Why do professors require papers to be certain lengths?

[EightySix Four]

I would think being able to get your point across efficiently without fluff should be prized more than being able to fill a paper with bullshit until it is the length the professor wants. Why do professors have these requirements? It's not like it makes the papers any better.

 

[ShawnD1]

They don't actually read your paper. They look at how many pages it is and assign a random mark based on how they feel.

 

[surfsatwerk]

If you can't write to the specified length about your subject, you did not research your subject to the degree the professor desires.

 

[911paramedic]

I have a professor that says "It's easy to write a 10 page paper, it's much harder to get the same point across in three."

She likes us to keep them short...

 

[EightySix Four]

If you can't write to the specified length about your subject, you did not research your subject to the degree the professor desires.

Bullshit. That's like judging a movie based on how long it is.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Bullshit. That's like judging a movie based on how long it is.

Quit your bitching and do the work.

 

[EightySix Four]

Quit your bitching and do the work.

I'm done with the work, I'm just still angry

 

[jlee]

Quit your bitching and do the work.

This.

Some schools also have a minimum writing requirement - if I'm not mistaken, it's often state-imposed.

 

[surfsatwerk]

I'm done with the work, I'm just still angry

If writing a paper causes you anger then drop out of school now and prepare for a life on welfare.

 

[EightySix Four]

This.

Some schools also have a minimum writing requirement - if I'm not mistaken, it's often state-imposed.

Private college.

If writing a paper causes you anger then drop out of school now and prepare for a life on welfare.

Writing a paper over a useless topic and trying to make it an arbitrary number of pages causes me anger.

 

[feralkid]

What did your Prof say when you asked?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I never understood that either. I used to hate writing essays, 90% of the battle was trying to fill it to meet the minimum. They usually always gave realy boring subjects too.

Then we had to write a story from our own imagination and there was a MAX amount of pages. wtf? it's much easier to write alot from imagination then trying to find BS on some boring subject. I used to manipulate stuff like margins, line spacing, etc to make it look longer. Gradually increase those settings from page to page and it should be unnoticable. Use thick paper so they can't see through or they'll notice it's not alligning properly. The overall thickness of the report will give the impression of it being longer too. It's all phsycological.

 

[nerp]

Ideally, to teach structure and form. If students are jamming fluff into their papers to meet the minimum length, they're guilty of doing the minimum amount of work to complete the assignment. I guess laziness is the name of the game for many.

A well-researched and thought provoking essay should cause the writer to struggle to trim DOWN for brevity. If you're bullshitting towards the finish line, what's to say your "point" isn't bullshit too?

 

[EightySix Four]

I never understood that either. I used to hate writing essays, 90% of the battle was trying to fill it to meet the minimum. They usually always gave realy boring subjects too.

Then we had to write a story from our own imagination and there was a MAX amount of pages. wtf? it's much easier to write alot from imagination then trying to find BS on some boring subject. I used to manipulate stuff like margins, line spacing, etc to make it look longer. Gradually increase those settings from page to page and it should be unnoticable. Use thick paper so they can't see through or they'll notice it's not alligning properly. The overall thickness of the report will give the impression of it being longer too. It's all phsycological.

It's a two professor team, they require the papers to be turned in electronically, and then they set the margins to 1 inch and the font to Times New Roman 12 so that no one cheats like that. I sent one in with some mild modifications earlier in the year and made the file read only so they copied the text from it and pasted it in a new file to set the page up the way they wanted it.

Ideally, to teach structure and form. If students are jamming fluff into their papers to meet the minimum length, they're guilty of doing the minimum amount of work to complete the assignment. I guess laziness is the name of the game for many.

A well-researched and thought provoking essay should cause the writer to struggle to trim DOWN for brevity. If you're bullshitting towards the finish line, what's to say your "point" isn't bullshit too?

This is a cultural formations class based around disproving pseudosciences. It's an awesome class but we're required to write two papers during the year, and my second paper I was given the topic of kinoki foot pads. You try and write fifteen pages disproving that. They don't even have enough arguments FOR them to try and write fifteen pages disputing it.

 

[Cogman]

Private college.



Writing a paper over a useless topic and trying to make it an arbitrary number of pages causes me anger.

Try writing a long paper on a useful topic.

10 pages, double column, 10pt font, no double spacing. On, MOSFETS... Yeah, that wasn't fun.

 

[EightySix Four]

Try writing a long paper on a useful topic.

10 pages, double column, 10pt font, no double spacing. On, MOSFETS... Yeah, that wasn't fun.

I would rather have it over a useful one then a useless one. That paper was purely based on how much research you could read, retain, and regurgitate.

 

[gorcorps]

It's a two professor team, they require the papers to be turned in electronically, and then they set the margins to 1 inch and the font to Times New Roman 12 so that no one cheats like that. I sent one in with some mild modifications earlier in the year and made the file read only so they copied the text from it and pasted it in a new file to set the page up the way they wanted it.



This is a cultural formations class based around disproving pseudosciences. It's an awesome class but we're required to write two papers during the year, and my second paper I was given the topic of kinoki foot pads. You try and write fifteen pages disproving that. They don't even have enough arguments FOR them to try and write fifteen pages disputing it.

Aw, you have to write 2 whole papers? Poor you... I'm writing weekly papers of the same length.

 

[EightySix Four]

Aw, you have to write 2 whole papers? Poor you... I'm writing weekly papers of the same length.

As am I, over subjects that matter and have legitimate research tied to them. It's not like reputable science journals are creaming themselves to have papers handed in over how stupid someone has to be to purchase detoxification foot pads and expect them to actually work.

 

[mrjminer]

At least you don't have to research information about the history of a pre-selected small Indian tribe in central Illinois for use in historical plaques at rest stop information centers to do your professors grant for him. Try writing 10 pages on an Indian tribe that had less than 5000 members at their peak and has had less than 500 tribe members for the past 150 years. I think I found less than 100 primary sources with the Kickapoo Indians mentioned, read through every single one of them (which wasn't bad since most of them were less than a page in length), then determined that only four or five sources of them had relevant information to the tribe.

At least my paper added 10% to the planet's wealth of information about the Kickapoo Indians and their huge role in history!

 

[EightySix Four]

At least you don't have to research information about the history of a pre-selected small Indian tribe in central Illinois for use in historical plaques at rest stop information centers to do your professors grant for him. Try writing 10 pages on an Indian tribe that had less than 5000 members at their peak and has had less than 500 tribe members for the past 150 years. I think I found less than 100 primary sources with the Kickapoo Indians mentioned, read through every single one of them (which wasn't bad since most of them were less than a page in length), then determined that only four or five sources of them had relevant information to the tribe.

At least my paper added 10% to the planet's wealth of information about the Kickapoo Indians and their huge role in history!

This paper will be read, graded, and thrown away.

 

[mugs]

Bullshit. That's like judging a movie based on how long it is.

Not at all. The paper is still judged on its content, the length establishes the required depth. If you write a 10 page paper that is all fluff and no depth the professor should be able to recognize that and grade accordingly.

For instance a 3 page paper on the causes of World War I might discuss the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the alliances between the major powers, but a 10 page paper might go farther back and discuss the motivation for the formation of the alliances and the course of European politics in the decades leading up to the war. In one sentence you can say that the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand triggered the start of World War I, but it takes a lot more to explain why.

The length establishes the depth; if you give the professor a paper that fits the length requirement but lacks depth, you should not expect a good grade.

 

[jlee]

Private college.

Some schools have a minimum writing requirement.

I'm pretty sure I just said that.

 

[EightySix Four]

Some schools have a minimum writing requirement.

I'm pretty sure I just said that.

I was refuting the state imposed part of it. I wasn't arguing the other which is the only way I can make the imposed length requirements make sense.

 

[Gillbot]

To prevent papers like this:

Paper on WWII,

People fought, People died, Good guys won.
The end

 

[dullard]

The fact is, if you know the material well, your problem is the page maximum. And, if you don't know the material, your problem is the page minimum. You must put a cap on the length because terse writing is a very important skill to learn for the top students. You must put a length minimum to at least get the lesser students to attempt to learn.