Troubleshooting Paper Problems or How to Get a Better Grade on Your Essays Introductions & Conclusions Author identification Typical writing errors MLA Style tips What I grade on Where to get help

Introductions Never start with a statement on what you’re going to do: “I’m going to write about…” or “The story I’ve chosen to tell you…” or “I plan to discuss…” Instead, begin with a compelling lead that makes the reader want to know more: No one ever knows how a word of encouragement may help. It might even help to save a life. I wasn’t aware of this until it happened to me.

Conclusions Creatively restate the thesis (don’t just cut and paste it from opening). Summarize the main points made. Add a final statement that brings the paper to a close. In this section, you might briefly return to a comment about the importance of this discussion. (e.g. “When I told Pam how proud I was of her, I didn’t know it might save her life. Words are sometimes more than just words. We should think carefully about what we say and when.”

Author Identification For MLA style in-text citations, use only the last name of the author, followed by the page# in parenthesis. For example, (Cole 24). In all cases use ONLY the last name of the author: (e.g. NOT “David Cole wrote for The Nation before writing books. David is a lawyer.” BUT “David Cole wrote for The Nation before writing books. Cole is a lawyer.”) Never refer to the author by his or her first name only in a paper.

Typical Writing Errors Avoid Voice Shifting: For the most part, you should always use third person (he, she or it voice). In general, do not use first person narration (I think… I like the story…, I believe…, I remember… etc.) unless writing a narrative or reporting on your personal observations or research. Try to avoid using second person voice (voice shifts) (NOT: “The theme was that you should always use social networking sites”) (BUT: “The theme was that one should always use social networking sites”)

Typical Writing Errors Avoid Tense Shifting: Keep tenses consistent throughout the paper. If you begin in the past tense, stay in the past tense when writing a narrative. Don’t let present tense creep into your narrative. (e.g. “I ran to the store. Someone was chasing me. As I’m running…”) For documented papers, MLA calls for present tense when analyzing a text, so keep it there. Example: Incorrect: “Limbaugh (2010) stated that Facebook was evil.” Correct: “Limbaugh (2010) states that Facebook is evil.”

Typical Writing Errors Avoid Empty Words: E.g. “The author did a good job… The author did a great job… The story was great… He used great ideas, a good theme, a nice premise” etc. E.g. “Cole began to… started to… decided to…” Empty modifiers sap power from your words: “very,” “really,” “extremely,” “generally,” “basically,” etc. Watch vague words: “She wrote her ideas about everyday life,” becomes “Her ideas paralleled everyday life.” Ask yourself: Can I say it more specifically? In what way does it happen? Or how?

Typical Writing Errors WORD CHOICES are important Select words that are specific and detailed, not simplistic and vague: NOT: “Cole got wordy.” BUT: “Cole grew wordy in places.” (NOTE: Avoid ‘got,’ ‘get,’ ‘gotten,’ ‘getting’ at all costs) Use active verbs and specific nouns: NOT: “This article can be looked at variously at different times in your life and you might get different things from it.” BUT: “This book can be studied in a different light as the student ages, revealing deeper meanings.”

Typical Writing Errors Avoid wordiness: This can slow the reader’s ability to process the information you’re presenting effectively. Some examples: Instead of: Use: “based on the fact that” because “in light of the fact that” because “at the present time” now “in the near future” soon “for the purpose of” for “in the event that” since “in order to” to

Typical Writing Errors Avoid Run-on Sentences: I like to drive my favorite car is a Porsche. Avoid Comma Splices: It’s a nice day to drive, it will be 85 today. Avoid Fragments: Driving my Porsche. With wind in my hair. Vary sentence structure. Don’t always use the same noun-verb structure: I cried. I had a fit. I couldn’t do it. I felt like giving up. I knew I should do it.

Punctuation IS important! Punctuation can save a life: “Let’s eat, Grandma.” “Let’s eat Grandma.” It can significantly change meaning: A woman, without her man, is nothing. A woman: without her, man is nothing. Some women find inspiration in cooking their families and their dogs. Some women find inspiration in cooking, their families, and their dogs.

MLA Style notes Capitalize the first and last word of a title or subtitle and major parts of speech. Do not capitalize prepositions, coordinating conjunctions and articles (a, an, the). “Gone with the Wind” Never start a sentence with a numeral. Spell out numbers under 100 unless it’s a dollar amount, statistic, percentage, age, address, decimal, measurement, range, weight, time or date.

MLA Style notes In MLA style, long titles are italicized (books, magazines, newspapers, journals, TV shows, movies, etc.). For example, The Detroit News, Time, Newsweek, Ellen, etc. However, the short items included IN these sources are in quotes in your text (articles, essays, poems, short stories, editorials, letters to the editor, chapters of books, a series episode on a TV show, etc.). For example, “How to Be a Better Scholar,” “Detroit’s Economic Downturn Reflects State Unemployment Rate,” “The Raven,” etc. as well as on the Works Cited page.

What I Grade on Content: Peer Review: Mechanics How well you write to the prompt and what you say An introduction and conclusion with body paragraphs between, each with its own idea, formulated in a topic sentence, using diction appropriate to the audience. Peer Review: Making valid, useful comments to your peers when reviewing, not just “It’s fine.” Mechanics Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, word choices, sentence structure, flow Grammar (comma splices, fragments, run-on sentences, voice shifting, tense shifting, subject-verb agreement, pronoun errors, parallelism, etc.)

Where to get help If you think you are weak in any of the areas mentioned here, please schedule a time to meet with the Writing Studios in the Library (C Building) PRIOR to the week the paper is due. They can help you in all areas of composition, from fine tuning your thesis, to organization, to common writing errors. Alternatively, schedule a time to meet with me during my office hours. I am always happy to work through paper problems with you at the following times/places: T-TH, 11:30 a.m. to noon and by apt. after class in B130. Also feel free to email me with questions at: bornerm@macomb.edu