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Here are some
tips on style and content for your papers and exam essays. After you have
produced a rough draft based on your thematic outline, go through and
edit your text (as often as time allows) with these things in mind.
Style
Get a copy of
Strunk & White, The Elements of Style, and use it as a writing aid.
See a basic style guide on use of commas, semi-colons, colons, and dashes.
Take a look at www.economist.com.
They also provide a good guide.
Avoid the passive voice altogether.
Make the author or artist the active agent in your papers. They deserve
credit for the work they created and the themes they conveyed!
Number must always agree.
Verb tense must be consistent.
Use the past tense for things said, done, written, painted, composed,
sculpted, designed, etc., in the past. It makes more sense to us historians.
Use conjunctions to smooth the flow of your ideas.
Establish smooth transitions from one paragraph to another, using subtle
references to the preceding material, and conjunctions.
Don't use contractions (e.g. "don't") in formal writing.
Don't use "this," "it" and "that" without
clear referents.
Compound sentences must always be "parallel." Ask your composition
instructor about this important rule.
Odds and Ends
Avoid the phrase "a lot" (which consists of two words, by
the way). Use "much" or "many" instead.
"It's" = "it is" "Its" = "that of
it"
in·fer (¹n-fûr") v. in·ferred, in·fer·ring,
in·fers. --tr. 1. To conclude from evidence or premises. 2. To
reason from circumstance; surmise. 3. To lead to as a consequence or
conclusion. 4. To hint; imply. --intr. To draw inferences
im·ply (¹m-plº") tr.v. im·plied, im·ply·ing,
im·plies. 1. To involve by logical necessity; entail. 2. To express
or indicate indirectly.
It is absolutely necessary to reiterate points, but you want to avoid
redundant vocabulary. Use a thesaurus!
Works of art don't just "show" ideas: they represent, convey,
symbolize, relate, communicate!
Content
Develop a title
that communicates your subject and thesis.
Every culture has a conception of "beauty" (as in "The
ancient Greeks loved Beauty"). The question we are addressing is
how the various standards of Beauty differ from time to time, movement
to movement, etc.
Remember, people-real men and women-are the active agents of history,
not the "movements" or "trends" or "isms"
themselves. Don't leave them out of the story!
Never, when looking at art works, forget that real people had to spend
time and energy manipulating the materials according to their way of
looking at the world. Always imagine, even in "anonymous"
pieces, what was going through the mind of the creator!
I am not pushing for precise dates in this course; but you should always
give some general indication of time/era. I recommend that you always
try to place an event/work within the early, middle, or late portion
of a century. You will thus establish a general chronological framework
in which you can relate a variety of events/creations.
Citations
Don't forget that
you need direct quotes from your primary sources as evidence. Take advantage
of this opportunity to savor the words (colors, sounds, etc.) of great
works: this is the great benefit (and pleasure) of this sort of study-don't
miss out on it!
When you use material from other sources, you must indicate where it
came from.
pla·gia·rize (pl³"j…-rºz") v.
pla·gia·rized, pla·gia·riz·ing, pla·gia·riz·es.
--tr. 1. To use and pass off as one's own (the ideas or writings of
another). 2. To appropriate for use as one's own passages or ideas from
(another). --intr. To put forth as original to oneself the ideas or
words of another.
See Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations
for answers to any formatting questions.
If you ever use precisely the same words as your sources, you must provide
quotation marks!
Integrate citations smoothly into your text: they should flow from (and
within) your own sentence structure. Adjustments can be made and marked
with brackets [] and ellipses... (Note: ellipses are not necessary at
the start of a quote, even in you jump into the middle.)
You should introduce guest experts whose material you cite as background,
so that the reader can judge whether his/her opinion is worth considering.
("According to …"; In the opinion of …"; "_____
argued, …")
Make sure you paraphrase as much of your secondary material as possible:
it should be transposed into your own words. (But don't forget: you
must provide a reference note for any material derived from another
source - even if paraphrased.)
