n •tiu'whor in the ix ginning' >! vour (xtper.
usually in ihc first paragraph. vou II want to
deaiiv statevi sir thesis sir partiailar p unt
ot siev. on the top
Whting the thesis '! o sir pjxT is [X'rhnps
the most t hallengmg prt >1 the work You want
to lx- deai and concise, hut also thought
pn si iking Kememlx-r that the ;x'is< in win >
reads vi n;i |U|X'i is likely to lx1 trading thmv,
fortv mavix’cven a hundred otiier cssavs as well
'l(i gel ik tin ed, vi a need to grab the reader's
attenin >n Y nil thesis i an help you do that
Hike the lime to write and reuse u mi thesis
until it lulls raptures theromplexitvol vour
thoughts and ideas
Oik e vt hi re satisfied with vour thesis,
take a I reak Put vnui papa aside \nd ivwu l
o mrself
Wlien vou return, reread the thesis and
make anv net essarv adjustments. Ix'it ire
emlxtrkingon the rest o| vi nir |xi|XT
Some questions to ask
as you read your thesis statement:
• is it < leai • \\ ill the reader utxierstaml the :■ >|>« ant:
the ;x >vitK 'i; \xhmv taktns;'
• Is it, i MtijK’lli::.;' I >■ x.'s it .Kivu ce the f t it
\i nit |Ki|x*r will lx' interesting;, wiinl-while t>' tv.iih
• is it t 'ii.- na >C5 ytxit thesis g<ibeytmd the
obvious. ix-uind what lias ixvn said ix'hitv? lliete s
t( «i mm h tedunthint i lutter in this world Be ordinal
“One of the great things
about the Macintosh is how
easily you can write and then.revise
your writing. I spend a lot of time
working on the introduction < i paper,
revising until I'm really happy with it.
I think Macintosh encourages you
to do better work because you can
experiment keep the good
and throw oiit the bad."
Some Macimosn
software programs
to consider:
Word processing
programs:
• If.,. U mV //
• , t'.i*. > W »*'• V
• \'■ v " U
• U '
Grammar-checking
programs
• \i":r r
by hfilnr v 'hnin
• a- \t.t<
by Rcfni-n, <■ v /tillin'
• il ■
h\ Q;/(’ Vu/ffA/rr
Outlining programs
•A
Some books you
may want to read
about writing:
• ■■ ' ■, i
ia \\illnm Strunk and E i' VUntr.
\l,h miliar.
• i- u >•,: u<
t»v William Zinsser.
I l.t!|X l \ K< A\
• ' . ■ ' « r
tn lho<:, n M Hcmstnn.
Ailtcncum
•Ur I s’.in,-,"
In linKf H.iss | arson.
W \\ Sutton
In |,ii |!Ha Re nil
ll.mio X Kins
Now that you've writ ten the thesis fi >r vottr papet and
have an outline ftir creating the rest of it. it's tune to
dig in and write the first draft
Hie inaptirtant tiling here is to hitxk t mt a t hunk
iiftime t m vt air t alcntlar ai wnte it at least an htmi
i ir twt) ft >r each page i »i text vt m In ij x tt i pn xIlk c
Allow more time if y >u piefci a mi >te ieisuiviy pat t
V mil neet I to tout nitrate V hi might t1 nisidci
turning off the ringer on vour phi me and sending
your rtx miniate to the mt ivies
Some advice:
• Don't obsess, just write Concentrate on gettir
ideas dt nvn on pa|XT. u hi tan |xr(etl the wtin ling
later Relax
• Connect
u i the next ('.( «h nitrate < hi the aigument y« ni'ie
making, and tlie wt mis will a Hite naturally
• I se platehtridersif you don't ivetl
wi m ling II you can't seem to flesh out a pameulai
pan of the aigument rather lx - au.se vnu rant find
the right wi >rds, orlxrauseyixi find \x hi neat to do
more research put in a plaeeholdei and return later
to finish it i It s rumored thatlinen llrmmgwav
ended earh das s suiting in the middle of a sentem e
sohed haveaekar plat e to lx gin the next day i
An im(x >nant pan ol i rearing a sic ! u
pa|xt is s|X'nding the time to |x*rle< t it
Rewriting n the prixessof e< litmg
vour own w< irk in make it I letter I lie I vst
venters do it with everything they wnte
It's a g< k h 1 idea to let si >me time pass
Ix'foiv rewriting a p;i|x-i a few hours
H it vour deadline allows, a lew days I he
more distance vou have In >m the pa[X‘r.
