1. Tips to help you become a successful writer
Academic Writing
Tips to help you become a successful writer

2. Answering Questions Answer questions in complete sentences.
Use the language of the question when responding with an answer.
Example:
Q: How do the boys discover what the “beast from the air” is?
A: The boys discover what the beast from the air is when Jack and Ralph trek to the top of the mountain…

3. Answering Questions
It is never acceptable to write that you do not understand a question.
What is it about the question that confuses you?
Use your resources and be persistent.
Take note of what the questions is asking you to do:
respond, explain, comment upon, define, discuss, answer, select, etc.

4. Textual Evidence When asked to provide evidence, where do you look?
Indirect evidence:
In order to call an assembly, Ralph blew the conch (Golding 4).
Direct evidence
“What I mean is maybe it’s only us” (Golding 8).

5. Formatting Evidence MLA formatting:
The first time you use a quotation from the text, your embedded citation should looks like this: (Golding 6).
All subsequent citations need only have a page number: (6).
All citations must go at the end of the sentence, even if the quotation has ended and you are adding on to the sentence in your own words.
Ex. And then Piggy said, “blah, blah, blah,” before he went to the lagoon (Golding 14).

6. Clarity
Make sure that you read your own writing before you submit your work.
Or, have someone read your work for clarity.
Always assume that the reader does not know what you are talking about – you are the expert on the novel.
Avoid run on sentences because they are confusing.
Long sentences are not a requirement of academic writing.
Read your work aloud and if you are running out of breath, you are packing too much information into one sentence. Break it up.

7. Spelling Use spell check on your computer. Common mistakes:
There, their, they’re
Worst, worse
Two, to, too
piggy, ralph, jack
“Lord of the Flies”

8. Writing Introductions
In English courses, you will only be asked to use 1 specific text when writing essays.
Your introduction should always mention the title of the text and the author
Throughout the body of your essay, it is not necessary to mention the title again
Throughout the body of your essay, you may refer to the author by their last name

9. Work Cited You will need a Work Cited page, not a bibliography
Specific formatting for a work cited page can be found online (on our website) or at the library (you can take a sample guide with you)
Go to easybib.com and enter information about the text and the formatting will be done for you; however, I caution you to double check (computers are not always correct)