Writing Better Papers

A Guide to Clear Analytical Writing
(C)2002 CJP



The Overall Strategy

Writing a good paper is not easy. In fact a good piece of writing shouldn't be easy to produce. Writing is an art that requires a great deal of skill, and it takes years of practice and study to become proficient at it.

Most of you at this point in your school career probably think you are good writers, and have been told this by innumerable teachers. To be honest, my experience reading college writing at this level tells me that these compliments -- for most of you -- are not really true. I'm not saying this to insult your writing, but rather to head off the (possible) arrogance that some students have regarding their writing -- they feel that they are already good writers, and feel they have nothing new to learn. Such arrogance will prevent you from progressing. You must be humble regarding your writing or you are doomed to remain a flawed writer.

One of my goals in this class is to help you to learn how to write better and with more confidence. Although there are countless things in writing that one can work on to improve, in this class I will concentrate on argumentative support and overall structure. Generally, the two are:

Issue #1: Overall Structure

The Problem
  • Almost all college students (before they learn to structure their writing) write in "stream of consciousness" or "stream of memory." A familiar sight: you get the assignment and have a very vague idea of what to do and where to go with the paper. So you sit at the computer, stare at the blank screen and begin typing whatever comes to mind relevant to the assignment. Thus the progression of the paper is really just a record of what occurred to you when. If you remember subject A on page 3, you talk about it, then remember something about subject C, then B, then F, and then maybe on page 6 you remember something about subject A again. There is no real structural transition from A to C to B to F to A. It just occurred to you in that order. Hence the paper has no organization, no flow, and no clear sign of purpose. In other words -- it is a bad paper. What to do?
  • Most students, even when they do have an general idea of what they are trying to accomplish in a paper, have no real idea of how to accomplish the goal they have. You can tell because the paper starts out with a fairly clear goal, and then it wanders throughout the paper, sometimes dealing with that goal and sometimes not. There's no logical setup for how to attack the problem, and so the paper, while not as bad as the "stream of memory," is not a very good piece of work. 

Solution: Learn to structure your paper logically and analytically. By the end of this course you will learn to
  • Write an abstract for your papers. Every paper you write should have an abstract. An abstract is like a "roadmap" for the reader that tells the reader what the problem is, what your solution to that problem is, and how you intend on showing the reader, step-by-step, how you arrived at this solution.
    • Abstracts allow you to understand exactly what you are doing in the paper, and why. This will prevent you from "meandering" and losing focus. 
    • Abstracts allow the reader to understand what you are doing, and why. This allows the reader to get a good sense of the point of the paper. Badly focused papers are painful to read. Well focused papers show confidence and grace.
  • The "step-by-step" analysis indicated in the abstract points to the fact that you will be sectioning your papers. You will learn to treat each logical step in your paper in a different section. Thus your abstract will tell the reader, briefly in a sentence or two, what each section discusses and why.
    • Sectioning allows you to beat the "psychological" game of writing a long paper. A 15-page paper sure sounds intimidating. Once you learn how to logically section your paper, you realize that really you have two 7 page papers to write (if two sections) or three 5 page papers (if three sections). If done well, these sections are independent of one another, and so the thought of three 5 page papers should not intimidate you at all.
    • Sectioning allows you to clearly see what you are doing. In this class you will generally work on two-section papers. These two sections are usually 
      1. a non-argumentative explication of the concepts or theories involved in the problem you will be addressing. 
      2. an argumentative section which then state the problem clearly and then argue for your solution to that problem. 
        • Note that (2) above hints at the fact that section II in this schema has two sub-sections -- stating the problem and arguing for a solution. Although you need not explicitly section this out in the paper, you will learn to keep these issues separate in that given section. Seen from this angle, section II -- 7 pages in length -- now turns out to be two sub-papers, one maybe 2 pages long and the other 5. Notice that the paper gets more and more manageable the more it is stuctured and sectioned. 
    • Sectioning forces you to learn to put issue A, B and C where they belong, logically, and it teaches you to learn to edit better. Noticing that you discuss subject C a bit in section II -- when it is supposed to be discussed in section I -- allows you to see where you are "digressing" and losing focus. 


