到底什么的样的论文是“美”的？

easygpaser
Jul 23, 2020
12 min read

在知晓作业要求动笔前，我们先需要知道什么？

当然是，老师的评判标准啦！

知道了论文的各种要求和标准后，我们就可在其主要评价的方面做有针对性的提高，以更好的提高分数与成绩。

这点我们之前也总结过：

从评分标准来看Dissertation怎么拿高分？

要写作业的看过来！Essay&Report的成绩评定标准来啦！

但这些标准定得太笼统了！

今天，我们还是借着Jordan Peterson’s《Essay写作指南》，和大家说道说道，一篇学术写作，到底有多少个层级，有哪些需要遵守的“潜规则”。

先要说，这是一篇长文，我们一口气放出了整个第二章。也就是：

一篇论文有多少层级？
怎么去评价它的好坏？
到底什么最重要？
怎么样去选题？
怎么感受到写作的“美好”？
写作怎么不无聊？

同时为了更好的方便大家理解，我们把 「英语原文直接附在译文下方。」

文章变得更长了，但相信大家的阅读体验会更佳。学习应用也会更加容易。

唔~翻译很渣，还请多多包涵。

阅读全篇大概需要30分钟，可以先收藏哦~

和之前一样，完整英文原版的阅读链接可直接点击【阅读原文】跳转查看

正文：

乔丹·彼得森的Essay写作指南

第一部分介绍

逼自己认真写论文的最强理由

6个让你写Essay瞬间轻松的技巧

第二部分：论文的层级

2.1单词，句子，段落等

任何一篇文章，包括论文在内，都存在多个层级。

An essay, like any piece of writing, exists at multiple levels of resolution, simultaneously.

首先是单词的选择。

First is the selection of the word.

其次是句子的修辞。

Second is the crafting of the sentence.

正确的单词应该正确的使用并放在句子的正确位置。

Each word should be precisely the right word, in the right location in each sentence.

段落即是第三层级。

句子呈现出的思想要以段落想表达的思想为中心，用正确的语法表达出来。

The sentence itself should present a thought, part of the idea expressed in the paragraph, in a grammatically correct manner.

每一个句子都需要合理地在段落中组织排列。

Each sentence should be properly arranged and sequenced inside a paragraph, the third level of resolution.

按照经验，一个段落里至少应该有10个句子或100个单词组成。

As a rule of thumb, a paragraph should be made up of at least 10 sentences or 100 words.

虽说没有谁真的规定段落应该有多少句子，。但是，在真正掌握写作的精髓前，最好还是遵守这条“潜规则”

This might be regarded as a stupid rule, because it is arbitrary. However, you should let it guide you, until you know better. You have very little right to break the rules, until you have mastered them.

这里用个小故事举例，部分摘自一个名为《Codex Bezae（贝赛法典）》的文档：

Here’s a little story to illustrate that idea, taken in part from a document called the Codex Bezae.

❝ Christ is walking down the road on the Sabbath, when good Jews of that time were not supposed to work. In the ditch, he sees a shepherd, trying to rescue a sheep from a hole that it has fallen into. It is very hot and, clearly, the sheep will not be in very good shape if it spends a whole day in the desert sun. On the other hand, it is the Sabbath. Christ looks at the shepherd and says, “Man, if indeed thou knowest what thou doest, thou art blessed: but if thou knowest not, thou art cursed, and a transgressor of the law.” Then he walks on down the road. 在一个安息日里基督在路上走着，犹太人在安息日中不应当工作。在一条深沟里，基督看见一个牧羊人试图救出一个掉进洞的绵羊。天气很热，显然，如果绵羊一整天都暴晒在沙漠的阳光下，一定会被晒死。另一方面，这天是安息日，不允许工作。基督看着牧羊人说：“老兄，如果你确实知道自己的所作所为，你就有福了；但如果你不知道，你就会受诅咒，成为违犯律法者。”说完，他沿着道路离开了。 ❞

❝ 这个故事想表达的是：安息日的存在是有原因的。否则人们会一直工作。那样的话，他们将永远处于不快乐和疲惫中。人们将互相竞争至死。 The point is this: There is a rest day for a reason. Otherwise people would work all the time. Then they would be chronically unhappy and exhausted. They would compete each other to death. 因此，如果让人人都可以休息的时间，那就都休息，不要违反规则。 So if it’s time for everybody to rest, then rest, and don’t be breaking the rule. 但是，当几分钟的举手之劳的工作就可以救起一只可能会被太阳晒死的羊，不去做似乎也不好。 However, it is also not good to let a sheep die in the hot sun, when a few minutes of labor might save it. ❞

因此，如果你尊重规则并意识到规则的重要性，并意识到它是应对未知混乱的堡垒，但 「因为情况的特殊性，仍然决定谨慎地打破规则」-好吧，那么，去打破它吧，你将会从中获得更多的力量。

So, if you are respectful of the rule, and conscious of its importance, and realize that it serves as a bulwark against the chaos of the unknown, and you still decide to break it, carefully, because the particularities of the circumstances demand it – well, then, more power to you.

但是，如果你只是一个粗心，无知，反社会的自恋者，请当心。

If you are just a careless, ignorant, antisocial narcissist instead, however, then look out.

无论明白与否，违反规则都会带来一定风险。

You break a rule at your peril, whether you know it or not.

规则之所以存在是有原因的。除非你是精通写作的“大师”，才有资格打破它们。如果不是，请不要将无知与创造性或风格相混淆。

Rules are there for a reason. You are only allowed to break them if you are a master. If you’re not a master, don’t confuse your ignorance with creativity or style.

按规则进行写作能让作品更易理解，而根据规则阅读，读者能更轻松掌握大概会发生什么。

Writing that follows the rules is easier for readers, because they know roughly what to expect.

「规则是一种惯例。像所有约定一样，它们有时不是最好的。但这种情况不常发生。」

So rules are conventions. Like all conventions, they are sometimes sub-optimal. But not very often.

因此建议首选惯例，例如，把你的段落长度控制在10个句子或100个单词中。

So, to begin with, use the conventions. For example, aim to make your paragraphs about 10 sentences or 100 words long.

一个段落应该用多个句子来表达一个论点，如果连100个词都没有，那可能这并不是一个好论点，那你就需要再考虑一下了。

A paragraph should present a single idea, using multiple sentences. If you can’t think up 100 words to say about your idea, it’s probably not a very good idea, or you need to think more about it.

但一个段落超过了300个词，则可能这当中包含多个小论点，需要再分段。

If your paragraph is rambling on for 300 words, or more, it’s possible that it has more than one idea in it, and should be broken up.

第四层级：从文章的开始到结尾，所有段落都必须按照逻辑顺序进行排列。

All of the paragraphs have to be arranged in a logical progression, from the beginning of the essay to the end. This is the fourth level of resolution.

写论文中最重要的步骤可能就是组织段落间排序与关系。每个段落都是通往最终目的地的阶石。

Perhaps the most important step in writing an essay is getting the paragraphs in proper order. Each of them is a stepping stone to your essay’s final destination.

第五层级即是整篇论文本身。

The fifth level of resolution is the essay, as a whole.

可能文章本身并没有什么问题，每个单词，句子和段落-甚至段落顺序都问题-但仍可能是一篇失败的文章，因为文章即不有趣也不重要。

Every element of an essay can be correct, each word, sentence, and paragraph – even the paragraph order – and the essay can still fail, because it is just not interesting or important.

那些写作技巧很强但缺乏创意的写作者很难理解这样的失败，因为评论家也很难直言这一点。

It is very hard for competent but uninspired writers to understand this kind of failure, because a critic cannot merely point it out.

他们的问题往往也没有答案，“我到底在哪里犯错了？” 并没有，就是文章本身单纯不好而已。

There is no answer to their question, “exactly where did I make a mistake?” Such an essay is just not good.

「没有新意或创造力的论文可能属于此类。」

An essay without originality or creativity might fall into this category.

