Lasar’s U2
a great
writer
With 8 (or so) EZ
rules!
Writing is the most powerful form
of multimedia ever invented
 Words + your
God; cannibalism; Paris Hilton; Iraq;
love; Snoop Doggy Dog; Shakespeare;
mother; wuddever . . .
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
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
 “In our time, political
speech and writing
are largely the
defense of the
indefensible.”
 George Orwell, 1946
 "I believe in killing off your opponents
when you can get good results by
doing so."
 "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."
Fuzzy language today
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“Enhanced interrogation techniques”
“Preemptive strike”
“Introduction of defensive weapons”
“Budget correction”
“Market correction”
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 . . .
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.”
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.
Don’t be afraid . . .
 Write!
1. Avoid the “to be” verbs
 “is” “was” “are” “were”
 Activity, not existence, defines life
 Make your subjects do things
 Marvin Gaye: “I heard it through the
grape vine.”
 Your typical UCSC student:
“It was heard by me through the
grape vine.”
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”?
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
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.”
5. Do not use jargon
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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.”
5b. Bu$ine$$ jargon
 Synergy
 Monetize
 Paradigm
 Why would you
want to “monetize”
your Web site?
Wouldn’t you
rather make
money from it?
5c. Political jargon
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game changer
deal breaker
quintessential
family values
values voters
turn coat
dog and pony
show
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
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 1984. 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.”
8. How to become a better writer
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Write every day
Keep a diary
Start a Web log (blog)
Get friends to critique and proof your
work
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.
Use your own words
 Don’t overuse text blocks
 Don’t overuse quotes
 Use quotes for emphasis and drama
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)
Don’t forget!
 This is a paper about context.
 Don’t try to prove or disprove a
conspiracy theory.