Paper writing guidelines I

SOME PAPER WRITING SUGGESTIONS

■          you often provide quotes....

but no context for the quote -- who wrote it, when, and why

■          you sometimes summarize the quote in your own words....

            but you do not analyze the quote with respect to your own main themes/argument

■          you often write in dichotomies, as if binary categories are real rather than constructed (“whites,” “Europeans,” “Indians,” et cetera)

→ what kind of “whites”?  what kind of “Indians”?

■          you often write  abstract introductions with timeless “human truths” rather than historical context and dilemmas

■          you often write long paragraphs without clear themes or relationship to an overarching argument -- unanchored detail

■          avoid either flowery or colloquial language -- write like you speak, when you are speaking carefully

■          avoid throwaway cliches