A Survivors Guide to College Writing

for Returning Students

by John Freed, Ph.D.
Brandman University
of the Chapman University System

(rev. Jan. 2013)

Who needs A Survivors Guide ?

For you students returning to undergraduate school after an extensive or even
brief interruption between the segments of your college education or those returning to
pursue graduate degrees or credentialing certifications hopefully this guide will sound
somewhat familiar and provide even a little comfort. You may soon discover that you
may have been more anxious about your writing ability than you needed to be. Doris
Lessing encourages all of us life-long learners, Thats what learning is. You suddenly
understand something youve understood all your life, but in a new way.
This guide will hopefully also reconcile what often sounds like conflicting advice
about expository writing that you might have received from your high school teachers
and receive from various college professors and your fellow students. The many
examples of student writing (all written by actual students in a wide variety of
disciplines) should be themselves demystifying.
The purpose of this guide is a very limited and pragmatic one: to give you an allat-once overview of a particular type of academic expository writing. Hopefully it will
supply some aid and comfort during your time at a writing-intensive college such as
Brandman/Chapman and enhance the quality of the dialogues that you will be having
with your instructors about the various ways to improve the quality of your written or
other presentation work.
NOTE: At the end of this guide is a copy of an expository writing assessment
rubric that I use for my capstone classes.

Why a Writing-intensive College Curriculum?

We know that we can teach pigeons consistently to peck out the
right answers, but we also know that were not teaching them how to think, solve other
problems or teach other pigeons. In a writing-intensive college curriculum you will be
asked to do something a pigeon cant do. You will be asked to write, and to write a great
deal, because we believe that the act of writing trains and develops the act of thinking.
And we also strongly believe that the main evidence that you are a collegeeducated person is that you write like one. This is the primary goal of our writing
program, and it is at least an ancillary goal of every single course that you take at a liberal
arts college like Brandman University.
Were old-fashioned, and we dont mind it.
There is an educational television program called The New Literacy: An
Introduction to Computers. In a way the title is an emblem of the way that many in
higher education have divorced old fashioned verbal literacy and devoted themselves to
sexier new partners.
In many quarters of American higher education little attention is being paid to
instilling a high level of genuinely verbal literacy. In a recent survey of its courses in
the 40,000 plus student Pennsylvania State University system fewer than 5% of its
courses required any type of writing beyond short answer or multiple choice responses. In
a writing-intensive curriculum such as ours, however, the proportions are exactly
reversed.
Even Harvard:
A study of Harvard graduates in the eighties based on three writing samples - the
pre-admission essay required of in-coming freshmen, a final essay that completed the
freshman composition course cycle and the senior thesis - suggested that, although the
best work was the final essay in freshman composition, the worst piece tended to be the
writing in the senior thesis. The study pointed out the relative lack of concern with
writing after freshman English manifested in much of the Harvard curriculum. At a
liberal arts college we expect our seniors to write better than our sophomores.
The ultimate pay-off:
I could make much of the pay-off for all this work to improve your writing. I
could mention that Brandman/Chapman University has such high pass rates on various
professional examinations or point to the number of students we have had who went on to
graduate schools. I wont do much of that though because we do not intend to teach
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effective thinking and writing at a liberal arts college because of the prospective big
pay-off. Thinking and writing, and behaving well for that matter, contain their own best
rewards because they are what make a human being most human. A.E. Housman said it
much better than I could:
Let a man acquire knowledge not for this or that external and incidental good
which may chance to result from it, but for itself; not because it is useful or
ornamental, but because it is knowledge, and therefore good for man to
acquire. . . [It] is part of mans duty to himself.
Anis Nin put the centrality of writing to life this way:
We. . . write to heighten our own awareness of life. We write to taste life
twice, in the moment and in retrospection. We write to be able to transcend
our life, to reach beyond it. . . to teach ourselves to speak with others, to
record the journey into the labyrinth. . . to expand our world, when we feel
strangled, constricted, lonely. . . . When I dont write, I feel my world
shrinking.

What Does this Guide Provide?

To write an essay, the student must know everything at once.
There is a peculiar paradox to the teaching and learning of writing at the college
level: your first essay will often be evaluated as rigorously as if it were your last. As one
of my writing teachers, S. Leonard Rubinstein, put it, To write an essay, the student must
know everything at once. What the student must know simultaneously, the instructors can
provide only sequentially. The paradox simply stated is that with regard to writing you
should have already completed your college- curriculum before you wrote your first
paper.
A Survivors Guide is an attempt to resolve some of this paradoxical nature of
college-writing by providing a snapshot of the everything at once. It is not an attempt
to substitute for a detailed course in composition although it certainly could be a
supplement for one, nor is it presumptuous enough in a few brief pages to stand for a
detailed writing handbook or guide to professional research paper documentations in all
the variety of formats and academic and professional fields (Consult the Selected
Bibliography at the end of this book for these).
What follows are those essentials of college-level expository writing that we
expect to implant and expect back from those students we will certify as college
graduates. The principles have been reduced to as few as possible. These are the same
principles that drive our own expression in our research, our teaching and our own
writing.
If you wish to be a good writer, write.
The truest sentence in this guidebook was written early in the second century by
the Greek Epictetus, If you wish to be a good writer, write. The whole quotation has a
philosophic ring to it:
Every habit and faculty is confirmed and strengthened by the corresponding
actions, that of walking by walking, that of running by running. If you wish to be a good
reader, read; if you wish to be a good writer, write.
The truth is that writing is a skill like playing tennis, not a body of knowledge like
American history. No one knows writing. You exercise and develop your writing
ability as you write.
Another distinction between writing and playing tennis, of course, is that if you
are indifferent to tennis you can still be more or less successful in your college career. If
5

you are indifferent to writing, youll be dead in the water at any college or university
worthy of the name.
The tennis and writing analogy extended:
Like the rules of tennis, the essentials of effective writing are deceptively
simple and direct. However, you dont become a good tennis player by memorizing the
rules. If you want to be a good tennis player, you have to play a lot of tennis. Similarly if
you want to be a good writer, you have to write. . . a lot. (Of course, you could do this on
your own. The Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, Larry McMurtry, writes for four hours
every day of the year before he does anything else that day. Very few of you , I am sure,
have that kind of discipline. I know I dont.)
You will also be required to do many kinds of writing, but dont let this confuse
you. I hope this guide demonstrates that the main principles of effective expository
academic writing stay pretty much the same whether it is an economics study, a book
review for history, a lab report for physics, your senior thesis in education, an assigned
essay on poetic diction for English, or a reflection paper for religious studies.
The next sections of this guide contain the everything that you need to know at
once. I recommend that you first read them through completely and then refer back to
the relevant sections as you venture through your own real time experiences with college
writing.
Write your inner convictions:
Ralph Keyes in his wonderful book The Courage to Write: How Writers
Transcend Fear states this unequivocally:
The more I read and write, the more convinced I am that good writing has less to
do with acquired technique than with inner conviction. The assurance that you
have something to say that the world needs to hear counts for more than literary
skill. Those writers who hold their readers attention are the ones who grab them
by the lapel and say, Youve got to listen to what Im about to tell you. Its hard
to be that passionate. It means that you must put your whole poke on the table. Yet
this very go-for-broke quality grabs and holds a reader far more surely than any
mastery of technique.

The Writers Tool Box

All college-level writers need certain basic tools: an industrial-strength dictionary
and thesaurus, a computer-assisted word processor and a presentation style manual.
1. A heavyweight dictionary and thesaurus are a writers main tools.
I recommend hard bound editions such as Websters Ninth New Collegiate
Dictionary and Rogets Thesaurus. Developing a large lexicon (word bank) and being
able accurately to reference it should be primary goals of a college student. These books
are the keys to the vault. NOTE: Of course there are also open-access [free] electronic
versions of these as well but I want you pay attention that word choice is a weighty
decision.
2. Computer-assisted word processing is a necessity.
Since you will be expected to do extensive writing in practically every course that
you take in a writing-intensive curriculum and since ninety percent of writing is
rewriting, it doesnt make much sense that the vast majority of your rewrite time should
be taken up by mechanically re-keystroking the entire piece or handwriting it. Add to this
such delicious treats as an on-line dictionary and thesaurus, automatic spelling checkers,
footnote formatters and the expertise of a professional secretary at your disposal 24 hours
a day, and you have my arguments that every college student should have a computerassisted word processor.
In short whether or not you hand-write your drafts, you MUST ultimately use a
word processor with capabilities to save documents in MS Word format. I highly
recommend a free one which is equivalent to the MS Office suite of programs. I use it for
everything that I write. And you can even save and edit your word files in .pdf formats.
That free word processor is Apache Open Office, and it is downloadable for all operating
systems from http://www.openoffice.org/.
About word processing:
a. Regardless of your word processing program tt is good practice to work with
standard Word file saving formats such as .doc and .rtf.
b. Make back-up copies of your most important work frequently on a flash drive
that you can remove from your computer. (I have a 16GB Sandisk that cost about $5 that
I use to backup my most important work on every day.) Everyone who has used word
7

processing has a horror story to tell. It will probably take at least one unrecoverable disk
error to drive this lesson home.
c. Keep at least one electronic copy of all your work until you receive the final
grade in the course. This is in case your work gets accidentally lost, or you are required to
revise it. (This copy should always be on a floppy disk in case your hard drive crashes.)
d. Rename the various versions of a paper on file with consecutive numbering or
dating so that you hand in the most recently revised version and dont accidentally overwrite a file that you want to save.
e. Do not trust computer spelling checkers exclusively. They cannot distinguish
there from theyre from their. Theyll all be spelled correctly even if misused. The
spelling checkers, however, are terrific at catching typos. Make the spell check the
second last thing you do.
f. In my experience so-called Grammar Checkers have limited value at the
college level with one exception: they tend to do a good job at marking the use of passive
voice. Most academic writing tends to be too passive. This could also be said about most
Academics in general. (Did you notice how smoothly I hid behind the passive voice in
the previous sentence?) A Grammar Checker will flag your passives and inquire whether
or not you intend them. Its a good question to ask. The famous Strunk and White
Elements of Style states rather categorically, in item number ten: Use the active voice.
The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive. . . .The habitual use
of the active voice . . . makes for forcible writing.
g. Dont be seduced by the special print-out capabilities of computers and laser
printers. No matter how attractive your paper looks, it will succeed or fail on the quality
of the written work it contains. You are better off spending extra time re-phrasing your
work than selecting elaborate type fonts. For our purposes the best papers are the most
accurately written and readable. Toward this end you should avoid distracting your
audience with odd looking fonts and non-standard presentations.
h. Beware of cut and paste. It is very tempting to create a Frankenstein monster
out of parts of old papers and smatterings of research. It also tempts tha
3. Presentation style manuals and formats are required at the college-level.
Your professor may have a very specific presentation format in mind for assigned
work. If so, he or she will either refer you to a standard manuscript guidebook in the field
such as the Modern Language Associations Handbook for Writers of Research Papers,
(MLA) or the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) or
8

else hand out a style sheet unique to the requirements of his course. All of these are free
to access on line. Here is a link to an MLA one
Take your professors directives very seriously. If they are unclear, ask her for
clarification.
If, however, your professor does not dictate the presentation format for the paper,
here are some general guidelines that would be safe to follow.
a. Use a standard guide and be consistent in its use.
Whatever style manual you choose, including this one, be absolutely consistent in
its use. You are not permitted to pick and choose whatever features you like best from the
various guides. Here is the link to an MLA one -http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ Here is the link to an APA one
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ .

b. Computer printed papers make for happier readers.

Ideally all papers should be computer printed or typed on white, 20 pound bond 8
1/2" X 11" paper using a 12 point type font or 10 characters per inch pica type (if typed
the old fashioned way). All papers should be printed on one side of the paper only and
double spaced.
c. Use standard margins:
Standard margins are 1 inch on all four sides - left, right, top and bottom.
Paragraph indentation is typically five spaces. Indentation for long quotations is ten
spaces. These indented quotes should also be double spaced but not set off by the
addition of any other quotation marks.
d. Proper title format and a clearly identifiable heading are required.
You should provide a title for all papers - centered at the top of the first page.
Your own title should be neither underlined nor in quotation marks, but rather simply
capitalized and separated from the body of the paper by triple spaces. For example the
title of this guidebook is the following:
A Survivors Guide to College Writing
For shorter papers (fewer than ten pages) your name, course number and section,
nature of the assignment and date should appear flush left and double spaced above the
title on the first page. The page number should be in the upper right hand corner of each
page following your last name.
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Longer papers (more than ten pages) should have this title and author information
on a separate title page.
e. Papers need to be properly fastened and unbound.
Although MLA recommends a discreet paper clip, it is my opinion that papers are
best held together and read when they are stapled at a 45 degree angle in the upper left
hand corner. Fancy bindings, although impressive in the business world, are often
awkward to handle when evaluating a paper. They should be avoided unless clearly
required by the nature of the assignment.
f. Neatness is nice, but correctness is all.
Proofread and make whatever corrections are necessary to the paper before you
hand it in. Although neatness is nice, correctness is all. A single line through a word is
sufficient for deletion, and a caret ^ on the line and the correction in the space above the
line is proper. If the corrections are extensive and you have the time, type or print out a
cleaner copy. Subliminally the overall presentability of your paper reflects your
seriousness of purpose.