die more olija live you ran be
Pointers:
• First, read through the [xiper tt> evaluate
the flow i if the aigument I lave yoti nude
vour points i learlv' Are dies inthenglit
order-' Are vou missing any major | mints'1
Air line .iin v'l'.iiul kup.N . i| |. >gn ciKit turd K 1 ■ K'
uiiat lit li* Air their extntnei>us kiras. | ur.igr.ipks,
or quotes that slwjuld !x: ivm<ived'
• S 'f : i. • ■ . 1 i r. ■ ' ' :r .11 : ' . : I !'-(■ . Mil ,[M \ 1 1 .!
wi lling flavor Trv raiding it iloud tnyoursel! orto.i friend
I x k‘s the 'AntingmKind like ythi?
. | hini, in" ihr Ml In tn nil v.ntii .
,4Hr»-4--g*. +-V- »t *-*■f ■*W-ret-Ah*-r*
• LiM «>k.it voiir
ictutiu (■'■ \j o 11 ;t *\
appropriate? r tollin'
ia lp pn ive uhii j m wu?
i! v), make sure v< >u’ve
i.mil them ai niratrK
•Th« M icintOVn maK« »
revising my work easy. Ray,
tor instance, I decide th.it
i paragraph belongs #omi'
where else in my paper. All
I have to do is cut it and then
paste it where it belongs.
Mar mtosh lets me focus
on getting my ideas down on
paper, rather than on how
to get them down on paper
Iirsi select thepuniftriiph
V«x/ mint to moie Pu n
use the ( ul amimmuifrom
the liilil menu
Second, fiiit-c tliecu>v»
alien•;•at mini tlh fkim
i>niph /'' y<* Ihi'ii chanu’
the I'aste command
YftiId' You tv inoin/1our
[kiragrapit
7y/ff-i-i.
Set aside some time topnxilreadyoui pajx-i
Hus is Ixst ckme when v< hi'iv alert and iaim
\v(ml ck )ing it on the way t() turning in vour pa[ x i
Sit at a desk, it'd [ten in hand, and read carefully
MLssjx-llings, faulty grammar, and fat tual emits
are distracting at I test and at w< mm, may significantly
lower your grade Be diligent Correti them all
A eximputer i an great l\ s|xrd up the pnx css In
cate lung misspellings and even many grammatu al
errois Some word pnxvssing pn 'grams mine with a
thesaurus that
Check Spellin
Will suggest I list
the word you probable meant to use
Once v< hi Ac pn x )fetl your pa| x'r, all yi >u hav e to
do is print it \X1ik h. i m a Macintosh, is quite straight
forward just use the Print command It's in plain
English, si i yihi can’t miss it i H u m< »re advice (m
printing, see page I t)
Some things to look for:
• Factual errors Make sure you’ve spelled the names
i *t all maj( >t wa irks, jreople, sonnes, and m > forth
correctly. Make sure yi >ur dates and other histi >neal
ink rrmatit mare a meet
• Mr ]x'!le(I vv- m i
• Misused Ik m mynas F >t example, have you used
"it s when \ou should liave used "its ? I lave you
used "there when youslxxild have used their '
• Double words When people type theyoftcr
rejxat wiirds auidentally
• Missing woixls When your mind works faster than
vou can t\|x'. it's easv ti > leave <rut wc>nis Head
carefully to make sure y< )u haven't Heading out loud
helps a k >t.
• (KliergrammatKal ern ns til ytaid like u)brush up
on vour grammar, you might want to read someoi
the lx x >ks listnl at the top of this page i
i i « l.i i - li-t
tl Macintosh with a color monitor, I try to write the first draft quickly.
