Dammit! I hate writing papers.

I have a 3-5 page paper due on Thursday on the topic "What is a Seminar"

I spent all afternoon in the library going through Journals, and other assorted articles

God, researching this topic was more of a pain in the ass than a severe case of hemmerhoids.

Now that I have the Citations down, it's time to start writing the paper, and guess what, I'm about a page through the thing, and I have a major case of Writer's Block.

*Paitiently waits for all the old farts to tell their horror stories about what it was like to do papers before computers

good luck

Which probably means you did a lot of paperwork.

IMHO, doing paperwork is almost as bad as writing papers.

for a while.

It's as if your professor thought long and hard about what is the driest topic he could assign. I feel for ya man!

Seminary

He told me that last year, he taught a similar course in a seminar format, and ended up with lots of silence from his students. I think this paper is his way of getting it through our heads that this class is going to be very different from the lecture-style classes that most of us are used to.

I don't expect a 1000 word answer though :P I don't think I've ever taken a seminar course, or at least I don't think so

I am in my 4th seminar class....one of my prof's is a walking whacko this year too. I thought I suffered from social anxiety in this town...but, this guy makes me look like Paris Hilton.

Stephanie
"Thtwudbeme"

Only 10 bucks!


Results not guaranteed.

I think not.

Hell, I had a guy who's dropping the class offer to give me all the journal article he collected for this paper, I ended up refusing. I'm not sure wheter accepting them was kosher or not.

...wait until the point where you know that time no longer allows you the luxury of having writer's block. Then write like crazy!

What took most people 12 hours of writing (over several days) would only take me like 4 hours (just before class) of serious keyboard banging. Not much, if any, difference in grades either.

Hey, it got me through college. (with a B average - not bad).

sitting here having to learn a programming language so that I don't have to use that programming language

Easy...start out with "A funny thing happened on the way to writing this story" story...there's your first page. End that up with a problem, "some people would argue that this is not the definition of a seminar...however, I argue that it is because...."

Then come up with three arguments...draw them out....

Conclusion, "See I told you this is a seminar," and you are done.

Annotate your bibliography and use Chicago Manuel of Style.

We don't use Chicago Style.

Comm uses APA.

Wouldn't you know it, I left my APA Style Manual which I purchased for forty bucks at the campus bookstore last year at home.

Fortunatley, one of the Psych profs here has a pretty good summary of the APA Manual, complete with templates. His summary was good enough to make it as a link on Wikipedia.

10-12 pages for a book review for a class on 20th Century Russia

12-15 pages on superpower influence on the 6 Day War

10-12 pages on who won the war of 1812 and why

I don't get all these 3-5 page things... really, I don't get them, but I wish I did.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get back to typing up notes :)

I once stretched a 7 page paper on pre-WWI Austria-Hungary and its relations with the Balkans to 14 pages.

I always was a little long-winded on my papers for history classes.

I really like history papers, and I try to do my best not just because of grades but because I enjoy the subject. But having them all piled up on top of each other kind of takes the fun out of it.

I would type an outline, not caring what I said and fill it up with citations. 50 pages double-spaced, no sweat.

I'll get my Master's thesis done on time - and you'll manage too.

Writer's block? Work on the conclusion ... then you'll see what premises you have to assert, then the justifications for your choices.

Or draw a diagram ... stimulate your creative brain centers and let the language come later.

The one with the inverted triangle, the 3-5 rectangles, and the triangle at the bottom. Decide your thesis, topic sentences, transitions, and you are half-way home. Just an idea :shrug:

Or do you hate that, too?

For real... I saw you posting some shit on another thread. What's going on??

I don't know enough about seminars to give accurate advice, but I'd probably structure a short essay in the following way -- changing the outline to reflect whatever research I find.

The key is to cater to the professor's intent. If the professor intends to make you write in a fashion that emphasizes what he expects in a seminar, find out what he expects and then write about it. Pretty lame, but it's not worth more effort than that for a short paper on seminars.

I. Intro
- "A seminar is an interactive blah blah blah"
- Maybe a quote about a seminar or something

II. What is a seminar?
- literally, what is it?
- the settings of a seminar?
- types of topics?

III. What is the purpose of a seminar?
- learn info through lecture & dialogue

IV. Distinguishing a seminar from a pure lecture
- collaborative spirit blah blah blah
- lectures are a one-way street; blah blah blah

V. What makes a good seminar?
- light on the prof's responsibility
----clear expectations, provides adequate textbooks/ prior info to enrich discussion, creates safe environment for discussions, etc. (basically, the prof sets the stage for students to act)

- heavy on student's responsibilities (hope prof will eat it up)
---- preparation for class, actively engaged in dialogue, willing to take chances, open-minded, etc.
---- personal responsibility, discipline, blah.

VI. Conclusion
Seminars are educational environments that teach through dialogue. It is a partnership between students and the professor, who strive towards mutual enlightenment through blah blah blah.

I never was a fan of outlines, except on longer works or classes that required me to do an outline.

Usually just when I have writer's block or can't focus.

Back in the Pleistocene Era, when I was in college, I typed all my papers on a 1946-vintage portable manual typewriter that had belonged to my dad. I used one of those crunchy gray typewriter erasers to make corrections, and had to remember to erase and correct the carbon copy, too. The IBM Selectric had just come out, but they were too expensive for students, so I was stuck with the old manual contraption.

Once I did 3 all-nighters in a row to get my end of the semester papers done (I waited until the last minute, of course). This was accomplished with the aid of amphetamines. When I got finished I collapsed in a heap and slept for a couple of days. I'm not sure that having a computer would have helped me much, considering my tendency to procrastinate. The only difference might have been a slightly less-messy finished product.

That's my Old Fart story.

then you can write some real bullshit

Junior year, Honors program....3 person team had to turn out a 30-50 page paper on a topic. Ours was urban guerrilla warfare. My part was done, the second persons part was done, but the third person (who just happened to be my best friend) wasn't prepared. We stayed up all night, as he dictated his part of the paper to me word by agonizingly slow word. I fell asleep just waiting for the "next line". And yes, it was the 70's-methamphetamines were involved.

Today, he and I rode to a friend's fathers funeral together. We still love each other just as much as we did then, 30 years ago. I envy you your youth and opportunities. Please don't be afraid to take wild chances...In retrospect, I regret mostly the things I didn't do because I was afraid to.

I had to write a paper on Bach for a music class. I'd forgotten how much I hate essays.

Bleccccccccch!

And yeah, it was tougher before computers and the Internet(s). I learned to type on a manual and had to do my research in the library from real books back in the day. ;) Typing out the footnotes and bibliography especially sucked ass.

These days, it's all paranthetical citiations.

True, the conclusion paragraph is only one sentence, but I always suck at conclusions.

I just ordered a pizza. That should hit the spot after a long night of writing.

:thumbsup:

I always tell my students this when they complain. I also say that sometimes I spend more time grading them than they did writing them.

My weekend homework "to-do" list:
Summary of a scholarly article (Stuart England--history)
Start reading the third of five full books (in addition to the text) for the above history class
Summary of Hinduism (Exploring Religions)
Paper on "Relgion in the News" (Exploring Religions)
Read two chapters in books for above religion class
Read/take quiz for the next chapter of my WWW class (American Institutional History)
Study for Global Geography quiz (on Russia)
Read/write paper on travelogue book for above geography class

It never ends. :scared: