What is Digg?51 Comments
- dhuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+242.) DON'T CITE WIKIPEDIA
- Roger, on 10/12/2007, -3/+26Here's my tip:
write it the night before its due.
(Not a good tip, but it's worked so far) - Jackanapes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22I wrote a killer term paper. Got an A+ because 11 people died.
- playerslight, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19I'll add one, from my experience as a graduate teaching assistant:
Don't go in and quibble over a mark that is worth less than 1% of your final grade. Unless you have a stellar argument showing that a) the mark was calculated incorrectly, or b) your answer somehow showed deep insight into the material that overworked grad students just missed, we will instantly recognize it as grade-digging and automatically put you into the appropriate mental category. This categorization will have an effect when you try to email the TA, or when marking papers when a questionable answer pops up. The last thing you want when your TA is marking your paper is for him/her to read the answer, wonder "who in the hell wrote that bit of tripe", look to the front, and recognize your name as the irritating student who nickel and dimes their way to a better grade.
/rant - Hale, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I argued over 1 point on a test once and that one point bumped me high enough that I didn't have to take the final. :) Worth it, IMO. My answer was right, I wasn't trying to pull points out of my ass. I'm just saying "Every point helps."
- Hale, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11If I had time to read 57 tips, I'd have time to write a killer paper.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I'd write better papers if I woeren't on digg so goddamn much
- barryiggins, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9 About a month ago I wrote a 15 pager in the 7 hours before it was due. I find this technique brings a certain immediacy and edge to my writing style.
Honestly though, it was pretty much retarded, but somehow I passed anyway. whatcha gonna do - manitoba98xp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9http://www.digg.com/logout
Although I should be writing a high school history essay right now, due in 2 days, so I really shouldn't be talking, eh? - DeathBorn, on 10/12/2007, -6/+131) Use Wikipedia.
Fixed. - DeathBorn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5That might be valid if the article title was "57 tips to get Herpes." Otherwise, no.
- wordfan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This page has a lot of good advice, but I would add to it. The MOST important step is to have a clear thesis before you begin writing. Make sure your thesis isn't too broad and general. It is much better to have a narrow and persuasive thesis. It is much easier to write persuasively. "All about Napoleon" is a bad thesis. A better thesis would be, "How the continental policy lead to Napoleon Bonaparte's undoing", or even better, something even narrower like "Winning the battle but losing the war - how Napoleon's empire was lost the moment he set foot in Russia." And don't worry if you end up disagreeing with your original thesis, just change it - "How Napoleon could have defeated Russia and saved his empire" can flow just as easily from your research.
- Hale, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3After reading 57, who would remember?
- jaynedoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3blehh, i think i might need help. i got B's on all my papers last semester and i did all of them the night before
- Ashex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This method works surprisingly well. However I strongly recommend reading the paper over the next day. While the papers turn out looking pretty decent, a lot of the time it will be riddled with grammatical errors of various types.
- BlackMagic2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have a U.S. History paper that is due tomorrow. This doesn't really help me, but having 8 weeks to do something and not even picking a topic yet probably warrants the unhelpfulness :/
Last minute procrastination FTW, or in my case, FTL :( - TenebrousX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2tell me how that works out for you
- hiPpymIck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2the only way i ever found of relieving the tedium ofthe academic grind was (when revising for exams)
to start ridiculously early...4 mts before the exam
1)you can then afford to get fed up and teke a few days off here and there
2)you can discover a 'comfortable' work rate - you have the time to do that
3)as the exam looms it seems to help with rising panic - i guess you feel prepared
spend the first week only designing your revision timetable - because its easy
...its little effort but gets you gradually into the right frame of mind for the slog ahead)
ps
if you choose to do this remember you have to take the final decision at least 4mts ahead of time! - SkittlesUSA, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Lecturers have a memory for students who don't display no respect and it can affect your mark in the long run."
Was correct grammar a tip to writing a killer term paper? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2*** Only cite wikipedia if you helped write the article***
belive it or not... I picked up extra points for that one - barryiggins, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ Bryan
I get your point about coasting through life, but sometimes that's not the full story. The way I see it, as an undergrad, its all about compromise: they compromise my time and energy by requiring me to take a few classes I don't care about, so I compromise back by writing 15 pages in 7 hours so I have time to focus on what I'm really interested in (film making/screenwriting). In any case, I'm not really seeing the whole TPS report thing in my future, for better or worse.
@ Ashex
Sometimes, such things as "proof-reading" and "spell-checking" must be discarded as the indulgences they are. Shake n' Bake, baby! - vendeep, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3dude, "dont wait till last minute"... thats what almost every single college student does!!!
- brainache, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yep i ought to be writing my end-of-semester essay for European Studies right at this moment. Procrastination is great fun.
