WRITING SUGGESTIONS AND TIPS
Click here for an explanation of parenthetical references.
Set up abbreviations for the target text. Do not just start abbreviating.
Pay attention to childish or awkward diction.
Better -- The protest stemmed from a grievous violation of their civil rights.
Instead -- Feminism has made strides.
Better -- Strides in feminism indicate . . .
Instead -- A change of culture or tradition is difficult.
Better -- Changes in culture and tradition create challenges.
Instead -- If people spoil their children, they will end up being miserable adults.
Better -- Spoiled children usually become miserable adults.
Establish quotes from sources judiciously.
Most of the time, numbers in a formal essay will be presented as words.
Long quotes are set aside from the text.
Good sources make you look good.
For example: Bob Jones, a noted columnist for the Wall Street Journal, explores abortion rights in his blog and recently asserted, “Despite people’s views, . . .
Create a great first impression.
Create a great last impression.
The introduction and the conclusion sandwich the essay with a sense of beginning and ending. An introduction and conclusion will provide a sense of full circle. If you begin with a reference to a current event, you should refer back to that event in the conclusion. But do not begin the conclusion with the current event. That will be too jarring for the reader. Instead, work your way back down to the current event just like you began an introduction with a topic and then worked your way down to the thesis.
SEE GENERAL WRITING > INTRODUCTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
- F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (GG) juxtaposes the romance of an era against the reality of greed and betrayal. The characters of GG fail to generate any sympathy, which certainly suggests Fitzgerald’s cynical view.
- Ellen Goodman’s article “For Journalists, A Question of Balance” (“JQ”) presents her views about ethical reporting. “JQ” references several historic events.
Pay attention to childish or awkward diction.
- Don’t say reason why: The reason why the people protested was because their civil rights had been violated.
Better -- The protest stemmed from a grievous violation of their civil rights.
- Don’t use these words: a lot, very, really, etc. or et cetera
- Rarely use these words: “to be” verbs or the word it
- Understand verb use:
Instead -- Feminism has made strides.
Better -- Strides in feminism indicate . . .
- Don’t use slashes (except when you quote poetry):
Instead -- A change of culture or tradition is difficult.
Better -- Changes in culture and tradition create challenges.
- Avoid the if /then structure.
Instead -- If people spoil their children, they will end up being miserable adults.
Better -- Spoiled children usually become miserable adults.
Establish quotes from sources judiciously.
- When revealing sources in your body paragraphs, use the name that will be at the utmost left side of the citation, for easy accessibility.
- Include the name of the article and perhaps even the name of the newspaper, journal, book, website, etc. in which it was published.
- Use any information about the source that will contribute to the establishment of the source's credibility.
- Remember that the article gets quotation marks and the newspaper, journal, book, etc. that published the article will be in italics.
Most of the time, numbers in a formal essay will be presented as words.
- Do not begin a sentence with a number in number form.
- Use numbers in number form for things like dates, chapters, and statistics.
- If an essay has many references to numbers, use numbers (not words) for all numbers in order to be consistent.
Long quotes are set aside from the text.
- A quote that takes up more than four lines of text in an essay will be entirely indented.
- Set up the quote with a colon and then hit enter. A long quote does not begin on the same line as its introduction.
- There will be no quotation marks.
- The page number (source information) will follow the quote but outside the final period for the quoted sentence(s).
- Rarely will such a quote end a paragraph since a proficient essayist will want to say something about the quote. If this quote were important enough to include it, surely some exploration, analysis or expansion should follow.
Good sources make you look good.
- Avoid quoting from Wikipedia.
- Check to see the publishing information on a site. Your credibility depends upon the credibility of your sources.
- Do not quote bloggers, unless the blogger is reputable and highly established. A quote from U2skip9 lacks credibility. The blogger must have a full first and last name. A blogger published in other venues could be acceptable, but you would probably want to clarify that in your paper. Use an appositive to establish the credibility of the source.
For example: Bob Jones, a noted columnist for the Wall Street Journal, explores abortion rights in his blog and recently asserted, “Despite people’s views, . . .
Create a great first impression.
- A title does not typically have to identify the topic of the paper precisely. A title's job is to make someone want to read the essay. Academic essays should have titles more specific to the topic so researchers can locate them by title.
- Use literary techniques to give the title some pizzazz.
- The introductory paragraph could provide some background information but it does not have to.
- The introductory paragraph should not begin arguing or addressing the point of the thesis; that task belongs to body paragraphs. You could use the devil's advocate approach and start arguing against your point and then transition to your true position in your thesis.
- Write the introductory paragraph after finishing the entire essay. Doing so stops essayists from repeating the introduction information in the first body paragraph.
Create a great last impression.
- Never begin a conclusion with the words "In conclusion." A well-written conclusion does not need to be identified.
- Don’t repeat body paragraph points in the conclusion.
- Don't add another point or new information to the argument.
- Refer to the introductory paragraph's topic and thesis but not word for word.
The introduction and the conclusion sandwich the essay with a sense of beginning and ending. An introduction and conclusion will provide a sense of full circle. If you begin with a reference to a current event, you should refer back to that event in the conclusion. But do not begin the conclusion with the current event. That will be too jarring for the reader. Instead, work your way back down to the current event just like you began an introduction with a topic and then worked your way down to the thesis.
SEE GENERAL WRITING > INTRODUCTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS