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Mr. Moon
2010-10-26, 10:16 PM
It's official. I'm not taking an English major.

I haaate essays. I hate hate hate them. You'd think that taking a closer look into Watchmen would be more interesting, but nooooo. I've been working on this damn thing all day and I'm so mentally exhausted I can't spell exhausted without a spell checker.

What makes it even worse is that it turns out, this baby was due yesterday. I thought it was due in November so I've been taking the research slow and easing myself into it, but nope. No sanity for Moon_Called. Gotta writewritewritewrite with occasional breaks to flip through articles and comics for refrences because plagiarism is baaaad.

I mean, I love Watchmen, but I really hate examining books like this. Hate hate hate.
So glad being an art student means I don't have to write a lot of essays. x.x



Misery loves company, I suppose, and there's no end to stories about how much school sucks and I just tried to write that as "stucks" blarg. Anyway, yes, share. Yeah.

Blue Ghost
2010-10-26, 10:18 PM
I feel your pain. Sometimes essays are fun to write, if you know what you're talking about and are passionate on the subject. Other times... blaaaaarg is right. The Muse is as CN as the Random Number God.

Now take the worst of school essay writing, raise the stakes, and multiply by ten. Voila, college essays!

Mr. Moon
2010-10-26, 10:23 PM
Ugh, you have no idea. I'm losing a letter grade a day for each day it's late on it's final mark. And considering how rushed it is, there's no way I'm getting anything more than a B. :smallsigh:

Lady Moreta
2010-10-26, 10:29 PM
Oh... I loved writing essays... I wanna go back to uni just so I can do some more...

If anyone needs a hand with an essay, I'd be happy to help :smallsmile:

What got me was the month where I had four essays - one due each week. That taught me how to manage my time all right!

What really annoyed me most? The time in high school we had to do an experiment write up and one of my friends asked to borrow my copy so she could do her own write up. I gave them to her, thinking she'd just copy the data (since we worked together on the experiment) and do the actual writing herself. Nope. She copied me pretty much word for word. I was NOT impressed. Teacher wrote a note in my book something along the lines of 'this is almost identical to X's, please don't do it again'. I rather suspect he knew the work was originally mine, and that I never would have given it to her if I'd know that she was going to outright copy it. I'd gotten 9/10 on that assignment, and though I hate to say it, I was better at the subject than my friend.

Haruki-kun
2010-10-26, 10:34 PM
Oh... I loved writing essays... I wanna go back to uni just so I can do some more...

If anyone needs a hand with an essay, I'd be happy to help :smallsmile:

What got me was the month where I had four essays - one due each week. That taught me how to manage my time all right!

What really annoyed me most? The time in high school we had to do an experiment write up and one of my friends asked to borrow my copy so she could do her own write up. I gave them to her, thinking she'd just copy the data (since we worked together on the experiment) and do the actual writing herself. Nope. She copied me pretty much word for word. I was NOT impressed. Teacher wrote a note in my book something along the lines of 'this is almost identical to X's, please don't do it again'. I rather suspect he knew the work was originally mine, and that I never would have given it to her if I'd know that she was going to outright copy it. I'd gotten 9/10 on that assignment, and though I hate to say it, I was better at the subject than my friend.

I never lend my papers to my friends anymore. I always pretend I haven't done them.

Which is actually true most of the time, considering most assignments I start the previous night. :smalltongue:

Still, though, I agree with you. I like Essay writing. If the subject is something I like I'll just write away happily.

Katana_Geldar
2010-10-26, 10:36 PM
I remember taking a Josh Lyman approach to essays, staying up until 3am sometimes to get them done. Did a really good essay that late, BTW, about Gettysburg.

Lady Moreta
2010-10-26, 10:45 PM
I have a friend like that. She wouldn't start an essay til the day before it was due. And she always got As. We hated her :smalltongue:

Though to be fair, she had always done the research and a brainstorm a couple of weeks before the due date. She just didn't start writing til the day before. We still hated her though.

Katana_Geldar
2010-10-26, 10:49 PM
This was mainly because I had several essays due in that same week. Some lecturers were more lenient in giving extensions than others when I had a lot due at once.

Haruki-kun
2010-10-26, 10:50 PM
I have a friend like that. She wouldn't start an essay til the day before it was due. And she always got As. We hated her :smalltongue:

Though to be fair, she had always done the research and a brainstorm a couple of weeks before the due date. She just didn't start writing til the day before. We still hated her though.

I rarely do the research beforehand. Unless I know I won't be able to the previous night.

In other words, I take the concept of "work stretches to fill the time it is given" to a whole new level.:smalltongue:

Fuzzie Fuzz
2010-10-26, 10:56 PM
I have a friend like that. She wouldn't start an essay til the day before it was due. And she always got As. We hated her :smalltongue:

Wait... there are people that don't do that? :smalleek:

That's... that's me every essay. (And everyone else in my class, with the possible exception of the grade.)

'Course, we're in high school. So that might change it a bit.

Lady Moreta
2010-10-26, 11:09 PM
This was mainly because I had several essays due in that same week. Some lecturers were more lenient in giving extensions than others when I had a lot due at once.

That reminds me of the time one of my lecturers didn't penalise me for handing in an assignment late. It was one of the times I had a bunch due at the same time. This was a smaller one so I did it a week or two early and set it aside 'in a safe place'. Of course, when it came time to hand it in, I'd forgotten all about it. I remembered the Saturday after it was due (due date was a Friday) and went tearing down there to stick it in the box, thinking "there goes 20% of my grade". Later that day I get a call from my lecturer asking what had happened. I explained that I'd done it and had simply forgotten to hand it in, and he decided not to penalise me for it :smallbiggrin:


'Course, we're in high school. So that might change it a bit.

Yeah she did it in high school and right through uni...

Nomrom
2010-10-26, 11:58 PM
I actually have a paper due tomorrow that I haven't started yet. I do my best work under pressure. Actually, I only do work under pressure. I have serious motivation problems.


What makes it even worse is that it turns out, this baby was due yesterday. I thought it was due in November so I've been taking the research slow and easing myself into it, but nope. No sanity for Moon_Called. Gotta writewritewritewrite with occasional breaks to flip through articles and comics for refrences because plagiarism is baaaad.

First time I read this, I thought you were actually having a baby.

Cobra_Ikari
2010-10-27, 12:01 AM
When I write essays, I go in loops. Like...A -> B -> C -> notquiteA -> notquiteB -> notquiteC -> notAagain...

Then I rearrange and merge everything. It's very odd.