10

The Paper Itself

Collecting, Shaping and Re-Shaping:
Every writer experiences three very distinct stages in a writing project - collecting
material, shaping the content, and then re-shaping or revising the paper after it has been
edited or evaluated. Although professional writers often experience them more or less
simultaneously, for the sake of discussion I am going to separate them. The first two,
collecting and shaping, are what Peter Elbow calls the growing or producer stage and
the cooking or editor stage. He believes that they should be insulated from each other
so that you can let yourself go wild generating raw material and later ruthlessly cut out
whatever doesnt fit:
When there are cycles to be gone through, do each one to the extreme - keep
yourself from being caught in the middle. You cant be a good, ruthless editor
unless you are a messy, rich producer. But you cant be really fecund as a
producer unless you know youll be able to go at it with a ruthless knife.
The third stage is often overlooked; it is the reflection that a writer needs to do
after the paper has been evaluated, in order to revise it and improve as a writer.
Each writer approaches these stages differently; some write more or less
mechanically by way of formal outlining (a good example of a formal outline is this
guidebooks Other Student Examples); others believe writing is a mystical operation.
(The Greeks shrugged their shoulders and credited the divine intervention of the
Muses). No matter which approach you take, before you hand the paper in, you need to
read it somehow through the eyes of your prospective audience and self-edit it
accordingly.
The Compass:
What follows is the compass to A Survivors Guide to College Writing. In part
one, Collecting, My colleague, John McCarthy, offers some advice on getting started.
In part two, Shaping, I elaborate on the essay checklist that I hand out to all my classes
whenever I make an expository writing assignment. And in part three, Re-shaping, we
offer some suggestions on what to do when you get the graded paper back.
Collecting
John McCarthy advises his students to begin collecting material for a paper
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project by asking questions. . . lots of questions. He elaborates this way:

If a topic is assigned or you are given a specific question, you need to make it
your own. The questions at the end of the chapter of a textbook are just the authors
questions, and a question or topic from the teacher is the teachers.
No matter how you get a question or topic, you need to take ownership of it. If
youre trying to explain something thats not yours, that youre not involved in, how can
you expect the reader to get involved? Even in an assigned topic, your first job is to find
something that interests you and that you want to tell someone about.
Questions are a good way to get yourself involved in the process. They come in
three flavors:
a) Vanilla. These are usually questions that start with Who, What, When, or
Where. They provide information that may be important and that you can use as detail,
but by themselves they cant provide the basis for a paper.
b) Chocolate. These questions start with How or Why usually, and sometimes
with What (What makes or causes something to occur?) These are the types of
speculative questions whose answers can lead to a paper.
c) Vanilla - Chocolate Swirl. These questions start with a who-what-whenwhere, but then lead to a why-how. You might start by asking where the peace treaty
ending WW II was signed, and then question why it was signed there, how it altered
Japanese-American relations, or what effects occurred because it was signed where it was
signed. The first question wouldnt lead to a paper by itself since it is merely factual, but
the follow-ups surely could.
Once you have a set of questions you can live with for a while and want to
explore, you have to come up with a debatable statement, one that requires agreement or
disagreement.
Some examples are Nuclear power is hazardous. In certain situations, capital
punishment can be justified. The recent Persian Gulf War was not a just war. Lady
MacBeth was as much a victim of a mans world as Duncan was.
Be sure to express these as complete sentences that predicate something about the
subject not as mere topics like The Federal Budget or Hurricane Season in Houston.
Also be wary of assertions that waffle, are too limited (or not limited enough) or that
nobody cares about. The latter might sound like, It could be said that Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern play only minor roles in Hamlet. Thats hardly news. If instead you
maintained, The announcement that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is the real
climax of the play making Hamlet the first absurdist play, you have a hypothesis worth
exploring.
Working hypothesis:
Now that you have a working hypothesis, you need to generate the material to
defend and support that hypothesis.
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The following are techniques of process writing that have proven very effective
in generating material. All of them are based on a particular mind set: Your goal is to
collect as much information as you possibly can. Theres no good stuff or bad stuff at
this stage. Theres only stuff, and the one with the most stuff wins.
Brainstorming:
We are all more or less familiar with the concept of brainstorming. Just write
down any ideas (words or phrases) that you might have related to your topic no matter
how silly or seemingly off the point. The goal is continuous writing for a specified period
of time [lets say ten minutes] or a certain number of ideas [again lets say ten].
Following this, you can group ideas under certain headings, choose one group, and do
more brainstorming as necessary. You can brainstorm questions, too. This is good if you
already have decided on your working hypothesis and youre trying to generate more
ideas to develop the argument. Another way to brainstorm is to cluster ideas.
Clustering:
Clustering is a type of brainstorming that has been popularized by the book
Writing the Natural Way by Gabriele Lusser Rico. Here is the authors description of
how the clustering technique works:
To create a cluster, you begin with a nucleus word, circled, on a fresh page. Now
you simply let go and begin to flow with any current of connections that come into your
head. Write these down rapidly, each in its own circle, radiating outward from the center
in any direction they want to go. Connect each new word or phrase with a line to the
preceding circle. When something new and different strikes you, begin again at the
central nucleus and radiate outward until those associations are exhausted.
A. Write a word cluster around the words Civil War

B. Now do a word cluster around the more limited End of the South

Rico gives her rationale for why clustering seems to work:

There is no right or wrong way to cluster. It is your Design minds shorthand
and it knows where it is headed, even if you dont. Trust it. It has a wisdom of
its own, shaping ends you cant really evaluate yet. This wisdom has nothing
to do with logic; should you try to apply logic to what you have just clustered,
13

this sense of knowing where youre headed will be destroyed. Then you
simply begin to write. The words will come; the writing takes over and writes
itself.
Free Writing:
Promoted by Ken Macrorie and Peter Elbow, free or (non-stop) writing is a
technique which is also similar to both brainstorming and clustering but skips their
implied pre-writing planning and goes immediately to the actual writing of complete
sentences. The goal is still to keep the pen moving forward without pre-editing and
without regard for making sense or making connections. It is best to time this activity for
no more than thirty minutes at a stretch.
Miraculously the more you write the more you will start making sense. Its a basic
human instinct. The ancient Greeks had a line, All was in chaos until the mind of man
arose and made order. All real writers have a basic trust in that instinctual process of
order making. But it only works as long as you keep writing.
Treeing:
Treeing is the logical next step to brainstorming, clustering and free
writing. The purpose of treeing is to develop the hierarchical relationship between and
among your ideas. Your goal here is to connect related ideas by drawing lines. Adjust the
sets and subsets until you are satisfied that there is an organic structure. There should
always be some reason why point B follows point A and precedes point C. Thats all
there is to it. As you write the actual paper, be open enough to go with the natural life
that will try to emerge and rearrange your points to respect the growth of the new
organism.
From working hypothesis to thesis statement:
Youve arrived at a clearly debatable statement or assertion about a particular
subject. Youve explored other alternatives and your own free associations, and youve
generated a certain bulk of ideas. Now you need to select the material that supports your
hypothesis. Essentially what you do is provide backing, either evidence or logic, that
proves what youre saying is true. So, even though the assertion may start out sounding
like a hypothesis with I think. . . you will want to finish with an It is. . . type of thesis
statement.
A brief aside about research:
Almost all good, college-level writing requires pushing your resources beyond
whats in your head and whatever material might be lying around your room to quote
14

from. As a result all students need a good orientation to their university library resources
(including web-based electronic searches, access to CD-ROM based material and the
like). Latour points out the essential value of research or references to a writers
authority,
A paper that does not have references is like a child without an escort walking
at night in a big city it does not know: isolated, lost, anything may happen to
it. On the contrary, attacking a paper heavy with footnotes means that the
dissenter has to weaken each of the other papers, or will at least be threatened
with having to do so, whereas attacking a naked paper means that the reader
and the author are of the same weight: face to face.
The techniques of proper research for each discipline, however, are beyond the
modest scope of this guidebook, but dont forget that you will eventually need to learn
and employ them.
Meanwhile, back at the paper:
The eleventh hour is approaching and youve been avoiding the serious drafts
long enough (I did say drafts; if you dont go through at least three youre shortchanging yourself). The presumption is that research of whatever type has been
completed. You cant put it off any longer. Get a good nights sleep (or at least take a few
hours nap). Turn off the television and disconnect the phone. Proceed directly to a clean,
well-lighted and sound-insulated place. Start writing now with your most absolute
attention.
Peter Elbow recommends fast writing. Essentially, he suggests breaking each
draft session into two halves.
In the first half, you do extended free writing without stopping to edit. He feels
that if you try to edit while getting the text on paper, you might never get beyond the first
paragraph. Youll have time later to go back to cut out or revise those first sentences. This
becomes the raw material that your editing and subsequent drafts will refine into more
precious metal.
When you get to the halfway point, take a break of lets say fifteen minutes; walk
around the block; eat a candy bar. Now in the second half of your session go back to edit
(shape, arrange, clean up) what you have. Ideally you should go through at least three of
these cycles or drafts, but, of course, you have to do at least one in order to have anything
to hand in at all. Only now is your paper beginning to look as it will in its final form.
Only now do you have enough material to be shaped into a presentable form.

15

Shaping
Shaping is the writing of the actual paper that you expect someone else to read.
No matter how many or few you do, in the next to final draft you need to read the paper
as though through the eyes of your audience. (At the college-level this is most often your
instructor).
Its also an excellent idea to read your next to final draft aloud to one of your
more critical friends [William Blake reminds us, Opposition is true friendship.] with a
pen in hand and make whatever last minute corrections you can. You will be surprised
what an ear can pick up that an eye misses. After all youve logged a lot more hours
listening and speaking than reading and writing.
The first principle of readability:
I have a policy to read any piece of student writing only as long as it is
readable. When the words become a jungle of letters, when the sentences become
unrelated, when the main point has long since been lost, when the only substantiation for
an argument is the writers assertions, I stop reading and commenting, draw double lines,
write a large U for unsatisfactory. The paper has not even earned the right to be read,
much less considered as a college-level paper.
My students may squawk, but their rewrites instantly become more readable.
What Im doing of course is very simple - providing a dose of reality therapy. No
newspaper editor in the world would spend even a minute on a piece of writing that was
not in a presentable form. No screenplay reader would expend more than ten seconds on a
submission that was full of misspelled words or ungrammatical sentences. No bank vicepresident is going to plow through a branch managers incoherent report.
Outside-of-school it is rare that someone is paid to read your writing. Your writing
has to offer the readers its own intrinsic value to compensate them for the time they are
devoting to reading it.
We are paid to read your writing, but never expect us to spend more time
commenting on what you wrote than you spent writing it. Always respect your reader,
and your reader will respect you.

