Voice at the Last Minute

Most papers are unintentionally written--and it shows. 

The words look like they have been spilled on the page.

Teachers dislike papers that look like they are written without forethought. Of course this is exactly how most papers are written, since time is always a factor. 

Still even with a last minute paper, you can hide that it was a night before paper. The strategy is to plan the voice of your paper before hand. Click below to find out...

HOW TO GIVE YOUR ESSAY VOICE

Automatic Essay

Here is the Automatic Essay...It served me for years. Perhaps, it will serve you too.

The Automatic Essay, for when you have nothing to say...

Writing an Essay Backward

Backward Design: Writing an Essay at The Last Minute


Most people will find this advice obvious, but for those of you who have never thought of this...here is the backward approach to writing an essay


Sometimes the best way to write an essay at the last minute is to write it first and do the research afterward. How does this work?


The idea is to write an essay completely off the top of your head. Only after you have finished the essay do you find the research and citations to see who has said what you have said. Why does this method work well?

1. Bits and Pieces: Many essays read like the student just glued bits of research together. The reason is that people often write an essay around the research. Instead research should be written around the essay. Research is your support, not your content. Your essay is more likely to flow when you simply write what you think about a topic
2. Voice When marking, it is refreshing when a paper has a "voice." For years I could tell when a paper had my "voice" and when it did not. It took me a few more years to see why. The papers that I wrote around the research, read just like the research. In the papers that I used research as the materials of the essay, not the essay itself, they carried my signature voice. I assure you that when marking, papers that read with voice are much more interesting to read. 
3. Unique Perspective Your essay will likely be creative and original. When you read a perspective or opinion on a topic it is often acts as a mental block against producing your own perspective. I suspect that your subconscious says, "o.k. I guess we are done thinking about that issue. Now what's for dinner?" When you write without having done all the research you will often be surprised by what comes out on the page. 

Caution: if all you do is add the citations, it is not going to be a very well thought out essay. What should happen is that, while finding the citations for your essay, your essay's content should evolve. In the end you should have an essay that is academic and but stylistically pleasing.


Why is this a last minute paper?

• This type of essay takes very little time to write. Why? You know exactly what research you are looking for.

Don't forget your tool kit...


I am still working on a complete essay guide, check back soon :)
The Insider

Essay Ideas

Here are ideas for essays. More are coming soon.
Essay Ideas

ESSAY TOOL KIT

University, College, and High School

How many times have you spent more than one hour thinking that you have no idea where to start an assignment instead of working on it? People always say, “Just start it.” Good advice but what do you do: brainstorm, generate questions, throw porcupines at dart boards? 

All of these are good ideas but after you have finished doing each one, you still haven't really started. Why don't these actions work?

For the most part, when you get an assignment, your subconscious is already doing these things. So the night before the essay is due, you have subconsciously already brainstormed and generated questions (mmm not sure about the porcupine thing).

What you actually need to begin are the materials of the assignment.

You can think of materials as the tools of an assassin. These tools help you kill the assignment.

I know what you are thinking. Writing an essay, or completing an assignment, is easy once you have the tools. BUT the Last Minute Student doesn't have the tools because it is often too late to gather them.

Well click here for your tool kit. It won't cover every assignment just like not every toolbox has every tool you need. It will however, help give you a boost for many of them. The best part is that it avoids wikipedia and the resulting disdain every teacher has for it.

Pre-order games from Amazon

THE FOUR TOOL KIT

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Your Scope

First get background on your topic. When writing about any topic it is a good idea to find out what the experts think. Everything from Plato to Time Travel to Zombies can be found here. Some of the material is difficult but it is trustworthy and cite worthy.

Philosophical Encyclopedia 

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Your GPS

Sometimes it is difficult to write the last minute essay because you know next to nothing about the historical connection. This tool allows you to quickly locate an important historical event or thinker and quickly see what was happening in and around that time.

Timeline

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Your Ammunition

If you already don't know about it, this is how you avoid the trash on the net when searching for information: Google Scholar

Scholar

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Your Shield

I know this book is old (you can get the new edition from the Amazon link on my main page) but it is your ultimate defence against teachers. It is a quick and easy guide to writing. If the book says you can do it—you can do it. If a teacher asks why you did blah blah blah, throw this book at them (or just show them).

Elements of Style Free

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Hope that helps,

The Insider

University: Making Money, Experience, and Connections

Working the University System

          Working for The Prof:

                Getting Money, Experience, and Connections

One of the most important university skills is being able to work the system. Ultimately it is your connection to your profs that will determine the references, experience, and--yes--money you can gain.

