Common Problems What common problems do writers have with the discussion section of their papers?
• They don’t follow directions. If the assignment asks you to demonstrate your understanding of an idea or concept from course content, your instructor will be expecting a discussion that presents and fully discusses all the important information about it. If, on the other hand, the assignment asks you to consider an issue, formulate an opinion about it, and present and defend that opinion, be sure to do that. If you merely repeat well known information in response to an assignment that asked you to state and defend your own opinion, you will not earn many points. Also, if your assignment asks you to consult certain sources, be sure your reader will know you did so. Mention the sources in your discussion. • They don’t present sufficient specific content. It’s not enough to just state something; you must also explain what it means. Doing so requires you to give details-perhaps about what something includes, how or when it occurs, what it’s connected to or affected by, etc. Be sure to di
