2) "It just seemed easier not to care. I just did me"
3) I am writing about the problem of students skipping class here at Penn State. It is relevant and important because almost everyone I've talked to has skipped at least one class. It is a widespread problem that is a factor at just about every school in America. What I want to find out is really how many students skip. I want to know the major reasons why they do it, the excuses they may give to a professor, if one is needed, when classes are skipped, and what the most frequently skipped classes are here at Penn State.
4) Freshman skip classes everyday at every college for as far back as college goes. It has caused mass amounts of people getting kicked out of school and millions of dollars to wasted education funds. There are many reasons like partying, doing homework, and simply having an easy class that you can do well in even without attending.
5) "I skip econ everyday and got an A on the exam. If I just find 30 minutes on my own time to teach myself everything, I'm good on test day," said Jeff Stern, an 18 year old SRA major at Penn State. This is proof that skipping class is prevalent.
6) I have an interview planned with Dr. Albena Z. a calculus teacher who takes the stance of no attendance. She has said, "If you don't want to come to class then don't come to class. It's about you wanting to do well. If you don't want to do well then I don't care." This is the point of view of many teachers at Penn State saying that at this point if a student doesn't care it is not the professors problem. They get paid to be a professor not a babysitter.
7) "Sometimes it's just too much for me man. I can wake up at 8 to shower and get to class every monday wednesday and friday if I'm gonna be up til 3 in the morning doing work." This was said by freshman Shawn Warrender 18 year old DUS major. He is a person that tries extremely hard to get all his work done but when it comes to college sometimes the work load can be a little much.
8) Skipping is going to be a problem everywhere for a long time. It's just too hard to control this problem. It's truly up to the student how much time and effort they put in to their school work and class. In general, even the smartest and hardest working students won't be able to make class every once in a while. Once we understand the major causes of these problem we can begin to fix the problems at the roots. I will talk about all of my research once more including the major quotes from specific people. Why do students skip? When do they skip? How often do they skip? What are the professors opinions on students that do this? What are the main excuses used? Hopefully people realize how important classes are and take it more seriously.
Dillon:
ReplyDeleteReading over your nut graph and your outline, I notice that you like to reiterate the fact that there is nothing unique about students skipping class at PSU -- that it happens at every college and has since the day people started going to college. If you say this, say this just once. Maybe in the background section. But don't repeat it too often, because it undermines the focus of your paper: why students -- particularly freshman -- skip class at PSU and how it negatively impacts their academic experience. This is your nut graph: this is the main idea of your paper and what your paper is going to be showing us.
I love your first example. I know it's extreme: but that's the sort of thing we want for an opening section. You can always say later in the paper, even in transitioning to your nut graph from your quote, that SO-and-SO's case may be an extreme one, but it helps to illustrate a point we all take for granted: skipping class.
I'd feel free to make a claim that skipping may be more common on a campus like PSU's than others simply because class sizes can be so large. It's a Big 10 school -- one of the biggest in the country (find out how it ranks and put that in your paper). Attribute class sizes to student anonymity and how that affects students' ability to skip. I think you have good quotes to prove this, too.
I like that you will be showing us the various reasons why students skip class and how that affects their academic careers. That will flow nicely.
Looking over your nut graph, I just want you to be mindful of being CONCISE. Don't repeat yourself. Don't ramble. Stay to the point. Keep your writing clean and simple. And you should be fine.