This is a key to common comments made on your papers.
Those comments that are underlined belong in the top
15 list of most commonly made mistakes.
ACC = Check the use of your
example or reference to the author you are discussing, as it is not
accurate. You need to make sure you have
read the relevant texts carefully, and then report them accurately. This mark also applies to accuracy with
respect to lecture material.
AOA = In
your précis response, anticipate objections to the author's arguments if you
agree with the author. Don't merely
rehash what the author has already said.
Consider how the author's opponent would object to the author and then
answer these objections.
AWK = Your
phrasing is awkward here; re-word the phrase to make it smoother and easier to
understand. As you read a work written
by a professional, pay attention to how the author writes and imitate this
style.
AT = This is an abrupt
transition, i.e., the previous paragraph does not transition in any smooth way
into the subsequent paragraph. Abrupt
transitions can also occur within paragraphs; generally the easiest fix for such
a problem is to start a new paragraph.
CITE = If you quote an author,
make sure you provide a proper citation.
Parenthetical citations (author, page #) with bibliography of works
cited provided at end of paper may be used.
One may also use footnotes or endnotes detailing the work cited (author,
name or article or book, publisher, date of publications, pages, and editors if
applicable).
CLN = Show that you care about
turning in a quality paper by making sure that it is cleanly printed; if the
text is crooked, or your printer is running out of ink, reprint the paper or
make the necessary arrangements to do so on a printer that is working properly;
you can use any computer lab to do this.
Also, you should double space, print on only one side
of the page, and use one-inch margins. Sloppiness evinces a callous
attitude toward your work.
CLR = You
need to be clearer here. You need to
express your ideas with more eloquence and precision. Make sure your sentence makes sense. Make sure you understand what you are
saying.
CON = Be
consistent with spelling and capitalization.
Even if you are making a grammatical mistake, being consistent in making
this mistake will at least convey confidence (though it be
false confidence).
CSC = Be
more concise here. You can make your
point in fewer words.
CTC = Avoid the use of
contractions, e.g., shouldn’t, can’t, isn't; these are informal and are not
suitable for most papers that you are required to write at the college level.
EVAL =
"Evaluate" means tell me what you think of the philosopher's argument
and why you think so; this is where you begin to do philosophy. You are attributing "value" to the
objection at hand—either positive or negative.
Also, you must be clear when you are providing your own opinions of an
argument or objection. To do this, start
a new paragraph and consider switching to first person to let me know that you
are now speaking apart from the stated argument or objection. It is generally best to provide evaluation
immediately after stating an objection instead of waiting until the end of your
paper to evaluate an objection you discussed a couple of pages ago. In a précis, EVAL may indicate that you are
evaluating when you should be summarizing.
Evaluation is reserved only for your response section.
EDIT =
You need to edit your paper which means you must leave enough time to re-read
your paper for mistakes. Reading your
paper aloud or even backwards can help you detect errors. Also, letting someone else read your paper be
an effective means for catching mistakes.
Also, do not depend entirely on spelling checkers and grammar checkers;
these sometimes fail to catch mistakes.
For example, a spelling checker will not catch the following
misusage: "Jane and Bill went to
the store. They're going proved
unsuccessful, however, since the store was closed." Here, 'They're' should be replaced 'Their' though 'They're is a proper spelling for the
contraction 'They are'.
FLOW = Your sentences do not flow in a logical, sequential, clear
fashion. Your paragraph needs to cohere
more to one central idea.
FORM = If you are going to state
an argument or a definition, it is best to set this apart from the rest of your
text and, if it takes up more than one line, it is best to single space
it. Moreover, it is perfectly acceptable
to refer to premises of an argument by their number throughout your paper. For example
(1)
All persons possesses the right to live.
(2)
Fetuses are persons.
(3)
Abortion violates the right to life.
(4)
Violating the right to life is morally impermissible.
(C)
Therefore, abortion is morally impermissible.
Throughout
the rest of the paper, you can now simply refer to (1) or P1 if you label it
this way—just be consistent with the manner of labeling you choose to use.
FRAG = This
sentence is not a complete sentence; it is a sentence fragment, i.e., it does
not have a subject and a predicate. Here
is an example of a sentence fragment:
"Being ready to make the right decision." This phrase is an incomplete thought. The natural question here is Who or What does this
phrase refer to? Sentence fragments are
unacceptable at the college level and are subject to severe penalty; if you
struggle with these, you should get help during my office hours or with a tutor
or writing lab instructor—see me for details.
