(1) The most important rule to keep in mind is make sure you answer the question that was assigned. Read through the question, and be sure that you understand it. When you finish writing, read through the question again and then read the paper to check whether it addresses itself to the question asked. Write the paper as if you were addressing an intelligent, but unknowledgable about the topic, person. Do not assume that your reader has been taking this course. (In other words, be sure that you have explained yourself.)
(2) Write clearly and grammatically. Avoid using words that you do not understand. Do not try to emulate how you think philosophers write in your paper, write in a way that seems natural to you. But avoid slang and improper grammatical constructions. Common grammatical mistakes are fragmented clauses (clauses without a verb which are supposed to be sentences), passive voice, and run-on sentences. A good way to check on the clarity of your writing is to have a friend who isn't in the class read your paper. If that person has trouble understanding what you wrote, chances are that I will too. Another way to check for clarity is to read your paper out loud. Often a sentence will seem wrong when read aloud, even when it seems okay read silently. This will help you identify where you have problems with clarity.
(3) Be sure to have a clear goal in mind in writing your paper. Include a thesis sentence in your introductory paragraph. This sentence should state explicitly what you intend to say in the paper, e.g., I will show that Plato was wrong to think that we should never seek revenge. Also, you should have clearly defined paragraphs which lead the reader to your stated goal. A good way to ensure this is to make an outline before you begin to write. You need not do this, but it can be very helpful.
(4) When you quote from an author, you must use quotation marks and cite the author and page number. You can, when it is a text we are reading in class, just cite the last name and page number in parentheses. If you go beyond the texts in the class, you must give a complete citation for the book or article. (But, see 5A below about going outside the class texts.) Even when you don't directly quote, but just paraphrase an author or draw heavily on his or her ideas, you should give a citation. If you say something like, "Plato thinks people are generally bad.", I want to know where you are getting this from.
(5) What this paper is not (and other things you should avoid):
(A) This paper is not a research paper. I do not expect you to go beyond the readings assigned in class. Indeed, you will probably only distract yourself from the assignment if you try to go beyond the texts we are reading. If you feel the need to get some extra help on something we are reading by doing some research, I won't forbid it, but you must cite the references you draw from. If you look at Professor Georges Dicker's book on Descartes to help understand the material, you must tell me that somewhere in the paper. (At the end is acceptable.) But, in general, I think you should avoid going to outside sources.
(B) This goes along with 5A. Do not use extensive quotation in your papers. Paraphrasing will usually be sufficient. But in either case, be sure that you explain your quote. Don't assume that it is obvious what the quote shows. Explain how it relates to your claims.
(C) Avoid writing a book report. I do not just want a summary of what authors have said. In asking you the question I have, I am asking you to draw some conclusions or analyze something. Be sure to make connections when appropriate.
(D) Avoid sweeping generalizations, e.g., "From the beginning of time, man has thought …" or "Humans have always wondered about …" Whatever comes next is likely to be false. There are very few, if any, things that man has always thought or even that all men have sometimes thought. These sorts of claims only distract from your goal.
(E) Do not rely on dictionaries or encyclopedias. I am not interested in what Merriam Webster thought a word meant. I might be interested (depending on the question asked) in what Descartes thought a word meant, but you won't find out in a dictionary.
(F) Finally, spell-check. All of you have access to computers on campus, and many of you have a computer of your own. Please make sure that words are spelled correctly, including names of people. Also, you should be aware that spell-checkers do not always catch misspelled words. For instance, 'that' and 'hat' are both words; neither are misspelled. But if you use one and meant the other, the meaning of your sentence will either be radically altered or completely incomprehensible to a reader. There is no substitute for proofreading your own paper. Again, this is often best accomplished by reading the paper aloud.
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Last updated: June 15, 2001
URL: http://web.mnstate.edu/mouch/101/guide.html