Common Issues in Essays

Words Not To Use!!! In your essay, do not use these words: I, Me, My, Mine You, Your, Yours, We, Our, Ours, Us Also avoid slang! Cool, Cuz, Gotta, Well, etc. And, remember, this is a formal essay so avoid casual, informal language.

Integrating Concrete Details Your quotes need to be integrated smoothly into the paragraph. They should not just be “dumped” in the middle, all alone. It should all flow and the reader (me) should understand how your quote relates to the previous part of the paragraph. Good: The main character, Maggie, always says “I have no idea why anyone would do that!”(Baker 45). Bad: The main tone of the story is confusion. “I have no idea why anyone would do that!” (Baker 45).

In-Text Citations EVERY QUOTE NEEDS A CITATION! The parenthetical citations include the author’s last name and the page number…That’s it! (Peters 14) (Smith 9) The parenthetical citation should come after the closing quotation mark, but the period goes outside the last parenthesis. Ex. “When he walked outside, it rained” (Brand 2).

Semi-Colons Many of you have been using semi-colons improperly. The rule of semi-colons is that if you’re not sure how to use them, just leave them out. You don’t ever NEED to use a semi-colon. A properly used semi-colon links together two related complete sentences. Each sentence MUST be complete. Ex. The weather report states that it might rain; I think I’ll take my rain coat. Ex. At the end of the story, the author brings everything together; all of the characters meet each other and live happily ever after.

Tense in Literary Essays Literary Essays (essays written about a piece of literature) always use the present tense. This means that all of your verbs should sound like they are just happening. Even though you may have read the story a while ago, the idea is that the story lives on (Literature never gets old!) so it will always be referred to in the present tense. Ex. The main character, Scout, is (not was!) a young girl who is searching (not searched!) for the answers to life’s questions. Do your best to maintain present tense throughout your final essay.

Capitals and End Marks It should go without saying, but there is always a capital letter at the start of sentences, names, and places. ALWAYS. It should also go without saying that there must always be an end mark at the end of a sentence. End Marks include periods, exclamation points, and question marks. ALWAYS. Your final essay will be marked down if you are missing capital letters or end marks!

Proofreading It is absolutely necessary for you to proofread your final essay. Since you will not be typing, you must do your own “spell check” to catch errors and spelling problems. Use a dictionary! You will not be marked down if difficult words are misspelled. However, if it is clear that you did not proofread and there are a number of errors, your grade will suffer. Take your essay sentence by sentence searching for errors. Also, read it slowly to make sure everything makes sense and is clear.

Last but not Least… In order to grade your essay, I must be able to read it! Go slowly and be sure that your handwriting is legible. 