Maximum length: two sentences

Check out this op-ed in the NYT about the need for shorter writing assignments. I totally agree.

And short isn’t necessarily a shortcut. When you have only a sentence or two, there’s nowhere to hide. I’m not suggesting that colleges eliminate long writing projects from English courses, but maybe we should save them for the second semester. Rewarding concision first will encourage students to be economical and innovative with language. Who knows, we might even start to leave behind text messages and comment threads that our civilization can be proud of.

Practice pithiness...

We Speak No Americano.

The final essay for my International Politics class is supposed to include multiple case studies and so the professor is letting us incorporate other groups' case study projects into our paper...

He had called this class a "freshman class" and now I believe it.  Some of the memorable "words" or phrases from the intellectual jackpot:

• "...conventionally and nuclearly." If nuclearly is an adjective, it sure describes how I feel after reading these papers....Like how Kim Jong-Il goes nuclearly about America, right?
• "The disagreements, regarding self-identification, amongst the people of Kashmir speaks to yet another level of conflict analysis." The disagreements must have been so animated that they could overcome basic grammatical conventions.
• "Power is relative because it can only be understood by comparing haves and have-nots." I have not an idea what this means.
• "The story of Pakistan and India is a complex tapestry of interrelated theories and events." I would like to see the rich cultural fibers of that tapestry. Can I buy it at World Market?

Happy writing of the papers with agreeing subjects and verbs!