Issue #2: Argumentative Support

The Problem
:
  • The most obvious problem is the most prevalent: most students have absolutely no idea now to support an argument. For the most part, this isn't your fault -- you've never been asked to, and frankly we don't live in a society that really values solid argumentation (you know, "everybody has a right to their own opinion," no matter how pathetically argued for). Roughly 99% of the courses you have taken in the past have not asked you to support conclusions, rather relying on the "don't worry, you can't be wrong" approach or the "just memorize the facts" approach.
  • Students are uncomfortable supporting their arguments, because it opens them up to the risk of being wrong, or the risk of having a bad argument. Most are more comfortable just spouting opinions, since opinions can't be wrong (so it's safer).

Solution:  Become more comfortable with argumentative support, and learn how to apply it in different ways in writing.
  • If you make a key point, you must back it up

In this class, "backing it up" comes in two different forms, each corresponding to the two different goals of your paper. Recall that you are going to be asked to write an explicative and an argumentative section. Argumentative writing and writing that aims for explication have different aims, so "support" will differ in form, though not in "spirit."

What are the two different types?

Argumentative Writing

Argumentative writing aims at convinving the reader of a specific argument that you have constructed. If you want to convince me that chocolate is the best flavor of ice cream, then "chocolate is the best flavor" is your conclusion (it is the statement you are arguing for) and the reasons you advance in favor of that conclusion are your premises. The better your premises support the conclusion, the better your argument (for chocolate) has been supported. An argument gains a better and better degree of support when the argument becomes more sophisticated and thought-out, and less prone to counter-argument. A highly sophisticated argument will recognize at least some counter-argument that could be put against your conclusion, or your reasons for the conclusion, and such an argument will show how such counter-arguments do not actually work, or are not really convincing. 
  •   So, "support" in the argumentative section of your paper is measured by the sophistication of your (premises) reasons, and just how well they succeed in supporting they conclusion you are trying to argue for. 

Explicative Writing

Explicative writing aims not to convince the reader of an argument, but rather to convince the reader of a certain way of understanding a piece of text, or a certain way of understanding an issue or argument.  As such,  writing which is explicatory in nature is essentially interpretative.  You are arguing for a certain way to interpret something. So, in a way, you are arguing for a conclusion, but not the same kind of conclusion you are aiming for in argumentative writing. Your conclusion in this case is your interpretation (of the text, of the issue, whatever). Well, you'll need to provide support for this interpretation. In this type of writing, argumentative reasons are not the proper premises. Rather, you'll need to provide evidence for your interpretation by citing and quoting appropriate text that you think shows your reading, and/or secondary literature arguing for a similar interpretation as yours.

 

 

The Aim of This Paper



  • This paper assignment has two different but interconnected goals. 
    • The first goal is to achieve mastery in explication. Your aim -- in the first section -- section ( I ) -- is to develop a concise, detailed, and thorough analysis of virtue ethics as a system. Your aim here is maximum accuracy and precision in your description. You are not arguing for or against virtue ethics, you are explaining what virtue ethics is. While explaining virtue ethics to the reader you will also demonstrate your mastery of the appropriate texts -- Confucius's Analects and Aristotle's Ethics -- by citing the text where it is appropriate and then interpreting and analyzing those textual selections.  
    • The second goal is argumentative. Glaucon's argument to Plato is that virtue ethics (all ethics, actually) is really just a sham.  People act virtuously -- Glaucon argues -- simply because they know that if they do otherwise they will get punished. So, according to Glaucon no one is really ethical at all. Rather, people do what looks ethical merely because they have been "trained" that way through punishment and reward. Do you think Glaucon is right in his assertion that if anyone were given the Ring of Gyges they would stop being virtuous? Here you must develop some arguments for your position (whatever that is). Essentially, if Glaucon is right, everyone is an egoist at heart. If he is wrong -- and virtue ethics is right -- altruism (and thus ethics) is indeed possible. Here you will make a stand in favor of your own personal values.  
  • Write for the audience of the wide world, not just for me, yourself, your peers, or people of your own gender, race, culture, or century. Hence, be sensitive to the fact that large sectors of your audience share few if any of your values or background assumptions, and simply do not take for granted what you take for granted. Assume that your audience has read the books for the course, and is open-minded, but does not (yet) agree with you on their meaning or merits. Make sure that this very diverse audience knows (1) what you are talking about, (2) why it should agree with you, or at least why it should find your view reasonable and responsible, and (3) why it should care. Writing a paper is like selling a product to a buyer. You want to convince the buyer that he/she understands the importance of the product, and wants it.
  • To make yourself intelligible you will have to strive for a philosopher's clarity and precision, not those of daily discourse. To make yourself persuasive you will have to make cogent use of textual evidence (in your interpretation) and argument (in your evaluative comments). The request to argue is not a request to be quarrelsome, defensive, or aggressive. It is a request to be accountable to your audience, giving it good reasons in place of asking readers to take your word or to believe blindly. 
  • Always think of yourself as a salesman pushing a product. You must show the reader that your product is (a) useful, (b) right, (c) better than the other available products. A failure to do (a) usually results in a dogmatically "argued" paper. You assume that your audience agrees with you already, and so you "preach to the choir", essentially listing a number of conclusions you think are right, but with no argumentation behind them. You must assume that your readers do not agree with you at all. No salesman assumes that his/her audience is already convinced about the usefulness of the product. Having a bad dogmatic attitude turns the reader off from your project. A failure to do (b) and (c) can take a number of directions. You fail to clearly show what the other available products claim to have to offer, or you do so in a manner which makes the other products appear entirely worthless. In addition, you do not argue for your theory or against the other theory, but rather state that yours is better than theirs is. Sell your reader -- a reader you assume to be hostile to your point of view -- on your argument.



Introduction: Your Abstract


Your abstract is your paper's "mission statement" or the "advertisement" of the paper to your prospective audience. Your abstract is essentially a concise summary that draws out the "roadmap" your paper's argument takes. Your abstract is the first thing written, and should be wholly contained on page 1. Essentially, it will look like this (the blah blah blah is the abstract):




Your Name                                                                                                                   Pg. 1
Prof. Panza
Values Analysis, Spring 2003



"Your Title Here"



Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah 


blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah


blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah


blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahl

           

( I )


Begin the main body of the paper here.



Abstracts contain the following:

(1) A statement of your thesis. Example: "It has been argued by some -- namely Glaucon from Plato's Republic -- that a virtuous person would not remain virtuous if it were impossible for that person to get caught doing unethical things. In this essay I will argue that Glaucon is wrong -- it is difficult, but possible for a person to be virtuous even if no one would notice the ethical or unethical deeds done by that person."


So first you "set up" the paper by telling your reader what your main goal is.


(2) You tell the reader how you will accomplish the goal(s) you laid out in (1). Here you will detail your strategy for argumentation, and present that strategy in parts. For example, you can say "To accomplish this goal, I have divided this paper in two parts. Since there is no sense discussing what a virtuous person would do until we understand what it means to be a virtuous person, in section ( I ) I will examine in detail what virtue ethics is. Then, with this explanation at hand, I will turn in section ( II )...."


You get the point. You must lay out for the reader step-by-step what your argumentative strategy is.


(3) When you are done, double space and center a " ( I ) " in the middle of the page to signal that you are ready to start section ( I ) as laid out in the abstract. Then begin section ( I ).


 

Section ( I ) - Explicating Virtue Ethics

 

The paper is not due until week 7. However you must make an appointment with me in either week 5 or 6 to have a tutorial about the paper. During this time we can speak about possible ways you might want to go, or just about general things you've been thinking about with regard to the paper. 

I also highly recommend that you form study groups. These are excellent ways to talk about the arguments and see what obvious objections others might have to your position. This in invaluable when writing a philosophy paper. Most people shrug off this advice. Those that take the advice -- and treat it seriously -- often do well. Some helpful things to do:

  • By the time the first draft is due, we will have only covered two authors in class -- Confucius and Aristotle. So you needn't discuss any other authors. 
  • In trying to understand what virtue ethics is, remember that virtue ethics is a part of a larger system of ethics called "agent ethics". How does "agent ethics" differ from "act ethics"? Find quotes in Aristotle or Confucius that seem to highlight which side of this basic distinction they are on. 
  • What makes a virtue ethicist a virtue ethicist? Is it enough to do the right acts? Does the agent need the right character? The right intentions? Find quotes.
  • What is character? Is character simply a conglomeration of habits? Quotes.
  • Does a conformist individual have character, according to Confucius and Aristotle? 
  • What are the virtues? How do they play a part? When does a habit to tell the truth become a sign of a virtuous character?    
  • Find more quotes.
  • If you want to use the web to help you understand something regarding virtue ethics, that's fine. But do not quote or footnote web sources (they are often unreliable).

These are not the only questions you should be asking, but it is a good start to begin with them. Essentially you want to pull together what you take to be the essential parts of virtue ethics, along with a series of good quotes to back up the more important points you will make. As you are constructing the explication, use the quotes intelligently. Introduce a quote, and then after using it, explain it. Do not let the quote explain itself. Explain what it means and then show how it fits into what you were talking about.
 
Use the text to support your interpretation. If you think
Confucius's theory says that a person must do X, Y and Z to be virtuous, find a quote where Confucius says that (or says something that you think implies it). Part of your job as a paper writer is convincing your audience that you know what you are talking about and that you are well aware of the texts in question and can use them expertly to back up what you say.
Explain the quotes you use. This means that you quote and then tell the reader what the quote means. Be patient. Do not rush. Then connect the quote to the text around it. (Why did you quote it? For what reason?)

This part of your paper should be in the area of 6 - 8 pages (depending on whether the paper turns out to be 10 or 12 pages long).



Part 2 - Can Virtue Ethics Stand Up to The Ring of Gyges?

 

Glaucon's challenge to Plato is no small one. According to Glaucon, all supposedly virtuous people would turn wicked eventually, once they were given the Ring of Gyges. To answer the challenge one way or the other you must first ask some questions about your own value system:

  • what is the core of my value system? 
  • Do I think an altruistic ethics is possible? 
  • Do I think that everyone is really just an egoist at heart? 
  • Why am I on one side or the other? What are my arguments for my side and against the other side? 
  • What do you think Confucius would respond, if asked this by Glaucon?

In constructing your argument either against Glaucon or for him, you must be thoughtful and knowledgeable. Do not simply spurt opinions. Give reasons for what you say. Remember that your reader will be hostile to your argument. So you must work to convince him (that's me) that you are right. To assist you in arguing for Glaucon, you might want to go back to earlier chapters about egoism in Rachels. Similarly, re-reading Rachels might help your out if you are against Glaucon. Either way, make sure your argument is well thought out. Be passionate in argumentation. You are arguing for what you believe in -- you are arguing here about a point that is central to who you are. 


 

Footnotes and Quotes

Here is the proper format for a using a footnote, using as an example a small blurb from my doctoral dissertation:


Thus the brain is affected, but no mental impression is formed, and thus no subjective experience had. This view was not


uncommon in Locke's time. Descartes talks the same way, claiming that: 



We know sufficiently well that it is the mind that senses, not the body; for we see that when the mind is distracted by an ecstacy of deep contemplation, the entire body remains without sensation, even though it is in contact with various objects.1


Locke of course agrees, and essentially repeats Descartes' position, asking:



How often may a Man observe in himself, that whilst his Mind is intently employ'd in the contemplation of some Objects and curiously surveying some Ideas that are there, it takes no notice of impressions of sounding Bodies made upon the Organ of Hearing...a sufficient impulse there may be on the Organ, but it not reaching the observation of the Mind, there follows no Perception; and though the motion, that uses to produce the Idea of sound, be made in the Ear, yet no sound is heard. 2

               
                     Like Descartes, Locke is very clear here in explicitly pointing out that in terms of the body everything is


working as it would be in cases where one was aware of the sound produced (the ‘sound', again, being...

------------------

1. Descartes, Optics, Discourse V from The Philosophical Works of Descartes , (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1967), pg. 42.