"Im not procrastinating, I'm wasting potential." - Depthfunction, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1As a teacher myself, I have to say that that page has some excellent advice. Classrooms across the country would be much better, much more efficient, and much more effective places if every student followed that advice.
- playerslight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have a feeling you're young, probably in the 2nd or 3rd year of college. You should know that you probably do not have superior knowledge to your professor. Even if you're some sort of prodigy, you'll find that most papers are marked with an emphasis on how well you can develop an argument. Your pet theories aside, if you can't back up your idea with a lucid discussion you'll get a crappy grade and it'll look like the professor didn't like your idea.
I don't know what institution you go to, but I've met very few profs in my academic career who don't relish the input of an eager young student with new and exciting ideas. *That* is how academia is supposed to work. - Thex1138, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1These tips can also be applied to report writing in general..
- tokyokevin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've always thought the hardest part of a research paper was the Bibiography. Whether you use APA or MLA formats, I tell my students in my Seminar class to use the Citation Machine to format their references. Saves them hours of work and I get decent results.
http://citationmachine.net/ - Roger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Come on, be realistic.
- Sentinel88, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's really simple. When you look at your paper, does it look like you plagiarized a coloring book? Does your philosophy paper open with "Philosophy is a complicated subject" ? Do you lack words longer than 10 letters? Do you cite TV? (of course not! you plagiarize TV!)
In short, if you would feel like an idiot saying it, don't write it. Or just get on your knees.... - harriman714, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1
last semester my used accounting info systems book had lots of highlighting....but the previous owner thought it was helpful to only highlight words already in bold!?! - playerslight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Fair enough, I was thinking more along the lines of people who argue one point out of 30 from an assignment, when the assignment itself is only worth 5 marks out of your total. You're putting me through 15 minutes of arguing and pleading for 1/6th of 1% of your final. This makes me hate you.
- usefulidiot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ellen Feiss was the one wrote that.
Those were the days...
http://www.ellenfeiss.net/
Ok so now i was like writing my term paper, and then poof, my macbook started on fire! It was a good paper too! - bennybertow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+158) If you work overnight on the last day, don't think you will wake up on your regular alarm clock... Murphy states that you won't.
- despreocupado, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2if the mark is more than 1% over the minimum grade... stay very quiet, don't draw any attention to yourself... and when safely far away from lecturer, celebrate (loudly!) and gives loads of thanks to whoever allowed you to read their work 5minutes before the deadline.... some advice to live by from a person who writes to many at present... :D
- vampares, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No digg because that would almost be like work.
- yankeeboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Essay writing as well.
http://www.college-cram.com/articles/How_to_write_an_essay.htm - cajungator2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If it wasn't for the last minute nothing would get done
- thegoldstandard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have a feeling I might get "dugg down" because of this, but my tip is DO NOT write a paper that exhibits superior knowledge than your professor has on any topic.
The upshot: don't let your prof figure out that you are more well-read than he is. He will feel intimidated and lower your grade as a result.
Pathetic I know, but this is academia-- an entity not to be confused with actual learning. - Roger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1That used to happen to me.
Fortunately only my non-major classes required essays, so I didn't really care. - alarchy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Also, buy books used from your student bookstore.
Besides being lower cost, there is the hidden bonus which comes from the previous owners of the book who highlighted/underlined important passages (or at least what *they* though was important) for you! However, be careful with this - as sometimes people will highlight everything, not enough stuff, or stuff that you don't need.
It can be handy in a pinch though, if you're a major procrastinator. - mistapotta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Don't forget these tips:
* clever nickname
* a good introduction, since that's all the teacher will read
* apply a little double space action (or maybe some triple space action)
* beef it up with some random diagrams
* throw in a little cash to "seal the deal"
Thanks to http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail64.html. - theguy23, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1FTA
"Lecturers have a memory for students who don't display no respect."
Tip #58: Don't trust term paper advice given by someone who can't write. - Roger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1160 people dugg this so far.
Sounds like you're gonna have alotta sucking to do lowfalls. - qkslvr221, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Take ENC1101 or similar.
- smittyfree, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I got a god damn 3.6 and I did absolutely everything the night before/morning of.
- BryanUT, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4@barryiggins
And after you graduate you'll wonder why the ass in the cube next to yours is a Director and you are still writing TPS reports.
Take pride in your work. Sheesh, kids.
Bryan - macserv, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Write it on a Mac, or else the PC will be like, *beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep*, and then, like, half of your paper will be gone, even if it was a really good paper. Then you'll have to write it again, and you'll have to do it fast, so it won't be as good.
You'll be like... ... ...nnhh?
I'm serious, you guys; I saw some stoned chick tell all about it on TV once. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2ah nah..check out http://www.igotaplus.com ...really neat site...needs some work !
- monkeycatDx, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1How about not doing it, the day before it due.
- lowfalls, on 10/12/2007, -12/+1Tip #1 Suck your proffesors *****.
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