ARTH 311        Critical Take paper directions             Prof. S. ffolliott

CRITICAL TAKE PAPERS.  This assignment helps you focus on the assigned reading and develop your potential for evaluating it and expressing your views succinctly in written form.  Your doing the ‘critical take’ will prepare you for and allow us to have a more profitable in-class discussion.

First.  Well before each class do the assigned reading.  Follow the advice on the “On Reading Critically” handout as well as the specific questions pertaining to each week’s assignment sent to you over e-mail.  Keep a dictionary handy as you read for when you encounter new words.  You may need to read the selection more than once and sometimes you don’t need to worry about details: look for the major arguments.        

Then what?  When you have finished each selection, look back over your notes and highlights.  Write down a few key points about what you’ve read in terms of the author’s argument and your reaction to its effectiveness (again, refer to “On Reading Critically”).  Gather your observations into a 1-2 page double-spaced essay in which you indicate your views.  Do not just summarize the factual information without commenting on it or setting it into context. Draw a conclusion at the end.

Polish.  Read the “Writing Tips” at the end of this assignment and the section on the course website.  Word-process your draft (what you’ve written) and check for errors of spelling, punctuation, etc.  Rewrite as need be.  Print your essay and proofread carefully.   For some of you this may be a new kind of assignment.  Don’t expect it to be perfect the first time.    

Format.  Follow this format please.  Start page 1 (no cover!) with a complete bibliographical citation of the reading selection or selections (author, title, publisher, date and chapters or pages [or journal article title, journal name, volume number, date, pages).    

 ______________________________

|     -- <staple>

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|          Your name

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|“Critical take” on Thomas Dandelet, “Spanish Conquest and Colonization at the Center of the        Old World: The Spanish Nation in Rome, 1555-1625), The Journal of Modern history 69(1997), 479-511.

               Begin your text right here …..

A few tips on effective writing: some expectations for written work undertaken outside of class: 

All papers are due in or before class on the due dates.  Papers submitted late will be graded down.  If you are having difficulty, please speak to me: I would like to be part of the solution. 

• Papers must be written in Standard English, word-processed, double-spaced, and PROOFREAD (by a human being, not just a spell-checker).
• (see above) A title page is not required and no plastic covers, please (let’s save trees and oil).
• Your ideas do not exist independently of the way in which they are presented: spelling, grammar, and syntax factor into your grade.  Take advantage of The Writing Center is one of the great assets at GMU.  You will receive one-on-one attention and it is FREE!  Their offices are located in Robinson A 116, but it is best to call for an appointment first: 993-1200.  Also make certain to refer to their fabulously informative website: http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/
• All assignments must be your own work based upon your own analysis of readings, and not what someone else has said or written.  Make certain that you are familiar with the concept of plagiarism.  This is CHEATING, a serious academic offense defined by the GMU Honor Code as follows:
• Presenting as one’s own the works, the work, or the opinion of someone else without proper acknowledgment.
• Borrowing the sequence of ideas, the arrangement of material, or the pattern of thought of someone else without proper acknowledgment. 

Your papers must be very specific and focused on the topic.  The assignment requires you to take a position on something and argue it.  The best papers start with a clear statement at the outset of the main issues that you will raise, generally a thesis statement or a couple of sentences that prepare the reader for what you will present.  So, don’t expect your opening sentence to be all that you want it to be on the first draft.  You will want to refine it as your ideas coalesce. 

• Build up your argument/s point by point.
• Include enough ‘glue’ (transitional statements and topic sentences) so that your reader knows where you are heading.

Most good papers go through many drafts.  The early attempts are much longer than what is required for the assignment and then, over successive drafts, they are honed and refined by condensing so that every word in the final draft contributes.  Imagine a 3- 4 page draft becoming a really strong 2-page paper. 

Condensing hints: 

• Choose only your very best ideas for inclusion (eliminate points that really don’t contribute, even if they are interesting). 
• Strive for precision.  Say exactly what you mean.  Eliminate excess verbiage.  Choose each word carefully.  The most effective words are often the simplest and most direct .

Style pointers:   (If  these terms are unfamiliar, please work with the Writing Center right away). 

• Sentences: 

o Vary your sentence structure.  Don’t use only simple declarative sentences or start every sentence with “The.”  Learn to use relative clauses and other techniques that affect the rhythm of your prose (and keep your reader engaged). 

• Avoid the “comma splice” (linking with a comma what could stand on their own as two complete sentences); you must separate them into two sentences or link them with a conjunction or colon or semicolon, depending upon the sentence itself. 
• Comma splice: “The lecturer spoke clearly, the topic was interesting.”
• Correct: “The lecturer spoke clearly.  The topic was interesting.”  
• Passive voice.  Avoid the passive voice (e.g. “It was seen that …”) and constructions using the verb “to be” in its various forms (e.g. is, was).  These tend to weaken the impact of your ideas and you want your writing to present them in a strong and forceful manner.  Rearrange sentences to avoid the passive.  Here’s an example. 
• Passive:  This website is enlivened by the use of strong design elements.
• Active:  Strong design elements enliven this website.
• The “its” problem.  If you’ve not mastered this by now, there is no time like the present.  Do NOT make this mistake any longer. 
• It’s = it is   A contraction. “It’s a girl!”
• Its = of it   Possessive.   “Its color is yellow” (a singular example of the possessive NOT requiring an apostrophe)
• Its’ does not exist.