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Well, I defended my thesis the other day and learned that my professors all
despise my writing style. One committee member advised me to reorganize and
rewrite the entire thing, with these specific instructions, "All your sentences
should be subject-verb-object and no more than three lines long."
After I calmed down I thought about how to go about doing this. I can do shorter
sentences averaging around two dozen words each. Heck, while chopping it up I
can probably work in some Dr. Seuss rhythms, and maybe even a limerick or two
(because I tend to be perverse like that). But the other requirement seems more
bothersome. This simple sentence structure is what, maybe third grade level?
I don't know anything about kids, so I looked it up, and quickly found a K-12
guide to writing level expectations. Children are expected to use more than one
type of sentence structure in their written work by the end of second grade. I'm
supposed to rewrite my master's thesis as if I'm seven years old.
Wow.
A student learned that at his school
He should write like a blathering fool
Only subject-verb-noun
Like some brain-damaged clown
or a JavaScript markov-chain tool
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On 01/08/2012 07:39 AM, waggy wrote:
> Well, I defended my thesis the other day and learned that my professors all
> despise my writing style. One committee member advised me to reorganize and
> rewrite the entire thing, with these specific instructions, "All your sentences
> should be subject-verb-object and no more than three lines long."
Wait, what? You wrote a sentence that was /more/ than 3 lines long? What
are you, a lawyer? ;-)
> A student learned that at his school
> He should write like a blathering fool
> Only subject-verb-noun
> Like some brain-damaged clown
> or a JavaScript markov-chain tool
I gotta get me some Markov chains some day...
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Invisible wrote:
>
> I gotta get me some Markov chains some day...
I was thinking of slapping one on my bike, heading on down to the brewpub...
It's hard to say where I might end up after that...
Huh. Maybe that's what's already on it...
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waggy <hon### [at] handbasket org> wrote:
> Well, I defended my thesis the other day and learned that my professors all
> despise my writing style. One committee member advised me to reorganize and
> rewrite the entire thing, with these specific instructions, "All your sentences
> should be subject-verb-object and no more than three lines long."
> After I calmed down I thought about how to go about doing this.
You should make *all* of your senteces three lines long, and make it so
that the subject is at the very beginning of the sentence and the verb and
object are at the very end, or the subject and verb at the beginning and
the object at the end (and the middle filled with qualifiers).
In fact, better split all your infinitives so that you have "<subject> to"
at the very beginning, and "<verb> <object>" at the very end of the
three-line sentence.
--
- Warp
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Le 01/08/2012 15:30, Warp a écrit :
> waggy <hon### [at] handbasketorg> wrote:
>> Well, I defended my thesis the other day and learned that my professors all
>> despise my writing style. One committee member advised me to reorganize and
>> rewrite the entire thing, with these specific instructions, "All your sentences
>> should be subject-verb-object and no more than three lines long."
>
>> After I calmed down I thought about how to go about doing this.
>
> You should make *all* of your senteces three lines long, and make it so
> that the subject is at the very beginning of the sentence and the verb and
> object are at the very end, or the subject and verb at the beginning and
> the object at the end (and the middle filled with qualifiers).
>
> In fact, better split all your infinitives so that you have "<subject> to"
> at the very beginning, and "<verb> <object>" at the very end of the
> three-line sentence.
>
What ? and no qualifier for <object> ? no context adjustement for <verb>
? <subject> is getting all the qualifiers... it's unfair.
No digression with relative proposition*s* inside a sentence ?
No articulation with "and", "or", "despite"... ?
Do they expect automatic translation to be successful on your thesis ?
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waggy <hon### [at] handbasketorg> wrote:
> Well, I defended my thesis the other day and learned that my professors all
> despise my writing style. One committee member advised me to reorganize and
> rewrite the entire thing, with these specific instructions, "All your sentences
> should be subject-verb-object and no more than three lines long."
Btw, it made me recall this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_English_usage_misconceptions
--
- Warp
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I don't know where you live, but in general emigrating to Germany or the
Netherlands should do the trick.
We both have similar long sentences, and in German you have the bonus of
constructs that consist of a verb and another word. This allows you to
use that word, which might not be the one the audience expects, and then
5 minutes later finish off your sentence with the right verb.
When done expertly it can make boring speeches into a spectator sport.
On 1-8-2012 8:39, waggy wrote:
> Well, I defended my thesis the other day and learned that my professors all
> despise my writing style. One committee member advised me to reorganize and
> rewrite the entire thing, with these specific instructions, "All your sentences
> should be subject-verb-object and no more than three lines long."
>
> After I calmed down I thought about how to go about doing this. I can do shorter
> sentences averaging around two dozen words each. Heck, while chopping it up I
> can probably work in some Dr. Seuss rhythms, and maybe even a limerick or two
> (because I tend to be perverse like that). But the other requirement seems more
> bothersome. This simple sentence structure is what, maybe third grade level?
>
> I don't know anything about kids, so I looked it up, and quickly found a K-12
> guide to writing level expectations. Children are expected to use more than one
> type of sentence structure in their written work by the end of second grade. I'm
> supposed to rewrite my master's thesis as if I'm seven years old.
>
> Wow.
>
> A student learned that at his school
> He should write like a blathering fool
> Only subject-verb-noun
> Like some brain-damaged clown
> or a JavaScript markov-chain tool
>
--
Women are the canaries of science. When they are underrepresented
it is a strong indication that non-scientific factors play a role
and the concentration of incorruptible scientists is also too low
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> On 01/08/2012 07:39 AM, waggy wrote:
>> Well, I defended my thesis the other day and learned that my
>> professors all
>> despise my writing style. One committee member advised me to
>> reorganize and
>> rewrite the entire thing, with these specific instructions, "All your
>> sentences
>> should be subject-verb-object and no more than three lines long."
>
> Wait, what? You wrote a sentence that was /more/ than 3 lines long? What
> are you, a lawyer? ;-)
>
The sentence you quoted is 4 lines long. :P
--
/*Francois Labreque*/#local a=x+y;#local b=x+a;#local c=a+b;#macro P(F//
/* flabreque */L)polygon{5,F,F+z,L+z,L,F pigment{rgb 9}}#end union
/* @ */{P(0,a)P(a,b)P(b,c)P(2*a,2*b)P(2*b,b+c)P(b+c,<2,3>)
/* gmail.com */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }
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On Wed, 01 Aug 2012 16:05:52 -0400, Francois Labreque wrote:
> The sentence you quoted is 4 lines long. :P
It was two sentences. ;)
Jim
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I like this guy. :)
tough competition, Andrew!
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