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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by your#1fan on October 4, 2007, at 0:23:21
can you help me edit this paper.....
ROFL i just tried to post my entire paper so we could edit it.... its way too long!
Its like a skelton of a format, it doesnt have any "juice, or meat" to it. I got a D - on my first paper. Terrible.
Anyways, well you know you guys ill keep yall posted.
Posted by Gee on October 4, 2007, at 14:32:43
In reply to Im not doing so good on my english papers., posted by your#1fan on October 4, 2007, at 0:23:21
Do you have a writing center you could go to? We have one, and they look over the paper and make suggestions on how to improve it.
Posted by Racer on October 6, 2007, at 20:52:47
In reply to Im not doing so good on my english papers., posted by your#1fan on October 4, 2007, at 0:23:21
Outlines are a marvelous tool. They allow you to plan the layout of your papers, ensure that you've included all of your points, organize your thinking as well as your material, and a well written outline can cut the time it takes to write the paper down to a very minimum. It's well worth taking the time to write a solid outline for any paper that matters to you -- including those that matter solely because you will be graded on them.
From reading your posts here, I wonder if you might also benefit from proofreading a bit more, also. Many times your posts seem to be missing words -- it sounds as if you've gotten ahead of yourself and not noticed that you have left off some words that might help make your meaning more clear. We don't grade you here, but if you do the same thing on papers you turn in, your instructor certain will grade you.
Composition classes are hard for many people, even for some people who already know that we write well. (I've had a paper published after peer review, so I figure I can get a point across in writing -- and yet, I am still intimidated every time I have to write something for a class...) Taking the time to plan out what you plan to say, and taking the time to go over the written paper to make sure you've said everything you started out to say, are both exercises which go a long way towards improving the resulting paper. And usually the grade which goes along with it.
I don't know if this would help or not, but you could practice some of that in your posts here at Babble, and see if that helps it become more of a habit, which would certainly make writing papers for school easier for you.
I hope that helps.
Posted by Gee on October 13, 2007, at 11:15:49
In reply to One word: OUTLINE! » your#1fan, posted by Racer on October 6, 2007, at 20:52:47
Do you have any tips for writing outlines? I always make an outline, but then I start writing and realise that the outline is too hard to follow... maybe too vague? Any tips for writing a good one?
Posted by Racer on October 14, 2007, at 3:12:38
In reply to Re: One word: OUTLINE! » Racer, posted by Gee on October 13, 2007, at 11:15:49
> Do you have any tips for writing outlines? I always make an outline, but then I start writing and realise that the outline is too hard to follow... maybe too vague? Any tips for writing a good one?
I'm not sure if I have any tips, but I'll tell you what I do -- it works for me, and maybe it'll help you figure out what works best for you.
First, I lay out the basic elements I'll use:
Intro
Main Point 1
Main Point 2
Main Point 3
ConclusionI always use three, which is partly OCD, but mostly I've found that laying out three main points will tighten things up a lot. If I can't get three, I haven't thought it out well enough; if I have trouble boiling it down to three, it's likely I haven't yet really figured out what I'm doing. Three just seems to work best.
Then I break up the main points into sub-points, and again usually go for three subs per main. Often, I'll use another layer of points -- sub-sub-points, I guess. Then I go in another layer and jot down any particular phrases or references I plan to use, if I have any.
The key, I've found, really is writing complete sentences when I write my outlines. The first rough draft may have simple phrases, or even single words, but then I write complete sentences for all points at every level.
Once I've written out the points, I'll go back and fill in the Intro and Conclusion. Intro is basically "I'll be showing the following main and sub-points." The conclusion is the other end: "I've shown you these main and sub-points."
By that time, the writing is almost done. At least for me, it is. I really hope you find it helpful.
Now that I've told you my system, when you find what works for you, I hope you'll share it here, too.
Posted by happyflower on October 14, 2007, at 5:39:23
In reply to Re: One word: OUTLINE! » Gee, posted by Racer on October 14, 2007, at 3:12:38
Hay Racer!
If you judge me by my writing on Bubble you kan tell I am a terrible speler! Thank godness Micro word has spel chex! lol
Posted by Gee on October 14, 2007, at 11:32:20
In reply to Re: One word: OUTLINE! » Gee, posted by Racer on October 14, 2007, at 3:12:38
Thanks Racer. One more question, how do you come up with thesis. I use to be good at this type of stuff, but then the past 2 and half years I haven't had to write any paper, and I lost it all. I feel like I'm always scrambling at the end, going AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH I just wrote a whole paper without a thesis, and then I have the worst time coming up with some element that ties together the paper.
