Please see the Course Requirements page for more detailed instructions about particular assignments.

Have you ever said any of the following about a film?:
    'The story was a great idea but the actors were awful.'
    'With that script and that cast you would have thought there was no way the director could
        have gone wrong.'
    'The director did the best she could with the cast, but nobody could save that script.'

These comments evidence the subtle distinction between content and form.  What something says and how it says it are different--though connected--entities.  A film masterpiece is one in which the form and content work together so smoothly the average movie-goer won't recognize that it took skill and ingenuity to carry it off. Usually films are not masterpieces and even the most non-theoretical movie-goer can suggest ways in which the acting, script and/or directing didn't "work."

The same comments apply to your papers.  An "A" paper is one in which your thesis or position statement and how you proceed to argue that thesis or position statement work together flawlessly.  A "B" paper is one in which more evidence or examples are needed to argue your point, in which one's thesis or position statement is too vague or too general for the page allowance, or in which your writing style harbors infelicities that hinder communicating your point. A "C" paper is in need of more help in either the form or the content.  In short, it is necessary to pay close attention to both what you write and how you write.  If you feel particularly anxious about your writing abilities, I encourage you to make an appointment with me to review your work before you turn it in.

I cannot stress enough that unless you are gifted with especially strong writing skills, you simply must write your papers with enough lead-time to allow you to revise it.  Recall the scene in A River Runs Through It (Robert Redford, 1992) in which the stern, Presbyterian father assigns his son an essay to write.  After working on the essay with serious, unchild-like concentration, the son timidly enters his father's study and hands him the essay.  The father looks it over, makes some quick marks, and says, "Not bad; cut it in half."  Again the son works on his essay with furrowed brows and again timidly returns the essay to his father.  The father's comment?  "Cut it in half."  Only the third version of the essay is succinct and focused enough to win the words the son hoped for: "Well done; go outside and play."  I would have each of you replay that scene in your minds before you sit down to write your papers.