16

My Checklist for Expository Academic Writing

I designed the following Checklist for Expository and Argumentative Writing
to help you determine the readability of your essay more systematically. Check each item
against your paper and put a large question mark at each point that needs further work.
I. EXTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS
PURPOSE: The paper fulfills the requirements of the assignment. (Whether you
were responding to someone elses assigned topic or were generating your own, a reader
after reading the paper should not have to ask, Why was this written?) A paper that
does not directly address what was assigned or do what it set out to do is liable to receive
no credit.
Before you attack your final draft, you might want to write a statement of
purpose, in which you remind yourself of the original focus and scope the paper was
supposed to have. Does this fit in with what I said I was going to do and what the
assignment requires? A statement of purpose begins, In this [argumentative,
descriptive, analytical, reflection, or whatever] paper [lab report or whatever], I want to . .
. [then state your assertion. ] You can use this to keep the paper on track Straying from
your original plan is not necessarily a bad thing at all, but it is a good idea periodically to
check on where you stand with your own statement of purpose and adjust your material
accordingly.
AUTHORITY: You have some authority to write on your subject, and you have
established that authority somewhere or somehow in the paper.
Usually this is accomplished by the sheer weight of the specific factual evidence
and/or references that you present in the paper. Authority does not mean that you are an
expert, but you must show the reader the worthwhile information that you have
accumulated on the subject at hand. Only God could get away with the Ten
Unsupported Assertions. For mortals mere assertions neither prove nor explain nor
illustrate anything.
AUDIENCE: You have considered the limitations and interests of your intended
audience. You would not write the same paper on the building of a bridge, lets say, for a
class of fifth graders and a group of engineering students.
Who is your audience for a college-level writing assignment? Two deadly answers
are the teacher and anyone who might pick this paper up. The former will freeze you
17

(What can I tell my Economics professor about free enterprise?); the latter provides no
input. (Anyone needs to know practically everything). One of the most wasteful
things you can do in a college-level paper is fill it with background information or plot
summaries that an educated person would already know. Assume your audience at least
knows the text or subject that you are working on, but does not yet know the points you
are trying to make. A good audience to have in mind is one of your other college
professors - preferably one you feel has liked your work. A generic college professor is
reasonably well read, open to other points of view, and generally the intellectual equal of
the teacher who made the assignment in the first place. The difference is that he or she is
not overly familiar with your topic, and you have to explain and prove it.
II. INTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS:
THESIS STATEMENT: The exact nature of your intention with respect to your
material should be clear and discoverable early on in the paper. Since the thesis is
ultimately the statement embodying purpose and exerting control over the material in the
paper, comments on papers lacking a clearly stated thesis are likely to indicate the
readers frustration or bewilderment. What are you trying to prove? ??? What
exactly is your point? I dont see what your purpose is. Be sure that you are not just
writing about a subject, but have postulated a debatable statement.
Ponsot and Deen simplify the distinction between hypothesis and thesis in a
formulaic way. Sophisticated writers are usually more subtle and engaging in their
approach:
The first paragraph introduces and formulates a hypothesis (sometimes
mistakenly - since prematurely - called a thesis) which proposes the writers
idea about the subject. The final paragraph restates the idea about the subject
in the light of the evidence of the middle; if that evidence is adequate, it is
earned as a thesis statement.
THESIS LIMITATION: The scope of the paper is limited in such a way so that
the topic can be explored in some depth within the space allotted. A five page paper needs
to be more tightly limited in scope than a twenty page paper and so on.
Take for example a general topic on the Civil War. If you have only ten pages to
fill, it would be inappropriate to tackle The Economic Ramifications of the Union
Embargoes since you could easily write a doctoral thesis-length study. The Economic
Effects of the Union Blockade on Charleston in the First Years of the Civil War, may
prove to be perfect. It is also possible to be too limited in your topic. You might find it
very difficult to get ten pages out of The Inflation in the Price of European Womens
Hats in Charleston during the Civil War.
18

ORGANIZATION: A good essays structure is organic; there should be some

logic to why a particular point precedes or follows another one. Transitions between
different points should be either obvious or explicit. Topic sentences for paragraphs
should be apparent and function as guide posts through the paper.
Could you build a fairly meaningful outline from the opening sentences of your
paragraphs? Is there one and only one topic per paragraph? Is your topic sentence easy to
find in the paragraph or relatively implicit? Is it supported by what you wrote in the rest
of the paragraph? Do the ideas link together within the paragraph? Do they link together
between paragraphs? In other words, is there a reason why paragraph three follows two
and precedes paragraph four? If you can re-write the paper scrambling the paragraphs at
random, you have not yet organized your paper.
SUBSTANTIATION: There is concrete evidence and/or illustration for every
important judgment, inference, generalization and abstraction. Judgments, inferences,
generalizations and abstractions have to be earned. This is closely related to logic below.
You will want to head off instructors editorial comments that might read:
Provide specifics, Illustrate, Supply facts, Details needed, Too general, Give
examples.
LOGIC: The statements and/or arguments are logical and coherent. Logic
involves the form of an argument or the relation between evidence and conclusion.
Objections to illogical thinking include such terms as Logic? Proof, This sounds
like a contradiction, It doesnt follow, Your premises are unclear, Shaky thinking,
Fuzzy, This doesnt necessarily follow.
[*See the extended presentation on avoiding logical fallacies in the following section.]
STYLE: The choices involving words, sentence structures and paragraphs,
manifest clarity and appropriateness. Another way of saying it is, put the right words in
the right places. Judgments about style are probably the most subjective. Comments
like jargon, wrong word, awkward, This reads like an elementary school essay,
often sound either exasperatingly trivial or monumentally insulting.
Some good questions to ask yourself about style are the following: Is the paper
clear and relatively easy to read? Is it written to the audience in their language? Do
you use action verbs consistently? Is there variety in sentence length? Have you avoided
or explained or properly used any jargon for your intended audience? Leonard
Rubinstein put it nicely, Style which attracts attention to itself and not to what it says is
bad.
19

PRESENTABILITY AND STANDARD AMERICAN ENGLISH USAGE:

These are truly minimal essentials for any expectation of readership. Strictly, errors in
grammar are those relating to the structure of the language or substandard constructions,
such as Bush dont care for labor unions. The term is also used to cover mistakes in
usage. Sentences which make no sense may also be tagged with ungrammatical.
Correct spelling of all your words is also a minimal requirement in a college-level paper.
At the college level any teacher is justified in lowering the grade of or even failing a
paper solely on its grammatical failure.
Proofread your final draft very carefully. (There are no typographical errors;
there are only errors.) A word processor with a spelling checker can be more valuable and
reliable than the eyes and reliability of a friend although getting someone else to read the
paper before you hand it in is always valuable. Each instructor will use some type of
more or less standard correction symbols to mark these errors. (A representative sample
of these appears in Editors Symbols).
Some Notes about Logic and Logical Fallacies:
Logical support for an argument is essential to its credibility. Logic is
much too involved to treat adequately in the limited format of this guide. Nevertheless it
is important in every piece of writing that you start sensitizing yourself to making logical
statements and avoiding logical fallacies.
NOTE: As important as logic is, one should also be very aware of the many other means
of rhetorical effectiveness. That subject, however, requires a far more extensive
discussion than is possible within the narrow parameters of this writing guide.
Logical Fallacies:
Very simply logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that subtly pass for
worthwhile arguments. A careful reader is good at detecting fallacious appeals. A careful
writer avoids them; they can seriously undermine his or her own argument. What follows
is a generous sample of common logical fallacies you should avoid:
1. Hasty Generalization making a generalization from too few examples or
insufficient evidence. People who have tattoos are dangerous. I know a couple of them
who are in real trouble.
2. Selected Instances proving a point by selecting only those facts which
20

substantiate it, ignoring facts which disprove it. Even though the arguer knows of cleaner
days and other students, he states, Students cant keep their dorm rooms clean.
Yesterday Joes room was so filthy he didnt have space on the floor to throw away the
pizza box.
3. Arguing by extension taking your opponents reasonable statement and
making it an extreme or absurd one. You say vocabulary study is important. What
possible importance is it that I know the meaning of sesquipedalian?
4. Argument by diversion diverting the argument from the main point to
some subsidiary issue where you are more sure of yourself. Our suburban high school is
not a Taj Mahal. Why, last year there were more than 500 drownings that could have
been prevented if people had only learned how to swim in an Olympic-sized pool like
ours.
5. Argument by irrelevant objection objecting to a very minor point in the
example or illustration; denying a fact brought forward when that fact is not really
important. There werent 500 drownings; there were only 498.
6. Supposing the mean supposing that the mean between two extremes is
always true; the fallacy that the truth always lies in the middle. Some people say voting
should begin at age 18; others, at age 21. Nineteen and a half must be the best solution.
7. Non-sequitur defending a statement by bringing in another statement which
does not in fact prove it. Communism must be the best form of government; after all
they got a satellite up first.
8. Arguing in a circle merely restating the conclusion of the implied first
premise. Its all right for me to drink because its a free country.
9. Asserting the consequent stating a supposition that leads to a conclusion,
saying the conclusion is right, therefore the supposition must be right. If Bugsy Siegel
had been a great man, they would have made a movie about his life, right? Well, they
did make a movie out of his life; so he must have been a great man.
10. Denying the antecedent -- stating a supposition, then the conclusion; saying
the supposition is wrong; therefore the conclusion is wrong. If we could clear away all
slums, we could reduce delinquency. We cant clear away all slums; so we cant reduce
delinquency.
11. Equivocation using a key word in a double sense. The Bill of Rights
guarantees liberty. Then why do we have to obey all these stupid parking regulations?
21

12. Begging the question wording your argument so that the proposition that
has yet to be proven appears inevitable. There has to be a God because I would not have
been able to make the statement, There has to be a God, unless God had first created
me.
13. Ad hominem attacking the person rather than his or her argument. Ted
Kennedys national health insurance plan is absurd. How can a man of his moral
character be taken seriously?
14. Concurrency because two events happen at the same time the arguer
assumes one is the cause of the other, but a cause has to happen previous to an effect.
Lyndon Johnson was responsible for the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
15. Post hoc ergo propter hoc Assuming that merely because a fact is
antecedent to another that it is the cause of the second. I ate a cheese sandwich for
lunch, and now I have an upset stomach. I'll never eat cheese sandwiches again. The
Latin literally translated as after this therefore because of this.
16. Many questions assuming that every question can be answered yes or no.
Have you stopped cheating on your exams?
17. False analogy implying that two things have similarity in all respects when
it exists only in one or two. Hair is like grass. If you cut it too short, it wont grow
again.
18. Appealing to authority basing your argument just on the strength of who
said it and quoting a person who is really not an authority on the subject in question.
Dorothy Parker was highly critical of womens rights, and she was the best female
writer in America at the time.
19. Overcoming resistance to a doubtful proposition by introducing acceptable
statements. You admit that students are human and that human nature is fallible. Then
it is obvious that the honor system will never work.
20. Join the band-wagon over-simplifying complex issues and stating them
in such a way that they fit into the thought patterns of the mob. Why argue for
pacifism? Dont you know how many Americans were behind the Persian Gulf War?

22

Re-Shaping:
Ninety percent of effective writing is re-writing.
What you do after you get the paper returned is what will determine whether or
not you will improve as a writer. My own writing has convinced me that ninety per cent
of writing is re-writing. Re-shaping or learning how progressively to revise your writing
draft after draft is the real work of an experienced writer. At each draft level your paper
should lie more comfortably along the guidelines in this book.
Hieroglyphics:
Probably the most misunderstood aspect of the evaluation of written work in
college is the variety of responses that you receive back from your instructor. Whereas we
do expect some type of uniformity in presentation of your paper, you should not expect a
reciprocal uniformity of responses back.
Some of your papers will be returned looking like the wall in an Egyptian tomb full of symbols and strange scratchings. Others will look as pristine as the day they were
handed in with the modest addition of a comment like Nicely done and a grade written
on the last page. Some instructors will call you in for a lengthy conference or ask that you
submit an audio cassette for their comments. Others will write in your margins almost as
much as you wrote yourself in the paper.
The instructors primary objective is to communicate and improve your writing.
In any case believe it or not the instructors objective is to communicate with you
as productively as possible. When an instructor comments on a paper, he is talking to it
and to you. Listen. You are also entitled to an understanding of that communication.
Ideally every writer meets personally with his or her editor for a lengthy dialogue about
how to improve on the piece of writing submitted. The ideal is seldom achieved in other
than one on one instructional settings. We pride ourselves at Liberal arts colleges with
being accessible to our students; however, we cant read your minds. It is your
responsibility to inform us if you are unsure either what was right or wrong with your
paper or what you can do or should have done to improve it.
The process of writing is this inextricable pas de deux between a writer and his or
her reader, and there is nothing that will improve your writing more than a close reading
and evaluation by an informed editor. Remember our educational goal is not completed
when we simply evaluate or grade your writing; were out to improve it.
23

Getting some objective distance from your work is good:

Quintilian in A.D. 80 wrote, There can be no doubt that the best method of
correction is to put aside what we have written for a certain time, so that when we return
to it after an interval it will have the air of novelty and of being anothers handiwork.
Consider your instructors conversations with you and your paper as the short cut to
this distancing. Toward facilitating this dialogue at University College we use the
Academic Writing Grading Guide that is at the end of this book.
From Rewrites to Portfolio:
Rewrite as often as you can. Take pride in your work, because it represents you
far more than you realize.
Finally show respect for your own writing by maintaining some type of portfolio.
All artists, and a writer is certainly an artist, keep the best of their work in a portfolio to
learn from, to show off. Whether it is kept in a cardboard box marked My college work
or on a computer floppy disk, you should select your best written work from each
semester and store it.
You might surprise yourself years from now and discover that what you did here,
Wasnt half bad. You might even believe in it enough to get it published.

24

ACADEMIC EXPOSITORY WRITING

SELF-IMPROVING RUBRIC
(Read your entire paper through aloud then reflect on its merits employing the following criteria. As in professional
editing, your goal is to progressively improve the quality of your writing through rewriting drafts.)

Criteria

Comments

The writer has chosen a topic in accord with the

assignment and limited it sufficiently to explore
in depth in the word length range allotted.
The writer demonstrates an understanding of
the assignment by using a style, form and
language that is appropriate for its intended
audience.

The paper focuses its presentation by means of a

clear statement of purpose (thesis statement,
hypothesis or instructor posed question.)

The paragraphs are logically and organically

arranged as sub-topics or sections of the papers
main thesis statement, hypothesis or instructor
posed question.

The writer substantiates abstractions, judgments

and assertions with specific illustrations, facts
and evidence appropriate to the assignment
and/or discipline.

The writer has added to on-going discussions of the

topic with his or her own critical analysis, rather than
simply repeating what others have said through
quotation-stacking, paraphrasing or summaries.

The writer draws upon research whenever

necessary to support critical analysis or
assertions made and properly acknowledges the
work of others by utilizing a standard
documentation format acceptable for the course.
*APA or MLA are the more typical

25

documentation formatting styles but check

with your instructor.

The paper conforms to the minimal essentials of

Standard American English grammar, word
choice, spelling and punctuation.

N S W = Needs Significant Work [D-F grade range]

D = Developing [C grade range)
WD = Well Developed [A-B grade range)

Overall Rating of this Draft:

The writer meets the needs of the particular

audience and succeeds in his or her intended
purpose--honestly engaging the subject and
establishing her or his authority by offering a
persuasive and factually supportable analysis.

Needs
Significant
Work

Developing

Well Developed

Editorial comments for any future revision :

If this version of the paper were to receive a grade, that grade would be _____.

26

Editors Symbols
To help you with the dialogue between your instructor and your paper here is a
fairly lengthy list of standard editing symbols with some illustrative examples. In all
likelihood your instructor will use fewer than these. In some cases he or she will hand out
a correction sheet to help you decipher individual usages. NOTE: The use of internet
communication options has reduced the necessity for most of these hieroglyphs.
ABB (Incorrect abbreviation)
Marked Text: 49 a.d.
Revised Text: A. D. 49 (NOTE: B.C. follows the date as in
49 B.C. In the spirit of political correctness B.C.E. [Before the Common
Era] and C.E. [the Common Era] are the more current usages.)

ADJ/ADV (Adjective/adverb error)

Marked Text: He writes as good as he can.
Revised Text: He writes as well as he can.
AGR (Subjects and verbs need to agree as do pronouns and their
referents.)
Marked Text: The teams management locked out their employees.
Revised Text: The teams management locked out its employees.
Marked Text: Either her friends or Sally are harassing Jim.
Revised Text: Either her friends or Sally is harassing Jim.
CAPS or NO CAPS (Incorrect capitalization also sometimes UC or LC for Upper Case
or Lower Case)

27

Marked Text: His reeboks cost over a hundred dollars.

Revised Text: His Reeboks cost over a hundred dollars.
Marked Text: Jim Bowie sold his farm in the South and headed
West.
Revised Text: Jim Bowie sold his farm in the South and headed
west.
CF ( Comma fault- there are many varieties)
Marked Text: It was later than he thought, she had already said her
goodbyes to the rabbit.
Revised Text: It was later than he thought; she had already said her
goodbyes to the rabbit.
COMBINE (Combine more of your sentences because they are showing the relationships
of the ideas they contain.)
Marked Text: Henry V ordered a slaughter of his own prisoners.
They were French. This action was caused by a perceived atrocity. The
atrocity was the murder of his baggage boys.
Revised Text: Henry V ordered the slaughter of his French
prisoners because of an atrocity committed against his baggage boys.

DICTION (Consider a different word choice. Most college-level writing fits best with an
informal to a technically more formal word choice that has neutral emotional
connotation.)
Marked Text: I was ticked off by the failure of the Federal Reserve Boards
attempt to protect the dollars value overseas.
Revised Text: I was disturbed by the failure of the Federal Reserve Boards
28

attempt to protect the dollars value overseas.

DEVELOP (The marked statement needs further explanation and/or more specific factual
support.)
Marked Text: Bush has done much to help the poor in America unlike the late
Reagan Administration. Reagans sole contribution was in appointing minorities like
Clarence Thomas.
DOC (Check on the exact method for documenting your sources whether it is the
MLA, APA or ACS. )
FRAG (Incomplete sentence fragment)
Marked Text: Even though Hitler had sent a half million troops into Russia. He
was able to occupy and govern the rest of Europe.
Revised Text: Even though Hitler had sent a half million troops into Russia, he
was able to occupy and govern the rest of Europe.
JARGON (The use of technical jargon can severely limit your reading audience although
for the initiated audience such usage may be a more economical use of words.)
The following example passage from a critical theorists essay on
Punk slam dancing in the book Becoming Feminine: The Politics of
Popular Culture might as well be in Greek for the uninitiated reader:
Class essentialist conceptions of objectivity give primacy in their
determination of genuine or intentioned resistance to verbal and
conscious modes of intentionality and signification over those which are
verbal and unconscious.
MM (A misplaced modifier is usually the adjective, adjectival phrase or clause that is too
far away from the word it modifies.)
Marked Text: The priest pointed out the mosaics to the tour group
29

framed and mounted on the wall.

Revised Text: The priest pointed out the mosaics framed and
mounted on the wall to the tour group.
MSS (Check manuscript format directions.)
PASS (Unnecessary or suspicious use of the passive voice)
Marked Text: Prime interest rates are lowered arbitrarily
immediately preceding a national election.
Revised Text: The Federal Reserve Board appointed by the
president arbitrarily lowers the prime interest rates immediately preceding
a national election.
PRED (Faulty predication [use of the verb])
Marked Text: A characteristic that is enviable is a person who is a
honest.
Revised Text: An enviable characteristic is honesty.
PROOF (Supply evidence or specific factual support for the marked statement.)
PRON (pronoun error)
Marked Text: When a person joins the Army, you give up some of
your civil rights.
Revised Text: When you join the Army, you give up some of your
civil rights.
PUNC (punctuation error)

apostrophe (Usually used to show possession or to indicate

30

a missing letter.)
Examples: The bishops letter appeared in the newspaper.
Dont blame me for not turning off the lights.
Its [No apostrophe] battery had been dead for months.
Its [Apostrophe used for the missing letters of has] been a
terrible year; my dog died, and I bet a great deal of money on the New
Orleans Saints.
[]

brackets (Typically the authors insertion in a direct quote.)

Example: Eliot wrote, He [James] was the finest writer in the

language.
:

colon (Usually precedes a listing of a series)

Example: The tour will travel to the following cities: London,

Paris, Amsterdam and Florence.
,
comma (The most used, underused, overused and abused of
punctuation marks. There should always be a reason for its use. If you
have a question, look it up in a handbook.)

dash (Not to be confused with a hyphen. A dash is used

most often to emphasize an insertion in a sentence similar to a set of
brackets.)
Example: Max Cady in Cape Fear is a sociopath not unlike a
former neighbor of mine in Pittsburgh -- who actually enjoyed inflicting
discomfort on others.
...

ellipses (usually indicate an omission in a quoted text)

Example: Anis Nin put it this way, We . . . write to heighten our

own awareness of life.
!
writing)

exclamation (Should be used rarely in expository essay

31

hyphen (usually connects compound words or splits words

at the syllable to fill out a line of printed text)
Example: The Greek city-state was a political aberration.
.
?
sentence)

period (Punctuates a complete declarative sentence)

question mark (Punctuates a complete interrogative

double quotation (In American convention to indicate a

direct quotation from another source)

single quotation (Indicates a quotation within a quotation)

;
semi-colon (Used in compound sentences to separate the
independent clauses in the sentence from each other)
Example: The FBI handles the national surveillance of potential
terrorists; the CIA is responsible for their international surveillance.
REDUNDANT (Saying it once is usually saying it best.)
REPHRASE (The marked sentence could be expressed more clearly.)
RUN-ON [fused] (Two of more independent sentences fused together in a single sentence
without proper punctuation and/or linking words.)
Marked Text: It was autumn leaves and footballs filled the air.
Revised Text: It was autumn; leaves and footballs filled the air.
SHIFT(Unnecessary shift in number, tense voice, person tone or diction)
Marked Text: Football linemen receive much less pay than
quarterbacks in spite of the fact that a lineman suffers more injuries.

32

Revised Text: Football linemen receive much less pay than

quarterbacks in spite of the fact that they suffer more injuries.
SP (Spelling error - Look up the word in a dictionary.)
S/V (Incorrect subject/verb agreement)
THESIS? (Your thesis statement either does not appear in the paper or it does not control
what you have included.)
TOPIC? (Your topic sentence either does not appear in the paragraph or it does not
control what you have included. Similar to the point above.)
TRANS (Transition elements between paragraphs or sentences are either missing or
unclear.)
Marked Text: Lucy is crazy. Jim intentionally lies.
Revised Text: Lucy is crazy, but Jim is worse; he intentionally lies.
VARIETY (Vary your sentence structures. Usually the problem is that you are only
writing in simple sentences.)
WORDY (Too many words to say too little - Peter Elbow maintains that you gain a
reader for each word you cut.)
WW (Wrong word chosen Look up the exact meaning in the
dictionary.)
Marked Text: Hitlers troops were decimated in the Russian
campaign. (NOTE: to be decimated accurately means to be reduced by
10%.)

33

Revised Text: Hitlers troops were annihilated in the Russian

campaign.
or [no ] (You need a new paragraph at this point. Or do not start a new paragraph.)
X (or cross out) (Obvious error - delete)
^ (Insert omitted words here.)
# (Improper form of the numeral)
[something circled] (Incorrect usage)

On the variability of grading :

Dont be discouraged or draw too many conclusions from any single evaluation of
a paper. Every university student at one time or another has had a strong suspicion that
success or failure on papers has more to do with who is doing the evaluation than with
what or how well she wrote. More extensive experience with college work will serve as
a corrective to that belief, but there will always be a measure of subjectivity in the
weighting of the factors of effective expository writing by individual professors. What
Im trying to say is that human variability will exist as much with the evaluation of your
writing as it does with any human activity that involves skill and talent. (This is the
reason behind having so many judges for competitive gymnastics, diving and ice
skating).
In a recent study 100 experienced English teachers were given the same essay to
grade. The grades did range from A to F, but by far the greatest frequency clustered
around a fairly narrow range, lets say between B- and C+. In a 1992 study that
compared high school and college English teachers on their ranking of the elements of
writing there was much more agreement than disagreement: Educators at both levels
said writing a unified essay ranked first, followed by using supporting detail. . . . They
also placed high on the list the importance of students knowing how to edit and how to
arrange an argument logically.
In order to articulate better the criteria for academic writing assessment and its
specific application to improving your writing we at Brandman University often employ a
grading rubric, a copy of which is at the end of this book.

34

Why Write Research Papers?

The details of research paper writing is so discipline specific that it is outside the
scope of this brief writing guide; however, the concepts behind writing research papers
themselves should be emphasized:
1. Demonstrates the methodology of a discipline:
Term paper writing is a good way to introduce students to the working methods of
a particular discipline. The term paper, especially in the humanities and social sciences, is
analogous to laboratory work in the sciences. The term paper should help students
become aware of how a given discipline operates; what kinds of material it handles; and
how it evaluates evidence; what reasoning it uses; what kinds of truths it can discover;
what kinds of truths are beyond its limits. You become a historian not by memorizing
facts but by acting like a historian. A term paper requires that you act the part of historian,
psychologist, literary critic, etc.
2. Liberates you from your teachers:
A term paper begins the process of liberating a student from his teachers. By
introducing students to the source materials of a discipline, professors are handing over
the keys to their kingdoms. It is no small accomplishment to learn to use the basic
encyclopedias, reference works, bibliographies, journals and texts of a given field. For
good or ill, most research must be built on the findings of those who have gone before,
and no student can be considered proficient in his or her field until he or she has mastered
its course materials.
3. Stretches your competency:
No other kind of assignment can provide the depth that a term paper requires.
Courses - even advanced ones - are necessarily general. There is rarely time in class to
pursue an idea or line of reasoning in any detail; the term paper, on the other hand,
demands that a student learn quite a lot about a particular part of a subject. No other
experience can reveal the depth and complexity of a subject as well as a term paper
assignment. After doing the research for a term paper, the student should feel
intellectually stretched and be more appreciative of his or her disciplines complexity and
rigor.