2. Locke, Essay, II. ix. 4.


Notice a few things. 

  • Quotes are indented to the same degree you would indent a new paragraph. 
  • Quotes are single spaced, not double spaced
  • Spacing between quotes and the body of the text is double spaced, not triple spaced.
  • The first time you quote from a work (footnote 1 in this case), type the author's name, then the book it came from in italics , then in parentheses the city the book was published in, followed by a comma, then the publishing company, followd by a comma, then the year of publication. Then after the parentheses place a comma and the page number followed by a period.
  • If your next quote (immediately) is from the same work, this time simply put the author's name, the work title (in italics), and the page number.

 

Technical Requirements

 

  • Only use Times New Roman font.
  • Font size: 12 point.  
  • Margins: one inch on every side (top, bottom, right, left). Not even 1.1 inch fonts. Don't try it -- I'll spot it.
  • No independent cover page needed. Your first page should follow this example:

Mary Smith                                                                                                                                                 Pg. 1
Prof. Christopher Panza
Values Analysis, Fall 2002


"Place Your Title Here"


          Begin the body of your paper here.


  • Note that there is no additional line spacing between your name, my name, and the name of the class. 
  • You then skip down three lines, and type the name of your paper
  • You then skip down three lines and begin your paper, starting with the proper new paragraph indentation.
  • Place page numbering in the top right corner
  • Do not name your paper "Draft #1," or "Paper on Confucius," or "Values Analysis Paper," or anything that sounds remotely similar to these. Your paper title is the first thing that catches your reader's eye. Remember you are a salespereson. Get your reader interested by first having a good title. Something acceptable could be a title like "Are Intentions Really Important in an Ethical Theory?" or "An Analysis of Ethics without Consequences". Your title should give the reader a good idea of the subject matter of the paper. Be different, interesting, and informative. "Great Moogley Boogley" is different and interesting but doesn't meet the "informative" criterion (this was used by someone once). "Paper on Confucius" is somewhat informative (it tells me the paper deals with Confucius), but it doesn't give me any other information regarding your position, not to mention being boring and typical. "Draft #1" or "Values Analysis Paper" fails all the criteria for a good title. People who title their papers "Values Analysis Paper" give off a clear impression to the reader that they didn't care about the essay . 99 times out of 100, this impression is confirmed after the paper has been read.
  • The proper spacing between the end of one paragraph and the start of a new one is double spaced
  • The paper should be a minimum of 10 pages. When I say "10 Pages" I mean that ALL ten pages of the essay must be filled with text. An unacceptable paper has a final sheet of paper with "pg. 10" in the right top corner and then a paragraph of text written below it (such a paper is 9 pages long). 
    • For every page the paper is short, your draft loses the % of text missing as a penalty. A 10 page paper that is 9 pages long starts with a full grade deduction (A-). A paper 8 pages long starts at B-, and so on. It is NOT worth it to short cut the length. There are ALWAYS areas in the paper that need more detail and/or thought. 

 

 

Grading Criteria

 

I. Grading Criteria for Papers and Exams

Let me try to be as up-front as possible about the method used for grading your papers and exams. Hopefully this will get rid of some of the inevitable "I'm not sure what you want" questions and statements. 

1. The criteria for grading has been pre-established by the Philosophy and Religion department. What this means is that the criteria for an "A", a "B" and so on are fixed by the department as a whole by agreement. So although I am in full agreement with the criteria, they are not my "personal" criteria shared by no one else.

Here are the Philosophy and Religion Department criteria:

Standard Average: Grade of C = This grade indicates that the assignment has been fulfilled at an adequate level.
A paper will receive a "C" if all of the following four criteria are met:
a) Pertinent material from the assigned readings, lectures, and class discussions is included in the content of the paper.
 b) There is a basic level of organization with an identifiable thesis, introduction, body, and conclusion.
c) Basic concepts are included and explained at an introductory level.
d) There are no more than three mechanical errors per page (i.e., syntax, spelling, grammar, and punctuation). In addition, a  standard form of documentation is employed (i.e., notes and work cited). The Department recommends the Modern             Language Association Manual or the Chicago Manual of Style.

  

To me, a "C" means average work for a sophomore level class . Please be sure to understand that "B" does not mean "average" -- it means above average. Do not expect to do average work in this class and get a "B".


Regarding (d), some students do not believe that a serious grade reduction will result for typographical/spelling/grammar errors in papers (I do not penalize for such errors in exams). It should be noted here that I interpret multiple errors of this sort as a lack of care about the assignment. Please be assured that since I care about the course and your learning, such a lack of care will not be rewarded. Although it seems inevitable that at least one or two students always end up testing me on this policy every semester, it is not worth it to do so. I will deduct for such errors. You are forewarned! 


Regarding (c). Expositions at an above "C" level must be capable of moving beyond a simple "reproduction" of the basic concepts in the literature. You must show a detailed and nuanced understanding of the material. Be prepared to write in detail about the subject. Show me that you have done more than simply taken notes in class and leisurely perused the readings. Of all the grades of "C" and below that I give out, this criteria is usually the one that students have failed to master as their expositions remain introductory and basic. 


Regarding (a). You must be capable of showing the reader (that's me) that you can skillfully use the relevant texts in your papers by using quotations where appropriate. A paper that lacks quotation at important junctures is an average or below paper. 

Above Average: Grade of B = This grade indicates that the assignment has ben fulfilled at an above average level.
To receive a "B" all of the following criteria must be met
a) More extensive material from the assigned readings, lectures, and class discussions is included in the content of the                  paper. Where appropriate, use of additional resources (e.g., reserve readings, library materials) will be expected.
b) There is an identifiable thesis which is integrated into the structure of the entire essay and is defended in a logical and              systematic manner.
c) There is a greater mastery of writing and thinking skills, including effective use of quotations and paragraph organization;    a greater reliance on putting ideas and concepts into one’s own words rather than relying on direct quotations; a greater ability to recognize and articulate diverse points of view; and a demonstrated ability to engage in critical reflection, analysis, and synthesis.
d) There are no more than two mechanical errors per page, and standard documentation is employed (MLA or Chicago).


Criteria (a) states that your ability to write about the subject matter has moved beyond a mere introductory level analysis. 


Criteria (b) states that your essay/paper has a thesis statement/argument, and that this statement/argument is integrated throughout the whole work. In addition, your thesis/argument is logically defended/presented (this means that you must use arguments to make your points).     


     

Superior: Grade of A = This grade indicates that the assignment has been fulfilled at an exceptional level.
To receive an "A", all of the following criteria must be met:
a) Exceptionally extensive material from assigned readings, lectures, class discussions, and outside resources is included in         the content of the paper.
b) The thesis and its defense demonstrate exceptional accuracy regarding both supported claims and others’ claims                    (including the evidence and arguments of those claims).
 c) Exceptional critical stylistic ability is demonstrated in the writing. There is an ability to express in writing one’s own                 thoughts in a “voice” of one’s own, which shows that the writer has succeeded in finding a clear and aesthetically                   pleasing use of words, idiom, and phrasing.
d) There is no more than one mechanical error per page, and standard documentation is employed (MLA or Chicago)

   



Below Average: Grade of D = This grade indicates that the assignment has been fulfilled at a below average level.
To receive a "D" you have failed to meet any of the following criteria:
 a) The essay demonstrates that the student has read and at least partly understood the material in the text.
 b) There is a vague or nonexistent thesis in the essay.
c) There are no more than four stylistic, spelling, and grammatical errors per page. Standard documentation is poorly                  constructed or absent.
 d) The essay demonstrates little creativity and primarily involves an incomplete recitation of the arguments in the assigned            materials.
 e) Part of the assignment is ignored.

  


Failure: Grade of F = Quality of the work is less than a D grade
A failing grade will be applied to any assignment that is not turned in or has not even minimally met the requirements for the assignment. A failing grade will also be applied to any assignment that is not in accordance with policies regarding academic honesty. A failing grade for the course will be applied when student’s work across assignments and components has not demonstrated sufficient grasp of course material and/or has not met the requirements set forth in the syllabus.