Introducing CORE STUDIES ONE as construed by JBVS

FORMAT: Double-space. Type. Make margins 1.5 inches all around the page. Each & every page must contain your name & the page-number.

LENGTH: between four [4] and [9] well-made paragraphs: paragraphs, not pages, are the measure.

WHY PARAGRAPHS? to make you consider what it takes to make a paragraph well & how to make sure that each paragraph relates to what goes before & follows it. On how to relate one thing to another in writing, see further below.

DEADLINE & REVISION: essays handed in on time may be revised for higher credit. Late essays lose one-half point per late class day.

PURPOSE of ESSAYS: to practice making an argument based on evidence from the readings assigned for class. [Review the Protocol for Reading]

Do not take material by others from any source, including the internet.

TO WRITE WELL, you will need to do at least the following:

>> decide on an idea or argument you want to develop & convey;

>> find evidence from assigned reading (not the internet) to support your points [Review Protocol for Reading: http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/jvsickle/csprotoc.htm];

>> fit the evidence into a well-made narrative (paragraphs & sentences);

>> present the evidence accurately with proper credit.

PROPER CREDIT & Format for Quoting: when you quote evidence, you must identify its source as follows:

Homer begins the Iliad with a prayer, "Sing, goddess,...." (Iliad 1.1 [=Book 1, verse 1: compare citation of "Chapter & verse" from sacred texts]).

WORDS QUOTED must be set off by "quotation marks" & their source must be credited so that the quotation can be easily traced. In the above example, minimum information appears for epic poetry: Title of work, number of segment in the work ("book" or "chapter") & numbers of any lines within the segment. For prose, page numbers or section numbers will be enough.

CAUTION: never cite as follows: "Plato in The Republic of Plato says that..."; rather you should write "Plato says, in the Republic, that..."; similarly,never write, "Homer in The Iliad of Homer announces that "wrath" is his main theme."; instead you must write as follows, "Homer in the Iliad announces that "wrath" is his main theme (Iliad. 1.1)."

WHENEVER you use material written by others, you must frame it & identify it in this way: otherwise you commit plagiarism & lose all credit for the essay.

PRACTICAL HINTS for WRITING. You may be wondering, "How do I make a well-made paragraph?" Paragraphs grow from sentences, which grow from phrases, which are the parts of sentence & consist of words grouped to convey ideas. Key phrases conveying main ideas often open sentences, with explanation & support added in. The explanation often continues in further sentences, which should begin, then, with a clear link to the ideas already introduced (for example, ‘explanation’ at the head of this sentence links with the previous sentence. Look at how ‘link’ gets used in what follows). If you are careful to link sentences & paragraphs by means of key ideas, you will be able to get & hold the attention of an audience. Think of writing as telling a story so as to hold the interest of an audience. Keeping the audience in mind is a basic rule of effective speaking & writing.

FURTHER HINT: whenever a word puzzles you, look it up to see how it fits its context. Recommended: American Heritage fourth edition. You can always earn a little extra credit by showing how some difficult word really fits in. [you may check my vocabulary guide too]