Rather than letting your points come naturalistically, maybe you should get really artificial and write out a point by point list of things you want to talk about.  Point A, Point B, through Point YY and ZZ.  Then rearrange them into the order that seems like it'll flow smoothly and write your way into the next point as you go along.

If point A is girls and boys can learn the same stuff, and B through D are examples that demonstrate this is true, whil point E is how somebody at some time said this wasn't true, you can stitch it together with a "However" and it may feel cheap, but it's acceptabe and works.  You can also make digressions into your personal experiences by simply shifting over to first person.  The magic of "I."

But, seriously, structure first, then fill in the gaps with sentences.  Hope that helps.

Repetition, my dear.  It may sound horrible and redundant to yourself when you write it, but I'm talking about repetition of ideas and thoughts, not of individual words.  Rephrase what you say throughout your work, summarize in your conclusion, etc, etc.  Professors don't mind repetition in an essay, or having its main point beat itself over their heads, because repetition makes it clear to the reader and to your teacher that you understand the material or topic.  It also keeps your essay on track and linear, and prevents off-shoots of rambling and wayward exampling.

(I've talked with professors before, and they totally agree, I swearz.)


As for the shorter essays, you want to pack a lot of punch in a little space, and sounding professional achieves this.  This means no use of the word "I" or "You" or "Me", unless your Professor says otherwise or your paper is strictly made up of your own opinion.

Also, see if your campus has a writing center.  They're these neat little things that will proofread your work, check for grammar/spelling and even word choice!

For free!

And as always, EMAIL YO PROFESSORS they love it.

OnlyInThisLight wrote:

(Double Post)

Am I doing this right?  It's not from our book and our professor assigned them to us during the last five minutes of class.  We are using Pascal's Triangle. 

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn19 … img003.jpg


I have no idea, I've never done this before.  She only did problems one and two, and didn't say why she alternated the pluses and minuses on two.  Am I supposed to simplify?  I really suck at math.  Help!?

And don't feel afraid to explain to me in pre-school terms either.  I'm that hopeless.

It's easier when she just assigns us stuff from the book than when she tries to explain it.  I'm better at teaching it to myself from the text.

Hm, you said you got 1 and 2?
1 is fine, but I'm not sure about your signs in number 2

You might want to check the signs on your last question. You made a change, and neglected something else

You got number 3 right, btw

As far as this kind of math problem is concerned, my advice to you is that don't do the trick until you know how step one goes to step two in a very, very basic, and long detail. And, when you do enough of them you'll know what step you can omit to jump immediately to your answers in the future.

And, don't worry, I usually think on pre-school terms on this kind of things, too, sometimes.
But, maybe Stormcrow and Satyr can enlighten us. *claps* Onii-tachi?

EDIT: AH! This page seems informative about Pascal's Triangle. I learn a thing or two from this, too.
http://mathforum.org/workshops/usi/pasc … nomial.htm

A triangle, it IS. And, it's kinda fun if you know Pascal's Triangle, I'm drawing one right now

EDIT2: So according to that website, to solve your question on (x-2y)^3, do this first:

x     -2y       
x     -2y
---------
1     -2         you'll see that for 1 x (1      -2) = 1       -2
1     -2         you'll see that for -2 x (1      -2) = -2       4
--------
1     -2
       -2     4
-------------
1     -4     4 = x^2 - 4xy + 4y^2

And, for number 2:
Let's try getting (x-y)^2 first before hitting the big guy:

1      -1
1      -1
---------
1      -1
        -1       1
----------------
1      -2       1 = x^2 - 2xy + y^2

Overtime, when you do enough of it, you can come up with a triangle like so:

                                        1
                                      1  -1
                                    1  -2  1
                                  1  -3  3  -1
                                1  -4  6  -4   1
                              1  -5  10 -10  5 -1

Let's try something new, how about (x-2y)^3:

We know (x-2y)=x^2-4xy-4y^2, let's multiply that by x-2y again:

1     -4     4
       1     -2
-------------------
1      -4    4
        -2    8     -8
--------------------
1      -6    12     -8

As for (x-2y)^4:

1   -6   12   -8
             1   -2
-----------------
1   -6   12   -8
     -2   12   -24   16
-----------------------
1   -8   24   -32   16

So, you'd have:

                       1
                    1  -2
                  1  -4   4
                1  -6  12  -8
              1  -8  24  -32  16

And, so on... I'm till trying to see a pattern for a (x-2y)^n triangle right now, but the (x+y)^n and (x-y)^n is pretty straightforward, it seems.