Almost all professors are engaged in research and almost all professors need help with that research. What they do not need is someone that they cannot count on. A research assistant that is late, lazy, or sloppy will be more trouble than they are worth.

This is where it is amusing since if you are sloppy, lazy, and frequently late, this is the perfect job for you.

What Exactly Am I Talking About?

• Most universities have a system where professors pay for research assistants
• The university usually pays half the cost and the prof pays the other half
• Because of the low cost, usually profs are more than happy to take on "research assistants"
• Profs are usually divorced from the working world and often overpay you for your work
• Most of the time, your real job will be organizing a prof's bookshelf, moving boxes, or getting food--and yet you will often be paid wages that are significantly higher than what you would expect for the work you are doing
• No matter what work you do, you will have "Worked as a research assistant for Professor:_______" on your resume
• Professors are busy so most of your work will be unsupervised
• If you actually do an excellent job, you will have made an important connection and reference for the future

How Do I Get this Job?

1. First you need to find an article written by the professor
2. Read the article and come up with a question or two that could not be answered by an internet search. For example, find something that you really think was not answered by his or her article. You don't want to ask a question like, “what does the word acumen mean? You used it in the article.”
3. A good question might be something like, “In your article you suggested that high schools need to introduce Shakespeare earlier but how can they do that and still meet the other demands of the curriculum?”
4. If the prof asks why you read the article be ready to answer that you always try to read at least one article from every professor to find out what the classes will be like
5. If you can find one, find another academic who has commented on that article in a citation index. You might ask your professor their response to that article.
6. Before your next class try to read another article by that professor. You don't need to bring up the fact that you have read that article but it might aid conversation if the prof asks if you have only read one article
7. At the next class—so that they don't forget you--ask the professor about how one becomes a volunteer research assistant and inquire if any professors need one
8. In most cases that professor will likely offer you a position or recommend one
9. Do not ask to be paid; wait until the professor offers to pay you. Standard practice dictates working for at least a few months once a week or so as a volunteer before they offer to hire you

DO's and DON'Ts

DO

• Do notice the dress style that your prof wears and try to match this style. If your prof wears suits, however, pick a style of dress that is semi-casual not formal. You wearing a suit will look too needy
• Do look fascinated. Profs are notoriously tired of the “apathetic generation”
• Do look for older profs; they are more likely to be lonely and less likely to still be paying off their student loans from when they were in school

DON'T

• Don't approach a prof when they look busy
• Don't look for job postings in university hallways--the competition will be too high
• Don't try to get a position before you have been marked on something in that class
• Don't bother trying to get a position if you have not been marked well in that class
• Don't look like a fringe element—profs have egos and those egos need to be fed. You want to look like someone to mould, not someone who is moulded
• Don't try to get the position the first time you speak to the professor

Best of Luck. I hope it all goes well.

Your Insider

The Last Minute Student

My Test is Tomorrow. What do I do????? 


If you are reading this then you probably do not have much time. For this reason I will keep this short. Most advice that you will get from parents or teachers suggest how ineffective cramming is. Instead they stress frequent and consistent review. 


I think by the time you are cramming, consistent and frequent review are a little late to be dreaming about.  


The first thing you need to realize is that cramming is successful--well at least more successful than doing nothing at all. So take a short time--and I do mean short (since you have work to do)--to think about the following.


Points to consider:

1. Time is a factor when cramming but your concentration is limited. Use every minute you have but work no more than 50 minutes without taking a 10 minute break. For example: study from 4 to 4:50, then 5 to 5:50 etc. 
2. Every minute you study is likely one more mark.
3. Thinking about time you have lost or thinking that you should have started earlier is a waste of time.
4. You will feel stress, but put it outside of yourself. Be detached from your emotions. You study best when you are calm.
5. You need at least 3-5 hours to get one cycle of REM sleep. REM sleep is necessary for memory storage. You need that minimum of sleep.
6. Taking notes is superior to reading your notes.
7. You remember best when you use more than one of your senses. 

Best Cramming Study in Five Steps:

1. Make notes of your textbook or notes of your notebook notes you have.
2. When done. Make notes of those notes but shorter.
3. When done make notes of those shorter notes in keywords and phrases.
4. Pretend to teach someone out loud from the shortest set of notes. If you forget what your short note words or phrases are standing for--go back and read the originals.
5. If possible teach a friend or parent--what you teach you will remember best.

Good Luck...more to come later on cramming, writing essays, and surviving school.