:>n>. times I find the riqht words the first time through. Other times. I'll write
paragraph, and I won't be very happy with it. So I'll put it in a different color,
iy red, which reminds me to come hack to it later and work on it. Sometimes
get really ambitious and use a lot of different colors: red for things I want to
■work, blue for things that need more research, green for things that need
tore proof.”
Oiflpmnt font ntylcs
. iin ihprn rtf '■>'!! <j\uy
: a.LI nnpJuuts fu mwf tUiiu .
hnltlfiUC, 1 .
} •[( , ,tn ctntlv <, htinifc I hr w'iL- on./
//.*(' M?r <V /olfh fnr I
Autom.it c footnotes
)<Mt (ill! rthil, 'Villi'
Jijoint'd*f‘ > \\nnpuiKi
ami the Min wtuJi
(tiitonhiikiiil: keefn
tnu k i •/ uhev- ihvv
gn in the text \Uhv
(i M’li/emt' that is
awx hilt'll tilth n
ft mint He iincl the
fix dilute ni< xt“\ ’ *>
if )Tm mine the
u iilciis i' hi (I >:eti fki ,<
the ft" lint He ft Jl‘ Hi ■
tnul the \Ui int <Jt
rvnuniU‘i'1 )1hh
fuolinAt*> iinh "hitf. >ai\
Space Travel and
Cultural Growth
Hie space piogiam thill uim- rode .1 wave ol national pink' ;uul
support now nr il-. i on' 1 -It- iilstitu ation Ini reusing cnvmmmc-nt.il aw uicne-.s
.iinl clet reusing government liinds have led man> people to i|ut-stion the need
tni human picsence in space, m niun- speedivally, the need to support sin li
pi esc nee with appu o. imutelv 0 V-, c >t out gross national prod lie l (I ewis and
I ewi.s I l‘») I he tiaihtion.il tesponse to such c ntieisms 1 to eitc the v.uious
spm oil" technologies c n-.ited 110111 the space indusii v. sueh as Velcio and
very round hall heatings Hut this seems unlullilling at l*esi; as columnist
( jeurge Will noted, "we have justified spate exploration ill a veiy banal wav.
we have sold it on the basis that it poulticed nonstick trying pans (quoted 111
White xvni). And in lac t. more vi- ionaiy supporters have lx-gun to hail the
space program lot its 1 ullurdl as w el 1 as its techno I o it ic a I mei its h *1 1 t as
\ 1 mon. 11 les, these supporti'is ten I to an;dy/c the space [) 10pram in its
adulthood, skipping ovei the cm rent stage ot intancy; dies discuss galactic
society and exliateriestii.il mtei.i. tion I'hus, time is a il lative vacuum ol
discussion deal 11 ip with the ciilttii.il lx-net its ol space tiav<• I 111 the lie. 11 Iutille
Vet these cultui.il Ix-iu-lits 1 an lx- suhstanlial As ■ pace explorers shed
the physic al weight ol llesli and Ixme, so may they shed the sot i.d weight ol
provincialism and cultural 1 utrism. lint while they must eventually tesuine
the mantle ol gravity, many will have |)erm.inentlv discarded thelr social
biases l'pon the*if u-turn to Kuth, il is probable Ji.it elite* spaietai^
share new ideologies stressing global values A» Jpreeisely bccai
; j his IS nut to s.iv thill ' ; 1. ' trchnoloy;y Is us« li"v hhv tont,
•r:)Miuilly for I)m sjm'» pr i;r.tin h.iv«* rnluiv i-.l firMs i f\t\\
materials research
1
Writing is hard wi >rk. I'here s ik ) c]iic\stic >n
alrout n. Hm it \<)ii follow the tips on (his
page and use a Macintosh youean
make the pr< ness < ifvvriling manageahle.
and even enjt >yahle.
And wh(> knt >w\? Mayl >e nine
hundred vears In >m ik >w, deep in an
archive, students will a)me acn>ss < me
(>t vi air pajK-rs. And ma\i k- they II find,
in reading it, Ik >w different v< >ur ideas
are fr< mi theirs. Hut maylie they’ll also
find that stuilents writing papei\ even
when separated hv centuries, have
unite a k it in c< imm< m.