A Reminder To Everyone With An Essay To Write: [Archive]

Tirian

2008-09-01, 10:46 PM

Ow. Sorry about that.

And there are never "no more essays". Maybe you run out of ones that get letter grades, but you'll be writing multipage papers throughout your life. Maybe it's the white paper for your work project, maybe it's the business plan for your small business loan, maybe it's your parent's eulogy. There are parts of modern schooling that I can't defend, but the ability to logically arrange and clearly deliver a complex argument is one of the skills that actually is important.

nothingclever

2008-09-01, 10:59 PM

Go work on it.

Don't let what happened to me happen to you.

What is happening to the tiger in your avatar?

dish

2008-09-01, 11:03 PM

Hands in ears.
*La La La, I can't hear you, La la la.*

Um, yeah. I really should do some work, shouldn't I?

TigerHunter

2008-09-01, 11:03 PM

What is happening to the tiger in your avatar?
Nothing.

Yes, I know like it looks like something bad, but it's not.

>.>
<.<

Hands in ears.
*La La La, I can't hear you, La la la.*

Um, yeah. I really should do some work, shouldn't I?
Yes.

chiasaur11

2008-09-01, 11:31 PM

Did.

Had a sentance that ran roughly seven lines.

The first paragraph is longer than the Gettysburg Address.

It is a magnificent achievement in applied bullpucky.

Jack Squat

2008-09-02, 08:56 AM

And there are never "no more essays". Maybe you run out of ones that get letter grades, but you'll be writing multipage papers throughout your life. Maybe it's the white paper for your work project, maybe it's the business plan for your small business loan, maybe it's your parent's eulogy. There are parts of modern schooling that I can't defend, but the ability to logically arrange and clearly deliver a complex argument is one of the skills that actually is important.

At least let me live out my delusions until I graduate :smalltongue:

I realize I'll have to write coherent paragraphs in the future, but I still don't see me sticking to the "Introduction, Body/Argument 1, Body/Argument 2, Body/Argument 3, Opposition, Conclusion" model that got shoved down my throat repeatedly for the past 9 years. It also shouldn't be over stuff I could care less about, such as why Regan's Brandenburg Gate Address is effective, or the TVA's effects on the environment.

Collin152

2008-09-02, 06:42 PM

We really need that Essay Radar.
I had one sneak up on me. It's due tomorrow. Meeeeep.

TigerHunter

2008-09-02, 07:01 PM

We really need that Essay Radar.
I had one sneak up on me. It's due tomorrow. Meeeeep.
It would seem mine warnings were in vain. :smallfrown:

Collin152

2008-09-02, 07:05 PM

It would seem mine warnings were in vain. :smallfrown:

Yeah, pretty much. How does that make you feel?

TigerHunter

2008-09-02, 07:05 PM

Yeah, pretty much. How does that make you feel?
:smallfrown:

Not that I blame you. I probably would have ignored the warning if I were someone else.

Collin152

2008-09-02, 07:08 PM

:smallfrown:

Aww, now I feel bad.
*hug*
Hmm, not enough.
*hug*
Know what? I'm just not gunna let go on that last one. Just stack my mail on that desk for me.

Kjata

2008-09-02, 07:11 PM

I am glad im not in school quite yet(thursday), and i hopefully wont get an essay right off the bat. High schools easy with no honors/AP classes.

Winter_Wolf

2008-09-02, 08:22 PM

Huh, I guess I'm the oddball that writes better with looming deadlines. :smallbiggrin: Seriously, the longer the time I have to work on a report (and actually work on it), the worse the end result ends up being. I guess I have the tendency to overthink some things. Case in point, my graduating thesis in my undergrad major. Going back and rereading it a few years later, I wonder why it is that my professor even gave me a passing grade. I mean, youch, I'd have failed myself!:smallsigh:
On the other hand, the paper that I wrote with the intention that it would be worthy of a 'D' grade ended up being the highest grade I ever got on a paper in my modern Japanese history class.:smallconfused: Come to think of it, it's the highest grade I ever got in any of that professor's classes. (Small uni, basically one professor covering Asian history in the 300s and 400s.) I do not believe that professor was spiting me for my impertinence. She also believed that I was sick for three months straight. Possibly because the one time she caught me in the midst of skipping her class, I really was ill.

This is probably why I'll never make it as a writer. Going back and revising is necessary, except that I seem to make things worse when I do.

TigerHunter

2008-09-02, 08:24 PM

Go to InfoWorld and sign the Save XP petition. Let Microsoft know where they can stick Vista!
:smallbiggrin:

brb

Firestar27

2008-09-02, 08:45 PM

I am glad im not in school quite yet(thursday), and i hopefully wont get an essay right off the bat. High schools easy with no honors/AP classes.

Sure it's easy, but then there's no challenge. I don't know about you, but if I know that I can take a harder class (along with all the other harder classes), I'll feel like I didn't live up to my expectations if I don't take it.

Edit:

Huh, I guess I'm the oddball that writes better with looming deadlines. <snip>

You're not the only one. I can write so much more material if the deadline is the next day. I think it might be adrenaline but I'm not sure. My writing doesn't suffer at all, and I can write much more. The only drawback is that if I underestimated the size of the essay or the ease of its writing. (Some essays are about subjects I care about or am interested, so the writing just "flows from the fingers" and I can have pages written incredibly quickly, but for some essays, I just can't think of anything to say and I have to piece it together sentence by sentence. And there's no middle ground.)

DrowVampyre

2008-09-02, 09:09 PM

Sure it's easy, but then there's no challenge. I don't know about you, but if I know that I can take a harder class (along with all the other harder classes), I'll feel like I didn't live up to my expectations if I don't take it.

Not me. But then, I despise school, and I hate being challenged (or having to actively engage at all) with something I don't like. If I choose to do something, then sure, I'll work hard - if I have to do something, even if it's something I picked off a list, I'm not interested in being challenged - I just want to put in the bare minimum of effort to get by so I can get back to doing what I actually like. >_> <_< ^_^

You're not the only one. I can write so much more material if the deadline is the next day. I think it might be adrenaline but I'm not sure. My writing doesn't suffer at all, and I can write much more. The only drawback is that if I underestimated the size of the essay or the ease of its writing. (Some essays are about subjects I care about or am interested, so the writing just "flows from the fingers" and I can have pages written incredibly quickly, but for some essays, I just can't think of anything to say and I have to piece it together sentence by sentence. And there's no middle ground.)

I'm with you all the way here. If I try to write an essay before the day before it's due, I'll literally end up sitting at the computer staring at the screen for hours with nothing but a title. I have to have the pressure on or my brain goes "hey, you don't need to do this now - go do something fun instead."

Nychta

2008-09-03, 12:20 AM

I have an essay radar. When my friends start complaining about an essay that's due in two nights, that's the signal.

TigerHunter

2008-09-04, 07:31 PM

There I go again, ignoring my own warnings. :smallsigh:

LordVader

2008-09-04, 07:34 PM

It's a really good idea to take the Interwebz offline somehow unless you need them for the essay.

Otherwise, you may end up here, or elsewhere online, instead of doing your work.

memnarch

2008-09-04, 07:38 PM

It's a really good idea to take the Interwebz offline somehow unless you need them for the essay.

Otherwise, you may end up here, or elsewhere online, instead of doing your work.

Only problem is sometimes you need the internet to write your essay. :smallfrown:

TigerHunter

2008-09-04, 07:53 PM

Only problem is sometimes you need the internet to write your essay. :smallfrown:
That would be why he specified not to do it if you need the internet. :smalltongue:

*remembers he's not supposed to be here*

*throws amnesia powder and runs off*

AstralFire

2008-09-04, 08:02 PM

It's a really good idea to take the Interwebz offline somehow unless you need them for the essay.

Otherwise, you may end up here, or elsewhere online, instead of doing your work.

I've never favored these solutions because I always find something else to do.

At least for the usual crap they require you to write in high school and most of college, I wrote better with deadline pressure. Stuff like my thesis paper, well, you can't BS that. It's too long. And you should, ideally, love the subject so much you don't want to BS it anyway.

Zarrexaij

2008-09-04, 11:14 PM

Don't remind me about the essay I have to write about Thomas Jefferson for my American History class. :smallyuk:

chiasaur11

2008-09-05, 12:36 AM

Don't remind me about the essay I have to write about Thomas Jefferson for my American History class. :smallyuk:

Essay. Jefferson. History. Get to work.