35

A Cautionary Word about Plagiarism

Colleges expect the highest ethical standards from every member of their
communities. Academic dishonesty in any form compromises the integrity of the very
nature, aims, and purposes of a university. The severity of the penalties underscores an
institutions seriousness about this matter.
Plagiarism (meaning kidnapper in Latin) is an all too common and insidious
form of academic dishonesty. A plagiarizer is a thief who steals the words or ideas of
another person and presents them as his or her own. People who buy research papers and
hand them in to instructors are among the most corrupt of plagiarizers. Sometimes
students plagiarize unintentionally because of ignorance, believing that they must
acknowledge indebtedness to a source only if they quote verbatim from it. Such people
are misinformed. If in a paper you use the words or ideas of a published source, you must
credit the author appropriately whether you a) quote verbatim, b) paraphrase (i.e.,
express someone elses idea in your own words) or c) summarize someone elses idea.
Here is a helpful rationale for proper documentation from a McGraw-Hill
publication - The Short Handbook for Writers:
Documentation means including notes within your paper to tell readers where
you located specific ideas and information and also including a list of your
sources at the end of the paper. Documentation has two important functions:
to give credit to the sources you have consulted and to enable your readers to
look up the original material. Documenting also protects you against possible
plagiarism: it distinguishes your thoughts and words from those of your
sources.
Matters of common knowledge (for example, the dates of Eisenhowers
administration) need not be documented; however, if you write in your paper that one of
Eisenhowers nephews was a Communist Party member living in Moscow during the
fifties you had better acknowledge your source.
Your instructor will tell you that careful note-taking, attention to accuracy, and
utter honesty will help you avoid the charge of plagiarism. Remember that it is better to
over-document than to under-document a research paper. And remember also that if you
have any doubt concerning documentation or lack of it, you should consult your
instructor before you hand in the paper.

36

To Prevent the Appearance of Plagiarism Use Proper Documentation:

Generally the proper documentation of your use of source material will protect
you from the charge of plagiarism. For most lower-division courses there are three main
types of documenting your research: the APA, MLA and the American Chemical Society
style formats. The acronyms are short for three professional organizations: the American
Psychological Association, the Modern Language Association, and the American
Chemical Society. Psychology, education and most of the other social sciences use APA;
English, foreign languages and some other humanities fields use MLA; and many of the
natural sciences use ACS. NOTE: Always check with your instructor before using one or
the other because specific disciplines may employ specific style sheet formats.
Your professor will usually tell you which one to use for his or her particular
course. The formats used most at Brandman University are APA and MLA.
Direct Links to Guides for the latest APA and MLA Style Formats and others are at the
OWL at Purdue University:
For APA: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ .

For MLA: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ .

37

Academic Writing Advice from Various Instructors in Various Fields

(along with some Student Writing Samples)
I. Suggestions for Writing the In-class Essay Examination
Only a true beat-the-clock adrenaline junky could really look
forward to taking a timed, in-class essay examination. The instructor himself faces hours
of squinting at barely legible handwriting, listening often enough for faint echoes of his
own voice. There is a method to the madness, however. To pursue facts alone is truly a
trivial pursuit. To be able to make sense of those facts and communicate them in an
orderly and substantial way is a mark of genuine knowing. The ability to see what a
particular problem or condition is, and to devise a strategy to cope with it, is what
education is all about. To do it all under a certain amount of pressure is even a further
proving ground for success in the life beyond college. The In-class Essay Examination is
that proving ground. What follows are some practical suggestions to help you meet the
test.
1. Read carefully all of the essay questions and follow the exam instructions to the
letter. If the professor says to answer four questions, answer four questions not three.
Technically, if you only wrote on three, your professor has the right to give you no higher
than a 75% on that exam. If you are unclear about the exact instructions, get your
professor to clarify them before the exam begins. Also note the point value of each
question and distribute your time proportionally. (This is like playing a board game.
Dont pay more for Baltic Avenue than you do for Park Place.)
2. Before beginning answering any one of the questions, make a brief outline in
the margins of your blue book of the chief points of all of the questions that you are going
to answer. Include in that outline quick notes on the supporting details that you will want
to include in your answers. This is an important tip because, as you start composing the
answer to a particular question, your mind will automatically start to block out other
information. Your quick notes will remind you what you knew at the start of the exam
when your mind was clearest
3. Above all, dont panic. Spend the first part of the exam answering the questions
you know best then proceed to those you know less well. As you start clicking off
answers, you will miraculously start calming down and gaining confidence. Since the
act of writing is also the act of thinking, it frequently happens that you actually will
know more at the end of an examination than you thought you knew at the beginning.
4. Being specific and concrete in your answers will earn more points than being
general and abstract. Also note that you get no points for irrelevant material. In fact some
professors even deduct points for it since its insertion indicates a lack of understanding of
38

the question asked.

5. Finally dont forget that you are expected to write an essay. A good essay
examination is just as much an essay as it is an examination. All the principles listed
in this guide under A Checklist for Expository and Argumentative Writing apply to an
in-class essay if not exactly to the same degree. Especially note the "Audience"
recommentations in that checklist.
6. Answer the question that is asked. What follows are some brief explanations for
some common terms used in essay examination questions.
a. Analyze - You are expected to break your subject up into its component
parts and show how the part contains the whole. Analyze e.e. cummings use of
imagery in his Cambridge ladies poem.
b. Comment (also Criticize) - State your opinion on the matter referenced
and support that opinion with illustrative examples. Comment on the break-up of
the former Soviet Union.
c. Compare - (This usually also implies Contrast as well.)- Show the
similarities and differences between two subjects. Compare Shakespeares
Othello with the Othello in his source.
d. Define - Present the meaning of a particular term and differentiate it
from similar terms. You are almost always expected to provide illustrative
examples of the term. Define Christian Humanism as it applies to Thomas
Mores Utopia.
e. Describe - Use description to show what your subject looks like or
narrate what happened. Describe the process of mitosis.
g. Discuss (also Examine and Investigate)- Examine a particular subject in
detail. Discuss the causes of the War of 1812.
h. Evaluate - Make a judgement on the relative worth of something.
Evaluate the Canadian National Health Care System.
i. Interpret - Explicate the meaning of fact. Interpret the severe decline
in the prime interest rate over the last two years.
j. Outline (also List, Review and Summarize) - Give the main points.
Outline the United States involvement in Southeast Asia between 1945 and
1965.
k. Prove (also Demonstrate)- Provide reasons for or against a statement.
Demonstrate that the following statements are logical fallacies.
Dr. John Freed, Brandman University

39

Student Sample of an In-class Essay:

THE INSTRUCTOR 'S QUESTION:
In an organized and specifically substantiated short essay (a. 250-400 words), compare
the protagonist warrior-heroes from Beowulf, through Gawain and the Green Knight
and Chaucer's Wife of Baths Tale to Lancelot in Mallory's Morte DArthur on their
changing ethos about women.
THE STUDENT'S RESPONSE:
If one compares Beowulf, Gawain and the Green Knight, the Wife of Baths
Tale and Malory's Morte DArthur, it is quite evident that the ethos of the protagonist
warrior-heroes in relationship to women changes drastically through the centuries.
In Beowulf the protagonists contact with women is miniscule. No wife or lover
seems to exist. The author certainly never mentions one. Beowulf is interested
exclusively in adventure and gaining a reputation based on his courage and fealty.
Women have no place in his life, and he rarely even acknowledges their existence. Not
surprisingly he dies without an heir.
Gawain certainly has contact with women, but the picture is very black and white.
On the one hand, there is Gawains ideal, the Virgin Mary. He even has a painting of her
on the back of his shield. Queen Guenevere by being placed on a pedestal also fits in this
category. Then there is the Green Knights wife who tries to seduce Gawain. She is used
as a tool to test Gawains moral strength. Therefore, Gawain only seems to come into
contact with saintly women or sinful women. He worships the saintly ones and in so
doing honors his Lord and king; he tries to avoid the sinful one and in so doing honors his
host.
In the Wife of Baths Tale the knight shows no respect for one woman by raping
her and must face the judgement of another, Queen Guenevere, and then must finally give
in to the woman who is wiser than he. This is a turning point in the ethos of these warrior
protagonists because the knight not only shows respect to his lord, but to the women who
teach him a valuable lesson.
In Morte DArthur Lancelot is torn between his oath to Arthur and his love for
Guenevere. In the end he is 180 degrees away from Beowulfs imperative of fealty to his
lord. In Lancelots final test he puts his love for Guenevere above his loyalty to his king.

40

II. Book Review Paper in History:

Book Reviews have a few rules of their own. A great many book reviews are poor,
largely for two reasons: The author of the review did not think, either about the book he
read or about his review, and he did not organize his thoughts and therefore his review.
Since every book is different and every book thus requires a different set of questions that
must be asked of it, the rules for book review writing must necessarily be general.
1. Dont read a book from cover to cover. Try it this way instead, for this is the
way experienced scholars have learned is very often the best way to read scholarly books.
Read the title page first; then the table of contents, to see how the book is organized; then
the bibliography, to see what sources the author used; then the preface where he attempts
to state what he is doing; then finally the body of the book. This scheme of reading will
immediately provide tentative answers to five key questions, which you must be able to
answer if you intend to have read the book intelligently:
a. What was the author trying to do? (What question was he asking?)
b. How in general has he organized the book? What is its essential structure?
What arguments does he put forth to support his thesis? (How does he answer the
question in a. above?
c. Who is the author? (It makes a difference, for example, in evaluating a book
about Communism, whether it was written by Trotsky, Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, J. Edgar
Hoover, a traveller with no special background, or an historian or political scientist from
the United States.)
d. What did he use for sources - in other words, to what extent should you believe
him?
e. How well did the author succeed in doing what he set out to do?
2. Question e. and perhaps some of the others will not be answered for you by the
book itself. You will have to think about them. You will also have to decide for yourself
the answer to a final and important question: in what way, if any, does this book relate to,
add to, contradict, or support the subject matter of the course for which you are reading
it? There ought to be a helpful relation between the book and the course. For example, a
book on Rommel and the Afrika Korps in North Africa in World War II or on the career
of Napoleon may be a very fine book, but not for a course in American History.
3. Your written book review should contain the answers to those five questions.
Here is a suggested order for a book review of approximately five hundred words (which
is the preferred length of book reviews in many journals and for many courses):
a. At the top of the first page, a standard bibliographical entry for a book should
41

be entered. This includes author, title, and facts of publication. (See American Historical
Review, Journal of American History or any standard journal for the proper format.)
b. One or two sentences - no more - answering succinctly the question in a. above,
What was the author trying to do?
c. A few sentences identifying the author, with attention to his other publications,
his qualifications for writing this book, and his position or occupation (scholar,
newspaperman, participant in the event he writes about, propagandist, representative of a
special viewpoint or party or whatever). This helps indicate his or her possible slant as
well as his qualifications. This too should take about twenty-five words. Often the preface
of the book will give you this information. Other places to look for identification of
authors are Whos Who or Whos Who in America, The French and other national
editions of Whos Who for foreign authors, the Directory of American Scholars (in the
fourth and current edition, Vol. I deals with historians), Contemporary Authors, American
and foreign biographical dictionaries and other reference works. (NOTE: You also might
want to employ the services of the reference librarian in your universitys library. )
d. An answer to the question, What sources did the author use and how well did
he use them? Did he really use the materials in his bibliography or footnotes, or are they
simply window-dressing? Did the author ignore important sources? Does he omit source
references altogether (and if so, why should you believe what he says)? This section
should take about fifty words or so.
e. A brief summary of the book telling how it is organized. No more than a
hundred words here.
f. An evaluation of the book in about 250 words. This is the main part of your
review, the section in which you think originally about the book you read. Here you
answer in depth the question, Did the author accomplish what he set out to do? What
did he do especially well? What did he do poorly? Does he disagree in significant
respects with what you know of the subject already, from textbook, lectures, or other
reading? If so, do you agree with him or with what you learned elsewhere, and why?
Does his writing style help or hinder the readers understanding and absorbing of the
books content? From the literary and historical standpoints, does he prove his case? How
original is it?
g. A brief conclusion, in about fifty words, stating whether, how and to whom the
book is useful and in particular, whether or how it is helpful to a student in your course.
4. After you have written the review, rewrite it as many times as necessary to
improve the coherence, organization and style. Finally, make sure that it is clear of any
errors of spelling, grammar and/or syntax.
Dr. Virginia Bernhard, University of St. Thomas