Also, *supercuddles* =\

Gullara
2010-10-27, 12:05 AM
Yes! Essays are terrible:smallyuk:

My the end of this semester I have to have an 8 page essay for History. :smalleek:

I wish I hadn't taken the course. It's African American history. It would help if I had any interest in the topic, but "modern" history is so dry:smallsigh:

Oh well I'll get through it somehow. The nice thing is that after this course and the 2 English courses I have to take I won't be writing any more massive essays. I'm in Business by the way, planning on majoring in accounting.

Faceist
2010-10-27, 12:06 AM
I have a friend like that. She wouldn't start an essay til the day before it was due. And she always got As. We hated her :smalltongue:Sounds like me in school. 'Cept a few times (well, okay, about half the time :smallsigh:) I'd end up forgetting the hand-in date and have to start it the night of the day it was due. Or the morning it was due, if I lucked out...

(Kids! Don't be like Faceist! Try hard in school, brush your teeth and get plenty of vitamin B!)

Lady Moreta
2010-10-27, 12:14 AM
Yes! Essays are terrible:smallyuk:

My the end of this semester I have to have an 8 page essay for History. :smalleek:

8 pages? :smallconfused: :smallbiggrin:

Sorry, I shouldn't laugh... it's just that to me, 8 pages is nothing. Heck, 8 pages for me would be what? Something along the line of 5,000 words? Maybe, I'm not sure... okay, I take it back... 8 pages is only 2,000 words or so. Of course, all my essays had to be formatted in double spacing, if it's single spacing it'd be closer to 5,000.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound uncaring, I don't imagine you have to write many essays in accounting. It's just that I've written two theses during my uni time, and they were both considerably longer than 8 pages. It always surprises me that not everyone finds it easy to write...

Gullara
2010-10-27, 12:27 AM
8 pages? :smallconfused: :smallbiggrin:

Sorry, I shouldn't laugh... it's just that to me, 8 pages is nothing. Heck, 8 pages for me would be what? Something along the line of 5,000 words? Maybe, I'm not sure... okay, I take it back... 8 pages is only 2,000 words or so. Of course, all my essays had to be formatted in double spacing, if it's single spacing it'd be closer to 5,000.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound uncaring, I don't imagine you have to write many essays in accounting. It's just that I've written two theses during my uni time, and they were both considerably longer than 8 pages. It always surprises me that not everyone finds it easy to write...

I know that's not a lot for some people, but I just can't drag things out that long. :smallsigh: Not to mention this is my first year of university and high school essays are hardly essays at all, although I still had trouble with them.

I'm a math guy myself. Nice and straightforward, nothing tricky about it.

Lady Moreta
2010-10-27, 12:42 AM
I know that's not a lot for some people, but I just can't drag things out that long. :smallsigh: Not to mention this is my first year of university and high school essays are hardly essays at all, although I still had trouble with them.

I'm a math guy myself. Nice and straightforward, nothing tricky about it.

I know, sorry :smallfrown:

Let me know if you need a hand. I don't know much about the subject matter (I did history, but not the type you're studying). But I do know how to write. I'm happy to help if you need a hand keeping it going for that long.

First year of uni isn't easy, and I must admit, it took me a while to get the hang of writing anything more than 1,000 words.

Gullara
2010-10-27, 01:01 AM
I know, sorry :smallfrown:

Let me know if you need a hand. I don't know much about the subject matter (I did history, but not the type you're studying). But I do know how to write. I'm happy to help if you need a hand keeping it going for that long.

First year of uni isn't easy, and I must admit, it took me a while to get the hang of writing anything more than 1,000 words.

I might take you up on that offer, but now isn't the time to worry yet. Now I have to worry about the 3 page essay due in two weeks. I should be able to pull that one off though.

My parents seem to think it would be a good idea to go to an essay writing course the university provides. I probably should, it might help.

absolmorph
2010-10-27, 01:10 AM
I have a friend like that. She wouldn't start an essay til the day before it was due. And she always got As. We hated her :smalltongue:
When he was in high school, my dad once wrote an essay a class or two before it was due. It was supposed to be about something he knew. He wrote about procrastination. He got the best grade in the class and his teacher had him read it to everyone.
I've sorta inherited that .-.

The_JJ
2010-10-27, 01:15 AM
See, I should be finishing a paper on the Seven Samurai right now, but instead I'm on the internet. Looking at this. The irony astounds me.

Okay, I'm going to go do that work so I can actually maybe sleep tonight. Or something.

Lady Moreta
2010-10-27, 01:56 AM
I might take you up on that offer, but now isn't the time to worry yet. Now I have to worry about the 3 page essay due in two weeks. I should be able to pull that one off though.

No problem, send me a PM if you need a hand :smallsmile:


My parents seem to think it would be a good idea to go to an essay writing course the university provides. I probably should, it might help.

They're good :smallsmile: I've never been to one myself (according to my Classics teacher, I was writing uni-level essays my last year of school). But I've had friends who went to them, and they said it was helpful.


When he was in high school, my dad once wrote an essay a class or two before it was due. It was supposed to be about something he knew. He wrote about procrastination. He got the best grade in the class and his teacher had him read it to everyone.
I've sorta inherited that .-.

Heehe, that's awesome :smallbiggrin:

Stadge
2010-10-27, 02:16 AM
I'm in the camp that loves essays I'm afraid. Now on the other hand, more science/maths type stuff makes my brain start to melt.

My approach to essay writing is out of the five days I have for each essay, read for half a day take 2.5 off, read 8-10 books on day 4, spend day 5 reading/writing. doing that for two essays a week has worked well so far, though it gets annoying when the essays are due in on consecutive days. Factor in lectures, supervisions and some time to work on my second year dissertation and my free days do diminish somewhat.

But yes, I do love essays, though the subject matter really does make a difference. Take this week for example, the essay I wrote yesterday on The Irish Church between the 6th and seventh centuries I hated writing, but then again, I hated doing the reading for it. The essay I'm gearing up to write today however I'm looking forwatd to, as the research into Iron Age Scandinavian bog finds is highly interesting.

Lady Moreta
2010-10-27, 02:27 AM
The essay I'm gearing up to write today however I'm looking forwatd to, as the research into Iron Age Scandinavian bog finds is highly interesting.

That does sound fascinating. What are you studying?

Yeah, actually enjoying the topic makes a huge difference in how easy it is to write. As I found out while slogging through my MA :smallfrown: (actually, I knew that before I started the MA, I just didn't listen :smallmad:)

Stadge
2010-10-27, 02:44 AM
That does sound fascinating. What are you studying?

