Please see Course Requirementsfor more information.

Have you said any of the following about a book?:

    "The author had a great concept for the story, but she just didn't carry it off."
    "The character development was great, but the plot really dragged."
    "The plot was great but you never could get into the characters."
    "The first half was great but it just didn't go where I thought it was going.  I don't know what got into the author."
    "You can tell the author only wrote this as a contractual sequel to her first best-seller.  Her writing was fine but the storyline was pathetic."

Comments like this evidence the subtle distinction between content and form.  What something says and how it says it are different--though connected--entities.  A masterpiece is one in which the form and content work together so smoothly that the typical reader won't ever stop to realize just how much skill and ingenuity it took to carry it off.  Usually books are not masterpieces and even the most non-theoretical reader can suggest ways in which the plot, characters and/or writing didn't "work".

The same comments apply to your papers.  An "A" paper is one in which your thesis or position statement and how you proceed to argue that thesis or position statement work together flawlessly.  A "B" paper is one in which more evidence or examples are needed to argue your point, in which one's thesis or position statement is too vague or too general for the page allowance, or in which your writing style harbors infelicities that hinder communicating your point.  A "C" paper is in need of yet more help on the level of either the form or the content.  In short, it is necessary to pay close attention to both what you write and how you write.  If you feel particularly anxious about your writing abilities, I encourage you to make an appointment with me to review your work before you turn it in.

I cannot stress enough that unless you are gifted with especially strong writing skills, you simply must write your papers with enough lead-time to allow you to revise it.  This is most essential for your response papers, which are very short and require a good deal of thought and organization.  Recall the scene in the film, A River Runs Through It (Robert Redford, 1992) in which the stern, Presbyterian father assigns his son an essay to write.  After working on the essay with serious, unchild-like concentration, the son timidly enters his father's study and hands him the essay.  The father looks it over, makes some quick marks, and says, "Not bad; cut it in half."  Again the son works on his essay with furrowed brows and again timidly returns the essay to his father.  The father's comment?  "Cut it in half."  Only the third version of the essay is succinct and focused enough to win the words the son hoped for: "Well done; go outside and play."  I would have each of you replay that scene before you sit down to write your response papers.