Someone Told Them They Could Write

I hold the page out in front of me, squint and try again. After reading it out loud this time, I come to the same conclusion: it sounds good but means nothing. "the validity of these frequently espoused theories is scrutinized . . ." A sentence full of million dollar words that just sounds cheap. The author writes well but there is not the force of ideas pushing the reader from one paragraph to another, the papers lack passion. The joy of being a T.A. when you discover that people can write, and write well about nothing. There is no original spark that propels the paper towards a dazzling conclusion. Instead there are turgid words rehashing the same old argument and the papers start to blend one into another. One deals with the supply-side argument, another the demand-side arguments and yet another brave soul covers both. And they all write well in a way that smacks of someone saying, "You Are A Good Writer. You Have an Excellent Choice of Words." and so forever more, the person writes as though academic words stringed together carry the weight of authority behind them. But no one ever told them that ideas are more important. A clever idea poorly expressed and a poor idea cleverly expressed are as bad as each other. Thus, I keep marking in the hope that I will find a clever idea cleverly expressed, but have a horrible feeling that I shan't.