Yeah, actually enjoying the topic makes a huge difference in how easy it is to write. As I found out while slogging through my MA :smallfrown: (actually, I knew that before I started the MA, I just didn't listen :smallmad:)

Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic :smallcool: Though I've switched out my language papers to essentially just have a degree that's made up history and archaeology.

And ouch, sounds like it wasn't too pleasant. I'll try and keep that in mind.

Lady Moreta
2010-10-27, 02:48 AM
Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic :smallcool: Though I've switched out my language papers to essentially just have a degree that's made up history and archaeology.

And ouch, sounds like it wasn't too pleasant. I'll try and keep that in mind.

Whoooo!!! Another archaeologist! You have no idea how excited that makes me :smallbiggrin:

I will freely admit, the MA thing was entirely my own fault. For all you essay-writers out there who are given the option to choose your own topic - be careful!

I loved the topic I did for my BAHons thesis, had a great time doing it. For my MA, my supervisor suggested a topic that would be very 'sellable'. Stupidly I listened to him. He was right in that it would look much better on a resume than the topic I had in mind... unfortunately, I hated his topic, and I really struggled with writing/researching/basically the entire degree. I should have very politely told him to shove it, and done the topic I wanted to do, which to this very day still gets me excited and enthusiastic. I just doubt I'll ever have the chance to study it :smallfrown:

So be careful :smallsmile: You have been warned. :smalltongue:

TFT
2010-10-27, 02:48 AM
Hi, Engineering Major here. I also like writing essays...

Now wait, why are you grabbing those pitchforks. And torches, really? Don't you see the fire? Maybe you should grab-

Oh, heh, water. Of course.

Maybe I should shut up before things get worse.

*Runs*

Lady Moreta
2010-10-27, 02:54 AM
Hi, Engineering Major here. I also like writing essays...

You're an engineering major and you like writing essays? :smallconfused:

I think you just made the universe cry :smalltongue:

TFT
2010-10-27, 02:57 AM
You're an engineering major and you like writing essays? :smallconfused:

I think you just made the universe cry :smalltongue:

Yea, I don't exactly know why. Maybe its because of the analysis, and I almost view it like some kind of engineering project, with each sentence its own part of the programming or design... A weird way to look at it, yes, but it works for me.

Or maybe I'm just crazy. Wasn't I running just a second ago? Right, I'll go back to that then.

Stadge
2010-10-27, 06:14 AM
Whoooo!!! Another archaeologist! You have no idea how excited that makes me :smallbiggrin:

I will freely admit, the MA thing was entirely my own fault. For all you essay-writers out there who are given the option to choose your own topic - be careful!

I loved the topic I did for my BAHons thesis, had a great time doing it. For my MA, my supervisor suggested a topic that would be very 'sellable'. Stupidly I listened to him. He was right in that it would look much better on a resume than the topic I had in mind... unfortunately, I hated his topic, and I really struggled with writing/researching/basically the entire degree. I should have very politely told him to shove it, and done the topic I wanted to do, which to this very day still gets me excited and enthusiastic. I just doubt I'll ever have the chance to study it :smallfrown:

So be careful :smallsmile: You have been warned. :smalltongue:

Yay! though I'm fairly new to the archaeology side, made use of a couple of articles last year, but only picked up the actual relevant paper this time round. 'Tis fun though :smallsmile:

And ah, that really doesn't sound too fun at all. Though I really do hope you get the chance to study it one day.

Klose_the_Sith
2010-10-27, 07:13 AM
Pish Essays. Essays are pleasant.

I just had to break down a ~4000 word assignment which included four creative responses and two whole poems as well as thematic assembly and an anthology of 8 poems by other people into a 200 word rationale.

My brain, she hurts.

Mauve Shirt
2010-10-27, 07:46 AM
I have an 8-10 page paper due in 3 weeks that I haven't started! It was due in 2 weeks, but the professor decided to make it due in 3 weeks. :smallbiggrin:
I also have a test tomorrow I haven't studied for, and a test Friday I haven't studied for.
And class in 15 minutes. At least I've done the homework.

Lolzords
2010-10-27, 08:36 AM
I know how you feel, I'm a media student and essays and proper references are just PAINFUL.

Syka
2010-10-27, 09:52 AM
Yeah, never EVER give someone written work. Offer to help them, but never give it to them.


I have a 10-15 page paper due by the end of the semester about Japanese and American horror films (I chose the topic), a booklet to write up about how to do marketing on my campus, and another 10-15 page assignment that will consist of a theoretical marketing campaign.

Business has ended up having far more essays than I thought it would, lol.

Snares
2010-10-27, 10:10 AM
Got a history essay - the first draft of my coursework, no less - to do by the end of next week. Bleh. It's on Soviet Russia, and the research is interesting, but I hate the A-level approach to essays... the structures you have to follow are so strict. I did a 3,000-word essay that I researched by myself on UFOs for my enrichment project last year and loved it, just because it was so freeform, alongside being a generally interesting topic. I'm a having a lot more of a bad time of it with this essay, trying to fit in everything that the exam board wants. :smallsigh: That's the thing about it. It doesn't feel like I'm learning, or like I'm expressing a point of view. It just feels like I'm ticking boxes on some examiner's sheet somewhere.

Mr. Moon
2010-10-27, 11:21 AM
Wooo it's done. It probably sucks and I have the feeling I spent too much time dwelling on the plot, but I don't have time for a second draft. Wish me luck, I'm handing it in today.


First time I read this, I thought you were actually having a baby.
:smalleek:
Nope. o.o


Also, *supercuddles* =\
*cuddles* <3


I wish I hadn't taken the course. It's African American history. It would help if I had any interest in the topic, but "modern" history is so dry:smallsigh:

I think the most important thing about History classes (and all classes, really) is the professor. A good professor will be really excited about what he's telling you, and be able to make the history come alive. I'm lucky, I've got an awesome teacher for my Canada Before Confederation course - he even makes Star Trek jokes! :smallbiggrin:

Trobby
2010-10-27, 12:00 PM
Yet another lover of essays here! Though I have to admit, there is ONE thing that I absolutely hate in writing.

Forced. Citation. :smallfurious:

You know what I mean. Those two lines of instructions that turn what would otherwise have been a fun Essay into "find 4/10/20 quotes to connect to your essay, even though quotations in no way reflect actual knowledge of the quote itself and should serve as examples for your own ideas". I understand the requirements for references of course, since essays have to have some foundation on fact, but the fact that it also requires quotations and citations straight from the source infuriates the writer within me.

Which is why I tend to enjoy writing short stories and scripts more than actual essays. <.<; And probably why I love RPing so much. :smalltongue:

CurlyKitGirl
2010-10-27, 12:24 PM
Yet another lover of essays here! Though I have to admit, there is ONE thing that I absolutely hate in writing.