INF = This
is stated informally. Make sure you use
formal style when writing philosophy papers.
Included in this standard is the avoidance of such talk as “So far in
class…” or conversational sentences like “Who knows?” In general, you must learn to write
differently than you speak in normal conversation.
INTRO = Your
introductory paragraph needs improvement.
Avoid opening your paper with a sentence or paragraph of the sort,
“Since the dawn of time, philosophers have debated what is morally right.” Instead cut to the chase and begin
immediately with your topic at hand. Remember,
your first sentence and paragraph make a significant
impression on the grader. Also, for
précis the introductory paragraph needs to be a general summary of the entire
article. See précis instructions for
details.
IRR = This
point is irrelevant to answering the essay question and is likely irrelevant to
the point you are trying to make.
MOD = Avoid the use of “very,”
“many,” “basically,” and other vague modifiers; they do not add any significant
content to the noun or adjective you are modifying.
NS = No space here. Also, avoid skipping lines between
paragraphs.
NSF = You
need a stronger first sentence. Avoid
starting your paper with generic sentences like "Since the dawn of time,
philosophers have debated over the nature of morality. Instead, cut to the chase and begin with a
sentence like "In his article, James Rachels attacks Cultural Relativism
by attacking a popular argument for it, considering its consequences, and
questioning its assumptions."
OBJ = You
need to state the objection more clearly and accurately. Do not merely rely on class notes, but go to
the reading to make sure your representation of the objection is accurate; make
sure you understand it before writing.
P# = Please put page numbers
on each page of your paper, though you may omit the first page. You should use your word processor to do
this; doing this assures me that your pages are in the right order and enables
me to locate them if they become detached from each other.
PER = It is best to stay in
third-person, though first-person is acceptable. Second-person is unacceptable; it is too
informal for most college papers. Once
you can demonstrate that you are capable of consistently writing in third or
first person, then you can move to second-person, but
not in this class. When you write in
third person, make sure you know how to use pronouns correctly. See "PRO" for details.
PRE = Be
more precise in what you say.
PRO = If you can do so, avoid
using a pronoun
to refer to an antecedent outside of the sentence within which you are using
the pronoun. For example,
The Divine Command Theory states that x is morally
right iff x is commanded by the gods. It is a good theory.
Here
“It” refers to the Divine Command Theory of the previous sentence. It is better to make these two sentences into
one sentence or to at least find another way of stating your ideas such that
you avoid putting antecedents and their pronouns in different sentences. Failing to do this can often lead to
confusion over which noun the pronoun represents. For example,
Jane or Mary went to the store. I am not sure what she bought, though.
Finally,
when referring to an anonymous person, e.g., the "amoralist,"
choose a masculine or feminine pronoun e.g., her, his, himself, and herself to
refer to the person instead of using theirself or
themselves which are plural pronouns that refer to more than one person. You must keep plurals with plurals and
singulars with singulars. Finally, many
professors prefer that you alternate the gender of your pronouns throughout
your paper;
avoid, however, writing his/her; just chose one and alternate.
PS = Please staple. Why lose points for something that is so easy
to do? When you do not staple your paper,
you lead the grader to believe that you do not care as much as you might about
the quality of work you turn in.
Moreover, pages can easily get separated and lost. Furthermore, make sure your pages are stapled
in the proper order—another reason for page numbers.
QOT = This
quote does not illustrate the point you are trying to make. Do not fail to give the author you are quoting credit; there is no such
thing as an anonymous quote. Even
anonymous quotes are cited "(Anonymous)."
RD = Redundant; you are
unnecessarily repeating yourself here.
Do not repeat yourself. Really,
you should avoid repeating yourself, because, when you repeat yourself, you
just keep telling the reader the same thing over and over and over and over and
over again. So, in summary, do not
repeat yourself.
RUN = This
sentence is a run-on sentence—probably because it is not punctuated
properly. Run-ons, like fragments, are
unacceptable at a college level of writing.
RW = Re-word; you need to say
this more clearly and with more style.
SN = Please do not put your
name on your paper; instead, use your student number. Granting this request assures that your paper
is graded objectively. Why loose points
for failing to grant such a simple request?
SP = Your spelling and/or
capitalization is incorrect here.
SS = Single-space
here.
STL = This sentence is too long.
Break it up to make it clearer.
TENSE = It is best to use the
present tense when talking about a philosophical argument, since it is a
timeless entity. For example, instead of
saying, “Plato’s argument was…” or “Plato argued…” say “Plato’s argument is…” or “Plato argues…”
UND = You have not demonstrated your understanding of the
argument, premise, objection, or theory.
