ASSIGNMENT and DISSERTATION TIPS (Tagg’s Tips) Online version 5 (November 2003) The Table of Contents and Index have been excluded from this online version for three reasons: [1] no index is necessary when text can be searched by clicking the Adobe bin- oculars icon and typing in what you want to find; [2] this document is supplied with direct links to the start of every section and subsection (see Bookmarks tab, screen left); [3] you only need to access one file instead of three. This version does not differ substantially from version 4 (2001): only minor alterations, corrections and updates have been effectuated. Pages are renumbered and cross-refer- ences updated. This version is produced only for US ‘Letter’ size paper. To obtain a decent print-out on A4 paper, please follow the suggestions at http://tagg.org/infoformats.html#PDFPrinting 6 Philip Tagg— Dissertation and Assignment Tips (version 5, November 2003) Introduction (Online version 5, November 2003) Why this booklet? This text was originally written for students at the Institute of Popular Music at the Uni- versity of Liverpool. It has, however, been used by many outside that institution. The aim of this document is to address recurrent problems that many students seem to experience when writing essays and dissertations. Some parts of this text may initially seem quite formal, perhaps even trivial or pedantic. If you get that impression, please remember that communicative writing is not the same as writing down commu- nicative speech. When speaking, you use gesture, posture, facial expression, changes of volume and emphasis, as well as variations in speed of delivery, vocal timbre and inflexion, to com- municate meaning. None of these means of expression are at your disposal on the writ- ten page. You have to compensate for this lack of paralinguistic expression.1 Such compensation entails taking care to spell correctly, to punctuate your text into a state of comprehensibility, and to provide your text with an understandable structure and sense of direction. You may well know what you mean by what you write: the problem is that unless what appears on paper can be interpreted as the same thing in the reader’s mind, there will be a communication breakdown. The object of this text is therefore to help improve communicative skills in essay and dissertation writing. Of course, it is more important to write with enthusiasm than to be inhibited by rules of punctuation, layout and grammar. However, with all the en- thusiasm and best will in the world you will fail to get your message across to readers if your writing is clumsy, ambiguous, incomprehensible or peppered with errors. This booklet is supposed to help, not hinder, your chances of communicating your thoughts in writing. Good ideas mediocrely presented may well be preferable to mediocre thoughts in a pleasant linguistic package, but good ideas well presented are invariably a relief to read, sometimes even a joy. Your readers — and that does not just mean those who mark what you write at university — will be happier if they can quickly and easily understand what you write. Job prospects Another important reason behind this booklet is the incontrovertible fact that you are more likely to succeed in many jobs if you write well than if you write badly. Imagine, for example, that your job requires you to carry out one of the following tasks: you need to apply for financing to cover the costs of upgrading your com- munity arts centre’s MIDI sequencing facilities; the TV production company for which you currently work demands that you explain why the string pads on your old synthesiser aren’t good enough and why you have to hire sixteen professional string players to complete the successful recording of your film score; you have to convince an important A&R representative for a large foreign record company why he/she should sign the local band you currently man- age; 1. Paralanguage: elements or factors of language that are ancillary to language proper, e.g. intonation and gesture (Oxford Concise English Dictionary, 9th edition, 1995). Philip Tagg — Dissertation and Assignment Tips (version 5, November 2003) 7 you have to invite a well-known figure to talk at your college or to perform at a concert you are organising; your application for an interesting job — at a music college, in a media cor- poration, in arts administration or whatever — has to include a personal statement of your skills, abilities and interests; in order to advance in your job you have to produce an annual report on your own, or on your department’s, activities. If any of these tasks were to be discussed face to face at a meeting and you turned up in flip-flops and nylon shorts, you would not be taken seriously, especially if you went on to swear like a trooper, mumble incoherently or utter erratic statements without re- specting the views of your interlocutors. By the same token, you will not be taken seri- ously by your readers if your written language is bad, unclear, opinionated or too colloquial. Nor will the impression