Forced. Citation. :smallfurious:

You know what I mean. Those two lines of instructions that turn what would otherwise have been a fun Essay into "find 4/10/20 quotes to connect to your essay, even though quotations in no way reflect actual knowledge of the quote itself and should serve as examples for your own ideas". I understand the requirements for references of course, since essays have to have some foundation on fact, but the fact that it also requires quotations and citations straight from the source infuriates the writer within me.

Which is why I tend to enjoy writing short stories and scripts more than actual essays. <.<; And probably why I love RPing so much. :smalltongue:

In all my fifteen years of education I have never heard of such a thing ever being advocated.
Ever.
In fact, at least in all the places of education I've ever been in, this is seen as a really bad way to write an essay.
Quotations flavour your own work.
I'm sure I made a post comparing and contrasting that type of essay with the ones I'm used to writing back in RB.

Essays?
I'm an English student at Camford.
Yeah, one essay a week. I aim for around 2 000 words per essay. And because I'm doing more Old English this term I have to translate my primary sources and read the secondary material too.
I love writing essays, I like reading the secondary material. The translation's a bit of a drag, but fun.
But I don't like the timeline.
Get the (very general) reading list on Tuesday or Wednesday. Pick out your own essay title, structure your reading around it and write the essay and email it in by Sunday.
On top of my lectures, the one hour tutorial, all my other work, my clubs, rehearsals for performances, hanging out with uni friends, the internet, eating and sleeping.
IN THAT ORDER!

Some essays are horrible though. It was stupidly difficult to find anything on how religion influences women in heroic literature to go outside the traditional role. Stupidly hard. But so fun.
And now procrastination is in hand despite having one hundred lines left to translate and hand in by tomorrow.
Translation's always a female dog.

Trobby
2010-10-27, 12:34 PM
In all my fifteen years of education I have never heard of such a thing ever being advocated.
Ever.
In fact, at least in all the places of education I've ever been in, this is seen as a really bad way to write an essay.
Quotations flavour your own work.
I'm sure I made a post comparing and contrasting that type of essay with the ones I'm used to writing back in RB.


It's an American school system thing, I'm pretty sure. Gets drilled into us while we're in High School. ((Approx - College level for you Britlanders))

Though in better writing classes, they DO discourage quotations without explanation or context at least. <.<; Emphasis on the better ones part.



Some essays are horrible though. It was stupidly difficult to find anything on how religion influences women in heroic literature to go outside the traditional role. Stupidly hard. But so fun.

It...does that? Ever? :smallconfused: Only thing I can think of off the top of my head is, well, Joan of Arc. Which is teeechinically not literature, but has had literature written about it, so you could probably work that in, somehow.

Though I am suddenly reminded of this one novel I read "Catherine Called Birdy", which was essentially a girl in the Middle Ages writing in a journal about her life...which y'know, wouldn't exactly be normal what with the lack of literary education for women at the time, but besides that was written in a surprisingly believable way.

Bit off-topic there though. <.<;



And now procrastination is in hand despite having one hundred lines left to translate and hand in by tomorrow.
Translation's always a female dog.

A female dog indeed. :smallamused:

Thufir
2010-10-27, 12:46 PM
I haaate essays. I hate hate hate them. You'd think that taking a closer look into Watchmen would be more interesting,

Yeah, that would be pretty interesting.


What makes it even worse is that it turns out, this baby was due yesterday. I thought it was due in November so I've been taking the research slow and easing myself into it, but nope. No sanity for Moon_Called.

Ah. Deadlines creeping up on you is bad.


Yet another lover of essays here! Though I have to admit, there is ONE thing that I absolutely hate in writing.

Forced. Citation. :smallfurious:

You know what I mean. Those two lines of instructions that turn what would otherwise have been a fun Essay into "find 4/10/20 quotes to connect to your essay, even though quotations in no way reflect actual knowledge of the quote itself and should serve as examples for your own ideas". I understand the requirements for references of course, since essays have to have some foundation on fact, but the fact that it also requires quotations and citations straight from the source infuriates the writer within me.

IIRC, I may have had something along those lines as advice, but certainly not a requirement. Mostly just general advice on structuring: "Make a point, find a quote to support it, then elaborate, etc."

So, yeah, I haven't really written essays since A-level English Lit. Which was 4 years ago in July.
In principle, I'm generally OK with writing essays, but I was terrible at doing homework, which limited the amount of practice I got. Though, that said, both my coursework pieces I got A grades for, so I guess it wasn't so much of a problem.
What I didn't like was writing essays in exams. I like to be able to take my time and think things through when writing essays. Also, IIRC, at least one of them was a closed book exam. So, we just had to memorise a bunch of quotes which we thought might be relevant. Not helpful. Especially since that was the exam on the work I knew least well and was therefore least likely to remember quotes from, though I did memorise an impressive amount when I finally did some revision.

CurlyKitGirl
2010-10-27, 12:58 PM
It's an American school system thing, I'm pretty sure. Gets drilled into us while we're in High School. ((Approx - College level for you Britlanders))

Though in better writing classes, they DO discourage quotations without explanation or context at least. <.<; Emphasis on the better ones part.



[QUOTE=Introbulus;9643454]It...does that? Ever? :smallconfused: Only thing I can think of off the top of my head is, well, Joan of Arc. Which is teeechinically not literature, but has had literature written about it, so you could probably work that in, somehow.

In Old English literature.
There's a certain type for a typical heroic woman, and I wrote an essay on how religion motivates women to go beyond the type. But to do so I analysed the indicators of a typical heroic woman, and then decided what was deviation, what was subversion, and what was typical, but used unusually.
Ah, to clarify:
In Beowulf Wealhtheow (Hrothgar's wife) is a typical heroic woman, but Grendel's mother isn't because she takes vengeance personally and such.
What I had to do was look at the other heroic poems, or poems written in the heroic style, which focussed on women, and then dissect an entire genre.
I could have done it better actually, but I had basically four and a half days to do anything.
And so the dearth of appropriate secondary literature was annoying.


A female dog indeed. :smallamused:

Uhuh.


IIRC, I may have had something along those lines as advice, but certainly not a requirement. Mostly just general advice on structuring: "Make a point, find a quote to support it, then elaborate, etc."

