XII. What I Saw in Your Papers
A. A rather foolhardy belief that you could talk about what you wish, rather than what the question asks for.
B. I knew a professor who delighted in asking questions that seemed to have one answer, and then would slaughter you if you gave it. Quite often we never were quite sure what the bastard had wanted.
C. Here and in any essay exam--put that question sheet in front of you.
1. Organize your thoughts (the word processors even have features to help you do that, such as outline and overwrite.
2. Make sure that every paragraph is complete in and of itself, and that EVERY paragraph responds directly to your effort to answer the question.
D. The burden of proof is on you, and no light one!
1. You refer to something in the text, you tell me EXACTLY where to find it--Book and Line number.
2. You want to refer to something today, the burden gets no lighter!
a) You want to quote ANY book, and that includes the bible, directly or indirectly, you tell me where I can go to see where you got it.
b) DON'T quote me. You think I had the right idea about something, figure out (you've GOT a bibliography) where I got it. YOU are doing the work and getting the grade!
c) If you refer to something you think is common knowledge, nail it down: Fathers love their children--mention a proverbial case, Kramer vs. Kramer, ANYTHING. Nail it down.
3. ANYBODY, ANY time, will ask you to have the facts at hand. Have them in the papers when you have the time to look them up, acquire them, and write them down.
E. We are making a formal change in your syllabus--Check the Home Page
1. "Rough" draft has been formally (and should have always been, sorry) changed to "First" draft.
2. DON'T apologize to me for jobs left undone--the person you've clobbered is yourself because I can't go over and catch the mistakes you're likely to make when you actually get around to completing what is assigned.
F. READ your comments. Santa Claus is just concerned enough about your education (read: Not quite burned out, and doing these read-throughs to HELP you) to turn into Dracula if that's what takes to get your attention.
XIII. End as of 9/29/95