1. Sophomore Writing Expectations

2. Audience
When you write, you have an audience. Keep that audience in mind.
What do your readers know already?
What do they need to know?
What do you want them to understand by reading your writing?
How should you relate your ideas to them?
Is what you write worth their precious time?
Have something worth saying or stick to reading, not writing.

3. Titles of longer works Italicize (when typed)
Underline (when handwritten)
Longer works include
Novels (To Kill a Mockingbird)
Full length films and documentaries (The Truman Show)
Plays (Death of a Salesman)
Newspapers (The New York Times)
Magazines (The National Review)
Television shows or programs (60 Minutes or South Park)
Websites (CNN.com)
Radio programs or podcasts (This American Life)

4. Titles of shorter works
Surround the title with quotation marks
Shorter works include
Short stories (“The Most Dangerous Game”)
Poems (“Howl”)
Book Chapters (“The Sieve and the Sand”)
Essays (“A Modest Proposal”)
Articles (“Censorship is Harmful to Society”)
Short films (“Jack-Jack Attack”)
Television episodes (“Make Love, Not Warcraft”)
Songs (“Thriller”)
Website pages (“Crohn’s Disease”)

5. MLA

6. MLA Format Times New Roman, 12 point font, double spaced
Remove “After Spacing” throughout the paper. Every line should be evenly spaced.
Do not list the professor or teacher (that’s a college thing)
Use the Header feature on Word to place your last name and page number in the upper right hand corner. Make sure the font matches.
Have a title for your paper (that is not 1984 Essay). Your title is not in quotes and is not in a different size font.

7. Works Cited

8. Works Cited
The purpose is to let your audience know what your sources are and where they can be found.
Formatting:
Same font, size, and spacing as the paper
Works Cited centered at the top
Hanging indents
Alphabetized by first word in citation
I rarely see EasyBib and other online citations get it right. Use Purdue OWL!

9. Citations Incorrect: “He loved Big Brother” (pg. 308).
Incorrect: “He loved Big Brother” (Page 308).
Incorrect: “He loved Big Brother” (Orwell, 308).
Incorrect: “He loved Big Brother.” (308).
Incorrect: “He loved Big Brother.” (308)
Correct: “He loved Big Brother” (308). a
Correct: “He loved Big Brother” (Orwell 308). b
Correct: “He loved Big Brother” (Orwell). c
The final punctuation within the quote is reserved for the end of the sentence.
The citation always goes at the very end of the sentence (even if the quote is in the middle of the sentence).
a: In-text citations include only the page number when the source is already clear.
b: In-text citations include author’s last name and page number (Orwell 308) if the paper has multiple sources and the source of the quote is not clear.
c: No page number is necessary when using an online source.

10. Wandering…
Consider the following paragraph: Winston’s rebellion demonstrates Orwell’s idea that we must not conform. Early in the novel, he writes in his journal, “Down with Big Brother” (18). This is similar to today when teens are frustrated with their parents; although, instead of writing in journals, they often post to Facebook or other social media outlets to vent their frustrations. Also, teens are a group that tends to conform, so Orwell’s message is especially relevant today.

11. Wandering… Do not wander away from the prompt or text.
If you want to make a modern connection
Make it in the introduction or conclusion, not in the body of the paper which should be focused on the text.
Make sure it relates well enough to be taken seriously alongside the novel

12. Common errors Lead vs. Led Loose vs. Lose
Incorrect: He lead me to the dungeon.
Correct: He led me to the dungeon.
Loose vs. Lose
Incorrect: We were loosing the game.
Correct: We were losing the game.

13. Specificity
Thing: There is almost always a better word than thing. Be specific!
I think or I believe – avoid these phrases when stating an opinion.

14. Comma Splice
A comma splice is a type of run-on sentence in which a comma separates two complete sentences.
We went to the store to buy milk, they didn’t have any so we were out of luck.
Jane went to the store, however, there was no milk.

15. Academic Voice With formal writing, follow these guidelines:
Avoid first person and second person pronouns (I, me, my, you, etc.)
***Mr. Level does not mind “we,” “us,” and “our” in reference to our culture or society. Other instructors might not like this.
Avoid contractions (instead of don’t, write do not)
Avoid slang or informal phrases:
Winston was in what I like to call a ‘pickle.’
Winston clung to O’Brien like peanut butter on bread.
Voice: to avoid sounding stuffy or robotic, consider an interested or curious tone.

16. Concision
“A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”
Wordy: In George Orwell’s 1984, Orwell writes about…
Concise: In 1984, George Orwell writes about…

17. Concision Wordy: There is no doubt that… Concise: Doubtless…
Wordy: In a hasty manner…
Concise: Hastily…
Wordy: the character Winston
Concise: Winston
NOTE: This does not mean to cut adjectives! This does not mean to write minimal, choppy sentences.

18. Pronoun-Antecedent

19. Apostrophes
Don’t mess these up.
Its = possessive
It’s = It is

20. Capitalization Let the author’s capitalization inform yours:
Ex: John arrives in the World State.
Ex: Winston loves Big Brother.
Ex: Winston tries to rebel against the Party.
Ex: Oceania constantly battles over the disputed territories.

21. Verb Tense
When writing about literature, write in present tense (consider the book’s events as always happening).
Scout is at first scared of Boo Radley, but grows to like him.
Huxley reinvents the world in his creepy vision.
When writing about history, write in past tense.
Lincoln intended to unite the country after the war.