So, yeah, I haven't really written essays since A-level English Lit. Which was 4 years ago in July.
In principle, I'm generally OK with writing essays, but I was terrible at doing homework, which limited the amount of practice I got. Though, that said, both my coursework pieces I got A grades for, so I guess it wasn't so much of a problem.
What I didn't like was writing essays in exams. I like to be able to take my time and think things through when writing essays. Also, IIRC, at least one of them was a closed book exam. So, we just had to memorise a bunch of quotes which we thought might be relevant. Not helpful. Especially since that was the exam on the work I knew least well and was therefore least likely to remember quotes from, though I did memorise an impressive amount when I finally did some revision.

I actually liked the closed book exams, it was, and still is, hard to remember all the quotations, especially in other languages (hooray Introduction to Old English) or from an entire period's worth of lit, but I find I do some good work under pressure.
Also I tend to write my best closed book essays when I've done very little revision.
Case in point: all my AS and A Level English Lit exams. ANd some of my university ones.

snoopy13a
2010-10-27, 01:01 PM
Hi, Engineering Major here. I also like writing essays...

Now wait, why are you grabbing those pitchforks. And torches, really? Don't you see the fire? Maybe you should grab-

Oh, heh, water. Of course.

Maybe I should shut up before things get worse.

*Runs*

If you are an engineering major that enjoys writing analytical essays then you should really consider patent law.

Gullara
2010-10-27, 04:50 PM
I think the most important thing about History classes (and all classes, really) is the professor. A good professor will be really excited about what he's telling you, and be able to make the history come alive. I'm lucky, I've got an awesome teacher for my Canada Before Confederation course - he even makes Star Trek jokes! :smallbiggrin:

This is so true. For three history classes in high school I had a great teacher. Never mind that the classes were mostly taking notes, they were always interesting, my favorite classes all through high school.

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll
2010-10-27, 05:14 PM
I have to do a 4000 word essay.

Luckily, I can choose the topic, so it will be a topic I looooove, something to do with history, and I have the whole year to do it. So, no stress or anything.

But still.

4000 words.

I'm in Grade 11.

Ceric
2010-10-27, 05:25 PM
It's an American school system thing, I'm pretty sure. Gets drilled into us while we're in High School. ((Approx - College level for you Britlanders))

Though in better writing classes, they DO discourage quotations without explanation or context at least. <.<; Emphasis on the better ones part.

Oh gods. I got through high school literature with an insane hatred of lit classes and essay writing. I enjoy writing, I keep a diary blog and ramble on in great detail about stories that I never actually write :smalltongue:, but I just couldn't write essays. I basically disliked the entire structure and forced style of essays: forced citations, 5-paragraph format, word counts*, etc. (*Please don't yell at me yet, I'm not done :smalltongue:)

But my first university writing class is redeeming the entire field. (Btw, I'm pretty sure it's an essay-writing couse rather than a full English class.) In our very first lecture, we compared the characteristics of "academic writing" (essays, schoolwork, etc) to those of "creative writing" (anything that's not academic), and then to actual papers that were still academic in subject but didn't fit our definition of academic writing, and concluded that academic writing doesn't have to be written that way. In fact, the section of our textbook that we're reading now specifically states out that the 5-paragraph format is terrible. Even though we've been forced to use it since elementary school :smallfurious: Plus, now that I actually enjoy writing essays, the word count is no problem because I just write and then find that I'm meeting the requirement easily, instead of just putting in as much filler as I can.

I think this university writing class is the best class I've ever taken. :smallbiggrin: (For reference, I'm more of a math/science/engineering person.)

Although on another note, I can only write well under pressure. So far, that's like "midnight the day before it's due" kind of pressure. I'm going to have to figure out time management before we're assigned longer essays >>

Haruki-kun
2010-10-27, 05:29 PM
I know how you feel, I'm a media student and essays and proper references are just PAINFUL.


Yet another lover of essays here! Though I have to admit, there is ONE thing that I absolutely hate in writing.

Forced. Citation. :smallfurious:

You know what I mean. Those two lines of instructions that turn what would otherwise have been a fun Essay into "find 4/10/20 quotes to connect to your essay, even though quotations in no way reflect actual knowledge of the quote itself and should serve as examples for your own ideas".

YES! Thank you! This is EXACTLY what I mean.


In all my fifteen years of education I have never heard of such a thing ever being advocated.
Ever.
In fact, at least in all the places of education I've ever been in, this is seen as a really bad way to write an essay.
Quotations flavour your own work.
I'm sure I made a post comparing and contrasting that type of essay with the ones I'm used to writing back in RB.

Yes, in response to something I said. But if you've never had a teacher force you to quote anything, I envy you. So much. :smallfrown:

Fifty-Eyed Fred
2010-10-27, 05:58 PM
5-paragraph format? What on Earth is that?

I'm another English student who can write essays. The two have a tendency to go hand in hand. :smallamused:

snoopy13a
2010-10-27, 07:15 PM
5-paragraph format? What on Earth is that?



It is the standard format for US secondary (junior-high/high school) education.

Essentially, the writer makes three points.

The first paragraph is the opening. Each point gets a paragraph and it finishes with a concluding paragraph.

Fifty-Eyed Fred
2010-10-27, 07:22 PM
It is the standard format for US secondary (junior-high/high school) education.

Essentially, the writer makes three points.

The first paragraph is the opening. Each point gets a paragraph and it finishes with a concluding paragraph.

I have no hesitation in saying in a most unabashed manner that it sounds completely and utterly horrendous.

CurlyKitGirl
2010-10-27, 07:28 PM
I have no hesitation in saying in a most unabashed manner that it sounds completely and utterly horrendous.

I remember being taught that back in Y4 or 5 (for you Troglanders, that's nine or ten years of age), and by Y7 we were expanding upon it, writing more and changing the format.

So yes, five paragraph structure is horrendously bad.
Good for beginners, but noone over the age of twelve or thirteen should be writing that sort of stuff in their native language.
Hell, my few pieces of French coursework were only a five paragraph structure because we had 1 000 wors for our long piece when I did my A Levels. And even then we didn't follow the structure as outlined above.

Trobby
2010-10-27, 07:30 PM
5-paragraph format? What on Earth is that?


Unless I'm utterly mistaken, it's where you write an Introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs expanding upon the ideas of your essay, then a concluding paragraph.

#<.<# I'm a little embarrassed to admit I actually do use it as a shorthand almost subconsciously for short essays. Introducing the idea, then expanding upon the ideas introduced in the introduction, then restating the ideas explained in the introduction and body while arriving at a final conclusion.

For longer essays, I tend to separate them into several larger headings that practically divide themselves into several small versions of this.

Granted, I do mix it up, and rarely do I ever force myself to make it three, but three always seems so...natural.

:smalleek: Am I a bad writer for doing this?

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll
2010-10-27, 07:38 PM
Stupid thing about it is that if you decide to deviate at all from the 5-paragraph format, the teachers rail about how you need to perfect the style before you can break it, no matter how good your essays are, even if you've practically perfected it already. :smallsigh:

Gullara
2010-10-27, 08:07 PM
:smalleek: All I've ever done is 5-paragraph format essays, and I can't say I know another way to do it. I definitely have to go to that writing course. :smallsigh:

Fuzzie Fuzz
2010-10-27, 08:21 PM
Huh. I've never had to quote... wait, yes I did. Once. In 5th grade. (10 years of age for those with alternate school systems.)

And 4000 words isn't bad. The IB Extended Essay is that long. It's what... 10 pages? Over a whole year? Really not that bad if you force yourself to get started early.

And yeah, the 5-paragraph form is pretty standard over here. For a short (1-3 page) essay, I see no reason not to use it? As I understand essays, they are basically a mini-version of a "real" essay. You introduce your thesis and briefly state some main points to back it up in the first paragraph (beginning of a longer essay). Make your points, each getting its own paragraph (which is pretty good organization, IMO. Each paragraph should be a complete thought, so in a short essay, it makes sense to organize your basic points into paragraphs.) In a longer essay, this would be the entire middle section, and each point would have multiple paragraphs, but it is pretty analogous. Finally, conclude with a brief summary and an explanation of why the topic is important. (This will be done in a larger essay too.)

It teaches basic essay structure pretty well. An essay without any sort of intro or conclusion would be pretty awful, and the middle section is a pretty decent sort of organization.

(Actually, I'm not sure how one would do it other than an expanded form of that.)

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll
2010-10-27, 08:22 PM
And 4000 words isn't bad. The IB Extended Essay is that long. It's what... 10 pages? Over a whole year? Really not that bad if you force yourself to get started early.


Yeah, that's what I'm doing, the IB extended essay. It was scary earlier, but now, I know I could easily write much more than that on a topic I love.

Normally you don't have to do a 4000 word essay till 3rd year Uni, around, however. Then again, normally you don't have such a long time to do it though.

No worries. :smallcool:

Ceric
2010-10-27, 08:27 PM
:smalleek: All I've ever done is 5-paragraph format essays, and I can't say I know another way to do it. I definitely have to go to that writing course. :smallsigh:

Luckily my lit teacher in senior year started trying to encourage us to break out of the 5-paragraph style, but I didn't know how to write other types of essays anymore :smallsigh: And he didn't emphasize it much - he showed us some examples but everyone did 5-paragraph anyways. I think I'm at least ahead of my college class, though - a lot of them are still stuck on "you're not allowed to write essays in first person!"

Edit:
And yeah, the 5-paragraph form is pretty standard over here. For a short (1-3 page) essay, I see no reason not to use it? As I understand essays, they are basically a mini-version of a "real" essay. You introduce your thesis and briefly state some main points to back it up in the first paragraph (beginning of a longer essay). Make your points, each getting its own paragraph (which is pretty good organization, IMO. Each paragraph should be a complete thought, so in a short essay, it makes sense to organize your basic points into paragraphs.) In a longer essay, this would be the entire middle section, and each point would have multiple paragraphs, but it is pretty analogous. Finally, conclude with a brief summary and an explanation of why the topic is important. (This will be done in a larger essay too.)

It teaches basic essay structure pretty well. An essay without any sort of intro or conclusion would be pretty awful, and the middle section is a pretty decent sort of organization.

(Actually, I'm not sure how one would do it other than an expanded form of that.)
I think the idea and intention behind the 5-paragraph format is fine, but insisting on adhering to it is flawed. Let's see, my book's main issue with 5-paragraph is that you come up with a thesis and then find 3 pieces of evidence that support your thesis. They're only one paragraph's worth of evidence, so it can't go very in depth, and since each bit of evidence supports the thesis but is entirely separate from each other bit, the thesis never develops beyond "this is my evidence, therefore my thesis is true. This is my second evidence that also says my thesis is true. Etc." And then you might have issues that don't have exactly three pieces of evidence - you'll either need to stretch one idea or cut out perfectly good ones just to fit the format.

Whoa, didn't mean to hijack the thread.

Fuzzie Fuzz
2010-10-27, 08:50 PM
Luckily my lit teacher in senior year started trying to encourage us to break out of the 5-paragraph style, but I didn't know how to write other types of essays anymore :smallsigh: And he didn't emphasize it much - he showed us some examples but everyone did 5-paragraph anyways. I think I'm at least ahead of my college class, though - a lot of them are still stuck on "you're not allowed to write essays in first person!"

This one is tricky. It is a good rule of thumb, but like all things, rules were meant to be broken. Just as long as you never say, "I think that..."


I think the idea and intention behind the 5-paragraph format is fine, but insisting on adhering to it is flawed. Let's see, my book's main issue with 5-paragraph is that you come up with a thesis and then find 3 pieces of evidence that support your thesis. They're only one paragraph's worth of evidence, so it can't go very in depth, and since each bit of evidence supports the thesis but is entirely separate from each other bit, the thesis never develops beyond "this is my evidence, therefore my thesis is true. This is my second evidence that also says my thesis is true. Etc." And then you might have issues that don't have exactly three pieces of evidence - you'll either need to stretch one idea or cut out perfectly good ones just to fit the format.

I agree. It's good for early essays, but you should be allowed to branch out pretty quickly if you need to.

AshDesert
2010-10-27, 08:53 PM
I'm so glad that this year the only essays I have to write (regular senior English in a school where all the popular kids are the ones in the AP classes) are a two-page college entrance exam for the bottom quarter of the class to send to junior colleges (already done), a 3-4 page analysis of Beowulf on the test, no quotes needed (score!) and a 10-page senior research paper. The good about my school is that they walk you through how to make a long essay step-by-step through the whole year so you have some experience when you get to college. My topic is Huxley's Brave New World, 10 pages double-spaced ought to be a breeze with that (thesis basically being that it was a critique of 30's society rather than a prediction of the future). There's really not much else happening in that class, it's pretty much 1st semester Beowulf, 2nd semester The Tempest, working on the big paper the whole year.

Lady Moreta
2010-10-27, 10:03 PM
Yay! though I'm fairly new to the archaeology side, made use of a couple of articles last year, but only picked up the actual relevant paper this time round. 'Tis fun though :smallsmile:

And ah, that really doesn't sound too fun at all. Though I really do hope you get the chance to study it one day.

