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/lit/ - Literature

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3467001 No.3467001 [Reply] [Original]

How do I write the best college paper ever?

I had a two-page comparative essay assignment on the Ox-Bow Incident (film) and Plato's allegory of the cave.
I only got a B.
If someone familiar to the art of college essays leaves their email I'd love to send them it.

>> No.3467029
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3467029

>> No.3467033

nice gif

>> No.3467037

No such thing. The only thing that makes an undergraduate essay good is whether it's tailored to the professor's liking or not and how severe he grades. Just go over his syllabus again and have his favorite student read your paper.

>> No.3467043

>>3467037
Would it be weird to go see her and ask her about it? I just barely got a B, it was an 83.
But I thought it was really good... ugh.

>> No.3467045

>>3467043

That's what office hours are for.

>> No.3467048

I always base mine on the syllabus.

I also make profiles of all of my professors and try to write toward them because I'm a nutjob like that.

>> No.3467056

>>3467043
>Would it be weird to go see her and ask her about it?
Nope. That's what separates the average students from the good students. Talking to your professors and building relationships with them can also helps your grades not to mention your understanding of the material and what their trying to communicate during class.

Did he not give any notes on what was wrong with it? Most of my professors were pretty explicit in their notes about what was wrong with my papers.

>> No.3467068
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3467068

>two page paper

are you sure that's for college or is it for high school?

>> No.3467067

>>3467001
>Writing about the Cave.
Yeah you're not the millionth student to do that. Why not write about Euthenasia, or the drinking age or how about legalizing marijuana

>> No.3467064
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3467064

>>3467056
Nil.
I'll talk to her.

>> No.3467063

>>3467043
go see her for sure. professors like visits they have boring office hours.

>> No.3467073

post essay on pastebin and we will tell you why

>> No.3467082

>>3467068
>two pages
> comparative essay
>ox bow film
>plato's cave
Could be an introductory or freshman class.

>> No.3467086

>>3467073
http://pastebin.com/mEHCZ5va


>>3467068
just a frosh poli theo course
the textbook is nice, though

>> No.3467099

>>3467086
i'd object if you got a higher grade. not trying to be overly critical, but it's just the way i see it

>> No.3467100

>>3467086
1.5 pages ≠ 2 pages
That one thing.

>> No.3467106

>>3467100
*that's

>> No.3467110

>>3467086
That's the whole thing? What the fuck america

>> No.3467114

>>3467110
Frankly he's lucky he got a B

>> No.3467113

>>3467086
>essay
>4 short paragraphs
what the fuck

>> No.3467112

>>3467100
Ah, good to know. I was actually confused about that, so I made my paper *exactly* 2 pages. You're saying that by 2 pages they mean 2+ but no more than 3?


>>3467099
Point out specific things
I thought I did a good job bringing up every facet of the cave

>> No.3467116

i go to a community college and english is my first language, so as long as i write the paper sober i end up with 95-100s usually
lol

>> No.3467120

>>3467112
Well when I converted your essay into MLA on word and added a heading and a title, it came out as one and a half pages.

>> No.3467121

>>3467086
>The Ox Bow-Incident ends the same as Socrates: tragically.
It looks like essays by teenagers on blogspot.

>> No.3467123

>>3467112
How is that two pages, are you using size 18 font?

>> No.3467125

>>3467086
that was a pretty bad essay. you just summarized the two works.

>> No.3467127

>>3467120
I used palatino linotype
That is probably also why my grade was reduced

to my defense palatino linotype is beautiful

>>3467125
but that was the assignment! trust me, I would have loved to write something mroe interesting.

>> No.3467128

>going to a shitty college
>humanities class
>anything lower than an A

>> No.3467136
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3467136

>>3467127
Were you using this keyboard when you wrote it?

>> No.3467138

>>3467086
>what is an introduction
>what is a thesis
>what is a closing paragraph
>what is a restatement of the thesis
>what is structure

Did you make an outline?

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/474249Comparative-Essay-Outline

>> No.3467139

>>3467136
Such wit.

>> No.3467143

>>3467127
no
the assignment was a comparison of the two with a clearly stated thesis
quit being a freshman

>> No.3467150

>>3467138
>>3467143
was my thesis not that Plato's allegory of the cave could be seen as an archetype encompassing the film?

There's not really any other way to compare writing by plato to a meditative western

>> No.3467155

>>3467127
>Not abiding by MLA format
>Citations?
>It's bassically a summary of The Cave and Ox Bow.
>There no thesis statement.
>There's clearly no really thought put into it.
>No substance what so ever.
I can honestly say I would have given you a D for this essay.

>> No.3467168

not op, but do you think if it's bad that i write two essays in a row for my lit class with pretty much the same thesis (except for the work)
they're decently enough supported and i didn't really intend to do this, but now i have two essays that say these two pieces have the same point

>> No.3467171

>>3467150
>Plato’s Allegory of the Cave can be seen as a broad archetype of the film’s portrayal of truth and justice.
I assume you meant this as your thesis. It's just too general for a thesis.

Try this:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5012335_wre-statement-compare-contrast-essahtml

It doesn't really take that much work to get Bs and slide through undergraduate school, but if you really do want to be a bang up essayist you need to do some basic research on how to just write your papers. There are guides all over the place for every type of essay.

>> No.3467172

>>3467155
I had citations.
Your MLA point is valid.
What's wrong with my thesis? My thesis was that the happenings of the film can be understood through the allegory, ...

I don't even see how it could have been anything else. And I'm not saying that as a dick, but as a "please enlighten me".

>> No.3467177

>>3467150
that is not a thesis
your thesis is basically: "we can compare both"
well done

>> No.3467178

>>3467168
What are the works and what's the thesis?

>> No.3467184

Your essay is basically an introduction to your thesis, that didn't happened.
That's why two pages for a college essay is completely retarded. You are retarded. Specially for hating your retarded teacher to give an overrated B.

>> No.3467188

>>3467172
Specificity is the king of all in the world of words.

>> No.3467195

>>3467178
i know somebody from my class reads /lit/ so i don't want to post the stories
if you could humor me and just pretend they are sensible, well-supported, etc. i would appreciate it
basically they both just identify the theme of the stories as opposing desires for freedom and connection inherent in human relationships and then elaborate from slightly different perspectives based on the texts.
i didn't even realize that i had done this until i wrote the entire second one today, which is due friday.

>> No.3467198

>>3467171
>>3467177


If there were a magical, omnipotent search engine that could compare two things, I believe that my essay would be more accurate to the search results than what you are saying. If I asked the search engine, "compare the Harlem Shake to the Thomas Nagel's Teleology in two pages", I wouldn't want this search engine to make a nuanced point about something that isn't there. It wouldn't be doing its job. Relatedly (and speaking of teleology) a western film has an incredibly different teleology that a greek AD dialectical work. So it feels like you are saying that I need to sacrifice any and all common sense in order to cater to a specific essay style. Which is probably right.

Someone just give me an example of a thesis that would be viable for a comparative essay between a philosophical idea and a movie.

>> No.3467199

>read this thread
>realise I've never properly used a thesis
Well this'll make things easier

>> No.3467202

>>3467086

>2 pages

Where you double spacing, using 3.0 line spacing, and size 16 font or something?

>> No.3467204

>>3467195
Honestly, it just depends on how you did it. It sounds like it could be very interesting if the theme isn't obvious in one of the stories but if it's something like 1984 and Notes from the Underground it may just look repetitive and hurt the grade of the second paper. So, without knowing the circumstances, it's hard to judge.

>> No.3467207

Apart from practice and time, does anyone have suggestions for improving essay writing skills? Any recommended reads that aren't about time management, 'how to cite' or creating a bibliography?

>> No.3467206

You can get a lot of mileage out of elevating your language. I'm a sophomore studying CS, and last semester I took first in an essay contest above the English majors. Write the first draft however you're comfortable, then edit. I make multiple passes. Some ground rules:
- No contractions
- No cliches
- No mixed metaphors
- None of the following, which are the various conjugates of the infinitive "to be":
is are was were am be been being has have had could would should do does did may might must can shall will
Unless it's in a quote, or it's impossible to avoid. It's almost always possible to avoid. Get ready to learn some verbs.
- Work rhythmic elements and other best practices from speech, poetry, and creative writing into prose. Don't overdo it. If it's noticeable and annoying, it's bad, but prose that sounds good in the reader's internal monologue is always better than prose that clashes.

>> No.3467214

>>3467198
A thesis needs to be a personal (or unique) point of view, backed by textual arguments. You are not claiming anything at all, or at least nothing controversial or interesting.
You are not asked to be "accurate" or act like a giant database. You are asked to come up with an original thought (which, let's be frank, is bullshit since there is no original thought), and to justify it.

I haven't seen the movie you're writing about, but a good start would be to claim that Plato's idealist duality can justify a dictatorship or an aristocratic regime (and tie that idea with the movie), which would lead in your conclusion to the Republic.

>> No.3467216
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3467216

>>3467127
>palatino linotype

Shit nigga what are you doing?

>> No.3467221

>>3467207
Read some scientific journals. Those guys are buggers for structure.

>> No.3467226

>>3467207
have you ever taken a college composition class? you know how they tell you to buy those textbooks about writing nobody reads? get an old edition and try reading it. there's actually some good stuff in them.
i never bothered to look at them, even if i'd rented them, until this semester

>> No.3467230
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3467230

>>3467127
>palatino linotype
>not merriweather

>> No.3467234
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3467234

>>3467230
>anything else than Times

>> No.3467235

>>3467214
This. Just be specific about how they are similar in your thesis and structure your essay around your points rather than the plot of the story.

>> No.3467240

I have never in my entire life received an A for any class or paper, and I'm doing all right, so don't worry too much about it :)

>> No.3467241

So, you turned in a paper with no thesis summarizing the two things in a non-standard font and you're complaining about a B?

>> No.3467248

>>3467234
Seriously, how does anyone get away with anything other than Times New Roman in a 12 font?

>> No.3467254

>>3467226
This will sound lazy but could you give me the name of some books? I have no possibility of doing a 'composition class'.

>> No.3467259

>>3467248
comic sans ms with unicorns is the way to go, bra

>> No.3467272
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3467272

>>3467248

I conform to this rule, but I prefer to write with a smaller point size. Anything above a '10' looks like the crude cave-scratchings of an illiterate ogre to me.

>> No.3467291

>>3467254
Sorry, I have no idea what we used in my classes. It was a while ago. I would try and find the syllabus for a writing class at your school, then just get a cheap azz older edition of the book off amazon or something.

>> No.3467328

>>3467254
Just go to your local bookstore and look in the reference section for writing guides and pick one that you think you'll be able to understand. The rules don't typically change from author to author but the presentation does.