to write our own marginalia.
We set aside places for education, and these we call "schools," from the Greek word scholé, meaning "leisure." Most students don't think of schools as places of leisure, but it is only a person with leisure from menial daily work who has the leisure for school.
That word scholé is also related to the word scholion (Greek) or scholium (Latin). Those words mean "a comment." The act of reading is not complete with seeing the words on the page; we have read a text when we have observed it, worked to understand it, and then contemplated its meaning for our own lives. Looking at words without reflecting on them and then calling it reading is like looking at a menu without eating a meal and calling it "going to a restaurant." Technically true, but not at all nourishing.
Those with leisure to read books also have the leisure to reflect on books and on what they mean for us. When that reflection takes the form of scholia (the plural of scholion and scholium) - that is, when we write comments on texts, the writing is an attempt to complete the act of reading. So when we teachers assign essays we are (ideally) not assigning writing so much as reading. The aim is not a polished essay; the polished essay is merely the sign of something else. The aim is reflection on texts. The word "essay" comes from a French word meaning "attempt, try"; each essay is an attempt to become a little better at observing texts, at understanding what they mean, and at articulating what they mean for us.