Joshua D. Sosin

writing

Undergrads: This page contains a list of basic requirements, some writing tips, links to nice people who can help you improve your writing. Writing is not easy. Start early. Seek input--from me, from friends, from the CTLW Writing Studio.

Requirements | Procedure | Helps | Policies

Unless o/w stated, I do not assign paper topics. You must develop your own topic. I am available to discuss potential topics. But you must be ready; you should have notes, an outline, possible theses, etc. So, if you think you would like to write a paper called "Ancient Greece/Rome" you are not ready to come see me. If you would like to write about the development of Greek/Roman law, but are not sure how to focus your paper, come on in.

Your paper must state a thesis clearly on the first page. Papers without theses will be returned without grades, and must be re-written.

Your argument must be rooted in and cite specifics from the assigned texts. Mass your data. Make your claims. Defend them. You are not masters of all facets of Greek/Roman history. Build a case from what you do know. Non-research papers that do not cite assigned readings will receive an F. See Policies.

If outside research is required, or if it is not but you choose to do outside reading, you must supply proper citations (footnotes, parenthetical references, Works Cited page). Feel free to use images, translations of Greek and Latin texts, etc. from the web (include URL). You may not use non-refereed materials from the web. Use of non-refereed materials from the web will result in loss of one letter grade per source. If you don't know the difference between refereed and non-, ask me.

Formatting: Typed, double-spaced, 11-12 pt. font, reasonable margins (1 inch), stapled, titled, pages numbered. Papers may not be turned in by floppy, e-mail or other digital media. Your name, course name, and the date should appear single-spaced on the first page. A bibliography page is unneccessary unless you cite from secondary sources. Proofread your paper for mechanical and grammatical errors. Content impresses. Do not use cover sheets, plastic binders, folders, or silly fonts.

A five-page paper should be five pages, not 4 pp. and 1 paragraph, not 5 pp. with a first page that starts halfway down. One deficient page costs one letter grade. You are not the first to notice the magical effects of fat margins, triple-spacing, fixed-width fonts and other paper-lengthening gimmicks. Use them at your own risk.

A. Getting started

• The trash draft: Once you have a topic, (1) spend 30 minutes writing down everything you can think of that relates to the topic. (2) Do something else for a couple hours, then (3) go back and underline the parts that seem worthwhile or interesting on a second reading. (4) Write a new draft based on the underlined bits. Repeat steps 2-4. A specific direction for your paper is likely to emerge from this process.
  
• The hidden thesis: Write a first draft based on a preliminary thesis, then use the conclusion to that draft as the introduction to the next draft. Remember, if you discover a better thesis in the course of writing, just dump the original; you are not bound to it.

B. Thesis and Conclusion

• The first paragraph must state a thesis. A thesis is not a hunch, feeling, opinion. It is a potentially falsifiable claim that you make and defend on the strength of the evidence as you understand it. Every paragraph should contribute directly to the argument.
  
• A conclusion is not a summary. It should persuade the reader that you have discovered and discussed something important.

C. Things to Avoid

• A comparison-contrast paper is not a paper. A paper with the following structure will not succeed:
  
  • Homer / Sallust feels one way about cheese and Herodotus / Tacitus feels another way;
    • list all episodes in Homer / Sallust that feature cheese
    • list all episodes in Herodotus / Tacitus that feature cheese
  • See, Homer / Sallust feels one way about cheese and Herodotus / Tacitus feels another way
    

Rather, claim that Greek/Roman attitudes about cheese were transformed in the Archaic/Republican and Early Classical/imperial periods, as the different treatments in Homer/Sallust and Herodotus/Livy show, for reasons Y and Z. Evidence is interesting insofar as you make it so, by applying an intellectual framework.

• Do not spew lists. "Many social and political factors inform Achilles'/Aeneas' behavior in the Iliad/Aeneid," is a poor thesis. It imposes a list-like structure on your paper.
  
• Plot summary is not argument. Think of your classmates as your audience. They know the plot.
  
• Avoid panegyric: "One of the most important books in Western Civilization is Homer's Iliad / Vergil's Aeneid" The book is important to the extent that you make it so.

D. Use and Documentation of Sources

• Parenthetical reference: Refer to events or factual information by parenthetical citation, e.g.: "But Miltiades' stay in the Chersonese was cut short by the prospect of conflict with the Scythians (Herodotus 6.40-41)."
  
• Short quotation with parenthetical reference: Integrate short quotations:

  Socrates introduces wage-earners as the class of people who have muscle, "but nothing particular in their minds which makes them worthy to be partners" (Plato, Rep. II, p.168).

• Use Long Quotations (more than 3 lines) sparingly. I am interested in what you have to say. If it is essential to quote a long string of text please observe the following rules: indent paragraph, single space, no quotation marks, blank line before and after quotation, parenthetical reference at end of quotation or end of preceding paragraph in the body of the text.