Introduction
My
notion of how an English paper should be written has evolved
over the last twenty years that I have been teaching undergraduate
courses. The paper itself, in terms of its structure, use
of evidence, and formatting, has remained relatively stable,
but I have gone from assuming everyone should know how to
write a paper to spending an increasing amount of classroom
time on paper structure, strength of argument, use of evidence
and research, as well as the general purpose of a paper.
When
I first stood in front of a class, I delivered only the vaguest
of instructions about paper format. I am not sure exactly
why. Likely, I was mimicking the way I had been taught. When
I was an undergraduate student many of my English courses
spent little time on the mechanics of a paper's delivery of
information. Although our marks were almost entirely dependent
on how well we performed that complex task, it seemed beneath
the notice of academe or, strangely, beyond the scope of the
class' purpose. I also may have been reticent with my students
when I first began to teach because I had been given much
contradictory advice while working on my first degree. As
well, I relied on the students meeting me during office hours
and there I figured we could hammer out the exact details
in person.
One
year, near the beginning of my career, I formalized the idea
of professor student interaction by having them come to my
office in order to receive their marked paper. I had determined
that if they sat through my commentary they would learn more
about paper structure. This rather clumsy procedure did much
to encourage office visits and rapport, and some gained from
that, but the majority would have preferred if I had just
taught them how to write a paper in class and saved them the
trudge up the stairs.
This
book is written with that goal in mind. Rather than have undergraduate
students guess, I would save them the climb to an unapproachable
professor's dingy office, or a dingy professor's unapproachable
office. I am also writing this to lessen your anxiety while
you are waiting for your paper to be graded, and the frustration
that comes from knowing that you have followed the hazy instructions
you were given but were still unable to match whatever unexpressed
golden paper haunts the professor's mind.
Over
the years I have become increasingly formulaic about paper
writing. That is partially a response to lowered requirements
for university entrance, faltering English programs in schools,
and because I have taught many foreign students who prefer
to know exactly what they need to do. Most students would
like to know what the paper should look like before they pass
it in and receive a poor grade, and it is with that in mind
that I thought to develop the formula enough to commit to
paper what I laboriously generate while teaching my classes.