有时，一个有创造力的人（在技术上不擅长写作）会犯相反的错误：他们用词贫乏，句子的句法结构也不好，段落的组织性很差，段落之间缺乏逻辑，但是整个文章仍然可以很成功，是因为 「其中蕴藏着作者拼命想表达的宝贵的思想。」

Sometimes a creative person, who is not technically proficient as a writer, can make the opposite mistake: their word choice is poor, their sentences badly constructed and poorly organized within their paragraphs, their paragraphs in no intelligible relationship to one another – and yet the essay as a whole can succeed, because there are valuable thoughts trapped within it, wishing desperately to find expression.

2.2附加等级

你可能会认为，除了这五个层级的解析或分析之外，一篇文章中可能没有其他内容，但是您会错了。

You might think that there could not possibly be anything more to an essay than these five levels of resolution or analysis, but you would be wrong.

以全面批判和颠覆性著称的后现代主义学者也许率先注意到这点。

This is something that was first noticed, perhaps, by those otherwise entirely reprehensible and destructive scholars known as post-modernists.

在由读者（第六级）以及在读者所处的特定文化背景（第七级）对文章本身的理解解读中，必然存在一篇（不同于作者）文章。

这是由他或她基于对这篇论文产生的假设和联想所看到的内容。

（也就是一千个读者，有一千个哈姆雷特）

An essay necessarily exists within a context of interpretation, made up of the reader (level six), and the culture that the reader is embedded in (level seven), which is made up in part of the assumptions that he or she will bring to the essay.

第六层级与第七层级与人文息息相关。

Levels six and seven have deep roots in biology and culture.

您可能会想，“为什么我需要知道这一点？” 但是，如果你不这样做，「不考虑受众，是错误的。」

You might think, “Why do I need to know this?” but if you don’t you are not considering your audience, and that’s a mistake.

论文的一部分目的是清楚的表达出自己的思想，而另一部分也同样重要——与听众进行交流。

Part of the purpose of the essay is to set your mind straight, but the other part, equally important, is to communicate with an audience.

为了出色的完成论文，必须同时做好以上层级。那是非常困难的，但正是难，写作的价值才存在。

For the essay to succeed, brilliantly, it has to work at all of these levels of resolution simultaneously. That is very difficult, but it is in that difficulty that the value of the act of writing exists.

关于论文的美学和吸引力

论文的层级并不是一篇优秀论文全部条件。

This is not all that has to be properly managed when you write an essay.

你还应「力求简洁（简洁而有效的表达）和美感（这是语言的韵律或诗意方面）（在所有必要的分析层次上）」

You should also strive for brevity, which is concise and efficient expression, as well as beauty, which is the melodic or poetic aspect of your language (at all the requisite levels of analysis).

最后，写作时你不能感到无聊或显得无聊。

如果您在写作时感到无聊，注意了，你的无聊也会同样传达到读者。（你写的都无聊了，你的读者阅读作品时只会更无聊。）

Finally, you should not be bored, or boring. If you are bored while writing, then, most importantly, you are doing it wrong, and you will also bore your reader.

试想下：你由于某种原因而感到无聊，有时其实挺合理。在写论文时，你之所以感到无聊，因为潜意识里在对自己撒谎，关于自己在做什么以及为什么这么做这件事。

Think of it this way: you get bored for a reason, and sometimes for a good reason. You may be bored while writing your essay because you are actually lying to yourself in a very deep way about what you are doing and why you are doing it.

你的心智独立于自我意识而存在，它不会勉强自己把注意力集中在那些你本身不感兴趣或觉得无用的事情上。

Your mind, independent of your ego, cannot be hoodwinked into attending to something that you think is uninteresting or useless.

它会自动把这些事归为不值得在意的一类，然后让你觉得无聊。

It will automatically regard such a thing as unworthy of attention, and make you bored by it.

「如果你对论文感到无聊，则说明你选择了错误的主题（一个对你没有影响，并且很可能对其他人没有影响的主题），或者你以错误的方式接近一个好主题。」

If you are bored by your essay, you have either chosen the wrong topic (one which makes no difference to you and, in all likelihood, to anyone else) or you are approaching a good topic in a substandard manner.

也许也可能你对不得不写这篇文章感到不满，或者害怕论文的反馈，或是懒，或是无知，或是过分而自大的怀疑等等诸如此类的情绪。

Perhaps you are resentful about having to write the essay, or afraid of its reception, or lazy, or ignorant, or unduly and arrogantly skeptical, or something of the kind.

