writing

The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation by Bryan Garner

September 19, 2017 by Andy Naselli

I recently finished micro-reading this mammoth reference book:

Bryan A. Garner. The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation. Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. xxvii + 583 pp.

You can survey the contents using Amazon’s “look inside” feature.

Here are three thoughts I had while reading the book: [Read more…] about The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation by Bryan Garner

Doug Wilson’s New Novel: Flags Out Front

May 9, 2017 by Andy Naselli

This book released last week:

Douglas Wilson. Flags Out Front: A Contrarian’s Daydream. Moscow, ID: Canon, 2016.

Why does reading Doug Wilson sometimes feels like a guilty pleasure? Well, I read his new novel last Saturday, and it was a jolly read.

I enjoyed it more than his last one—which I enjoyed. (See my review of Evangellyfish.)

I don’t want to give away the plot. Let’s just say it’s a clever story about religion and politics.

Here are twenty lines that made me smile: [Read more…] about Doug Wilson’s New Novel: Flags Out Front

10 Issues I Frequently Mark When Grading Theology Papers

May 24, 2016 by Andy Naselli

1. Omit needless words, and be clear.

Avoid passives and nominalizations.
Avoid convoluted sentences and paragraphs.
“Don’t try to dress up your writing.” Don’t try to sound smart.
Everything from your paper’s title to its introduction, thesis, headings, and conclusion should clearly indicate what and how you are arguing. Is your approach inductive, deductive, or a mix? (See Don Carson’s advice about two ways to approach writing a dissertation.)
Be more specific than “points” or “things.”
Correct typos. Read your draft aloud, and then make your computer read it aloud. Sometimes your ears will hear errors your eyes miss.
Place only in the right spot (usually right before what it modifies).
See “Six Useful Books on Writing.”

Should Seminaries Require Students to Write So Many Academic Research Papers? John Frame Says No

May 17, 2016 by Andy Naselli

John Frame stirred the pot about how a seminary should train church leaders in “The Academic Captivity of Theology,” John Frame’s Selected Shorter Writings: Volume Two (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2015), 59–76. He follows up with a new essay: “What Seminaries Can Do Without,” in John Frame’s Selected Shorter Writings: Volume Three (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2016), 145–56. He provocatively elaborates on seven items he thinks seminaries can do without: [Read more…] about Should Seminaries Require Students to Write So Many Academic Research Papers? John Frame Says No

Ten Things You Should Never Do in a Theological Research Paper

May 10, 2016 by Andy Naselli

That’s the title of Appendix A in this book (pp. 93–96):

Michael Kibbe. From Topic to Thesis: A Guide to Theological Research. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016.

Kibbe lists “the kinds of errors that are most likely to make your professors pull their hair out—what will really drive them nuts!” [Read more…] about Ten Things You Should Never Do in a Theological Research Paper

On Plagiarism: An Interview with Justin Taylor

December 11, 2015 by Andy Naselli

Yesterday my colleague Joe Rigney announced, “Plagiarism discovered in Justice book by D. Wilson & R. Booth. … Booth confesses; book pulled.”

Justin Taylor, executive vice president of book publishing and book publisher for Crossway, then shared five lessons from this incident:

1. You cannot be too careful when taking notes. Some people plagiarize intentionally, but it often comes from not being careful.
2. Booth is wrong about exact wording of dictionary definitions being excluded from plagiarism.
3. Publishers, authors, teachers, and students should be aware that detection software exists when in doubt: e.g., http://www.ithenticate.com/
4. Some, especially those without academic training, simply haven’t been taught what plagiarism is. Here’s a start http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism
5. Plagiarism, intentional or not, is literary theft, and it should be repented of as such.

Justin kindly agreed to answer some questions about plagiarism for my readers:

1. What is plagiarism?

The SBL Handbook of Style: 2nd Edition

April 21, 2015 by Andy Naselli

The SBL Handbook of Style has become the standard guide for biblical studies. It first released in 1999, and the second edition released in November 2014: