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MSBKyle
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21 Apr 2019, 9:54 pm

My major is history and I feel that I made a mistake. I was all set to graduate next month, but I cannot do this 30 page paper that I am required to write in order to graduate. I turned in the rough draft and I was accused of plagiarizing some of it and not having a strong thesis or message. You are supposed to narrow down a historical topic and come up with a thesis and make strong arguments throughout the paper. I literally cannot do this paper. It is horrible. I've come such a long way just to fail this class. I do not want to take this class over again. I've discovered that my real passion is in video making. I much prefer to work with cameras than to write papers and learn about stuff I do not care about. I do find some things about history interesting, but not enough that I should have majored in it. I have not enjoyed a lot of the history classes that I have taken. The reason I chose history because at the time I liked my history professor and I had already taken more history classes than any other subject. I was already far along in it. It is far from my favorite thing in the world. If there was any alternative to writing that 30 page paper I would take it in order to graduate. I think it is outrageous that you have to write 30 pages about something and be as specific as possible. From what I heard, other people in the class were struggling with this paper because the professor told them that they needed more strong arguments or their topic wasn't specific enough. It is ridiculous. If you cite everything correctly and have 30 pages of a narrow topic, what more is there to do? People just want to graduate. Why make it so difficult?



IsabellaLinton
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21 Apr 2019, 10:28 pm

You are understandably burnt out at the end of your degree, and this paper seems insurmountable. Have faith that you will, in all likelihood, be able to complete the paper with time and support. If it is a senior seminar course your final paper is about double (triple at most) of your prerequisite or lecture class essays. Try not to think of "thirty pages" but rather think of "double length" or possibly triple length to what you've written before.

Are you registered with the Disabilities Office for accommodations?
If so, ask for a time extension and for a modification to your assignment. You can extend into the following term if need be. Graduating a term behind schedule is preferable to not graduating at this point. You may be able to have a more specific / more generalised topic (whichever you find more helpful). If your ASD assessment shows that you are more of a visual learner, perhaps you can include more of a video component to your work. It is permissible to seek an extension because of "mental health" difficulties (e.g., anxiety) even if you are not registered with the Office for Disabilities. You will need to see your GP for this, and present documentation to the Faculty.

Do you have a TA, supervisor or other departmental advisor besides your professor?
It is common for profs to reject your first thesis proposal. Get direct examples of which alterations they want.

Have you read other students' papers from previous years?
This is often a starting point, to generate ideas and set a tone.

Have you read everything on the syllabus?
What are the recurring themes or arguments in your reading? What is the professor's bias? Do you want to support it or challenge it?

If it's a seminar class have you led yet?
What feedback did you get from your lesson? Did another student present an argument you'd like to explore or challenge?

These are all just thoughts that rushed to me when I first read your question. Rest assured it is very normal to be exhausted when you approach that final paper. Don't panic. Take deep breaths and look into accommodations for your neurodiversity and / or mental health.

Good luck.


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And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.


MSBKyle
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Joined: 12 Aug 2014
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Location: Kent, Ohio

21 Apr 2019, 10:47 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:
You are understandably burnt out at the end of your degree, and this paper seems insurmountable. Have faith that you will, in all likelihood, be able to complete the paper with time and support. If it is a senior seminar course your final paper is about double (triple at most) of your prerequisite essays. Try not to think of "thirty pages" but rather think of "double length" or possibly triple length to what you've written before.

Are you registered with the Disabilities Office for accommodations?
If so, ask for a time extension and for a modification to your assignment. You can extend into the following term if need be. Graduating a term behind schedule is preferable to not graduating at this point. You may be able to have a more specific / more generalised topic (whichever you find more helpful). If your ASD assessment shows that you are more of a visual learner, perhaps you can include more of a video component to your work. It is permissible to seek an extension because of "mental health" difficulties (e.g., anxiety) even if you are not registered with the Office for Disabilities. You will need to see your GP for this, and present documentation to the Faculty.

Do you have a TA or other departmental advisor besides your professor?
It is common for profs to reject your first thesis proposal. Get direct examples of which alterations they want.

Have you read other students' papers from previous years?
This is often a starting point, to generate ideas and set a tone.

Have you read everything on the syllabus?
What are the recurring themes or arguments in your reading? What is the professor's bias? Do you want to support it or challenge it?

If it's a seminar class have you led yet?
What feedback did you get from your lesson? Did another student present an argument you'd like to explore or challenge?

These are all just thoughts that rushed to me when I first read your question. Rest assured it is very normal to be exhausted when you approach that final paper. Don't panic. Take deep breaths and look into accommodations for your neurodiversity and / or mental health.

Good luck.


It is a senior seminar class. I just registered with Student Accessibility Services at my school. I have read the syllabus and it said to right a 30 page paper on a specific topic. I am meeting with them this week to discuss my options. There is an advisor in my department of study that I plan to meet with. We did do peer edit reviews so I read somebody else's paper and gave them feedback. One student presented an argument about serial killings that I might want to explore if I have to take this class over again. I had individual meetings with my professor throughout the semester and she kept telling me to narrow my topic down and find something to argue about my topic. We had to do different assignments before the rough draft and final paper. One of the assignments was to organize the main points and arguments throughout the paper which I struggled with because I have poor organization skills.