42

Student Sample of a History Book Review:

Richter, William L.The Army in Texas During Reconstruction 1865-1870. in
Texas A&M University Military History Series. College Station: Texas A&M University
Press, 1987, pp. 265.
In analyzing the armys affect on Reconstruction in Texas, William Richter offers
us a microscopic view of the Confederate losers, their rehabilitated local governments,
and the men who sought to meddle in them, the military commanders charged with
enforcing the United States governments policies. For the civilian Texan faced with
humiliating defeat, there was only one way to view military supervision of local
government, despotism.
Using a good mixture of primary and secondary sources, Richter weaves the
balanced tale of a Reconstruction built on frustrations. Letters and communiques flew
between the commanders at the nations capital, the New Orleans based area commander,
and their Texas subordinates. From these the author draws a good deal of specific
information, as well as from other sources such as journal articles, monographs, and
unpublished doctoral dissertations, about the armys tenure in Texas. By concentrating
on military administrative correspondence and publications, however, the author rarely
refers to civilian political authorities and individuals within Reconstructed communities
until discussing General Reynolds administration in the last section of the book.
Richter divides the era into three periods which run parallel with the tenure of the
district commanding generals and similar to Reconstruction periods throughout the
South. The first, May 1865 to December 1866, corresponds to Presidential
Reconstruction. This is the period when General Philip Sheridan took command of U.S.
Army troops and invaded Texas immediately after the Civil War. In December 1866,
General Charles Griffin took over command and held office until September l867. This
period roughly corresponds to Congressional Reconstruction. The third period,
beginning in 1867 and ending with Texasadmission to the Union in 1870, was under the
command of General Joseph J. Reynolds.
Of Richters three eras, the third is by far the most interesting. The chapters in the
first two sections of the book, the tenures of Generals Sheridan and Griffin, read as
though those involved were not human, but rather tin soldiers moving around a childs
miniature battlefield. Our interest blossoms along with Richters writing, however, when
he describes the three years immediately prior to the states rejoining the union. In this
section, we feel the tension created between the unpopular military dictatorship and the
civilian idea of representative government. Richter believes that because of the vague
43

nature of the Reconstruction Acts, each commander was able to put his heavy character
stamp upon military Reconstruction in his district.
The best illustration of the civilian view of military rule is a quote from the
December ll, 1867 Brownsville Daily Ranchero, an ardent enemy of Reconstruction. It
described the new commander as [t]he pious, doubled-faced, double-dealing, smiling,
fawning, sycophantic Maj. Gen. Reynolds ... [who] is now the law-maker, law-giver,
judge, jury, pettifogger, and teaser over the whole State of Texas. Richter uses this
attitudinal flag to lead us into his section on Reynolds government. The titles of two
chapters in this section, The Army Writes a Constitution and The Army Installs a
Government, also warn us of the armys omnipotence during this period.
Richter contends that the Army alone was responsible for the success of the
Radicals in the elections of 1869. As an illustration of the armys active role in
determining who was elected, the author gave the example of the Indianola board of
registrars request for advice from General Reynolds after the 1869 election. The board
forwarded ten doubtful ballots to the commander and stated that if they were counted, a
Republican sheriff would be elected, if not, a Democrat. They asked the general to make
a decision for them.
In The Journal of Southern History (55 February 1989, p. 133) Barry Crouch
writes that Richter shows us how the army commanders used their considerable
prerogative inassisting the inchoate interests of the Republican party. Both Generals
Griffin and Reynolds used the army and their patronage powers as district commanders
under the Reconstruction Acts to assist the Republicans in building grass-roots
organization. To further strengthen their party, they refused to disfranchise former
Confederates although this later caused a split in the partys ideology. All these and many
more political maneuvers were designed to leave Republicans in control when the army
withdrew in 1870. Unfortunately for the Republican party, they had not planned for
exaggerated local and states rights issues which left the popular Conservative Governor
Throckmorton unable to convince local authorities of the need for minimum compliance
with the Reconstruction Acts.
Richter concludes that the military government in Texas compromised the Union
victory by providing convenient excuses for the denial of justice and equality to blacks,
while not forcing whites to face up to their racism. Important democratic notions
reverted to hollow resolutions under subsequent white supremacist governments. Richter
believes that Texas secessionists lost the war, but won the peace.
Although the author has published eleven articles on different aspects of the
Unites States Army and Texas Reconstruction in preparation for this book, when one
learns that he left an assistant professorship of history at Lawton, Oklahoma to open
44

Bills Farrier Service in Tuscon, Arizona one immediately questions his abilities.
However, quirky personal details should not drive us from his scholarship, but rather we
should closely examine it as we would any other to determine whether this work really is
a fresh and balanced study as Frank H. Smyd writes in the Journal of American
History, or whether the depth of the armys intrusion into Texas politics is still a
debatable issue, as Barry Crouch concludes in the Journal of Southern History?
Lee McInnis, MLA student University of St. Thomas

45

III. Guidelines for a Reflection Paper in Religious Studies:

General Format
1. The paper should be based on the reading assigned.
2. About 3 double-spaced typed pages is the appropriate length; it is unwise to
stray too far from this standard.
3. References and notes may be given in parentheses. If you choose to use
footnotes, follow the format of the MLA style sheet or any other recognized style sheet. A
bibliography is unnecessary, since the paper is not intended to be a mini-research paper.
4. Submit each assignment, along with all previous ones, in a special folder or
portfolio set aside for that purpose. In that way you can improve your writing and your
theologizing by correcting previous mistakes.
I. Opening Paragraph: Summary
The purpose of this opening paragraph is to show that the main thrust of the
assigned reading has been understood. It should capture the readers attention by briefly
summarizing the significance of what you have read and by showing how it fits into the
course.
II. Body of the Paper: Implications/Importance
The purpose of this section is to show that you have thought about the readings in
light of the questions and problems which they raise for you. To express the theological
implications and importance of the reading, it is helpful to integrate one or more of the
following approaches in your paper:
A. state a connection between this reading and some other course or idea and
explain the reasons for this relationship;
B. describe how this reading illuminates any previous lecture or reading, how it
answers questions you may have had;
C. take a position; agree or disagree with a point or points in the reading; always
give reasons for your views.
D. ask further questions which the reading provoked and suggest possible ways of
reaching an answer;
E. revise any position you previously held and explain why you changed your
mind because of the reading.
III.Concluding Paragraph: Personal Application
If you should desire to do so, you may close with a brief reflection on the personal
implications this reading had for you. This section should never be the bulk of your
paper, but it provides you with an opportunity to link classroom religious studies with
46

your own life. (NOTE: In all cases think about the subject in a personal and creative
way.)
Fr. J. Michael Miller, C.S.B. University of St. Thomas
Student Sample of a Reflection Paper in Religious Studies
United under God?
The author of the article for today Jaroslav Pelikan addresses an interesting point
in Christology, that of the relation of Christ to non-Christian religions. He develops as
his main point the idea that Christianity, while unique and distinct from other religions,
shares a unity with them. This unity derives mainly from the fact of Jesus humanity.
Since Christ redeemed all humanity through his passion and resurrection, then all humans
are united to and saved by him. This, the author explains, is how Christianity can be both
distinct from and united with other religions. This paper will address Pelikans treatment
of this subject, discussing some of the difficulties the matter presents.
The author begins addressing this topic by unapologetically emphasizing the
distinctness of Christianity. Then, in the interest of dialogue and sharing of concerns
with other religions (161), he draws comparisons of practice between Christian and nonChristian religions. He also tries to get at the heart of what distinguishes all these
religions from one another. In doing so he makes some unexpected statements that are
difficult to reconcile with Catholic thought. For instance, he says, intellectual, doctrinal
issues are not the determining factor in the practice of any religion; sincere worship is
(162). My understanding of Catholic liturgy is that the Church worships as she believes.
And this point does not apply only to Catholicism. I daresay all people who worship do
so in accordance with how they believe. It is precisely those doctrinal issues that are the
determining factors in the practice (that is, worship) of any religion. But lets put this
aside and continue on with the author for a moment and see where he is going with this.
The author goes on to say,
The differences [between various religions] lie in humanist concerns, in non-theist
questions about how life ought to be lived and how it ought to be structured. If this is
really the case, these differences should be resolved on the criteria of human authenticity
and not by religious studies. When religious studies is invoked to settle such disputes,
[it]. . .is used to legitimate falsehood and to obscure the truth of the matter.
I find it difficult to know how to respond to the rather shocking claims he is
making about the role of religious studies. On one hand, I feel compelled to agree with
him and say, yes, indeed, religious studies is being used to perpetuate misbelief and to
obscure truth, but my reasons for thinking that are quite different from the ones he
47

presents here. On the other hand, I wonder what he could possibly be thinking of? He
seems to forget he is arguing from the standpoint of Christianity. Coming from such a
position, he should realize that the fruits of religious studies (which is the study of God,
who in Christs case is also human) are particularly valid criteria for resolving human
disputes. Even non-Christian theologies are valid criteria for resolving human disputes;
for as people worship according to their particular manner of belief in God, so do they
structure their lives in accordance with their belief. Therefore, what can theistic peoples
rely on to help solve human difficulties but religious studies?
The authors statement causes further difficulty in that it depends heavily upon the
vague, unspecified terms of human authenticity and such disputes. What can he
mean by human authenticity? Doesnt he believe that Christ taught us how to be
authentically and fully human? It is unfortunate that the author is so vague about which
disputes he is referring to. Presumably they are those regarding how life ought to be
lived and how it ought to be structured. Would this include issues such as proper
treatment of ones fellow man, proper worship to God, as well as proper sexual conduct?
If so, then how can he call these non-theist questions, as they are addressed very
specifically by an important Theos, Christ, as well as in very certain terms in other
religions, such as Islam? Would the author prefer that humans convene to determine the
rules of morality on the basis of their human authenticity? This seems to be what he is
implying.
Why am I making such a big deal over this point? Because when the author says
that the troubling differences among theist religions are not rooted in specifically theist
concerns he is wrong. Differing theist concerns are precisely the troubling differences
among religions. It is the word different that is key here. Each (different) religion
believes that it is the authentically true one; each worshiping member of the religion
knows his belief is true. When the author goes on to claim, This is not to say that
Christian understanding is in opposition to that of others . . . . It is to say that Christian
understanding goes beyond that of others (162), one can see how easily the word
Moslem or Buddhist or Jewish could be substituted in for the word Christian, depending
on who was making the claim, and each belief would be true. So Christians claiming that
their belief contains a fuller reality than others really has no more credence than anyone
else making the same claim. When the author makes statements such as, [The primary
difference between Christians and non-Christians is that] Christians know and
increasingly understand the marvel of Gods work among us (163); and Christians
know and understand what others do not (164), it is not really consistent with his
intention of dialogue and sharing of concern with others. It is statements such as those
that will continue to create discord instead of unity among all the members of Gods
human race.
Kriss Wolff, senior undergraduate student University of St. Thomas
48

IV. The Explication Paper for Literature:

The Assignment and Assessment:
This paper is an excellent example of a standard paper assignment given in many
English and foreign language literature classes, an explication. A paper of this type seeks
to comment as fully as possible on a literary text as the text itself, that is ignoring such
matters as historical or biographical considerations.
Writing such a paper trains the student in analytical skills and establishes a greater
sense of objectivity; its hidden agenda is to draw the student into an appreciation for the
aesthetic qualities of the text as well.
Students are given specific instructions concerning explication as well as sample
essays. Tennysons Tears is a superior example of this type of explication. Although I
would have preferred more original thought expressed, her research is excellent, the
paper is competently written and the text of the poem is well explained.
Dr. Joy Linsley University of St. Thomas
Student Sample of an Explication of Literature Paper
Tennysons Tears
On first glance, Tears, Idle Tears, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, appears to be a
tender reverie of the past (Brooks 36). Its a lyric poem whose speaker longs for and is
haunted by the days that are no more. Such days compose the main theme of the poem.
The chief instrument with which Tennyson achieves his theme is imagery, specifically
paradoxical images. Contrasting images of light and dark, death and life prevail. Imagery,
as well as the language used to convey the images, is crucial to the structure and
understanding of Tears. Once the reader masters the imagery, he will realize that the
poem is anything but a sweet reverie.
The speaker begins his poem rather impulsively. At first he claims that he does
not know the meaning of his idle tears. James Kissane points out that the work idle
implies the tears have no cause, and he quotes Tennysons Memoir as stating the
occasion for the poem as being not real woe (118). However, in the next line the reader
finds the tears being traced to the depth of some divine despair. Cleanth Brooks has
raised the question whether Tennyson meant for the idle to be equated with divine
despair or if the speaker simply made a sudden reversal of his first decision (34).
Whatever the answer, it is obvious to the reader that Tennyson has begun his lyric with an
49

image full of irony and paradox.

