half of the class will contrive in five hundred words to say that college football is too commercial and bad for the players.Most of the other half will inform him that college football builds character and prepares one for life and brings prestige to the school.As he reads paper after paper all saying the same thing in almost the same words,all bloodless,five hundred words dripping out of nothing,he wonders how he allowed himself to get trapped into teaching English when he might have had a happy and interesting life as an electrician or a confidence man. 6 Well,you may ask,what can you do about it?The subject is one on which you have few convictions and little information.Can you be expected to make a dull subject interesting?As a matter of fact,this is precisely what you are expected to do.This is the writer's essential task.All subjects,except sex,are dull until somebody makes them interesting.The writer's job is to find the argument,the approach,the angle,the wording that will take the reader with him.This is seldom easy,and it is particularly hard in subjects that have been much discussed:College Football, Fraternities,Popular Music,Is Chivalry Dead?,and the like.You will feel that there is nothing you can do with such subjects except repeat the old bromides.But there are some things you can do which will make your papers,if not throbbingly alive,at least less insufferably tedious than they might otherwise be AVOID THE OBVIOUS CONTENT 7 Say the assignment is college football.Say that you've decided to be against it.Begin by putting down the arguments that come to your mind:it is too commercial,it takes the students'minds off their studies,it is hard on the players,it makes the university a kind of circus instead of an intellectual center,for most schools it is financially ruinous.Can you think of any more arguments. just off hand?All right.Now when you write your paper,make sure that you don't use any of the material on this list.If these are the points that leap to your mind,they will leap to everyone else's too,and whether you get a"C"or a "D"may depend on whether the instructor reads your paper early when he is fresh and tolerant or late,when the sentence "In my opinion,college football has become too commercial,"inexorably repeated,has bought him to the brink of lunacy. 8 Be against college football for some reason or reasons of your own.If they are keen and perceptive ones,that's splendid.But even if they are trivial or foolish or indefensible,you are still ahead so long as they are not everybody else's reasons too.Be against it because the colleges don't spend enough money on it to make it worthwhile,because it is bad for the characters of the spectators,because the players are forced to attend classes,because the football stars hog all the beautiful women,because it competes with baseball and is therefore un-American and possibly Communist-inspired.There are lots of more or less unused reasons for being against college football. 9 Sometimes it is a good idea to sum up and dispose of the trite and conventional points before going on to your own.This has the advantage of indicating to the reader that you are going to be neither trite nor conventional.Something like this: We are often told that college football should be abolished because it has become too commercial or because it is bad for the players.These arguments are no doubt very cogent,but they don't really go to the heart of the matter. Then you go to the heart of the matter. 33 half of the class will contrive in five hundred words to say that college football is too commercial and bad for the players. Most of the other half will inform him that college football builds character and prepares one for life and brings prestige to the school. As he reads paper after paper all saying the same thing in almost the same words, all bloodless, five hundred words dripping out of nothing, he wonders how he allowed himself to get trapped into teaching English when he might have had a happy and interesting life as an electrician or a confidence man. 6 Well, you may ask, what can you do about it? The subject is one on which you have few convictions and little information. Can you be expected to make a dull subject interesting? As a matter of fact, this is precisely what you are expected to do. This is the writer's essential task. All subjects, except sex, are dull until somebody makes them interesting. The writer's job is to find the argument, the approach, the angle, the wording that will take the reader with him. This is seldom easy, and it is particularly hard in subjects that have been much discussed: College Football, Fraternities, Popular Music, Is Chivalry Dead?, and the like. You will feel that there is nothing you can do with such subjects except repeat the old bromides. But there are some things you can do which will make your papers, if not throbbingly alive, at least less insufferably tedious than they might otherwise be. AVOID THE OBVIOUS CONTENT 7 Say the assignment is college football. Say that you've decided to be against it. Begin by putting down the arguments that come to your mind: it is too commercial, it takes the students' minds off their studies, it is hard on the players, it makes the university a kind of circus instead of an intellectual center, for most schools it is financially ruinous. Can you think of any more arguments, just off hand? All right. Now when you write your paper, make sure that you don' t use any of the material on this list. If these are the points that leap to your mind, they will leap to everyone else's too, and whether you get a "C" or a "D" may depend on whether the instructor reads your paper early when he is fresh and tolerant or late, when the sentence "In my opinion, college football has become too commercial," inexorably repeated, has bought him to the brink of lunacy. 8 Be against college football for some reason or reasons of your own. If they are keen and perceptive ones, that's splendid. But even if they are trivial or foolish or indefensible, you are still ahead so long as they are not everybody else's reasons too. Be against it because the colleges don't spend enough money on it to make it worthwhile, because it is bad for the characters of the spectators, because the players are forced to attend classes, because the football stars hog all the beautiful women, because it competes with baseball and is therefore un-American and possibly Communist-inspired. There are lots of more or less unused reasons for being against college football. 9 Sometimes it is a good idea to sum up and dispose of the trite and conventional points before going on to your own. This has the advantage of indicating to the reader that you are going to be neither trite nor conventional. Something like this: We are often told that college football should be abolished because it has become too commercial or because it is bad for the players. These arguments are no doubt very cogent, but they don't really go to the heart of the matter. Then you go to the heart of the matter