Before I describe the seven cardinal rules of writing for my class, I want to mention that getting a zero-score on a paper is not necessarily a disaster, especially if you meet the deadlines, or at least don't wait too long to write your first paper. If your paper gets zero points, you will receive instructions (top left corner of your paper) on how to try again with a new paper that does follow the seven cardinal rules. (Also, if you submit early to get a bonus, and your paper gets zero points, but your paper still gives clear evidence that you sincerely tried to follow all seven rules, you will very probably still get (and keep) the bonus points
Strict adherence to ALL of the following Cardinal Rules is required for your paper (or "thinkathon") to receive ANY credit.
You are responsible for knowing exactly what these rules are asking you to do. ("I thought X meant Y", "I thought you really meant Y", "but I always do Y", "my previous teacher said do Y", "I was always told to do Y", "the writing center said Y was what I'm supposed to", "the librarian said Y was what you wanted", "I didn't do X, but I did do Y" are not legitimate arguments for a better grade. They are admissions of failure, and count as reasons why your paper received zero points.)
If you're worried,
You have been warned.
Reading these explanations is OPTIONAL. If there's a rule you don't understand, sure, read the explanation, but as long as you understand what the rule is telling you what to do, you don't need to bother with the rationale if you don't want to.
1. Needs scary anti AI text
2. The whole of the real work of any academic paper is done before the word processor document is ever opened. Good papers are based on an extended thinking process that involves careful reading of relevant materials, careful thinking about definitions and their implications, imaginative thinking-through of examples, and long mulling-over of scenarios and examples, and, above all logical analysis of significant arguments. If you don't take the time to do these things before you start writing, your paper will be rubbish. (Imagine a "scientist" whose idea of "research" is to write down all the things they already happens to think about their topic, without ever making any observations or deductions. Would such "work" be accepted for publication by a leading journal? No, it would not.)
3. Your thesis is the position you have came to after you have logically analyzed, critiqued, and evaluated the main arguments of all sides of a topic. If, after doing extensive prewriting, you realize that logically the available evidence best supports one particular position, that position is your thesis. If, after prewriting, you still can't figure out what position is best supported, your thesis (or "unthesis") is that you can't figure out what position is best supported. You must state your thesis up front because it's impossible to evaluate any part of your paper until I know your thesis (or unthesis). Everything you write before stating your thesis is a waste of my time.
4. Introductions, as conceived by high school composition instructors are generally a waste of time and effort. They are also a waste of the reader's time. Writing an introduction does not constitute progress, is worth NO points. Conclusions are tiresome and depressing. If you've said everything you've got to say, just stop writing. You're done. Also, a conclusion indicates the writer didn't read the instructions for this assignment, and has no respect for their instructor's time, which is bad. Finally, an introductions or a conclusion may lull you into a false belief that you've been productive when you really haven't. In short papers like these, introductions and conclusions are just a waste of time. Don't do either of them.
5. A paper that just quotes or paraphrases what other people have said contains none of the writers own thinking, and thus completely fails to fulfill the assignment, and so gets no points. Do the reading, do the thinking, and write out what you thunk.
6. The prompt for your chosen topic is your instructions for this assignment. If you don't follow the instructions, you're not doing the assignment. If you don't do the assignment, you don't get any points. (I have never understood why anyone would turn in a "paper" that didn't follow the instructions for the assignment they purported to have done. It's like you ask someone to do the dishes, they say sure, but when they tell you they've done the dishes, all the dishes are still dirty, and now there's a huge dead fish in the sink. What the hell man?
7. Logical analysis is the heart of genuinely critical thinking. (If a class is presented as "critical thinking", but does not include instruction in how to logically analyze arguments, then that class is basically a scam.) Competent prewriting includes identifying the purported conceptual and evidential bases for the various basis, seeing how the factual claims are purportedly supported and how they in turn are supposed to support the writer's conclusion. Most importantly, competent prewriting includes A. thinking about whether the fact claims are so well supported that we have to conclude that they're true, and B. thinking about whether those factual claims could be true even if the conclusion is false.
The above are the basic instructions for the writing assignments. If you follow the seven Cardinal Rules, AND your thinking is good, you've got a good chance of a good grade.
If you want more detailed instructions, read Basic Odyssey Writing Instructions.
Copyright © 2024 by Martin C. Young
