Strategic Appraisal: Japan

DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

Dr. Jim's Medicine for Ailing Course Research Papers.

Dear students. This is the first time I have put this paper together. I should have done it years ago but never got around to it. Instead of me marking up these items in each individual student paper, I, here, tell you what to correct and you make the corrections yourself. For example, instead of me writing on your paper," fix the runtogether words", you use your computer to spot runtogehter words and , just click on them, they space themselves; one example.

Your best reference for your writing is Marius, Richard and Melvin E. Page, "A Short Guide to Writing about History", New York: Pearson Education, INC., 2015 (or any later editions), ISBN 13: 978-0-321-95329-2. Everything you need to know about writing is in there. And, it can be used for writing even outside the field of history.

Following are some of Dr. Jim's Medicine

---don't use "Dr. Jim" in your papers. Dr. James Corcoran.

---page number and your last name on each page of your paper, at the bottom. Go to "insert" on your tool bar. Click on "Footer". Then go back and click on "Page Number": that will automatically number each of your pages, even when you shuffle them. Then, in the Footer, before the number 1, type your last name. Go to "Home" and center your name and page number in Footer. Double-click on the body of your page to return to your paper. (See the bottom of this page).

---double-space unless otherwise directed. Single-space quotations which are longer than three sentences and indent that quote on your page.

---look at your paper and see if there are any colored underlines put there by your computer. That means a misspelled word, a runtogether word, or, maybe, some grammar misuse. All you have to do is click on that underlined word to get the right spelling/spacing. You, today, are so spoiled. In B.C. (before computers) we had to spot all errors on our own and had to type/retype corrections using our type writers, going to the printed dictionary for proper spelling. Today, your computer does all that for you.

---for HIST 2900 use Bibliography only. Other courses, Bibliography or Works Cited/Works Consulted.

---for HIST 2900 use footnotes (FN). For other courses textnotes or endnotes are acceptable. For FN: toolbar, references; Insert Footnote. As you do footnotes, enter the source for the footnote in your Bib.; so you keep a running list on your Bib. as you go along. Put footnotes at the end of the sentence, not somewhere in the middle. You can enter as many references as you wish in a single footnote if they all make your point in the paper. But do not put in double footnotes (26., 27.). Once you cite a source the first time: Jonathan Spence. The Question of Hu. New York: Vintage Books, 1989---then for follow-on footnotes: Spence, 21. Don't repeat the whole publication data in every footnote.

---Quotations: try to minimize direct quotes "...." as much as possible. Take the passage you wish to use and put it in your own words as you understand it; instead of quoting the whole passage. Proofread all quotations you use at least three times (compare what is written to what you have quoted). No room for error here. We historians violently (as violent as a historian can be:-) object to being misquoted. This is a major sin in writing history. You will lose points.

---depersonalize your university writing. Please NOTE:

---do not use the 1st person case in your university writing (I, you, we, us, our).

---Always use the impersonal voice, example:

------- " Arnold tells us that questions are vital to history. Becomes "Arnold states that questions are vital to history." Does away with the 1st person  case "us".

-------" In the first few chapters of the text he starts us off with a narrative style story...." Becomes "The first few chapters of the text start off with a narrative style story...." Depersonalizes the statement by changing "us" to "starts off". After all, in fact, maybe not all of "us" (you, me, and them) are getting "started off":-)

-------" To do this Arnold wants us to empathize with the subjects and get their point of view as closely as we can. Becomes "To do this Arnold advocates empathy with the subjects and to get their point of view as closely as possible". (does away with "us" and "we" thereby depersonalizing the meaning of the sentence.)

---Sentences. Sentences are "li'l bundles" of information, packed into paragraphs. Each sentence should not be overloaded with content. Generally, keep sentences pretty short and related to a single idea, generally. Complex sentences can clutter good writing. In English language writing the basic structure is SUBJECT---VERB---OBJECT: The BOY (subject) HIT (verb) the DOG (object). Anything more than that amplifies the basic structure. Read Marius 108-112. Use the active voice for force of expression: The boy hit the dog; not the passive voice: The dog was hit by the boy. Make sure to write in the proper tense; past tense, present, future. Don't mix tenses in sentences. Make sure that the cases agree: The boys are going. Not the boys is going. "The type of sources used" should read "the typeS of sources used". Please drop the word "would" from your history writing vocabulary. That is a bad habit given to you by your earlier teachers (just as they gave you "lead" for "led":-( No ""he would" this, or "at that point they "would" go abroad. They went (past tense) abroad. "Hu would, once again, run away". NO! "Hu ran away".

---paragraphing. A paragraph contains the idea or concept you are expressing. New paragraphs leave that idea or concept and go on to something else, which is related, but different. Paragraphs contain just so many sentences. If the one you are on "runs on" look to split it up into two or more. No way should a paragraph be a over a, third, or a half, or more of a page. Read Marius, 108-109, and 112-113.

---Proofread; Proofread; Proofread. The key to any good written product is Proofread. It takes me at least three times through before I have successfully proofread my work. And even then, the gremlins will creep in when you're not looking. No excuse for not proofreading; you will lose points. Do not leave the proofing up to your professor; you will suffer.

---Sounding out your paper. You spend many hours, nights, days, writing your paper. But, does it make sense? One way, go in the bathroom, close the door, and read your paper out loud to yourself in the mirror. As you hear what you're reading, does it make sense to you? When you hit the part where you say "Damn, did I write that?" Make a red mark to come back and doctor (get it? "Dr. Jim's Medicine for Ailing Course Research Papers":-) that portion later. Also, you can read your paper to anyone who will listen and see what they think. This could be hazardous to marriages or long-time relationships; caution. You can have someone read over your paper and give comments. BUT, they can't do the work for you.

---Cheating. ALL that you submit in writing has to be what you wrote yourself, or, you quote, "....", words that someone else wrote and which are not your very own words. You must explain any writing which you, yourself, have not done. Who wrote that; give details in quotation marks "...." and footnotes. Failure to do that will get you an "F" grade on your paper. Major violations, such as taking a paper from somewhere and submitting as your paper, in your name, will get you an "F" grade for the course, submittal of your name for expelling from HPU, and notification of all faculty so that they can check your work done in their courses. Once someone is found cheating in one course, who knows how far that has gone in other courses, in other years. It has happened that one senior who went and submitted as his own, an entire paper which he got off the web, ended up not graduating, was not granted a university degree, and was charged to pay back all funding he had received over the four years. Other universities and also employers will reject anyone marked "Expelled for Cheating" on a transcript. It's not worth it. If you have missed the timeline, take your licks and work with your professor to see what you can salvage. Always talk with your professor about any difficulties or challenges you are having. Even if your professor seems like a grump or a grouch, talk to him/her. It's amazing how people will "human up" once you get them talking to you. Also, it does happen that even experienced writers err and fail to properly "attribute" something in their writing. But, that is usually only a small passage here, or a concept or idea there, and anyone can see that it was an obvious error. Proofread.

Corcoran DRAFT