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Professor Pedantic 教授的考究學問
【學術專欄】
TPS的編輯教授在此歡迎關於學術文章的所有詢問，當然，其實他並沒有足夠的時間給你。他擁有終身教職的教授身份，也是著名的學術巨作作者。即便如此，他仍大方地接受你們的詢問。將關於學術方面的詢問寫在下方，你將獲得教授的親自指導，陶冶對學術的探索與啟發。
The professor awaits your query on academic writing, though in all honesty, he doesn’t have a lot of time for you. He is a tenured full professor and working on yet another magnificent academic tome. Even so, he has graciously consented to entertain your question. Submit it and prepare to be edified.
QUESTION: I have reread my last paper, which was graded low by my instructor for being shallow, and I guess he is right. How do I know when I am writing a deep paper as opposed to a shallow one?
我重讀了一次最近寫的論文，教授認為這篇論文內容太膚淺，給我的分數很低。讀完後，我覺得教授說得沒錯。我要怎麼知道自己寫的論文是膚淺還是有深度呢？
You seem genuinely interested in learning the difference between depth and shallowness in a scholarly paper. I wonder, though, why interest in these characteristics is blooming so late. Curiosity should be a trademark of someone entering the academic writing learning level. That is what separates scholars from the reluctantly schooled. A scholar is so curious about a subject that he is driven to explore it completely, rather than to skim it for just enough information to satisfy a requirement. It is impossible to skim a topic and come away with an in-depth report.
你似乎真的很想了解學術論文的深淺，不過我在想，這股精神好像發展得遲了些。剛學習學術寫作的人都應該要有好奇心，是認真研究還是勉強交差，差別就在有沒有好奇心。學者總是充滿好奇，這股精神驅使他們深入了解、全面鑽研一個主題，而非僅是點到為止，只求過關。因為如果只是蜻蜓點水，不可能寫出有深度的報告。
So become curious and let your intellect lead you deeper into a subject. However, to manage your curiosity in researching a paper, it is necessary to plan well. That is because a preliminary outline does not allow for discoveries made during research. If you are preparing a paper on Xinzheng, for example, and learn of the unearthed 4,000-year-old Xia dynastic capital in the city limits, your research path must zig and zag to incorporate the ancient material. The uncurious person considers such discovery a distraction; the curious researcher considers it enrichment.
所以你必須充滿好奇，運用智慧尋根究底。不過，寫論文作研究時，要駕馭自己的好奇心，必須妥當計畫，初步大綱並無法涵蓋研究期間的其他發現。若你準備撰寫與河南新鄭有關的論文，並得知在新鄭市郊，出土了四千年前夏朝首都的考古遺跡，你的研究就必須納入這些材料。缺乏好奇心的研究者認為這種發現與研究無關，有好奇心的研究者卻認為這種發現可以讓研究更豐富。
Think of your paper as a layered cake. Obvious and easily collected information is the frosting. It looks good but is thin. An instructor should be able to open your paper and beneath the frosting find two or three layers of cake—that is, two or three levels of content that might not be as sweet as the covering layer but is considerably more textured and satisfying. If your professor is given a thick frosting on a one-layer cake, no wonder he grumbles. You can’t build a multilayered paper unless you are curious, committed to thorough research, and open to discovery.
論文就像有很多層次的蛋糕，顯而易見、容易蒐集的資料像蛋糕上的糖霜，看起來漂亮，但只有薄薄一層。教授閱讀你的論文時，應該能發現糖霜下的蛋糕還有兩、三層，也就是內容還要有兩、三個層次，看起來也許不像糖霜般可口，但結構組織卻更豐富理想。若教授拿到的蛋糕只有一層厚厚的糖霜，當然不會滿意。想寫出層次豐富的論文，一定要充滿好奇，詳盡研究，並對新發現保持開放的態度。
The professor awaits your query on academic writing, though in all honesty, he doesn’t have a lot of time for you. He is a tenured full professor and working on yet another magnificent academic tome. Even so, he has graciously consented to entertain your question. Submit it and prepare to be edified.
QUESTION: I have reread my last paper, which was graded low by my instructor for being shallow, and I guess he is right. How do I know when I am writing a deep paper as opposed to a shallow one?
我重讀了一次最近寫的論文，教授認為這篇論文內容太膚淺，給我的分數很低。讀完後，我覺得教授說得沒錯。我要怎麼知道自己寫的論文是膚淺還是有深度呢？
You seem genuinely interested in learning the difference between depth and shallowness in a scholarly paper. I wonder, though, why interest in these characteristics is blooming so late. Curiosity should be a trademark of someone entering the academic writing learning level. That is what separates scholars from the reluctantly schooled. A scholar is so curious about a subject that he is driven to explore it completely, rather than to skim it for just enough information to satisfy a requirement. It is impossible to skim a topic and come away with an in-depth report.
你似乎真的很想了解學術論文的深淺，不過我在想，這股精神好像發展得遲了些。剛學習學術寫作的人都應該要有好奇心，是認真研究還是勉強交差，差別就在有沒有好奇心。學者總是充滿好奇，這股精神驅使他們深入了解、全面鑽研一個主題，而非僅是點到為止，只求過關。因為如果只是蜻蜓點水，不可能寫出有深度的報告。
So become curious and let your intellect lead you deeper into a subject. However, to manage your curiosity in researching a paper, it is necessary to plan well. That is because a preliminary outline does not allow for discoveries made during research. If you are preparing a paper on Xinzheng, for example, and learn of the unearthed 4,000-year-old Xia dynastic capital in the city limits, your research path must zig and zag to incorporate the ancient material. The uncurious person considers such discovery a distraction; the curious researcher considers it enrichment.
所以你必須充滿好奇，運用智慧尋根究底。不過，寫論文作研究時，要駕馭自己的好奇心，必須妥當計畫，初步大綱並無法涵蓋研究期間的其他發現。若你準備撰寫與河南新鄭有關的論文，並得知在新鄭市郊，出土了四千年前夏朝首都的考古遺跡，你的研究就必須納入這些材料。缺乏好奇心的研究者認為這種發現與研究無關，有好奇心的研究者卻認為這種發現可以讓研究更豐富。
Think of your paper as a layered cake. Obvious and easily collected information is the frosting. It looks good but is thin. An instructor should be able to open your paper and beneath the frosting find two or three layers of cake—that is, two or three levels of content that might not be as sweet as the covering layer but is considerably more textured and satisfying. If your professor is given a thick frosting on a one-layer cake, no wonder he grumbles. You can’t build a multilayered paper unless you are curious, committed to thorough research, and open to discovery.
論文就像有很多層次的蛋糕，顯而易見、容易蒐集的資料像蛋糕上的糖霜，看起來漂亮，但只有薄薄一層。教授閱讀你的論文時，應該能發現糖霜下的蛋糕還有兩、三層，也就是內容還要有兩、三個層次，看起來也許不像糖霜般可口，但結構組織卻更豐富理想。若教授拿到的蛋糕只有一層厚厚的糖霜，當然不會滿意。想寫出層次豐富的論文，一定要充滿好奇，詳盡研究，並對新發現保持開放的態度。
