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Sociology question and grammar question.

waloshin

waloshin

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 9, 2008
3,567
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I am writing an essay for Sociology and I was wondering if this statement is true.

"Doug being class consciousness would help motivate him into attending university." Would this be considered class consciousness?

Now onto the grammar question my professor states, "Big Words, a Lot of Words: Some students believe that instructors are impressed by fancy words.
They are not! The trend nowadays is to use simple English. Two general rules apply here: (i) never use
a big word when a short one will do; and (ii) never use two words when one will do"

So does this mean we have permission to use contractions such as don't instead of do not,
 
Last edited:
waloshin said:
I am writing an essay fro Sociology and I was wondering if this statement is true.

"Doug being class consciousness would help motivate him into attending university." Would this be considered class consciousness?

Now onto the grammar question my professor states, "Big Words, a Lot of Words: Some students believe that instructors are impressed by fancy words.
They are not! The trend nowadays is to use simple English. Two general rules apply here: (i) never use
a big word when a short one will do; and (ii) never use two words when one will do"

So does this mean we have permission to use contractions such as don't instead of do not,
Click to expand...

wut?

Wally, can I ask what University you attend?
 
waloshin said:
I am writing an essay fro Sociology and I was wondering if this statement is true.

"Doug being class consciousness would help motivate him into attending university." Would this be considered class consciousness?
Click to expand...
Is there an article missing or is the third noun an adjective?
 
waloshin said:
I am writing an essay fro Sociology and I was wondering if this statement is true.

"Doug being class consciousness would help motivate him into attending university." Would this be considered class consciousness?

Now onto the grammar question my professor states, "Big Words, a Lot of Words: Some students believe that instructors are impressed by fancy words.
They are not! The trend nowadays is to use simple English. Two general rules apply here: (i) never use
a big word when a short one will do; and (ii) never use two words when one will do"

So does this mean we have permission to use contractions such as don't instead of do not,
Click to expand...

Just be sure to use the correct form of it's/its if you are going to go with contractions. Your best source is, of course, the prof. Or - if your school files essays from past years, check to see how those are marked. If you are at a post-secondary institute, keep in mind that the paper may be marked by a TA, who has a slightly different view on contractions. I doubt you will get in trouble for using them, but you may get a TA who doesn't like them.

Luck.
 
Also I was wondering if this is good or bad.

I ran my essay through the Gunning Fog Index and got 14 is that bad or good? And a Flesch readability score of 44.
 
Last edited:
waloshin said:
The trend nowadays is to use simple English. Two general rules apply here: never use a big word when a short one will do; and (ii) never use two words when one will do"

So does this mean we have permission to use contractions such as don't instead of do not,
Click to expand...

Stop > cease and desist.
 
waloshin said:
I am writing an essay for Sociology and I was wondering if this statement is true.

"Doug being class consciousness would help motivate him into attending university." Would this be considered class consciousness?

Now onto the grammar question my professor states, "Big Words, a Lot of Words: Some students believe that instructors are impressed by fancy words.
They are not! The trend nowadays is to use simple English. Two general rules apply here: (i) never use
a big word when a short one will do; and (ii) never use two words when one will do"

So does this mean we have permission to use contractions such as don't instead of do not,
Click to expand...

Ouch. Waloshin: In the name of all the gods that may exist, those that don't, those that no longer exist and those who have yet to be dreamed up, what on earth are you trying to say with this sentence?

I used to teach history, politics (and, more pertinently, sociology as that department merged with the politics department the year I started teaching). So, I spent a lot of time grading and correcting term essays, and papers submitted by sociology (and politics) students. For some inexplicable reason, quite a number of the students thought sociology was 'easy'.

Just as a poorly performed play is somehow worse to sit through than an awful movie, a poorly conceived sociology essay is a greater struggle to grade than a miserable politics offering.

Re contractions: Maybe I'm old-fashioned but, while they are fine in emails, tweets, or indeed, online fora - I don't recommend them for college essays. They look sloppy, careless and casual.

Re 'Doug' (I assume it is 'Doug' not 'does'), that is a frightful sentence, in both conception and construction. Let's take the construction, first. If you use the verb 'to be' - as in 'being' in that sentence, then Doug is 'class conscious', not Doug 'is class consciousness'; such as: "being class conscious, Doug felt [more] motivated..."

If you simply wish to discuss the concept of how class, class consciousness, access to university, and opportunity to attend university are all linked, I'd recommend, [strongly] that you consider redrafting the entire sentence.

Cheers
 
Shrink said:
Please make it stop.

Please

Please...
Click to expand...

Though it is we, who keep it going. Waloshin seldom checks back into his own threads. Before he got 500 posts I would check his post count and his thread count, and the ratio was 2:1 at most (post:thread).
I don't know, how it is today, as VBB's search features are limited, but seeing and participating in many of waloshin's thread, I see that trend, that he often does not return to give more feedback or if he returns, the post rarely scratches any replies he got.

So long I guess.
 
waloshin said:
"Doug being class consciousness would help motivate him into attending university."
Click to expand...

That, is NOT a sentence.

Were you trying to say:
"Doug's class consciousness motivated him to attend university."
or
"Doug, being class conscious, was motivated to attend university."
 
eawmp1 said:
That, is NOT a sentence.

Were you trying to say:
"Doug's class consciousness motivated him to attend university."
or
"Doug, being class conscious, was motivated to attending university."
Click to expand...
"Motivated to attending" is neither grammatically nor aesthetically acceptable...


:)
 
skunk said:
"Motivated to attending" is neither grammatically nor aesthetically acceptable...


:)
Click to expand...

I was cutting and pasting, and I edited as soon as it posted (hence no edit line). You must have gotten it early because of your time zone. :p
 
eawmp1 said:
That, is NOT a sentence.

Were you trying to say:
"Doug's class consciousness motivated him to attend university."
or
"Doug, being class conscious, was motivated to attend university."
Click to expand...

I must say that you are truly a nice person to take this seriously enough to give a reasoned and cogent response.:D
 
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