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 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: ivmk.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 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 '■>'!! \\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 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.