1. Lasar’s U a great
writer
With 8 (or so) EZ rules!

2. Writing is the most powerful form of multimedia ever invented
Words + your
God; cannibalism; Paris Hilton; Iraq; love; Snoop Doggy Dog; Shakespeare; mother; wuddever . . .

3. Writing is the most powerful multimedia tool ever invented
“Mrs. Daughtry walked into the living room. There on the sofa sat young Alvin the accountant, with a confident expression on his face.”
Words + your

4. Writing is the most powerful multimedia tool ever invented
“Mrs. Daughtry walked into the living room. There on the sofa sat young Lars the pool boy, with a confident expression on his face.”
Words + your

5. “In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.”
George Orwell, 1946

6. "I believe in killing off your opponents when you can get good results by doing so."

7. "While freely conceding that the Soviet regime exhibits certain features which the humanitarian may be inclined to deplore, we must, I think, agree that a certain curtailment of the right to political opposition is an unavoidable concomitant of transitional periods, and that the rigors which the Russian people have been called upon to undergo have been amply justified in the sphere of concrete achievement."

8. Fuzzy language today “Enhanced interrogation techniques”
“Preemptive strike”
“Introduction of defensive weapons”
“Budget correction”
“Market correction”

9. Orwell: language really matters
“Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it.”
But Orwell thinks that’s not true . . .

10. Orwell: language really matters
“If you simplify your English, you are freed from the worst follies of orthodoxy. You cannot speak any of the necessary dialects, and when you make a stupid remark its stupidity will be obvious, even to yourself.”

11. Why do people fear writing?
Afraid that they will be wrong about something.
Afraid that they will be a bad writer.
Afraid that they don’t have anything to say.

12. Don’t be afraid . . .
Write!

13. 1. Avoid the “to be” verbs “is” “was” “are” “were”
Activity, not existence, defines life
Make your subjects do things

14. Marvin Gaye: “I heard it through the grape vine.”
Your typical UCSC student: “It was heard by me through the grape vine.”

15. 2. Use simpler words
Why use “interrelated” or “interconnected” when you can use “related” or “connected”?
Can you tell the difference between a “diametrical opposite” and an “opposite”?
Why say “utilize” when you can say “use”?

16. 3. Use shorter sentences
It was May of 1979 and all the good feelings — the vibrations, the groove — of the shimmering bright era that had sustained her through every failure and disappointment had dwindled and winnowed and faded til she was angry all the time, angry at Toby for leaving her, angry at her daughter, angry at her boss and the landlord who wanted two hundred fifty bucks a month for a dreary clamshell-gray walkup over a take-out pizza shop on Route 1 in downtown Oxnard, where the fog hung like death over everything and the trucks never stopped spewing diesel fumes outside the window, which might as well have been nailed shut for all the air it gave her. – T.C. Boyle, When the Killing’s Done

17. 4. Do not use cliches
“The café was a mecca for local artists and intellectuals.”
“It was the mother of all party battles.”
“Having spent his political capital, Grover Cleveland would now have to pay the electoral piper.”
“Descartes began to think outside the box.”

18. 5. Do not use jargon Existential Problematize Text Binary opposition
Deconstruct
Discursive
Subjectivities
Intervention
“I submit this intervention to problematize the subjectivities inherent in the text, paradigmatic of the contemporary discourse on global warming.”

19. 5b. Bu$ine$$ jargon Synergy Monetize Paradigm
Why would you want to “monetize” your Web site? Wouldn’t you rather make money from it?

20. 5c. Political jargon game changer deal breaker quintessential
family values
values voters
turn coat
dog and pony show

21. 6. Start your essay with an interesting first sentence
No: “The economy affects our lives on a daily basis.”
Yes: “Until recently economists assumed the Crash of 1929 caused the Great Depression, but now they question that theory.”
Tell your reader something that they do not know in the first sentence

22. 7. Let your reader know what you will do on the first page of your essay
Interesting first sentence or two, then . . .
“This essay will explore George Orwell’s 1949 novel I argue that although the book represented a critique of Soviet socialism, it also posed a challenge to British society. The novel implicitly questioned England’s rigid class system and its continued reliance on Victorian sexual standards.”

23. 8. How to become a better writer
Write every day
Keep a diary
Start a Web log (blog)
Get friends to critique and proof your work

24. Structure of your paper
Introduce your conspiracy theory and your argument (and why the subject matters).
Describe your theory.
Describe the context using secondary sources and your course books.
Your conclusion should recapitulate your main argument and the significance of your subject.

25. Use your own words Don’t overuse text blocks Don’t overuse quotes
Use quotes for emphasis and drama

26. Great ways to get a C to F in this paper
Hand it in late.
Don’t check your spelling or grammar.
Plagiarize.
Misspell your subject’s name.
Misspell my name (Matthew Lasar)
Quote me in the paper (this is a research paper, not a feedback loop)

27. Don’t forget! This is a paper about context.
Don’t try to prove or disprove a conspiracy theory.