describing nature : intro

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Describing Nature
	•	Introduction

General Rules for Exposition
	•	Citation Style for the Course
	•	Quoting and Paraphrasing
	•	Including Figures and Diagrams
	•	Using the Library
	•	Active Voice for Vigorous Writing
	•	Misplaced Modifiers

The Grant Proposal
	•	Purpose of the Grant
	•	Granting Guidelines
	•	Suggested Topics
	•	Museum Activity
	•	Intermediate Steps (to hand in)
	•	Helpful Advice from the Pros
	•	Grading Checklist

The Poster Session
	•	Requirements

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This chapter has little to do with "Shapes" or with "Nature" per se, but it nonetheless provides much of the underlying structure on which sits the work for the rest of the course.

In particular, the last two sections in this chapter ("The Grant Proposal" and "The Poster Session") are examples of semester-long assignments that might help to shape the course. Both of these assignments use the contents and concepts developed in the other five chapters of this course, and both of these assignments demand facility with exposition and presentation.

The first section in this chapter ("General Rules for Exposition") aims to develop this facility. The emphases of the first section are

• to encourage clear, vigorous, descriptive writing;
• to promote good research skills (and in particular, to answer the perplexing question, "How do I use outside information without merely copying it?"); and
• to establish a standard style for citations, references, and diagrams.

The two books listed under "Further Reading" below are companion pieces to many of the activities in this chapter.

Further Reading: [SW] William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, Elements of Style [4th edition], Allyn and Bacon, Boston (2000). [U] Using Outside Sources [7th edition], Franklin & Marshall Writing Center, Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1999).