Wait, don't?

Sorry.

Raiser Blade

2008-09-05, 12:42 AM

I hit my creative peak at about midnight before the morning the essay is due.

Seriously I have turned in countless A grade papers fueled by caffiene, sleep deprivation, and desperateness.

Artega

2008-09-05, 04:57 AM

I truely believe I pump out a better product when its under the gun and my body forces me to produce more creative and thinking juices. Observe:

I have an essay due on the 25th for my college (note that the University of California school system for the most part does not begin until the 20th. So that means I've been working on an assignment due before school even begins.) With the following prompt:

What does Sartre mean when he writes that we are "condemned to be free"? What is his reasoning? To what extent do you agree or disagree? What is your reasoning?

Now, I don't really talk about it much with friends, but I consider myself a bit of a philosopher to the extent that I've read a lot of philosophical writings and developed my own take on several elements. Hell, I enjoyed reading The Stranger and if I had to associate with any school, it would be the Absurdist/Existentialist camp.

I've been staring at a blank screen for the past two weeks trying to figure out an introduction. Gah. I hate these suckers. I wish I could just flat out avoid these parts and just write.

Setra

2008-09-05, 06:03 AM

I work best under pressure.

Mid Term I didn't study for? 96%

Final I did study for? 84%

It knocked my GPA down to a 3.9 :smallfrown:

Really though I tend to wait for the last moment to write essays. I have one due next week I believe, I'll either write it the night before or a few hours before I go in.

Almn

2008-09-23, 03:42 PM

Oh man I feel your pain. Had one that I had to grind out yesterday that I had a week to work on. Was a piece of crap. Like everyhing else I do

TigerHunter

2008-09-23, 04:05 PM

Ack.

Why did this thread have to be bumped today of all days? Now I have even less of an excuse for procrastinating on my current project...

snoopy13a

2008-09-23, 08:55 PM

I hit my creative peak at about midnight before the morning the essay is due.

Seriously I have turned in countless A grade papers fueled by caffiene, sleep deprivation, and desperateness.

I've been there.

Highlight was a 10 page paper for my religious studies class. Started it around 10-11 PM the night before, got it done around 5 AM.

Best thing that ever happened to me in college was my computer breaking. That meant I had to either go to a computer lab or use a friend's. Thus, I actually had to plan ahead and no more waiting until the last minute.

Enlong

2008-09-23, 09:05 PM

I have it bad. I have to be able to write two of any four essays in class tomorrow. I just need to be ready for them, in theory. Except they want specific info from class materials to support it. So now I have a few hours to write four outlines (not that bad, since I'm expected to do each in 25 minutes, so it shouldn't take more then an hour).

But I really need to get off the internet and get to work. Else I'll probably end letting my pants escape and burn down my house in a dream before waking up with 10 minutes 'till class and nothing done.

Mattarias, King.

2008-09-23, 09:20 PM

I have an essay about apathy due tomorrow...

But.. I don't.. care about it.. :smallfrown:

TigerHunter

2008-09-23, 09:22 PM

I have an essay about apathy due tomorrow...

But.. I don't.. care about it.. :smallfrown:
One sentence: "I don't care enough to write this essay."

My current English teacher is awesome enough that he would probably give me an A+ for that.

Collin152

2008-09-23, 09:29 PM

One sentence: "I don't care enough to write this essay."

My current English teacher is awesome enough that he would probably give me an A+ for that.

I might give you a B, but I'd expect you to be able to explain yourself for at least a 15 minute presentation on what you wrote. Coherantly.

Mauve Shirt

2008-09-23, 09:30 PM

I have to give a 5-minute presentation tomorrow morning about an essay I haven't written about alternative energy sources.
And it needs to be in German.
CRAP!

Collin152

2008-09-23, 09:32 PM

I have to give a 5-minute presentation tomorrow morning about an essay I haven't written about alternative energy sources.
And it needs to be in German.
CRAP!

Hmm, coulda helped you, but you just had to need it in German.
Doitsugo ga zenzen wakaranai.

Too bad.

Semidi

2008-09-23, 09:34 PM

I'm writing mine right now. Well... sort of... I keep on getting distracted. Damn you internets.

Mattarias, King.

2008-09-23, 09:42 PM

One sentence: "I don't care enough to write this essay."

My current English teacher is awesome enough that he would probably give me an A+ for that.

:smallconfused: I'm.. very tempted to do so. Sadly, I doubt it'd fly with my current teacher... I guess I'll just do the make-up. I tend to care more about those.

Collin152

2008-09-23, 09:44 PM

:smallconfused: I'm.. very tempted to do so. Sadly, I doubt it'd fly with my current teacher... I guess I'll just do the make-up. I tend to care more about those.

Turn in both the real 'ting and the joke one.

Enlong

2008-09-23, 10:27 PM

Turn in both the real 'ting and the joke one.
Joke one first, of course. Then when she calls you out on it, turn in the real one.

Collin152

2008-09-23, 10:30 PM

Joke one first, of course. Then when she calls you out on it, turn in the real one.

Natch'.
'urally. Naturally.

Unique

2008-09-23, 10:35 PM

I think we need an Essay Radar;
Tracks their aproach, and gives warnings in ominous beeps and red pulses.I'd just like to note that no matter how ominous it was, my reaction would be to go, "yeah yeah I'll get on that when I feel like it, I've got time yet" until the night before it was due.

Collin152

2008-09-23, 10:48 PM

I'd just like to note that no matter how ominous it was, my reaction would be to go, "yeah yeah I'll get on that when I feel like it, I've got time yet" until the night before it was due.

Increasingly ominous beeps and pulses?

Unique

2008-09-23, 10:50 PM

Increasingly ominous beeps and pulses?You underestimate the power of my laziness.

thubby

2008-09-23, 10:57 PM

i have a simple strategy. just right "essay due tommorrow" on the calender for the next day. have heart attack the next night, realize what you did, then get writing, if you don't finish, write it on the next day, and so on.
you'll eventually get so fed up with the sudden stress jump you'll stop procrastinating. :smallbiggrin:

this thread should be stickied.

edit: use some of that mental power to force yourself to do the paper instead of resisting.
.l
\/

Unique

2008-09-23, 10:58 PM

Semidi

2008-09-23, 11:27 PM

I guess I'm weird. I need to write my essays days in advance and revise them several times before I have a final draft. My rough draft is done, and I believe it needs heavy revision. But you know, I have three days to do all that.

Danzaver

2008-09-24, 12:04 AM

Heh, yesterday i just lost a month's worth of irreplaceable research and a few hundred dollars worth of books on the bus.

...oh, and it's due this Friday.

Thes Hunter

2008-09-24, 12:13 AM

Essays I hates them, they burn us.

I'll work on mine tomorrow.

dish

2008-09-24, 04:52 AM

Heh, yesterday i just lost a month's worth of irreplaceable research and a few hundred dollars worth of books on the bus.

...oh, and it's due this Friday.

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. That's awful. :smalleek: What are you going to do? I live in fear of doing something similar.

Mauve Shirt

2008-09-24, 06:39 AM

This essay presentation is due in an hour and a half. I still have to translate it into German.
Go me. :smallsigh:

Setra

2008-09-24, 06:46 AM

I have one due soon..

I've been working on it off and on for the past 9 hours... It's just ... I hate the topic.. seriously. It's something we haven't gone over in class at ALL (and in fact, could technically be the opposite of what we have gone over, in a bad way) , I think he expects us to use google to find information or something but I'm jut having no luck with it..

I'm basically rambling on and on to try and increase the word count.

DigoDragon

2008-09-24, 06:53 AM

Dang, I kinda wish I had this kind of problem. The unfortunate thing is after school is done with I'm STILL doing essays... except now they're called "Performance Reviews" and the essay is to my boss about how I'm doing my job and why I deserve the whopping half percent raise in my pay.
No pressure of course. :smallamused:

Mauve Shirt

2008-09-24, 11:33 AM

YES! Did well on the presentation! Hooray procrastination results paying off!

Griever

2008-09-24, 11:41 AM

YES! Did well on the presentation! Hooray procrastination results paying off!

Wohooooo!!

Reminds me a French presentation I did in High School. Walked into class, and suddenly remembered that we had to do a presentation (very open-ended assignment) that would take up 5 minutes.

When my turn came, I calmly walked up to the board and started drawing a family tree while making jokes. As long as you can keep people amused, time runs fast. :smallbiggrin: