Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
We have in-laws visiting from Chicago this weekend, so I’ve been focusing on family rather than the Pub Quiz. As I write this, we are discussing the dangers of sitting, the delightful discoveries that await listeners of KDVS (I was a guest on “Honey Badger Radio” at 8:30 this morning), and the characters in the Davis High School production of Pippin.
Last night I was holding office hours at Crepeville until 10, often typing up my advice for students as they work on drafts of their (mostly theatrical and musical) performance reviews. When I published on Tumblr a top-ten list of revision advice for one of my students, one of my work colleagues (qbnscholar) made the following comment: “You should share this w/ all IORs [Instructors of Record]. It took me years to piece together what you succinctly delineate here.” Pressed for time, I will share that advice with you here:
1) Clarify the point of each paragraph.
2) Don’t include evidence / facts / narratives / memories unless they support a point you wish to make. Your reader will wonder why you are sharing those facts.
3) Emphasize insights and assertions.
4) Revise ruthlessly for wordiness and needless repetition.
5) Don’t let any part of a previous draft survive if it doesn’t contribute.
6) Carefully review transitions between sentences, especially when you are quoting Sirc (an assigned theoretical text).
7) Introduce and integrate quotations, especially those from Sirc.
8) Define terms when necessary, especially, again, when you are quoting Sirc.
9) Watch out for weak verbs that emphasize stasis instead of shown action that substantiates your claims and value judgments.
10) Have your bits of evidence and bits of quoted Sirc passages grow organically from the strong assertions found in each topic sentence and paragraph.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on candy, Sony, 31 hits by the same artist, superheroes, diamonds, China, professional basketball, hammers, birds and not birds, US Presidents who were veterans, problematic Republicans, action-adventure TV shows, holidays, blows, India, brie that is not precise, the City of Davis, tea, Irish pubs, science fiction films, relatives of goblins, Irish heroes, international education, astronomy, Hudsons, American authors, banned books, football, Russia, and Shakespeare.
Your Quizmaster
https://www.yourquizmaster.com
http://www.twitter.com/yourquizmaster
http://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster
Visit https://www.facebook.com/yourquizmaster to find five questions from last week’s Quiz. Happy Veterans Day!
P.S. It was gratifying to hear the names of Pub Quiz irregulars Val Dolcini and Dan Wolk mentioned at this morning’s Veterans Day ceremony at the Davis Cemetery. I look forward to seeing these two Davis citizens at a de Vere’s Pub Quiz again soon.
P.P.S. Irish Songwriter Mick Flannery will his Central Valley debut this coming Friday, November 15th at 8 at Third Space here in Davis. See https://www.facebook.com/events/702411206453427/ for more details.