About using quotes at the very end: You really shouldn't leave the last
word to someone else. This is your paper in which you have expressed
your opinion about something. You should reserve the right to conclude
this argument. One rarely has the chance to do so outside of writing,
don't waste it!
Simplicity
Despite all these
rules (and many, many more), you must ultimately strive simplicity in
your writing. In efforts to "sound sophisticated" we sometimes
fall into the trap of rendering our ideas more complicated than necessary.
But when you consider truly good writing, you will see that it is usually
written in a clear and direct fashion. Try to express yourself in the
shortest possible sentences, using only enough words to communicate
your thoughts. Flaubert wrote, roughly, that only one noun, one verb
and one adjective are required to express any idea. This may be pushing
it, but keep his "ideal" in mind.
Finally, before deciding on their final form, you should read your sentences-aloud
and preferably to someone-to make sure that they make sense and flow
smoothly.
Reference Notes
Your paper should
include complete foot or endnotes, according to the following formats.
(Historians generally use this modified "Chicago" style.)
Complete footnotes of this nature do not require an additional bibliography.
First References:
Book: Author
Name (first last), Title (City: Publisher, Year), p. (or pp.)
[Cited Page(s)].
E.g.David B. Dennis, Beethoven in German Politics: 1870-1989
(New Haven: Yale University Press), p. 12. [or, pp. 12-15.]
Edited Book: Editor(s) Name(s) (first last), ed., Title,
(City: Publisher, Year), p. (or pp.) [Cited Page(s)].
E.g. Glenn Stanley,
ed., Cambridge Companion to Beethoven (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2000)
Book Section: Author Name (first last), "Title of Section,"
in Whole Book Title, ed. [Editor's Name], (City: Publisher,
Year) Pages [of whole section]: p. (or pp.), [Cited Page(s)].
E.g. David
B. Dennis, "Beethoven At Large: Reception in Literature, the
Arts, Philosophy, and Politics" in Glenn Stanley, ed., Cambridge
Companion to Beethoven (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2000)
, pp.
Journal Article: Author Name (first last), "Article Title,"
Journal, Volume no., Issue (Year) Pages [of whole article]:
p. (or pp.) [Cited Page(s)].
E.g. David B. Dennis, "Crying 'Wolf'? A Review Essay
on Recent Wagner Literature," German Studies Review, February
2001, 145-158: 147.
Newspaper Article: Reporter Name (first last), "Article Title,"
Newspaper, Issue Date, Year, p. (or pp.) [Cited Page(s)].
Computer Program: Title, Version number, Publisher, City.
Electronic Source (website): Author, Title [Type of Medium] (Access
Date ); available from [URL].
Immediately
repeated source: Ibid., p. (or pp.) [Cited Page(s)].
E.g. Ibid., p. 12.
Subsequently repeated source (after
first mention, and intervening references to other sources): Last Name,
Shortened Title, p. (or pp.) [Cited Page(s)].
E.g. Dennis, "Crying Wolf," p. 148.
TO CITE OUR COURSE
READINGS: Include the name and title of the original source,
and then "in Dennis, Course Readings for History 106, Loyola University
Chicago, Spring 2002.
E.g. Charles Baudelaire, To the Reader, in Dennis, "Course
Readings for History 106," Loyola University Chicago, Spring 2002.
E.g. Eugen Weber, "Futurism," from Movements, Currents,
Trends, in Dennis, "Course Readings for History 106,"
Loyola University Chicago, Spring 2002.
Finally, a reminder
to all of you:
Don't leave Loyola without demanding information on how to improve
your writing style! Unfortunately, it is very possible to go through our
programs without sufficiently developing your writing skills. Most professors
are not willing to take the time to help with student writing unless requested
to do so. I can only devote so much time and energy to indicating problems.
I suggest that you contact the Writing Center for guidance on every paper
you produce: now is the time to do it; there is no shame in using these
resources. You are paying for them, after all!
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