Tips from Gerrit

I gave Gerrit my essay and he figuratively ripped it apart, but into pieces that I could put back together in a much better way. Here's some tips from Gerrit I thought I'd share...


- Most importantly:  BUILD an essay, don’t chip away the universe around what you’re thinking until all you have left is an essay.  Creation, not destruction.
-You are trying to prove something, not to prove something wrong.  The difference is enormous and vital. 

- Don’t put words in “parentheses” (i.e.  “holy”) unless you’re quoting or trying to give it some non-verbalized meaning. 
- NO VALUE JUDGEMENTS:  “...Thompson constructs the most incredible network of interpretation.”  You are analyzing, not judging.
- Make sure you cite things properly.  “Cosmology Lost” should be as follows:  (Thompson, pp. x-y) or (Thompson, p. x), which cites your bibliography….: Thompson, William Irwin. Rapunzel: Cosmology Lost.  In Imaginary Landscape: Making Worlds of Myth and Science.  St. Martin’s Press; New York, NY: 1989.
- Cut out parenthetical statements
- Never use the word “people.”  Really, ever, at all.  There’s no good reason.
- Cultivate authority at every turn; don’t undermine yourself