Professional Writing

[Marauder06]

Writing this paper is what got me thinking about whether what the Fort Hood shooter did could be considered a war crime. I should have started writing it AFTER that thread where we all discussed it, those arguments would have made it a much better paper.

My professor for this class likes a more conversational tone in writing, and he doesn't require the same kind of rigor when citing footnotes, so this paper is slightly different from the way I normally write. I thought it came out pretty well and the prof liked it, although he had a LOT of comments where he disagreed with some of my positions and found holes in some of my logic. Posting here for source material if anyone wants to write something on a related topic in the future.

 

[8654Maine]

I am too tired for any coherent thoughts but I am very impressed by the depth of knowledge exhibited in these papers and comments. Just a science geek.

 

[Rogers0317]

I just found this thread and the papers are great. I am currently working on my BA in Political Science (have about 30 credits left to finish up). Tomorrow I'm going to try to post a paper I recently wrote about the Senate Intelligence Committee. It has already been graded, but I would appreciate any feedback from anyone!

 

[walra107]

paper

Mara,
Great paper, I learned a lot from it, I was just wondering though and this is just an innocent question in regards to the paper, not necessarily the content...Was there/are there any caps on the amount of internet based research? i.e. Online periodicals, websites etc. I always had professors who liked to put a limit on internet resources.

 

[Marauder06]

Mara,
Great paper, I learned a lot from it, I was just wondering though and this is just an innocent question in regards to the paper, not necessarily the content...Was there/are there any caps on the amount of internet based research? i.e. Online periodicals, websites etc. I always had professors who liked to put a limit on internet resources.

No limits on Internet research; in fact most research here is Internet-based. Also, if you look closely you'll see that several of the links are links to books or to newspaper/magazine articles; I found it easier to post a link vs. the tiresome combination of author name, publisher name, publisher's location... etc. It's also easier for my profs to fact-check my sources, which they do from time to time.

 

[Rogers0317]

Here is a paper I recently wrote about the Senate Intelligence Committee. I realize that there are a few format errors, but it was my first time using Turabian in a few years. I already received my grade, but I would appreciate any general feedback.

 

[Marauder06]

Liked it. Learned something.

I would have started off with sentence four of your intro, and either worked in the other bits in later, maybe after the comma in "Due to the tremendous... to produce intelligence, one of the most important Committes that fall underneath the United States Senate is the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence." Then start a new sentence or even a new paragraph with "The Senate Select Intelligence Committee has a direct..."

IMO, and this is a style issue only, some of your sentences are too short, it makes for a choppy read. For example where you have "The US SSCI (I'm using this as an abbreviation so I don't have to type out "Senate Select Committee on Intelligence" every time, did you consider doing that?) Anyway, where you have "The US SSCI has a vital mission. The Committee..." I would have gone with, "The vital mission of the SSCI is to oversee and study..."

I thought Turabian called for Western/Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) for footnotes/endnotes, not Roman numerals? And were you required to use endnotes vs. footnotes? For readability, I prefer footnotes. I also thought that Turabian called for the first line of footnotes to be tabbed in, it makes for easier readability when you have many sources with multiple lines per note.

Ended a couple of sentences with a preposition.

You mention the IC quite a bit, it might have been good to have a footnote to a link that spells out what all 16 of them are. I'd also use "IC" instead of "intelligence community" every time. Unless you're deliberately trying to stretch word count/page length.

Doesn't the House have an intel committee too? It might have been interesting to contrast the two groups and talk about how they work together (or don't) on intel-related issues.

 

[Rogers0317]

Marauder,
Thanks for all of the advice! I will definitely try to incorporate some of your tips in my next paper. Turabian does use Arabic numerals as opposed to Roman numerals. This was one of the first papers I have written using Turabian, so I did have some format errors. Also, footnotes or endnotes can be used. I will probably use footnotes in future papers, because I do agree that it does make the paper easier to read. It is interesting that you mentioned using "IC." I am currently taking the Introduction to the U.S. Intelligence Community class, and we use "IC" in this class. I have enjoyed the class so much that I am seriously considering trying to earn a Master Degree in Intelligence Studies with a concentration in Criminal Intelligence. I'm planning on transitioning out of the Marine Corps in about 2 years in order to start a career in law enforcement (possibly federal).

The House also has an Intelligence oversight committee. I am interested in learning more about the differences between the committees, but for this particular paper, I was supposed to focus on the roles and responsibilities of a single committee.

Thanks again for all of the help!

 

[Marauder06]

If you're interested in doing an intel-related masters degree, and if you have a clearance, you should consider National Intelligence University (formerly National Defense Intelligence College). It's a 1-year masters-producing program, and AFAIK it's the only grad school intel program where you actually deal with real intel (i.e. classified) material.

 

[Rogers0317]

That looks like an awesome opportunity, and I am definitely going to look into it!

 

[SpitfireV]

What can be done with actual intel that can't be done with a made up case study though? Ideally I have thought the lecturers and the course content would be more important than that.

 

[Marauder06]

For those of you looking for publishing opportunities:

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
DEADLINE: MARCH 1, 2013

The Yale Journal of International Affairs (YJIA) is a biannual print journal that seeks to bridge the gap between the academic and policy worlds. YJIA publishes articles, interviews, and op-eds by scholars, think tanks, policy practitioners, and advanced graduate students on topics of international affairs with implications for policy. We look for original argumentation and insightful criticism.

Recent contributors to the Yale Journal of International Affairs include: Francis Gavin, Robert Jervis, John M. Owen IV, Marc Trachtenberg, Stephen M. Walt, Alexander Evans, Oona Hathaway, John Lewis Gaddis, Paul Solman, Nicoli Nattrass, Jolyon Howorth, Richard Goldstone, Janet Napolitano, and Stanley McChrystal, among others. To view YJIA’s archives, visit us online at yalejournal.org.

SUBMISSIONS
The Yale Journal of International Affairs accepts three types of submissions:
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2) Op-Eds (800 words or less)
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FORMATTING YOUR SUBMISSION*
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Please send submissions by email to YJIA Editor-in-Chief Mark Redmond at mark.redmond@yale.edu no later than March 1, 2013.


* Failure to follow these guidelines may result in your piece not being considered. Authors will be notified of the status of their submissions no later than five weeks after the submissions period has closed. Release of Volume VIII, Issue II is expected in early summer 2013. The views expressed in this journal do not necessarily represent those of the Journal’s editorial board, board of advisors, or any other entity at Yale University.




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[SkrewzLoose]

For those of you looking for publishing opportunities:

Hmm...nothing about unfinished case studies there...:-/