你必须摆正心态才能正确写作。

You have to place yourself in the correct state of mind to write properly.

这种心态是有一部分审美能力的。

That state of mind is partly aesthetic.

必须尝试产生一些有价值，美丽和优雅的东西。如果你认为这很荒谬，那么现在你还太傻还不能写出好文章。

You have to be trying to produce something of worth, beauty and elegance. If you think that is ridiculous, then you are far too stupid at the moment to write properly.

你需要花长时间思考，是什么给了你勇气去质疑那些有价值、优美和典雅的事物，难道你更喜欢丑陋和粗俗的东西？难道你喜爱破坏多过创造？

You need to meditate long and hard on why you would dare presume that worth, beauty and elegance are unworthy of your pursuit. Do you plan to settle for ugly and uncouth? Do you want to destroy, instead of build?

你必须选择一个对你很重要的主题。这应该表述为你要回答的问题。

You must choose a topic that is important to you. This should be formulated as a question that you want to answer.

可以说，这是写文章中最难的部分：选择恰当的问题。

This is arguably the hardest part of writing an essay: choosing the proper question.

也许你的讲师为你提供了一个主题列表，因此你认为自己不需要考虑这些。

Perhaps your instructor has provided you with a list of topics, and you think you are off the hook as a consequence.

并不是。「你仍然必须确定如何以引人入胜的方式写有关这些主题之一的文章。」 这是一种道德，精神上的努力。

You’re not. You still have to determine how to write about one of those topics in a manner that is compelling to you. It’s a moral, spiritual endeavour.

如果你正确地确定了自己感兴趣的事物，那么你就让自己与更深层次的心理，精神保持一致。

If you properly identify something of interest to you, then you have put yourself in alignment with the deeper levels of your psyche, your spirit.

如果你的内心深处并不想要去解答这个主题延伸出的问题，那么它就不是你真正感兴趣的主题。

If these deeper levels do not want or need an answer to the question you have posed, you will not possibly be interested in it.

一个主题对你是否重要的证据在于它是否能真正引起你的兴趣。

So the fact of your interest is evidence of the importance of the topic.

你或者你身体的某部分渴望得到一个解答——这种渴望如此强烈以致于你愿意全身心投入。

You, or some part of you, needs the answer – and such needs can be deep enough so that life itself can depend upon them.

例如，一个绝望的人可能会发现“为什么要生活？”这个问题。对此抱有极大的兴趣，并且试图寻找一个即使生活痛苦也依旧值得承担的答案。

Someone desperate, for example, might find the question “why live?” of extreme interest, and absolutely require an answer that makes life’s suffering worth bearing.

不必确保你尝试或回答的每个问题都具有这种重要性，但是你不应该将自己的想法浪费掉。

It is not necessary to ensure that every question you try or essay to answer of that level of importance, but you should not waste your time with ideas that do not grip you.

因此，写论文的正确态度就是保持兴趣和维持审美的敏感性。

So, the proper attitude is interested and aesthetically sensitive.

说了这么多，这里要记住一些事情：完成优先于完美。

Having said all that, here is something to remember: finished beats perfect.

大多数人课程，作业或工作项目失败的原因不是因为他们写得不好，才得到了D或F，而是因为他们根本没有写完而得到了零分。

Most people fail a class or an assignment or a work project not because they write badly, and geta D’s or F’s, but because they don’t write at all, and get zeroes.

零是非常糟糕的。它们像数字的黑洞。

Zeroes are very bad. They are the black holes of numbers.

零让你感到失败。零会毁了你的生活。不管论文写得多么糟糕，交出的论文通常都能至少获得C的成绩。

Zeroes make you fail. Zeroes ruin your life. Essays handed in, no matter how badly written, can usually get you at least a C.

因此，不要成为一个完全自我毁灭的白痴。「无论你的想法有多蠢（无论你认为这话说得多对），都应该先提交上去。」

So don’t be a completely self-destructive idiot. Hand something in, regardless of how pathetic you think it is (and no matter how accurate you are in that opinion).