Squeezing margins in a fraction of an inch; adding 0.2 inches to the line spacing; secretly making a period’s font size 14. Admit it, most of us have tried to put these — and other equally crafty skills — to use at least once in our college careers. Back in high school, I pulled the same kind of tricks, except in reverse. We had two-page limits for our essays. Every sentence had to have a point and purpose. Every quote had to be cut down and synthesized in a concise manner. To this day, I still cannot express how much I hate that one line at the bottom of a Microsoft Word document that crosses the threshold to begin a new page.
That being said, I never understand why so many college courses have page requirements. I suppose a 50-page paper would make a student work and work to fill up space. But then again, how can professors not realize that is all students are doing — simply filling up blank space? If anything, a page limit challenges students to express their ideas in a concentrated manner and helps them develop their writing voice. Most papers with exorbitant page requirements probably have at least one or two pages of complete crap.
Some of you may really be surprised at how many ways a point can be restated or drawn out. An entire page or paragraph could be dedicated to repeating one idea. The student will say the same thing over and over again just to fill up space. Students try hard to dilute and spread out their ideas when faced with long assignments. Have I wasted at least 50 words yet in this paragraph?
Neither the student nor the instructor benefit from writing or grading long-winded papers. With a limited amount of space to express their ideas, students have to learn how to pick and choose which ideas and details are important to develop their argument. And which grader would not prefer reading two pages of well-thought out, quality content over 30 pages of the same ideas mixed in with inordinate amounts of fluff?
I hated the first two-page limit I was given in my Advanced Placement literature class. Over time, however, I realized that having a stupid line cross over onto the third page meant that I wrote something unnecessary. I was forced to prune and polish each essay until the third page disappeared. Having two-page limits allowed me to develop the most as a writer. It’s difficult to say the same for 10- and 50-page papers.
Although there is a bit of a gamble in entrusting students to try their best while writing less, perhaps this is a risk worth taking. More brain power is needed to formulate a strong and concise argument than figuring out how much the default settings of Word can be altered before the instructor realizes it. Even William Shakespeare, champion of long, drawn-out soliloquies and the like, conceded, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”
Angelina She is a freshman physiology and neurobiology major. She can be reached at she at umdbk dot com.
