I. General Principles
Papers written for this course should meet college-level standards. The following are some simple suggestions to help you write better.
1. Give yourself enough time. A paper should be in rough form several days before the due date; you will then have sufficient time to revise the paper, proofread, check your footnotes or references, and overcome the inevitable computer glitch.
2. Give the paper to at least two friends (preferable friends who know English). Have them proofread, make suggestions, and question the content. Consider these comments. Then, revise the paper.
3. Read the paper aloud. Mark sections that do not sound right. Then revise the paper. Then...
II. Grammatique: Some blunderful rules of English grammar.
1. Get rid of contractions such as "don't" and "won't." They ain't such a good idea for academic papers.
2. The word "this" should clearly refer to a subject that precedes it. Avoid this wherever possible.
3. Beware of the pronoun "they." Use it only when it refers to a plural subject. A person never knows when they might misuse it.
4. Avoid run-on sentences they are hard to read.
5. No sentence fragments.
6. It behooves us to avoid archaisms.
7. Do not use no double negatives.
8. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
9. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
10. Beware of jargon. If you are not cognitively aware of the nature of jargon, let's interface about it sometime.
11. The passive voice should be avoided. Otherwise, your meaning may be understood by you will not know by whom.
12. Avoid commas, that are not necessary.
13. Writing carefully, dangling participles should not be used.
14. Kill all exclamation points!!!
15. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
16. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
17. Take the bull by the hand and do not mix metaphors.
18. Do not verb nouns.
19. Never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
20. Never use comma splices, they are two complete sentences joined by a comma.
21. Beware of its (=possessive vs. it's = it is). Its hard to tell what you mean when you use it incorrectly.
22. Check the spelling. Most word-prosessors have a spell-cheker. Useit. A college-level paper shood be free from typografical errors. Excessive errors will be penulized.
23. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
III. Organization
1. Thesis: Your central thesis should be clear, to the point, and prominently placed toward the beginning of your paper. Never write about a subject. Try to address a specific question to which your thesis is the answer.
2. Outline: Be sure to lead your reader from point to point throughout your paper. Address one point at a time (and nothing else) until you reach a conclusion. Then move on to the next point. Most student papers suffer from a lack of clear outline.
IV. Documentation
1. References: You may use either footnotes or endnotes (which appear at the end of the paper). Footnote references should appear clearly as superscripted (that is, raised 1/2 line) numbers (for example: 1). Parenthetical references in the text are not an acceptable substitute for footnotes or endnotes.
2. The Concept: It is not necessary nor even preferable to reproduce exact quotations from your sources in your paper. The main purpose of footnotes is to tell the reader where you got your ideas and that you have done your research.. Most often, therefore, your text should express your thoughts in your words; your notes should explain the source of your ideas. Two useful rules: 1) When in doubt, footnote. 2) Use verbal quotations only when you cannot express your ideas as well as your source does. If you quote a lengthy passage (anything over four lines), indent ten spaces from the left and omit quotation marks.
3. Form: There are many common forms for footnotes or endnotes. For the purpose of this course, use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (Third Edition), Page 185ff. The following notes may serve as patterns for the MLA footnote form:
a. For a book: #author [first and last name], title [underlined or in italics], (place of publication: publisher, date) [space] page number.
Example: 1Carol Fairbanks, Prairie Women: Images in American and Canadian Fiction (New Haven: Yale UP, 1986) 21.
b. For an article: #author [first and last name], "title" [in quotation marks, not underlined], title of journal [underlined] volume #, (date) [space] page number.
Example: 2Mark Smith, "A Hidden Use of Porphyry's History of Philosophy in Eusebius' Praeparatio Evangelica," Journal of Theological Studies 39 (1988) 494.
c. For translations of works in foreign languages: #Original Author, title [underlined], trans. translator [first and last name] (place: publisher, date) [space] page number.
Example: 3Apuleius, The Golden Ass, trans. Robert Graves (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1972) 33.
d. For works you have already used once in your footnotes: #author [space] page number.
Example: 4Apuleius 34.
e. If you need to note multiple works by a single author, after your initial full entry, use: #author, keyword(s) from title [underlined] [space] page number.
Example: 5Smith, Hidden Use 495.
4. The most important rule: If you have any problems or questions, ASK.