you create be improved by messy layout, clumsy sentences, bad spelling and punctuation any more than your sartorial elegance was en- hanced by donning flip-flops and nylon shorts for board meetings. This manual should help you out of any scribal flip-flops or nylon shorts you might own and provide you with linguistic attire more appropriate to the tasks listed in the bullet points above. In fact, two more points need to be added to the list. Imagine, for example that: you have to write several essays and a couple of dissertations as part of your university degree course; you have to leave university with a decent degree in order to have a chance of following the career path that interests you. These last two points, as well as the six which preceded them, make it clear that you are well advised to read this manual if you are at all unsure about your writing skills. Fundamental reasons Although the reasons just presented for improving your writing skills may be convinc- ing — they certainly can’t be accused of being narrowly academic —, it is quite sad that they have to be stated at all, not so much because those reasons ought to be obvious to anyone of average intelligence as because they sound like a threat: ‘if you don’t write properly it’ll be your own funeral’, so to speak. Whatever validity such a threat may own, I personally find a stick much less motivating than a carrot. True, you have a bet- ter chance of a better job if your writing skills are good, but there is much more to writ- ing — and to life — than that. It is, frankly, more fun to be understood and respected than misunderstood and ig- nored, even ridiculed.1 Just as the ability to make music in more than one style enriches your music-making, just as being able to converse in a foreign language means that you can get to know more people and be exposed to more ideas, the ability to write also ex- pands your communicative horizons. If it’s fun to communicate with others through music, then knowing how to wield the pen or computer keyboard ought also to be fun. It’s a all question of personal empowerment. How to use this manual Everyone should read sections 1-5 and sections 8-12. If you are unsure about punctuation, read §6, p.36, ff. If you are unsure about abbreviations, read §7, p.53, ff. 1. For example, regular corporate memos emailed by management to about one thousand employees in a Canadian music retail company were the object of repeated ridicule from staff who did not know whether to laugh or cry in response to the number and gravity of English-language errors in those emails (according to Karen Collins, employed at Future Shop, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, 1996-99). 8 Philip Tagg— Dissertation and Assignment Tips (version 5, November 2003) Otherwise, this is a reference manual with a detailed index. To find out, for example, how to deal with e.g. and i.e., or with its and it’s, or with capitals, bibliographies, foot- notes, abbreviation, planning an assignment, etc., look up the subject, problem, proce- dure, word, or abbreviation you want to find out about by using the index at the end of the manual. Then turn to the relevant page and read the relevant section. Typographical conventions The following typeface conventions are peculiar to this booklet: This is the typeface for example text. This is a quotation passage within an example text. This is a bibliographical entry example. ♦ This is a bullet point, usually in a list of examples. This is normal text. This is a bullet point in the normal text. This is an example of acceptable writing. And this egg sample ov right in, dunarf suk. & This is a statement by currant US precedent, George W Bush. This is a very important rule, point or concept. This text is also important. Optional text is placed in square brackets, thus: [optional text]. § means ‘section’ or ‘paragraph’ number. For example, §6.5.2.1 should be about initial adverbial markers (see table of contents). The phonetic anomalies of standard UK English (Southern/official/’BBC’) are set out as follows according to the International Phonetic Alphabet. Ϫ⍧ Ah!, hARp, bAth, lAUgh, hAlf ѐ hOt shOt, whAt, wAnt æ hAt, cAt o Or, Oar, AWe, wAr, mOre, All, fOr, fOUr a EYE, I, mY, fIne, hIgh, hI-fI o tOY bOY, cOIl a dOWn, abOUt ђ About, bettEr, circUmspect, cOrrectiOn, currAnt, currEnt, hEr, colOUr, fIr, fUr, ᾩ THe, THat, cloTHing, breaTHe fuEl, liAr, lyRE, tErrific, tutOr, measUre d Jazz, General, conGenial, aGe ђѨ nO, knOW, tOE, tOAd, cOld, whOle ϯ hElp, bEtter, mEAsure, lEIsure Ѐ SHirt, staTIon, CHampagne ϯ⍧ AIr, bEAr, bAre, thEre t CHurCH, iTCH dAte, dAY, wAIt, stAtion ׯ THink, THrow, noTHing, cloTH گϯ It, mInUte, complEment, prEtend ѩ bUt, lUck, wOn, cOlour گ i sEEs, sEAs, sEIze, FIjI u bOOt, cOOl, rUle, rUde ђ hEAr, hEre, bEEr, pIEr Ѩ fOOt, lOOk, bUsh, pUtگ ֊ siNGiNG, syNc-iNG, thiNk, goNG Ћ Genre, deriSion, meaSure, seiZure, miraGe ܗ = this syllable is stressed ⍧ = this vowel is long Philip Tagg — Dissertation and Assignment Tips (version 5, November 2003) 9 1 Formal practicalities 1.1 Crucial points 1.