Some practical life advice from the bowels of a finicky, short, attractive Italian writing teacher follows. Take it or leave it. Taken from Tarah Scalzo's class, Writing 39C: Defining Success, section 25322
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-NO QUESTION MARKS IN YOUR ESSAYS.
-Don't use "one may blah, blah, blah..." constructions in hypothetical statements. They are too broad and impersonal. Once per five pages is allowable.
-If you get upset while writing, post a rant blog and return to the essay with the facts. Don't let rhetoric cloud your judgment; instead, simply point to the scoreboard and state facts.
-Don't shy away from new complications to a person's biography even if these complications require tailoring a deeper and richer thesis.
-Don't be passive.
-Think of an essay like a spiraling optical illusion with the thesis being the center point the viewer focuses upon. All the rest of your body paragraphs simply flesh out the story and provide outer rings that point and lead back to the thesis. Treat each paragraph as a separate essay, remembering to maintain connection and a forward momentum.
-It's NEVER smooth sailing. Find the bumps and animals hiding in each person's life. In Hemingway's Old Man In The Sea, there were animals below his boat that ate his prized catch. There are always things swimming under your subject's boat.
-Don't get called out for apathy or ignorance! Be authoritative and STUDY UP!
-Talk to a librarian!
-Don't lose momentum!
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-NO QUESTION MARKS IN YOUR ESSAYS.
-Don't use "one may blah, blah, blah..." constructions in hypothetical statements. They are too broad and impersonal. Once per five pages is allowable.
-If you get upset while writing, post a rant blog and return to the essay with the facts. Don't let rhetoric cloud your judgment; instead, simply point to the scoreboard and state facts.
-Don't shy away from new complications to a person's biography even if these complications require tailoring a deeper and richer thesis.
-Don't be passive.
-Think of an essay like a spiraling optical illusion with the thesis being the center point the viewer focuses upon. All the rest of your body paragraphs simply flesh out the story and provide outer rings that point and lead back to the thesis. Treat each paragraph as a separate essay, remembering to maintain connection and a forward momentum.
-It's NEVER smooth sailing. Find the bumps and animals hiding in each person's life. In Hemingway's Old Man In The Sea, there were animals below his boat that ate his prized catch. There are always things swimming under your subject's boat.
-Don't get called out for apathy or ignorance! Be authoritative and STUDY UP!
-Talk to a librarian!
-Don't lose momentum!
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