Last edited by Hiraku (10-11-2008 02:10:17 PM)

Oh, OITL, so close! 

You're trying to be a little too clever in #2, basically.  You're using alternating + and - signs, but you're also leaving (-y) in the answer; doing both of these things is a little like trying to turn a light switch off by hitting it twice.  It cancels itself out.

You're right up to step two:
1 x^5 + 5 x^4 (-y)^1 + 10 x^3 (-y)^2 + 10 x^2 (-y)^3 + 5 x^1 (-y)^4 + 1 (-y)^5

What you're missing is that the alternation of signs you produce in the last step doesn't just happen magically; it is actually the result of raising -y to the different exponents!  When you raise a negative number to an even power like 2, it becomes positive, losing the negative sign.  For instance,

10 x^3 (-y)^2   becomes   10 x^3 y^2.

See how it lost the negative sign completely?  On the other hand, when you raise a negative number to an odd power like 1, it stays negative.  In fact, it's conventional to move the negative sign to the front of the quantity.  For instance,

5 x^4 (-y)^1   becomes   -5 x^4 y^1.

See how the negative sign moved?

As a result, every alternate term of the series becomes negative, while the rest stay positive.  The correct final answer is therefore:

1 x^5 - 5 x^4 y^1 + 10 x^3 y^2 - 10 x^2 y^3 + 5 x^1 y^4 - 1 y^5

Or you can leave off the ones and just write:

x^5 - 5 x^4 y + 10 x^3 y^2 - 10 x^2 y^3 + 5 x y^4 - y^5

Notice that there are no (-y)s in the final answer, because all the negatives either disappeared or got moved to the front of their terms (becoming minus signs).  Does this make any sense?

I'd also suggest that you simplify as much as you can in the last step on these. 2x2y becomes 4xy, etc.

I'm particularly impressed at your organization of your work. Keeping things neat like that is a bigger benefit than you might realize, and it's something that I have a very hard time getting my students to do. Of course, I'm not the best example there, sadly...

Hmmm!

Lady Nil, based on the assignment, it looks like your teacher wants two things.  The first is good structure; this is the bit covered in the box of "Invention Questions."  The second, and what I'm guessing is more important, is rhetoric that convinces with its power and perorations as much as its careful logical argument.  In other words, you're not just trying to write an essay; you're trying to write a highly quotable essay.

Now, you could do something obvious like explore abortion or gay marriage or some other pressing political issue that has deep emotional resonance, because topics with deep emotional resonance are easy to write powerful lines about.  (Think of bumper sticker lines like "It's a child, not a choice" -- when was the last time you saw such a pithy and polarizing slogan on a topic like the economic bailout?)  But if it were me I'd be tempted to take it in a bit of a different direction.

Bear with me here.  Asking this question over the Internet to a college student is probably a bit like asking Paul McCartney if he's ever heard of the Queen of England, but are you familiar with the Onion?  It's the best-known of the Internet's satirical news sites.  Current headlines as of this writing include "Bush Calls for Panic" and "Financial Planner Advises Shorter Life Span."  It's some pretty funny stuff.  Most of it is journalism-style, which isn't quite what your essay needs, but I also love the Onion's editorial columns -- writing to convince, not to inform -- which is exactly the style you're writing in.  Here's the most recent example.  Hell, you could almost hand this essay in as-is.  It states a problem, tries to convince you why it's pressing, and does it in a rhetorically effective way.  It is also riotously funny.

If this were my assignment I'd write an Onion editorial article.  Maybe I'd focus on something very trivial.  You know -- a 300-600 word essay that sears indelibly into the reader's mind the burning agony of being out of bottled water and having to drink the stuff that comes out of the faucet.  ("I say that this Holocaust of H2O must never be repeated!  Bringing down the tyranny of municipal water is not only our moral duty, it is the call to service of our entire generation.")  Or maybe a weird take on a serious issue, like your argument for why cannibalism is the solution to world hunger.  Or hell, write John McCain his next stump speech, Onion-style.  The trick here is that by being overtly humorous you make it easier to come up with over-the-top applause lines full of "melody, lyricism, and rhythm."  Just a thought! 

Thread necro because I need a wee bit of help from the more online-research savvy here on IRG.  I'm looking for a personal account or interview of Jeff Zarrillo & Paul Katami and/or Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, the two same-sex couple's whose cases instigated the overturning of Prop 8.  I would also settle for Judge Vaughn Walker.  It has to be from a newspaper (not a press agency) and preferably not a local one.  Cannot be a video.

I've got all my other sources for my essay but this one is leading me around in web circles.  Halp.

Malacoda wrote:

So this (http://blogs.kqed.org/prop8/2010/01/12/ … ar-people/) wouldn't work?

I'll try searching for it, but if you happen to have access to the new search engine part of LexisNexis, try that.

I'll run it by professor and see what she says.  It's exactly what I am looking for, but I'm afraid that if the source isn't legitimate enough or because it's audio she'll say no.


EDIT:  OH, AND THANKS!  Man I suck.

Last edited by OnlyInThisLight (08-27-2010 08:30:07 PM)

OITL, I'd try to use KQED if I could.  The thing is that the plaintiffs' counsel has probably advised them not to talk to the press much; parties to criminal proceedings typically shouldn't, and frankly it's surprising that KQED got an unedited interview!  Judge Walker should definitely not be talking, since he's still involved with the case and anything he said that betrayed bias would be seized on as grounds for an appeal.  Until the case is "dead," either because appeals are exhausted or because it's found that Prop 8 supporters don't have standing to appeal, I wouldn't expect a lot of interviews to pop up of the kind you're looking for. 

OnlyInThisLight wrote:

satyreyes wrote:

OITL, I'd try to use KQED if I could.  The thing is that the plaintiffs' counsel has probably advised them not to talk to the press much; parties to criminal proceedings typically shouldn't, and frankly it's surprising that KQED got an unedited interview!  Judge Walker should definitely not be talking, since he's still involved with the case and anything he said that betrayed bias would be seized on as grounds for an appeal.  Until the case is "dead," either because appeals are exhausted or because it's found that Prop 8 supporters don't have standing to appeal, I wouldn't expect a lot of interviews to pop up of the kind you're looking for. 

Yeah, and my professor wasn't down with the interview anyway.    I did manage to find All 136 pages of Walker's Opinion which she approved of, but I have no clue how to cite it for my Works Cited page.  Should I just cite the case itself?  That feels wrong to me, and my MLA handbook doesn't really say anything on citing Judge's Opinions or legal documents, just statutes.  Boo.

Hmm... MLA format was really designed to handle high-school and liberal-arts-type curricula.  The technical types use APA or Chicago format, and the real pros -- when it comes to law -- use Bluebook format.  From what I can dig up on the Internet, MLA is aware of this failing and encourages you to use Bluebook instead when you need to cite a legal source.  Adding insult to injury, possibly because the case is so new, I can't find the official court reporter in which the Prop 8 case was published, and that's a core component of Bluebook format.  I think the best way to cite it would be something like this:

Perry v. Schwarzenegger, C 09-2292 VRW (N. Cal. 2010).

This is irregular -- I'm just using the case number assigned to the case by Walker's court rather than its official court reporter number -- but it's more than enough information to find the opinion.  You might want to ask your professor what she would find acceptable.

As for whether using the opinion is a good idea in the first place, I guess it depends what you're trying to show!  If you are looking for a "personal account," as you said earlier, the opinion is probably not going to work; Walker is giving his legal reasoning, not his personal feelings, though there may be a few places where you can guess Walker's feelings from his choice of words if you're feeling clever.  But if you want to know why the proponents of Prop 8 lost the case from a legal perspective, the opinion is the best possible thing you could cite!

Good luck!

Giovanna wrote:

satyreyes wrote:

The technical types use APA

Someone should tell the APA folks that. Sixth edition has grammatical errors and flaws in consistency of rules on like 80 pages.

They issued a revision that disowned the first printing.  It was kind of hilarious.  XD

satyreyes wrote:

Giovanna wrote:

satyreyes wrote:

The technical types use APA

Someone should tell the APA folks that. Sixth edition has grammatical errors and flaws in consistency of rules on like 80 pages.

They issued a revision that disowned the first printing.  It was kind of hilarious.  XD

Only after getting some major bitch-slapping from the librarian crowd. Collib-l (college/university libraries) listserv, ACAT listserv(cataloging), and all the others were practically rioting. Lots of phone calls, letters, threats...