I was the opposite - immersed myself in it up to the eyeballs. Classics papers I did for fun (and an English lit one). The only Anth papers I did were the ones I had to. Alas, I probably won't, the topic I had was specific to NZ archaeology and I don't live there any more.


I think the most important thing about History classes (and all classes, really) is the professor. A good professor will be really excited about what he's telling you, and be able to make the history come alive. I'm lucky, I've got an awesome teacher for my Canada Before Confederation course - he even makes Star Trek jokes! :smallbiggrin:

Oh absolutely. One of my favourite lecturers was the one I had for South-East Asian Archaeology - he was fantastic. He used to teach by just telling stories about the digs he'd done.


YYou know what I mean. Those two lines of instructions that turn what would otherwise have been a fun Essay into "find 4/10/20 quotes to connect to your essay

I've had that before. Mostly at high school - we had to do a research project using at least four sources. I always forgot, and ended up using only one or two. Oh well :smalltongue:

Had a uni lecturer once tell of our entire class for not using enough citations though.



Normally you don't have to do a 4000 word essay till 3rd year Uni, around, however. Then again, normally you don't have such a long time to do it though.

No worries. :smallcool:

Yeah, if you've got a year, that shouldn't be too hard :smallsmile: Trying having a year to write 15-20,000 words :smalltongue:

Raz_Fox
2010-10-27, 10:07 PM
I have no hesitation in saying in a most unabashed manner that it sounds completely and utterly horrendous.

Actually, I've found that it's a decent format for high-school essays (which are what I've been writing for the past two years) and even short college-level papers.

It's a good basic format. I can usually on the fly think up at least three basic points for an essay, expand them into paragraphs, and set them up and usher them off in the introduction and conclusion.

Of course, once I get into "real" college-level papers (I'm only taking dual-credit at the moment) I know that I'll have to evolve or die, as they say. But in high school? Five-paragraph essays are tightly organized, easy to write while still requiring some effort to be really good, and easily show the quality of a student's writing to a teacher based on how they express their point through the guidelines.

And as a bonus, thinking "I have to find at least three main points for this essay" really gets the brain going when there's not really that much material to go on.

Trobby
2010-10-28, 11:29 AM
<.<; Well, it's good to know I'm not TOTALLY messing up. ^^;

Winter_Wolf
2010-10-28, 07:45 PM
WHOOOO, art student, yeah! Represent!

(Actually I'm a failed art student in that I changed majors beginning of sophomore year. :smallannoyed: "Mistakes were made" comes immediately to mind.)

I envy not the writing of essays. Though I had to do a freaking lot of it when I was in school. The worst part of the institution of essay writing is that it really only teaches people how to make their point in a very roundabout way, if at all, then spend the other 20 odd pages fluffing and BSing to make page requirement. Being a person of few words and knowing how to make them count, I firmly believe that anyone who has to edit their document so it's less than the maximum number of pages is doing something very, very wrong.

CrimsonAngel
2010-10-28, 08:21 PM
I wrote my first essay the other day. 500 words of me bashing children. :smallamused:

Skeppio
2010-10-28, 08:24 PM
Oh CrimsonAngel, you legendary bugger. :smallbiggrin:

CrimsonAngel
2010-10-28, 08:26 PM
*flies into the sunset*

Ranting about how stupid children are is easy.

Salbazier
2010-10-28, 08:27 PM
Heh, not exactly essays, but I am now still troubled by a assignment. Right now, I;m supposed to go to campus to get approval for this paper but I just can't gather enough will. :smallsigh:

Ranger Mattos
2010-10-31, 10:00 PM
Personally, I hate writing essays.


I wrote my first essay the other day. 500 words of me bashing children. :smallamused:

I notice you're only a couple months younger than me. And you just wrote your first essay. And it was only 500 words.

Texas must be a lot different from Wisconsin.

TFT
2010-11-01, 11:59 AM
Blaaaaarg.

I have a six page research paper due tomorrow, but I only have four and two thirds pages done, include five(!) sub topics, an intro, and a conclusion. I honestly don't know how I'm going to pad this thing up.

Form
2010-11-01, 12:04 PM
Personally, I hate writing essays.

Getting started was almost the most difficult part for me, but once I'd begun I usually made decent progress in not too much time. Once the words start flowing it can actually even be fun, in a way. Not always though.


Blaaaaarg.

I have a six page research paper due tomorrow, but I only have four and two thirds pages done, include five(!) sub topics, an intro, and a conclusion. I honestly don't know how I'm going to pad this thing up.

Just one more page and you're there! If you're well under way and don't have to make any major revisions you can make it on time and reward yourself by relaxing afterwards.

Eloel
2010-11-01, 12:08 PM
Blaaaaarg.

I have a six page research paper due tomorrow, but I only have four and two thirds pages done, include five(!) sub topics, an intro, and a conclusion. I honestly don't know how I'm going to pad this thing up.

Ow, I know the feeling. "I'm done with all topics I meant to do". "What do you mean I need to write 1 more page? I'm done!".

Your 2 choices are:
Scrap a subtopic, find another subtopic, and make that LONG.
Find someone else's research, quote (appropriately. No plaguarism!) relevant parts in your paper. Ta-daa, instant length.

Obviously there are other choices, but these are relatively easy. Good luck!

Edit: Another 'trick' to use is reducing margins by a bit. Less text per page = more pages with same text. Make it subtle though :smallwink:

Mauve Shirt
2010-11-01, 12:13 PM
I told my friend to come over and punch me in the face if I don't start on my history essay today. I should do that.

Evil DM Mark3
2010-11-01, 12:14 PM
Ugh, you have no idea. I'm losing a letter grade a day for each day it's late on it's final mark. And considering how rushed it is, there's no way I'm getting anything more than a B. :smallsigh:

Wow, this side of the pond if its late you get a big, fat, 0.

Still I feel your pain. I was an undiagnosed dyslexic throughout my entire education and the sheer scale of even my university lab write ups was really daunting. It got worse when I was doing my teacher training last year, those assignment where loooooooooong (and to a post grad standard...) so I can really relate.

TFT
2010-11-01, 12:15 PM
Ow, I know the feeling. "I'm done with all topics I meant to do". "What do you mean I need to write 1 more page? I'm done!".

Your 2 choices are:
Scrap a subtopic, find another subtopic, and make that LONG.
Find someone else's research, quote (appropriately. No plaguarism!) relevant parts in your paper. Ta-daa, instant length.

Obviously there are other choices, but these are relatively easy. Good luck!

Edit: Another 'trick' to use is reducing margins by a bit. Less text per page = more pages with same text. Make it subtle though :smallwink:

I'd rather not scrap my subtopics. I can, in theory, add another one if I can think of it though :smallwink:. I don't need istant length though, just 1 page in about 12 hours, minus a couple of hours for classes and driving. Completely doable.