The sight of happy autumn fields and thoughts of the past seem to resolve the
speakers doubts about the cause of his tears. Kissane finds irony in this line also. He
claims that these lines (4 and 5) represent a disconnection between sensation and
reflection. But he admits that if there were a relationship between the two it would be
ironic since looking at happiness causes sadness (119). Brooks suggests a closer linkage
between the two phrases. He is impressed by the fact that the fields are autumn - fields,
and the season of autumn points back to something that is finished. It would be only
natural, then, that the image of happy autumn fields evokes thoughts of the past (34).
The first stanza ends with thoughts of days that are no more. These reflections
are the real occasion for the tears, although the speaker is only now realizing it. It is as
though the tears from the heart did not register with his mind until the speaker began
thinking about the poem. The days of the past serve as the subject for the rest of the
poem, which is devoted to exploring the unrecapturability of the past (Kissane 119).
The idea that the lost days are fresh, in the second stanza, gives rise to another
paradox. The freshness of the past is associated with the dawn, or youth. So, it is
shocking when, in the next line, fresh is linked with a ship coming from the
underworld, or the home of the dead. The freshness has now been transferred to days
that are dead - a stark contrast with a dawn freshness. The same beam of light is used to
illuminate both images of fresh and sad. The first beam glittering on a sail is the
same one that reddens over the ship, sinking below the verge. Thus, Tennyson achieves a
paradox, using the ship metaphor to convey the freshness of dawn and the sadness of
evening (Brooks 35).
The image of sad and strange dark summer dawns is suggested by one figure the dawn as viewed by a dying man. The pipings of the half awakened birds are
strange because they are being heard by a dying man for the last time. This familiar
sound assumes qualities of strangeness and sadness for one who is dying. As the living
present seems very clear, yet strange and sad to the dying man, so does the past seem to
the living man. Stanza III, read in conjunction with Stanza IV, makes it obvious to the
reader that the past is very vivid and near to the speaker, but the past is also equated with
death (Brooks 36).
The final stanza presents the ultimate image for the unrecapturability of the past.
Kisses are the quintessence of life (Kissane 120) and thus signal the vitality of the past.
At the same time, however, they must be beyond recall. The fact that the past cannot be
recalled is evidenced by those kisses feigned / On lips that are for others (lines 17-18).
Such kisses, like the past, cannot be obtained (Brooks 36).

50

The dear and sweet images are enriched by the more passionate terms, deep
and wild. The past lies buried in the deepest level of ones being (Brooks 36). Wild
with all regret implies passion in memory and in the one who longs for it. The image
shows desire for the days that are no more and for the autonomous life they assume in
the speakers memory (Kissane 120). The wildness of the past is also seen as the ability
the past has for breaking out of the depth of some divine despair, much like the tears.
All these images culminate in the climactic statement: O Death in Life. . . - the ultimate
paradox.
Since this poem was composed at Tintern Abbey, it is interesting to contrast it
with Wordsworths Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey. As Kissane
points out there is a noticeable difference between the two. Wordsworth maintained a
communion between man and nature and between man and man. He believed in
continuity of human experience, while Tennyson lived in a world where the self cannot
know communion or continuity, except in the need to experience them. Furthermore,
Wordsworth held that the memory is a place for all sweet sounds and harmonies to dwell,
whereas Tennyson delved into a psychological experience of the past and expressed its
duality in the present (Kissane 117-118). Tears, Idle Tears, with its contradicting
images, makes it very clear that Tennyson did not find the past to be such a peaceful
dwelling place.
WORKS CITED
Brooks, Cleanth. The Motivation of Tennysons Weeper. in The Well-Wrought
Urn. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1947.
Kissane, James. Tennyson: The Passion of the Past and the Curse of Time. In
Tennyson: A Collection of Critical Essays. Elizabeth Francis, Ed. New Jersey: PrenticeHall, 1980. 108-132.

Maria Spurgeon, senior undergraduate student University of St. Thomas

51

V. Discussion Board / Reader Responses:

The Assignment and Assessment:
The students were to write a reader response paper of at least one paragraph
which demonstrates their personal reaction to the work or film being discussed. These
papers are not graded as such, but they are read with my response appended to theirs.
The first paper below is the more freely written. It does, however, manage to
explore a major theme in the film. The second paper is more formally written (though
still essentially personal). The writer beautifully integrates Weil's deep commitment to
humanity with felt experience.
Dr. John Freed, Brandman University
Student Sample Papers for Reader Response / Discussion Board
1. on Roman Polanskis film Chinatown
This is a great movie. I kept trying to guess the outcome and was wrong with each
guess. I was disturbed by the ending; theres a part of me that always wants to see a
happy ending. Most of the time I would choose a happy ending over a profound statement
in a movie. I dont remember how this film did at the box office. . . seems to me it did
very well despite the ending.
I tried to watch this film keeping in mind the issues of morality and ethics. It
seems like morality is something external, something judged by others. If that is so, then
Jake and Evelyn (?), along with most of the other characters would be considered
immoral. Jake slept with Evelyn, Evelyn slept with her father, her father was stealing
water from the city . . . and so on. Ethics seems to be that internal distinction between
right and wrong. There seemed to be an underlying code of ethics which made it all right
for Jake and Evelyn to operate outside societys moral directives (the law). Whatever they
did, you ended up with the impression that they were the good guys.
I liked how Polanski used the sound of water throughout the film. In many of the
scenes, the sound of water was in the background. . .sometimes it was a shower, flowing
water in a river, sometimes just a dripping faucet. There was probably some symbolism
and foreshadowing associated with the sound, but I didnt catch on until late in the movie.
Maybe Ill watch it again and try to get it. Also, a lot of the people had colds (sniffling).
Maybe this symbolized a disease spreading through the town.
Sharon Warminski, senior undergraduate student University of St. Thomas
52

2. on Simone Weils essay, The Iliad or the Poem of Force

I have not been able to read enough of these essays, but I intend to read all of
them. Every page of Simone Weils work is alive to me. The essays are both politically
and intellectually passionate.
Every passage in the referenced essay is descriptive. Force is personified. Man
seems totally controlled by force: the human spirit is modified by its relations with
force, as swept away, blinded . . . as deformed by the weight of the force it submits to
(Weil 163). The stanzas of The Iliad that were used to define force as that x that turns
anybody who is subjected to it into a thing (Weil 163-5) are penetratingly vivid. Weils
description of Priam at the mercy of Achilles as a person who becomes a corpse before
anybody or anything touches him. . . becoming simply matter is so like the feeling of
being confronted by the power of another person, whether physical or emotional.
One has the feeling of being simply matter at times. On occasions, I have felt
that people move about [me] as if I were not there. How frightening is the image of
being pushed. . .fallen. . .and lying where they are [I am], unless chance gives
somebody the idea of raising them [me] up again (Weil 167).
Sandra Spore, MLA student University of St. Thomas

53

VI. Some General Principles for Writing Lab Science Reports

Unless an individual instructor requests something different, a lab
report should be written in a concise and impersonal style. The style is described by the
guidelines below. These instructions only apply to short informal reports. More formal
reports are rarely required in lower level science courses. A general rule to follow
concerning how much to put in or leave out of a lab report is that a trained professional
should be able to read your report and repeat the work without having to ask more
questions.
1. Write complete sentences.
2. Use the passive voice, the third person and the past tense: The solution was
then cooled to below 200 degrees F by the experimenter. [NOTE: This is not always the
case. Biology for one is trying to introduce more active voice. Be careful to follow the
recommendations given in your particular class.]
3. Remember your report is a description of a process not a set of cook book
recipes.
4. Do not confuse introduction of method with data, calculations, results and
discussion. (See the following Physics Lab Guidelines.)
5. The results are the main focus and should be clearly tabulated.
6. Standard procedures should be described as briefly as possible.
7. Detailed calculations should only appear if they are requested by the instructor.
8. Include a one sentence statement of what you found as the conclusion for the
report.
9. All diagrams and graphs should be clearly titled and labeled and drawn in a
large enough scale to be legible.
10 Any literature cited should be documented according to a standard format - the
American Chemical Societys (ACS) is a good one to use if none is specified by your
instructor.
Specific Instructions for a Lab Report in Physics:
Each student is required to turn in a laboratory report on each experiment. You
54

may work with your lab partner(s) taking the measurements and performing the
calculations, but the lab report you submit must be your own original work. All lab
reports are due by 12:00 noon the date of your next lab meeting. Students who submit
their lab reports on the same day as the laboratory meets prior to the end of the laboratory
period, are free to leave the physics lab upon submitting said lab report. All other students
are required to remain in the physics lab and to work on their lab reports until the end of
the lab period.
Lab reports should contain the following sections:
I. Introduction of method:
Briefly discuss the experiment and the theory behind the experiment in your own
words. Do not copy the lab manual or the lab handout.
II. Data and Calculations:
List all the data you took in the lab in tabular form. Label the columns and rows
and include units with all physical quantities. Include one sample calculation of each kind
that you used to calculate your results and uncertainties. First write the equation you used
in a calculation, substitute the numbers and associated units, then write the answer and its
units. Do not show the arithmetic you did to find the result. Include an example of the
calculation of average values and standard deviations only in the first lab report, but not
in subsequent reports. The procedures used to find the uncertainty in your result are
illustrated in this handout. Include an example of the uncertainty in each lab report.
III. Results:
List the results of your calculations in tabular form. Put a title on each table and
label the column and rows. Be sure to include units for all physical quantities. Graphs
should be done neatly on graph paper, should be titled and have the abscissa and ordinate
labeled. Graphs need not start at zero on the abscissa or ordinate. Major units must be in
sequences like 1,2,3, etc; or 2,4,6, etc. ; or 5,10,15, etc. While the starting point may vary,
no other sequences on the major axes are acceptable. The appropriate power of 10 and
proper physical units are given at the end of each major axis.
IV. Discussion:
A discussion of the experiment, data and results is required at the end of each lab
report. In your discussion you might consider answering questions such as:
A. How do your results compare with the results you expected to get?
55

B. Do uncertainties in the calculated result(s) and the expected result (s) overlap?
Dont be alarmed if they do not overlap.
C. What are your sources of systematic error?
D. What measurements cause the most uncertainty in your result(s)?
E. Is the experiment a good one and how could it be improved?
Your discussion should be readable and literate. Your introduction and discussion
together should not be more than two written pages.
Dr. Louie Galloway, III University of St. Thomas

56

VII. Writing For Economics and Finance

Writing for economics, finance and other business courses is not very different
from writing elsewhere. That is, all the rules of grammar, punctuation, sentence
construction and general format apply. There are some special requirements in writing in
these fields that are important and arise because of the use of theory, mathematical
notation and graphs in the discussion of related topics. Also, because a great deal of real
world data exist for these areas, it is important to differentiate between a graph that is
used to represent a theoretical idea of how a variable ought to behave and one that is used
to represent the observed behavior of a variable.
Another way of thinking about this is to consider the two forms that information
takes on - namely, qualitative and quantitative. The latter is more familiar as data since
it is countable using numbers. For example, The inflation rate last year was five
percent. Quantitative information is easy to graph or put into tabled form.
Qualitative information on the other hand cannot be numerically evaluated and is
difficult to graph or table. For example, The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank
thinks that inflation rates are too high, is a statement for which numbers cannot be
assigned - making it difficult to draw a picture. Historical information, information
about the political structure of a country, sociological and psychological information are
all typically qualitative in nature. To incorporate this sort of information into any
analysis, abstract theory is most useful. Theory provides a natural bridge between
qualitative and quantitative information.
By using a theoretical model, one can predict how a qualitative change will
manifest itself quantitatively in data. To accomplish this, a good sense of theory, data,
and the mathematical tools of graphs, equations, and statistical analysis are both useful
and relevant. To keep your ideas clear, always tell your reader which tools you are using,
what your symbols mean, how your algebraic manipulations were accomplished and
finally, how you will use the important/relevant aspects of any graphs or diagrams. The
following outline and illustrative example might help in providing an overview of the
methodological issues.
General Outline for Research Papers in Economics
The outline that follows is only a guide - you should use it flexibly. How much
you write and how long each section is depends on the topic area. In some cases, you
might be required to write several short sections that individually will follow the outline
given above (similar to writing chapters in a book). Always remember that content is
more important than quantity. It is better to be short and sweet - but not if you exclude
important information.
I.

