Professor Robert Zagaroli

Category: Professor (Page 1 of 2)

Research Paper Comments

Everyone,

I am reviewing the submitted draft papers, and can summarize some general comments that will benefit everyone:

  1. All reference information must be cited with footnotes. You cannot use another researcher’s information without giving them credit.
  2. Your references should not be 100% internet sources. All these buildings are well documented in books and journal articles. Use them!
  3. Integrate your images and drawings throughout the written portion of the paper, providing captions and citations for each one. Use these to illustrate your points in the text.  (for a higher level, number your images so that you can refer to them in the text.)
  4. If your paper does not follow the outline requested, attempt to adjust it as much as you can to the standard before resubmitting. Use clear, indented,  subheadings for each section of the outline.  If resubmitting your draft please put RESUBMIT in caps in the title of the email so I know to use that version.
  5. Remember that the central idea in this paper is to be YOUR ANALYSIS of the architecture, NOT a historical narrative. Use the outline to guide your analysis.  If you find you paper starts to sound like a real estate agent tour, STOP and rethink your analysis.
  6. Many submissions have poor punctuation. Be sure all proper names are correctly presented with first letters in upper case. Be consistent every time you use the same term through the paper.  Use Grammarly or other app to check spelling, punctuation, etc.
  7. PROOF READ!!! Try this: read your paper out loud to someone (or even to yourself) and see if they can understand it and to detect grammatical errors, flow of sentences, logical sequence of topics, work use.
  8. All references must be properly and consistently formatted in MLA style. Use a citation tool/machine like EasyBib or Endnote to help you.

Draft is due Today, March 29th 2023.  If you’ve spoken to me about an extension please send it by Friday morning, March 31.

Regards, Robert Zagaroli

Short Writing Assignment Group Feedback

Everyone,

I have graded all the short writing assignments submitted so far. See the OpenLab Gradebook for your score through the course dashboard. Each writing assignment is worth 4 points. 3 points or higher is good, but if you are below 3 you need to address issues with the way you are developing these assignments.

First and foremost is the issue of using other sources verbatim (exact same words) without citing the source and showing quotation marks. You must avoid plagiarism in your writing by explicitly citing any sources of writing that are not yours. In these assignments, you should be relying on your own voice and thinking. From this point forward, any assignment submissions with passages from an un-cited source will not be accepted and be given a 0 .

Most submissions are earning low content scores, meaning that the submission includes inaccurate statements. To address this, we need to work together during class time to be sure we are all engaged in the conversation and anyone who needs further clarification is asking questions. Note-taking is critical in the field. Please work to understand the big picture of the material covered in each class and the key details that support this big picture. For example, the discussion of tenement housing needs to focus on the actual building conditions, not just the greedy landlords and overcrowding.

Organization is also often a low score for many of you. Please pay particular attention to your paragraphs, with one key idea for each paragraph and discussion of that idea in the following sentences. Many paragraphs move through multiple topics, loosing clarity and focus.

Proofreading out loud is a great technique to eliminate grammatical and spelling errors. Please be sure you are proofreading before submitting.

Please schedule a time during my office hours or another time  including before or after class that we can meet individually to discuss your grades and how you can improve.

Prof. Montgomery

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