19th Century Philosophy (PHIL 320)
Writing
DAILY ESSAYS
An essay will be assigned for about twenty of our class meetings, and is due before each class on the day for which it is assigned (due in the corresponding ANGEL drop box by 8:00 a.m.).
You are expected to complete fifteen of these. Because of this ability to choose which essays to write, I will not accept any late essays.
Each essay should be a succinct and beautifully written response (400-500 words) to the given prompts. I strongly encourage you to type these up in your favorite word processor and save that file to your drive. You should then copy and paste the essay into the appropriate drop box window. Doing this should protect you from any server error mishaps.
The specific essay assignments are listed in the schedule, and are graded following a simple five point rubric.
WRITING TIPS
Please carefully proofread your essays. You need to use complete sentences, proper punctuation, and correct spelling. Both in college and after you graduate you will be judged, in part, by how well you write. Typos, misspellings, poor grammar — in short, sloppy writing — is like so much stink coming from the bottom of your shoes. It won’t matter how nicely your hair is combed or your shirt is pressed if you can’t write a decent paragraph.
I hope it never comes to this, but my comments on your writing might make use of some of the following abbreviations:
awk: awkward. This is a sentence problem; the sentence should be re-written for greater clarity.
frag: sentence fragment. Another sentence problem; your sentence is lacking something vital. Like a subject. Or a verb. Don’t fall into the trap of writting essays that sound like advertising copy. We all can do better than that!
wc: word choice. You might find a better word to suit your sentence. Consult your dictionary for the exact meaning.
sp: spelling. Consult your dictionary!
?: Huh? You’ve lost your reader.
TS?: Topic sentence? This is a paragraph problem. There needs to be a topic sentence (normally, the lead sentence of the paragraph) that indicates what the paragraph is all about (what you are hoping to do in the paragaph; or it’s the claim for which the paragraph will now offer support, or an observation for which the paragraph will now offer some elaboration, etc.).
CO?: Cohere? Another paragraph problem; the sentences in this paragraph don’t fit together very well. Try re-arranging the,. Ask yourself: (a) What goal am I trying to acheive with this paragraph? and (b) Is each sentence working towards this goal?
Q?: Quotation? Quotations should be used only when a paraphrase will not do the job as effectively. Common problems include failing to properly introduce a quotation, failing to properly cite a quotation, quoting more than is helpful, and using a quotation when a paraphrase would be better.
Manchester College // Registrar // Department of Religion and Philosophy // Last updated: 29 Jul 2010