VAG = This
is vaguely stated; state the sentence more precisely and use more specific
words to express what you are trying to say; doing so convinces the reader that
you understand what you are talking about.
WAND =
You are wandering here; your sentences do not flow
naturally from one to the next.
WC = You
need to use a better word here. Make
sure you understand how the word you are using is supposed to be used. It is better to use a simpler word that you
know you understand that a fancy word that you use incorrectly.
® = You need to indent this
paragraph.
·
Comments and marks on your papers do not necessarily indicate that the
paper is poorly written, even if there are a lot of comments and marks. No matter how good (or bad) your paper is, my goal as your teacher is to help foster your
intellectual growth by pushing you to the next step. No philosophy paper is
perfect—even those written by professional philosophers.
·
Try to use active not passive verbs—they are more interesting and are
generally more forceful. Here is an
example of a passive versus the active use of a verb.
Passive: The
girl was benefited by the kind action of the elderly man.
Active: The
elderly man's action benefited the young girl.
·
Know the difference between the words "then" and
"than." Students often confuse
these two words.
·
Put quote marks around titles of articles, e.g., "A Defense of
Abortion." Also, do not italicize
titles of articles—only titles of books.
You may also choose to underline the titles of books.
·
In general, to write a good philosophy paper, you must have a firm
handle on English grammar and syntax since you are communicating complicated
ideas. Grammar is simply an expression
of the logical structure of thought itself, and philosophy, of course, stands
on the pillars of logic (as does all truth).
·
Avoid expressions like “I believe” or "I feel" as they only
weaken what you are trying to say. Just
say it.
·
Spell out numbers under ten.
·
Be careful how you use the words "valid" and
"validity." These are technical
terms in philosophy that refer to the structure of an argument. A valid argument is an argument
in which the premises entail the conclusion, i.e., if the premises are true,
the conclusion must be true by the laws of logic. Hence, premises are not valid; arguments
are. Sound arguments are those
arguments that are both valid and contain true premises. To avoid technical confusion, it is best not
to refer to single premises as either valid or sound, though this is a common
manner of speaking. Instead, refer to
premises as true or false. Of course, if
one gives an argument for an individual premise, that argument can be either
valid or sound.
Here is an example of a valid argument:
(1) All
bachelors are unmarried, adult, males.
(2) John is a
bachelor.
Therefore,
(C) John is an unmarried, adult male.
Here is an example of an argument that is both valid
and sound:
(1) All
bachelors are unmarried, adult males.
(2) The pope
is a bachelor.
Therefore,
(C) The pope is an unmarried, adult male.
·
When first mentioning an authority, always mention the authority’s
entire name, not just the authority’s last name. Subsequently, you can refer to the author’s
last name only. For example, do not
start talking about Williams' objection without first mentioning Bernard
Williams.
·
The standard spelling of the word "therefore" is not
"therefor."
·
Be careful in how you use the words "prove,"
"disprove," "refute," and "rebut." The first three terms are strong terms in
philosophy; they mean that someone has shown an argument to be right or wrong
beyond all possible doubt, e.g., in geometry, when one does a
"proof"—say that the sum of the angles of a triangle add up to the
sum of two right angles—she does so beyond any reasonable doubt. To rebut or repudiate an
argument is simply to declare that it is false by offering an objection; this
is a much more common thing to claim in philosophy as refutations are hard to
come by. Rebutting or repudiating an
argument involves declaring that an argument is not sound. Refuting or disproving an argument involves
showing that the argument is not valid.
·
When you are "making a case" for an argument all you are
doing is showing why someone might think that an argument is true; you
need not attempt to persuade someone of an argument that you may think to be
wrong in the first place. So, when
making a case, you might say something like "one might hold to premise one
because…."
·
Avoid using the dictionary to define terms; generally the definitions
are too broad for the purposes of philosophy.
·
"States" is a more formal and preferable term than
"says" in philosophy papers.
·
A useful tool for college students is an electronic dictionary for your
personal computer; these often come with electronic encyclopedias so you may
already have one, unbeknownst to you. I
use the Random House unabridged dictionary; it allows me to search for words
and definitions quickly. Regardless of
whether you use an electronic dictionary, you should look up any word you use
when you are not certain of its proper use.
Refrain from guessing, for this just makes you look careless or
uninformed if the grader does know what the word means.