<p>What does this mean? I could use specifics please!</p>
<p>Also, any sample papers I could take a look at so I know what quality of work can be expected?</p>
<p>A “typical” social science course at Swarthmore will have two papers during the semester.</p>
<p>Many times, an “exam” is really a take-home essay question.</p>
<p>From the essay topics my daughter has shared with me, I have been truly amazed at how much Swarthmore professors ask questions that cannot be answered without really thinking about the topic and taking a stand. </p>
<p>The one that sticks out was an essay question in American Politics (the basic intro course that covers the structure of American government and the roles of the exec, legislative, and judicial branches). The question was simple:</p>
<p>“What good is judicial review…really?”</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about the the quality of work that is expected. It’s very high…but here’s the deal: the whole point is that Swarthmore teaches you to be smart and express yourself.</p>
<p>Swatties take advantage of the Writing Associates program to get drafts of their papers reviewed by student writing mentors. It’s a model program that is held up as an example of how to do it by other top liberal arts coleges. In fact, many courses require a WA review. Many other courses require a draft to be turned in and reviewed by the professor.</p>
<p>My daughter had, IMO, poor writing preparation at her public high school. Swarthmore taught her what she needed to do to write good papers. I was stunned at the difference in her writing as a senior in high school and a year later after writing Swarthmore papers.</p>
<p>BTW, standard papers are not the only assignments. My daughter took other courses where the assignments including doing podcasts, multi-media presentations to the class and my favorite…a course where the writing assignments were in the format of a letter to the editor of the NY Times.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/alchemy.xml]Swarthmore”>http://www.swarthmore.edu/alchemy.xml]Swarthmore</a> College :: Writing Program :: Alchemy<a href=“keep%20in%20mind%20that%20those%20are%20just%20a%20sample%20of%20papers%20that%20were%20chosen%20-%20they%20are%20probably%20better%20than%20%22average%22,%20though%20not%20necessarily%20%22the%20best%22…”>/url</a></p>
<p>I would suggest that every first-year Swattie take this course, unless you are confident from your high school prep and writing background that you don’t need it:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s not a terribly “fun” course, but it builds a solid foundation for the college writing you will do over the following 3 years.</p>
<p>On writing at Swarthmore:</p>
<p>Don’t miss this humorous blog article on essay writing by Tim Burke:</p>
<p>[Easily</a> Distracted Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay](<a href=“http://weblogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/?page_id=85]Easily”>Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay | Easily Distracted)</p>
<p>Burke really captures that, despite the reputation for serious academic pursuits, Swat professors really don’t take things that seriously and hardly expect perfection.</p>
<p>BTW, my daughter spent four years trying to pull off the “set 'em up, knock 'em down” essay" that Burke says is his favorite.</p>
<p>
I think it is a pretty standard form for essays in philosophy.</p>
<p>^as a philosophy major i can attest to that.
good times.</p>
<p>also, i’ve gotta say that i really enjoy prof. burke’s blog and have read it several times before. the random musings of an intellectual that teaches at the school i am obsessed with, how could i not enjoy it? </p>
<p>do many swarthmore students follow his blog?</p>
<p>ha</p>
<p>I’m so out of touch that I don’t even know what makes those essays good. All we’ve ever done is 5 paragraph themes. I can’t even find the thesis statement in those Swat essays.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting though, and what are the “set 'em up, knock 'em down” essay"?</p>
<p>That’s one of the essay types Prof. Burke described in his blog:
</p>
<p>Okay great - I’m a lot better with ideas than I am with prose.</p>