But thanks for the outline idea. I will try it for my next paper!
Posted by Gee on October 14, 2007, at 11:33:33
In reply to Re: One word: OUTLINE! » Racer, posted by happyflower on October 14, 2007, at 5:39:23
I have a dictionary on my internet browser otherwise it would all be wrong! (Though it doesn't help much when the language gets set to something wonky)
Posted by Racer on October 14, 2007, at 12:41:10
In reply to Re: One word: OUTLINE! » Racer, posted by Gee on October 14, 2007, at 11:32:20
Hm... That one is harder for me, and I do try to include a Thesis statement in my outlines most of the time.
Generally, once I know what I'm writing, I can figure out where I'm planning to go with it. From there, I write a sentence which will cover my central idea. If I can't get it there, I write it after I've come up with the three Main Points. It's almost a rewrite of the Intro statement, so it's probably not nearly as intimidating as you might think.
Hope that helps. And do let me know.
Posted by happyflower on October 14, 2007, at 15:17:04
In reply to Re: One word: OUTLINE! » happyflower, posted by Gee on October 14, 2007, at 11:33:33
Hiya Gee!
Does it correct your words automatically? I think it was Llurpise who said she has a program that does it automatically on everything you type on PC. I would love to be able to do that. Do you know what it is called?
Posted by Gee on October 14, 2007, at 21:40:31
In reply to Re: One word: OUTLINE! » Gee, posted by happyflower on October 14, 2007, at 15:17:04
Mine doesn't do it automatically, but it checks them and underlines them in red, so I can go back and change em. I use Firefox and then it's a dictionary option that you can add. It has lots of neat add ons
Posted by Racer on October 15, 2007, at 16:21:19
In reply to Re: One word: OUTLINE! » happyflower, posted by Gee on October 14, 2007, at 21:40:31
I just realized I forgot to mention something kinda important about how I write essays from outlines: each sub-point is its own paragraph. That might seem kinda stupid, but it helps me keep from getting too strung out with writing. If the point needs more than one paragraph, it's likely more than one point, so I break it out that way.
Again, I'd love to know if any of this helps you next time you have to write a paper...
Posted by seldomseen on October 16, 2007, at 6:36:53
In reply to Im not doing so good on my english papers., posted by your#1fan on October 4, 2007, at 0:23:21
It's okay, a LOT of people have trouble writing, but there is good news. Writing is skill that can be learned.
One book I would highly recommend is "Writing from the reader's perspective" by George Gopen. It truly helped me.
Also, and I can't emphasize this enough, if you want to improve your writing, you must read. Read stuff that interests you, read stuff outside of your interests, read the newspaper. Just read.
Go to your professor, to a writing center, to a tutor, to someone and ask for copies of good papers. Then, ask for someone to point out the thesis sentence, the main points, the conclusion etc... and FOLLOW THEIR STRUCTURE. You don't have to recreate the wheel here, just locate something that is good and use it to help you.
Learning to write takes time, practice and a willingness to tolerate being temporarily bad at something while you allow yourself to learn.
Remember, if you already knew how to do everything, you wouldn't be in school ;)
Seldom.
Posted by Gee on October 16, 2007, at 20:31:43
In reply to Whoops! Something worth mentioning... » Gee, posted by Racer on October 15, 2007, at 16:21:19
I have a paper due in two weeks, and another smaller one due next week. I'll let you know how it goes!!! Thanks for your help!!!
Posted by Gee on October 16, 2007, at 20:36:11
In reply to Re: Im not doing so good on my english papers., posted by seldomseen on October 16, 2007, at 6:36:53
My biggest problem is most of the reading I do is in French, so my English sentence structure is way more on of conversational english rather than formal english. English is my mother tongue, but I haven't had to do any writing in it for 3 years. I got my first english paper back with a lot of 'awkward sentence' written all over it. I end up doing a lot of translating from french to english when I'm having to write. Weird I know... I have spent the last 2-3 years learning how to say what I want in the simplest terms possible, which is now coming through in my english writing.
Thanks for the book suggestion. I will look for it!
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