Cover Page

57

On a separate page your cover sheet should include the title, your name, the
professors name, the course and section and the date.
II.

Abstract

This should summarize each of the subsections of your paper (one to two
sentences per sub-section including the introduction). The key is to keep it short. To do
so requires that you know what you are talking about!
III.

Introduction:

A.

Your Topic Area

This section should provide an introduction of general topic area of interest. You
should explain why the topic is interesting and summarize the important issues relevant
to that topic.
B.

Hypothesis Your Paper Will Address

This section narrows the focus of the paper to a specific issue of interest. You
(again) should explain why the topic is interesting, how the answers/insights you will
obtain might alter your (and/or the readers) opinions and perspectives on the general
topic area.
C.

Summary outline of the paper

This section should provide a short outline of the sequence of steps you will take
in arriving at an answer.
IV.
topic area.

Review of the context of the discussion (Literature Review) relative to the

This section (two-three subsections possible) should provide the reader with as
complete as possible an understanding of the historical evolution of the ideas you will
address. It should include clear references to previous work by others on the same topic.
It should provide a clear sense of how your work relates to that established body of
research. The discussion should also include a discussion of any theory relevant to your
paper as well as clarification of any problems others have encountered in finding
quantitative data that would represent the theory/hypothesis that you will address.
V.
Description of the particular topic of interest and the unique issues that
you wish to highlight (Theoretical point of departure, Model Description).
58

This section should narrow the focus of discussion down to the specific issues that
you wish to concentrate on. The most important characteristic of what you say in this
section is the concise and logically precise nature of how you say it. Typically, you
would include either or all of: a) a theoretical model - mathematically defined (that is,
using symbols); b) a graphical depiction; and c) a well delineated set of theorems,
axioms, hypotheses, assumptions and/or definitions. For each, you should explain the
nature of the model you will use by describing how it behaves. You should identify the
particular aspects that are of interest to you. Remember that what you say here provides
the foundations of what you say later in the paper. Remember also that this section of the
paper will provide a conceptual bridge (for you and the reader) that relates: historical
(qualitative) facts, the history of the development of the ideas (previous literature) and the
quantitative perspective provided by the data.
VI.
Data analysis, or, statistical analysis, or, the quantitative picture of the
problem at hand.
The primary focus of this section is to relay to the reader that set of real-world
facts that are relevant to an understanding of how either: a) the theory works; or b) the
problem you wish to describe (solve, or draw attention to) can be perceived in the real
world. This section should include: a) a description of where the data or descriptive facts
were obtained; b) a set of tables and/or graphs of the data; c) a summary description
and/or characterization of what the data/facts tell you; d) a description of how the
data/facts highlighted in your summary description relate to the theoretical model you
developed in the previous section; and e) a summary of the different statistical methods
you will use (if relevant).
VII. Summary and Conclusions (What did I learn? What more could I have
done given time? What is lacking?)
In this section your first objective is to provide a summary of how the theory, the
data, and the qualitative facts of the problem relate to one another. Secondly, you should
draw some conclusions with respect to the implications of your analysis for future
observations on the same data/facts - that is, you should attempt to predict on the basis of
what you now know. Thirdly, you should highlight the weakness of your analysis,
providing the reader with a healthy yet focused sense of skepticism - that is, tell your
reader what you dont know or havent quite figured out so that he/she will not assume
that they dont need to read/study more about the topic (this also reminds you of the same
thing!). Finally, you should identify some possible directions that further study of the
problem ought to take (give the reader a sense of direction). Since you have scoutedout the topic - tell your reader which directions are the most promising.

59

VIII. Footnotes and Bibliography

Use proper APA style formatting.
Dr. Kahlil Yazdi University of St. Thomas

60

The Last Words

What I'd like you to remember from this guidebook is, All good writing
regardless of type should have a perceivable direction (purpose or thesis), a principle of
organization, substance (specific evidence or concrete illustration), logic, a sense of the
writers authority and basic presentability (acceptable grammar, spelling, and format).
The very best writing also has an economy of words (like good poetry),
development (like a good narrative), and interest (like a good drama). All good writing
shares the characteristic of being 'readable'; all bad writing of being 'unreadable.'
Finally never forget that writing and reading are inextricably related. Ill give the
final final word on the subject to William Safire, the late word pundit for the New York
Times:
Guides to writing - some in print, others in software - continue to
proliferate; . . . But nothing helps the aspiring writer more than reading fine
writers in action.

Creative Commons Copyright

(2013)
by John Freed
jfreed11@gmail.com

61

Advanced Expository Writing Grading Rubric

by John Freed (revised 2012)
Exemplary

A grade range

Above Average =

B grade range

Satisfactory

C grade range

Unsatisfactory =

Dimensions

Match with the

assignment

Overall Logical
Persuasiveness

Quality of
Analysis and/or
Interpretation

Thesis statement

C-/D/F grade range

Exemplary
(A grade range)

Above Average
(B grade range)

Satisfactory
(C grade range)

The paper meets or

exceeds the minimum
number of pages
required for the
assignment and its
content is an obvious
response to it.

Unsatisfactory
(C-/D/F grade range)
The paper does not meet
the minimum number of pages
required for the assignment
and/or has no relationship to
the assignment.

There is a strong
and convincing
logical necessity
between the
supporting materials
presented and the
conclusion of the
thesis or hypothesis.

There are some

lingering doubts
about the logical
necessity between the
supporting materials
presented and the
conclusion of the
thesis or hypothesis.

There is a marginal
There is no logical
association between the necessity between the
supporting materials
supporting materials presented
presented and the
and the conclusion of the
conclusion of the thesis thesis or hypothesis. A reader
or hypothesis.
is very unlikely to be
persuaded by this argument.

The writer
demonstrates original
and significant
analysis and/or
interpretation of
source materials. His
particular
contribution to the
subject is impressive.

The writer
demonstrates
significant analysis
and/or interpretation
of source materials.
His contribution to
the subject is clearly
evident.

The writer
demonstrates minimally
acceptable analysis
and/or interpretation of
source material. He
appears to make very
little original
contribution to the
subject.

The writer demonstrates

insufficient analysis and/or
interpretation of source
material and makes no
contribution to the subject.

The thesis is stated

in a clear, concise and
thought provoking
manner and is limited
enough to be
developed in some
depth within the
parameters of the
paper.

The thesis or
argument is
discoverable but
either not articulated
precisely enough as
an hypothesis or the
topic may be too
broad or narrow for
the size of the project
or paper.

The thesis is not

explicitly articulated
and/or not limited
enough or too limited
for the size of the
project or paper.

There is no discoverable
thesis or argument to
determine whether it is
properly limited or not.

62

 The title and

introduction are
engaging, and
accurately anticipate
the approach taken in
the paper.

The title and

introduction reflect
fairly accurately the
content of the paper
but do little to
generate reader
interest.

The title and

introduction are more
confusing than
elucidating.

There appears to be very

marginal or no connections
between the title and
introduction and the contents
of the paper.

The writer always

substantiates
abstractions,
judgments and
assertions with
specific illustrations,
facts and evidence
appropriate to the
assignment and/or
discipline.

The writer nearly

always substantiates
abstractions,
judgments and
assertions with
specific illustrations,
facts and evidence
appropriate to the
assignment and/or
discipline.

The writer seldom

substantiates
abstractions, judgments
and assertions with
specific illustrations,
facts and evidence.

The writer does not

substantiate often vaguely
worded abstractions,
judgments and/or sweeping
generalizations.

The reader gains

important insights.

The reader gains

some insights.

All of the
paragraphs are
logically and
organically arranged
as sub-topics or
sections of the
papers main thesis
statement, hypothesis
or instructor posed
question. The reader
can easily follow the
writers line of
thinking.

Nearly all of the

paragraphs are
logically and
organically arranged
as sub-topics or
sections of the
papers main thesis
statement, hypothesis
or instructor posed
question. For the
most part, the reader
can follow the
writers line of
thinking.

In general, the
The paragraphs appear to
paragraphs are logically be randomly arranged. The
and organically
reader
arranged as sub-topics
cannot identify a line
or sections of the
of reasoning.
papers main thesis
statement, hypothesis or
instructor posed
question. The reader has
some difficulty
following the writers
line of thinking.

Language

The language is
consistently
professional
and appropriate for an
academic research
paper.

The language is
generally
professional. For the
most part, it is
appropriate for an
academic research
paper.

The language is not

consistently
professional or
appropriate for an
academic research
paper.

The language is often

too colloquial and
not appropriate for
an academic research paper.

Sentence
Structure

Sentences are well

Sentences are
phrased and varied in well-phrased and
length and structure.
there is some variety
They flow smoothly
in their length and
from one to another. structure.

Some sentences are

awkwardly constructed.
The reader occasionally
has difficulty making
sense out of them.

The errors in sentence

structure are frequent enough
to be a major source of
confusion for the reader.
There is little or no variety in
the sentence structure
throughout the paper.

Title and
Introduction

Evidence
(Substantiation)

Organization

(Style)

63

The reader gains few

insights.

The reader is often confused,

unconvinced or even
misinformed.

Word choice
(diction)

Standard English
Grammar,
Spelling,
and Mechanics

Use of
References

Quality of
References

Documentation
Format
and Academic
Integrity

Word choice is
consistently precise
and accurate.

Word choice is
generally good. The
writer often goes
beyond the
approximate
word to find the most
accurate one.

Word choice is
merely adequate, and
the range of words is
limited. Some words are
used inaccurately.

Many words are

chosen inappropriately,
muddling the sense of the
piece.

There are no
apparent errors in
grammar, punctuation
and spelling.

There are a few

errors in grammar,
punctuation and
spelling that are
easily fixable in
another round of
editing.

There are a number of

errors in grammar,
punctuation and spelling
making the paper appear
to be not college-level
material.

There are numerous and

distracting errors in grammar,
punctuation and spelling
disqualifying the paper from
college-level submission.

Compelling
evidence
from numerous
professionally
legitimate sources is
given to support
claims. Both primary
and secondary
sources are
used appropriately
and extensively
throughout
paper. Attribution is
clear and fairly
represented.

Many
professionally
legitimate sources
that support claims
are presented
and attribution,
for the most part, is
given.

Several claims are

substantiated by
questionable sources.
Although attributions
are occasionally given,
the reader is often
confused about the
actual source of the
information and ideas.

References are
seldom cited to
support statements.

References are
principally
professional in
nature. The reader has
strong confidence
that the information is
credible.

Although most of
the references are
professionally
legitimate, a couple
may be debatable
(e.g. popular
magazines or
nonprofessional
websites). The reader
may be uncertain of
the reliability of some
of the sources.

Several of the
references are suspect
with regard to their
objectivity. The reader
is skeptical of much of
the material presented.

Most of the
references are from
sources that are clearly
dubious. The reader has
serious doubts about the value
or usefulness of the material
presented.

The writer always

acknowledges the
work of others by
utilizing a standard
documentation format
such as APA, MLA
or Chicago. The
chosen format is used
accurately throughout
the paper and in the
Works Cited section.

The chosen
documentation format
is used consistently
but with some minor
errors.
64

There are frequent

errors in properly citing
the work of others in
terms of format. There
may also be
questionable use of
unacknowledged source
material that borders on
academic dishonesty.

The format of the

documentation is not in any
recognizable documentation
format such as APA, MLA or
Chicago. There may also be
consequential questions about
the writers plagiarizing in the
paper.

Both primary and

secondary sources
are used.

The paper lacks

primary and/or
secondary sources.

Limited primary and/or

secondary sources are
used.

Paper as
Assessment of
Student Learning
Outcomes

The paper
demonstrated a
superior
understanding of
meeting the course's
or programs learning
objectives.

The paper
demonstrated a highly
competent
understanding of
meeting the course's
or program's learning
outcomes.

Final Rhetorical
Effectiveness
The writer meets
the interests and
needs of the
particular
audience and
succeeds in his or
her intended
purpose--honestly
engaging the
subject and
establishing her or
his authority by
offering a
persuasive and
factually
supportable
analysis.

65

The paper
demonstrated a
sufficient understanding
of meeting the course's
or program's learning
outcomes.

The paper demonstrated an

insufficient understanding of
meeting the course's or
program's learning outcomes.