Essays for papers

Power went out twice this morning, but for shorter intervals. I’m going to take that as a good sign.

In the downtime, I’ve been working on research. Finals aren’t for another month, but there are a couple of essays due in two weeks.

I hate the Intro to New Zealand Politics one already.

Anyone remember five-paragraph essays? From, oh, say, middle school? That’s basically what the guidelines are describing.

And we’re taking large chunks of tutorial time to explain this complex structure. As well as other subtle nuances of essay-writing. (Did you know that you should double-space it? And use black ink? Really!)

A cultural quirk: length is discussed in terms of word count, rather than pages. This one is supposed to be 1500-2000 words. (Comes to ~5-7 pages double-spaced.)

The lower bound of that isn’t going to be a problem. The upper bound might be: I have 1800 words in notes so far. What I don’t have is a coherent argument. Much less a way to hammer out anything interesting in five-paragraph essay format.

(I also don’t have any sources published after 1997, but I figure that’s on the library’s head, not mine.)

(Footnote to various family members to whom I owe emails: I’ll get back to you once I figure this out. Also, Mom & Dad, you should totally come visit. When’s the next time you’re going to have the excuse?)