1. AND TRICKS FOR FORMAL WRITING WRITING TIPS

2. VOICE AND TENSE Write in 3 rd person Avoid 1 st and 2 nd person (no you, I, we, etc.) Maintain tense consistency throughout paper. Literary present

3. AGREEMENT Subject/Verb The children are going to play. The child is going to play. Pronoun/Antecedent The children went to play with their toys. The speaker worked on his/her speech. The boys rode their bikes.

4. DICTION Strong Verbs Active Verbs Avoid “to be” verbs Passive verbs “was” constructions Homonyms Descriptive language Limit filler words

5. SYNTAX Simple Sentences Independent clause The car sped down the highway. Compound Sentences Two independent clauses combined with a comma and coordinating conjunction The car sped down the highway, but the traffic was moving quickly, too. Complex Sentences One independent clause and one dependent clause Because traffic was moving quickly, the car sped down the highway. Compound-Complex Sentences Two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses. Because traffic was moving quickly, the car sped down the highway, but the driver did not get a ticket.

6. FORMAT Double Space 12 point font Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New 1” Margins Remove extra space between paragraphs Indent paragraphs No Title MLA Citation for source(s) In-text or parenthetical citations Name in upper left Due Date Class and Period

7. SAMPLE FORMATTING

8. HOMONYMS There, Their, They’re Allowed, Aloud Where, Wear Ball, Bawl Whine, Wine Ant, Aunt I, Eye, Aye Lie, Lye Fair, Fare Meet, Meat Role, Roll Capital, Capitol Accept, Except Buy, By, Bye Eminent, Imminent Scene, Seen

9. EDITING Write the rough draft several days prior to due date Re-read work critically Spell check work Do not simply change spelling and diction errors Rewrite passages when necessary Organization Cause/Effect Sequential In Medias Res Syntax Avoid run-ons, fragments, and repetitive structure

10. MLA CITATIONS Placed at end of work. Works Cited (centered on own line) Author. Title. Site. Publisher. Location. Date. Source Acquired Date.. URL inclusion is falling from use, but is required for this course. Last, First. –or- Last, First, and First Last. Day Month Year. No punctuation within date. 25 August 2014. 5 Dec 2014.

11. CITATIONS “Standards based grading will provide a more accurate indication of student performance at any given point in the year” (Maxlow). According to Ms. Maxlow, English Dept. Chair at TCHS, “standards based grading will provide a more accurate [look at] student performance” through- out the year. The English Department at TCHS is leading the charge toward standards based grading with the goal of more accurately determining student mastery throughout the year (Maxlow).