I thought about the margins thing, but we're following a specific format. I don't think that will work. However, there are other parts of the formatting that might help.

It's not getting the page that's the problem as much as finding the ways to get the page. It'll probably take another couple of hours to do.

Form
2010-11-01, 12:19 PM
Edit: Another 'trick' to use is reducing margins by a bit. Less text per page = more pages with same text. Make it subtle though :smallwink:

I wouldn't go for 'tricks'. The most important thing about any paper is its content, not its size and focusing on 'tricks' distracts from that. For me, 'tricks' like that never really worked and I've never needed them either. Instead it's better to just further clarify parts which could benefit from further explanation. You could simply expand the introduction itself as well if it isn't too big.

Remember, you want to write a good essay, not a long one. Just make sure everything that needs to be in it is there and you'll be fine.

Eloel
2010-11-01, 12:27 PM
If you're done with what you want to write, content-wise, but need to make it a specific length, I'm more than happy to use tricks to meet the demands.

To each their own, I guess.

Mauve Shirt
2010-11-01, 12:41 PM
My German professor once told us that he'd rather we write a paper shorter than asked for instead of giving him 2 extra pages of filler. :smalltongue: I just use tricks, as I run out of things to say before I reach 10 pages! So I've never written a paper longer than 8, and I've gotten As on them.

Elentari
2010-11-01, 01:40 PM
About the whole 5 paragraph thing, in my IB classes over here in Trogland, our English teachers don't make us do a 5 paragraph format. They merely give us a topic, and a minimum word count. We are expected to quote, but we never have a quote minimum. Regarding length of the papers, they're usually 1200-1500 (usually assigned a week beforehand) but sometimes up to 2000 word papers. Occasionally, we do hit 2500 word papers but those are usually research papers that we're given a month or two to do. I sorrow for those who don't get all this lovely practice we get in high school writing nice long essays :smallbiggrin:

Derjuin
2010-11-01, 01:51 PM
Doing a project for a Human Relations class (that isn't part of my major, I decided to take it for fun) and I have...around 25 pages to write by next monday, the day after which I must have a menu write-up and a 3 page paper on California, and in two days I have to have some simple dessert ideas planned :smalltongue:

The only one that's got me worried is the one on California, because I hate doing menus. :smallsigh:

I'm actually sort of looking forward to doing the Human Relations one, because it's almost all self-reflection type stuff.

Stadge
2010-11-01, 03:19 PM
Got an essay on St Patcrick due in at 5pm tomorrow, not finished all the reading yet, plan to head to the bar for a few hours and will squeeze in some panto writing time.

I am not in the slightest bit worried by this for it is at the dawn of deadlines that I work best and I can quite happily make this my first real all nighter of term :smallsmile:

Anyway, back to work.

CurlyKitGirl
2010-11-01, 03:36 PM
About the whole 5 paragraph thing, in my IB classes over here in Trogland, our English teachers don't make us do a 5 paragraph format. They merely give us a topic, and a minimum word count. We are expected to quote, but we never have a quote minimum. Regarding length of the papers, they're usually 1200-1500 (usually assigned a week beforehand) but sometimes up to 2000 word papers. Occasionally, we do hit 2500 word papers but those are usually research papers that we're given a month or two to do. I sorrow for those who don't get all this lovely practice we get in high school writing nice long essays :smallbiggrin:

2500 words in a month? I wish.
Quite a number of us in Britland have an essay a week.
No minimum word length, no maximum. Nothing but an essay title and a suggested reading list.
For first year university.
Come second year and you get nothing. Pick your own topic, title, no suggested reading list. Nada.
But in general, we write 1700 - 2500 words a week for those essays.
I envy the time I had a month to write a mere 3 000 odd word essay.


Got an essay on St Patcrick due in at 5pm tomorrow, not finished all the reading yet, plan to head to the bar for a few hours and will squeeze in some panto writing time.

I am not in the slightest bit worried by this for it is at the dawn of deadlines that I work best and I can quite happily make this my first real all nighter of term :smallsmile:

Anyway, back to work.

*high-fives*
Got an essay due in Wednesday at noon. Done nothing about it yet.
However:
we were set this exam question essay at the end of our first tutorial on the subiect. And all the information we have to go off in regards to what to actually put in the essay comes from the vague paragraph of description about the exam and the rubric for the exam question intself.
So what I'm doing tomorrow is the essay. And if it doesn't fit her expectations: you could have told us some little bit about the things to mention in it.

Elentari
2010-11-01, 04:28 PM
2500 words in a month? I wish.
Quite a number of us in Britland have an essay a week.
No minimum word length, no maximum. Nothing but an essay title and a suggested reading list.
For first year university.
Come second year and you get nothing. Pick your own topic, title, no suggested reading list. Nada.
But in general, we write 1700 - 2500 words a week for those essays.
I envy the time I had a month to write a mere 3 000 odd word essay.


Do remember though, us high schoolers don't tend to write our essays until the night before they're due because we have so much other homework. At least, us IB students do. So yea. I wrote my last research paper (about 2500 words) in a few hours, right before it was due....bad I know, but hey, I got an A on it...as per usual.

Stadge
2010-11-01, 09:11 PM
*high-fives*
Got an essay due in Wednesday at noon. Done nothing about it yet.
However:
we were set this exam question essay at the end of our first tutorial on the subiect. And all the information we have to go off in regards to what to actually put in the essay comes from the vague paragraph of description about the exam and the rubric for the exam question intself.
So what I'm doing tomorrow is the essay. And if it doesn't fit her expectations: you could have told us some little bit about the things to mention in it.

Cheers.
Seems to be going alright, some more of the panto is written, most of the reading is now done for the essay, had a break for coffee and one of my very occasional pipe smoking moments, so shall now finish the reading, write at least half of this essay, kip for a few hours, wake up, eat ostritch, find a couple more books and finish off writing about St Pat. And hopefully fit in a lecture about the Picts. I do love this place :smallbiggrin:

And sounds like a fine plan to me, it's what I did with the archaeology essay last week and that worked grandly.
Good luck!

Thanatos 51-50
2010-11-02, 02:50 AM
I was lucky enough to get an english comp professor who not only doesn't penalize for late essays, but apparantly adores the ones I do hand in!

So confident am I in my essay-writing strength that I pounded one out for a friend in less than an hour as an example, and she was floored by its awesome.

So, yes. I love essays, I hate due dates.

We do an essay every class (Mon/Wend/Fri), with no minimum wordcount.