1. Above all, writing is a process. Mature writers know this, and because they know it, they never expect themselves to get it right the first time. Don't put that kind of pressure on yourself. You should work hard on your writing and still know you're going to need to re-do it. That's how it works. Accept it.
2. Proofreading is a moral and ethical choice. Whether or not you proof your work carefully says something not only about your paper, but about you and is part of the basis on which your reader will judge you. Is this fair? Maybe not. But it is certainly true. Once you've planted the idea in the reader's mind that you didn't try your hardest, it can not be undone. Don't assume that your reader will know that you were having a bad day, or that you're usually a good proofreader, but on this one particular paper, you just weren't up for it. To your reader, you ARE what's on the page.
3. Don't introduce your introduction. As quickly and interestingly as possible, get into your topic. Resist the urge to wave hi to the reader beforehand.
4. All assigned academic papers must be typed, unless otherwise instructed. Type in 12-point font only, with standard 1” margins (standard default). Type in standard Times Roman or Courier font style.
5. Double space all academic papers.
6. Academic papers must include a “header” in the top left-hand corner that states your first & last names, class/teacher, and date.
You know, like this:
Jake Smith
Mr. Roesch
American Literature Seminar
10.31.11
7. Give your papers clever and engaging titles. It makes them more fun to read. A good tip for choosing a title is to go back through what you've written and find a clever turn of phrase or an enticing combination of words to use as your title.
Let's say you have an essay due on The Catcher in the Rye.
Some Boring Titles Might be:
Catcher in the Rye Essay
Catcher Essay
English Essay
Some Clever and Engaging Titles Might Be:
Hold(en) on Tight to Adolescence
Not Knowing What to Do With Everything
All Kicked Out and Nowhere to Go
8. Do not use “I,” “You,” “In my opinion,” or any related expressions. These personal pronouns do not belong in academic writing. We know the thinking is yours; your name is on the paper.
9. Watch your verb tenses. Do not change verb tenses in the middle of a sentence. Strive for consistency.
10. Do not use fanciful, dramatic language – it sounds silly and out of place. If there was no drama inherent in the subject already, you probably would not be writing about it. In addition, avoid slang or contractions; neither belongs in academic writing.
11. Basic In-Text Citation Rules
Immediately following a quotation place the author's name followed by a space and the relevant page number(s).
Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).
In-Text Citations: Author-Page Style
When you state the author's name directly:
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
When you don't state the author's name directly:
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
When you are paraphrasing the author's words:
Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
In-Text Citations: Dialogue
When quoting dialogue, use the following format:
At the end of the story, it is clear that Bill is going to leave Sally and go off to war. Dixon makes this apparent when he writes, "'I have to, Sally,' he said and turned to the glistening lake and the horizon beyond it. 'I have to'" (225).
12. Guide to using Titles in your writing—To be followed each and every time you use the title, not just the first time. And, always capitalize titles.
Underline or use Italics for longer works
Book Titles: Fahrenheit 451
Magazine Titles: Time, Newsweek
Long Poems: The Odyssey; Howl
Plays: Romeo and Juliet; A Raisin in the Sun
Movies/TV Series: The Matrix; American Idol
Paintings/Sculptures: Mona Lisa; Pieta
Ships: Titanic
Use Quotation Marks for shorter works:
Chapter Titles: “Intro to Grammar”
Essays: “Civil Disobedience”; “When the Negro was in Vogue”
Magazine Articles: “How to Keep Your Man Happy”
Short Stories: “To Build A Fire”
Short Poems: “Dream Deferred”
13. Vary Your Sentence Structure--Adding variety to your sentence construction will help clarify your ideas, will make your writing more pleasurable to read and easier to enjoy, and will endear you to teachers and peer editors everywhere. Good writers vary the lengths of their sentences and use a variety of sentence types to improve the flow and rhythm of their writing so that the writing has a constant sense of movement and holds the reader’s interest. Anyone can do it. See. I just did it. I wrote two lengthy sentences followed by a trio of short sentences and sentence fragments, followed by the sentence you are now reading, which is lengthier and uses subordinate clauses for variety and rhythm. The juxtaposition of styles keeps the writing fresh and interesting.
14. Having a deep vocabulary naturally improves your writing because it offers you a greater variety of ways in which to express your ideas. It’s liberating not only for the writer, but for the reader. More important, though, than having a dynamic vocabulary is writing in a way that feels natural to you. Find a balance between pushing yourself to find new words and fresh ways to express yourself while writing in a way that feels natural and still sounds like you.
15. 1st Paragraph--Your first paragraph is your welcome mat, your doorbell, the first impression you give to your reader, so make it count! You know how an essay works—Intro, body, conclusion—it never fails. But now that you’ve got the blueprint internalized, isn’t it time to start expanding its possibilities? Imagine if Charlie Parker had only played scales in their exact order—boring!!! Great writers push the envelope; they take chances. And believe me, nothing is more disconcerting to a reader than the nagging thought, I’ve read this exact thing a hundred times already.
With this in mind, here’s a few basics.
• Make your 1st paragraph stand out. This doesn’t mean there have to be fireworks exploding off the page or a puff of smoke to get the reader’s attention, but consider your audience and respect them. Remember, you want them to be enthused by your writing. Consider yourself as a reader: What gets your attention? What makes you want to keep reading?
• Give language credit. Many people write bland openings because they undervalue the power of words.
• Believe in point of view. Think about what is interesting about your topic, then drop your reader into the middle of it. Come at your subject from an interesting angle, rather than always head on.
• Avoid middle-school intros (In this essay, I will discuss…). Don’t be afraid to get to the point. Trim the fat. Above all, don’t write about what your essay is going to be about; merely write your essay.
• Use choice action verbs—they are your friend.
Now, some examples:
“In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people—the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me. I was sub-divisional police officer of the town, and in an aimless, petty kind of way anti-European feeling was very bitter. No one had the guts to raise a riot, but if a European woman went through the bazaars alone somebody would probably spit betel juice over her dress.” George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant
“There is a bumper sticker that reads: TOO BAD IGNORANCE ISN’T PAINFUL. I like that. But ignorance is. We just seldom attribute the pain to it or even recognize it when we see it.” Nikki Giovanni, Campus Racism 101
“America’s greatest contribution to the world of ideas is adolescence. European novels often begin with a first indelible memory—a golden poplar, or Mama standing in the kitchen. American novels begin at the moment of rebellion, the moment of appetite for distance, the moonless night Tom Sawyer pries open the back-bedroom window, shinnies down the drainpipe, drops to the ground, and runs.”
Richard Rodriguez, Growing Up in Los Angeles
“The Los Angeles Boxing Club sits inside an unobtrusive, pock-marked cement structure in the shadow of downtown L.A. and it crawls with young talent, a mecca for local kids seeking fame and fortune in the ring. Shane Mosley used to be one of those kids, and in many ways, despite the fact that he’s 27 years old and holds the IBF world lightweight title, he still is.” Julian Rubinstein, Sleeping Giant: Will History Remember Sugar Shane?
“He is driving now, down some anonymous, twisting four-lane highway in suburban Columbus, Ohio, unconcerned about his lack of familiarity with the byways of his temporary home. There are only so many ways to really get lost, El Duque Hernandez has learned. This is one: salsa music blaring, filling the smallish compartment of his rented apple-red Hyundai with the lively sounds of guitars, castanets, maracas, bongos and a chorus of voices, his own included, singing in Spanish.”
Julian Rubinstein, The Chosen One
16. When asked to write a two-page essay, write a two-page essay. Not a one-and-a-half-page essay. Why? Length and weight are important. As is being able to follow directions. Sometimes in life we get to make the rules and sometimes we don't, and you know what? That's okay. But ask yourself this more pressing question: why would you want to plant in the reader's mind the sense that you either can't follow directions or you don't care enough to? Answer: you don't.
17. Try Hard. With writing, the only thing you can control is how hard you try. You can't control your natural ability or the way the universe is treating you that day or what your teacher has asked you to do. You can try to control these things, but you'll usually end up frustrated. Why? Because the only thing you can actually affect is how willing you are to sit down in a chair and work hard. Worry about that; leave the rest alone.
18. Literary Analysis: Incorporating Evidence
In Literary Analysis, use evidence in two ways. One, support your thesis with events that took place in the book or story, which show the context of your quotes and elucidate the larger vision of your thesis. But stay focused: don’t summarize more than necessary; tell the reader what information is vital to understanding the evidence, but not more.
Two, use quotes (properly cited in MLA format) from the book. This is crucial to your essay and is an expected component of Literary Analysis. Incorporate your quotes into the context of your essay by having quotes and context share sentences, rather than isolating quotes, which can be awkward and sacrifice flow and context. Always, consider the reading experience you’re giving your reader.
Not incorporated:
Janie’s images for romantic happiness come from nature. “Life should be more like a pear tree in bloom, she thinks” (p. 67). She thinks this when she is unhappy in her relationships.
Commentary: Yeah, there’s nothing horrible about this (it’s grammatically correct and the information is on point), but it could be so much better. Most basically, it’s amateurish. But, also, it under-reaches, it’s awkward, it neglects flow, doesn’t connect ideas that need to be connected, and therefore, is inferior (and reads like lazy work).
Incorporated:
Because Janie’s image for romantic happiness comes from nature, she thinks, “Life should be more like a pear tree in bloom” (p. 67) when she is unhappy in her relationship.
Or
Reflecting on his name, Gogol wishes that he could somehow shorten it to an American sounding nickname and “hates…that is has nothing to do with who he is, that it is neither Indian nor American but of all things Russian” (76).
Commentary: Now, doesn’t that feel better? It’s fluid, it honors the reader, it makes better use of what’s around, and it demonstrates that the writer is astute and careful with his/her evidence.
Other Quoting tips:
Remember, always, that quotes are evidence which have a singular purpose: to prove your thesis. If a quote isn’t directly tied to the thesis in a way that is clear and indelible, you don’t need it, or you need to keep looking.
Choose quotes that showcase the author’s writing style and reveal something necessary. Be choosy! If you could say it just as well, there’s no need to use a quote.
Quotes should, for the most part, be brief and used consistently, but a bit judiciously. The longer the quote, the stronger it has to be to justify its presence.
