Instructions
for all written assignments
Standards
for how I grade papers
Helpful
websites on writing
BASICS
Read. Research shows the best writers are people who read.Get a good dictionary, carry it with you, and use it.
CONTENT/STYLE/GRAMMARUse active voice ("The dog chased the cat, not "The cat was chased by the dog." )
Use gender inclusive language ("humanity" rather than "mankind," "she or he" rather than "he.")
Use present tense when discussing the text.
Avoid clichés and slang.
Avoid repeatedly saying "I think" or "I believe."
Don’t use second person ("you") unless you actually are referring to me!
Underline book and movie titles. Use quotations for article titles.
Don’t use "It is" or "There are."
Nouns and verbs must agree. "We are" rather than "We is.")
Verb tense must agree. No mix and match, please.
MECHANICS
With the following exceptions, you should use APA style format:---don’t waste paper on a title (cover) page;
---you may use any reasionably readable 12 point font;
---you are not required to use page headers.
---you are not required to use any headings.
Properly and fully cite scholarly sources.
1" margins on all sides, doublespaced, numbered pages, 12 point font.
Submit an electronic copy (in Microsoft Word format) via e-mail to me.
Keep a copy on a movable disk, jump drive or a hard copy.
No slop! Proofread. Spell and grammar check your paper.
For other issues in formatting, follow this link.
REVISIONS
Don't just tinker: re-vise, re-think, re-vision the paper. Learn from your mistakes.Time to think, read, percolate, write, re-think, re-read, and re-write is critical. If you don’t have the time to work hard, you should re-think your priorities, including whether this is the right time to be in college.
Re-read your paper, read my comments and think about them. Do you understand what you were saying? Do you understand my comments? Talk with me if you don't.
How can you improve the content? Can you improve the theses? Can you add more supporting points, or better develop those you included in the essay? Can you delete or strengthen the weakest points?
How can you improve the structure of your paper? If you outline your essay by writing about one idea per paragraph, does it make sense? Do you need to re-order or re-arrange ideas? Can you combine or divide? Are transitions smooth and logical?
How can you improve the prose of the essay? Read it out loud to yourself. Does each sentence say what you really mean? Can you be more specific and concrete? Can you be more precise? Are you using the “right” word for what you mean?
Get feedback on your revision. Take it to the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) with a copy of your original; read it to someone who is a good writer, or bring it to me for feedback.
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Standards for grading papersA: A truly outstanding paper. It is insightful and thorough. It addresses the assignment in a way that indicates comprehension of and control over the assignment itself as well as an understanding of the underlying issues. The writing is clear, concise, direct, and well organized. Overall, the work shows requires hard work and intellectual struggle.
B: A very good paper. It meets, and sometimes exceeds the basic requirements of the assignment. At times, the paper demonstrates the beginning of thinking through and grappling with major ideas in the assignment. The writing is generally clear, concise, and direct. Overall, it shows hard work but not at a consistently superior level.
C: A competent paper. While it meets the basic requirements, it does not show much insight into the core issues of the assignment. It often lacks in-depth focus on the major concepts—skimming the surface or stating the obvious. The ideas are often vague, too general or simplistic, incomplete or illogical. Other problems include lack of organization and proofreading. The writing, for the most part, is reasonably clear, concise, and direct, although there may be problems.
D: An unsatisfactory paper because it includes some of the problems described under the "C" paper, but to a greater degree. It typically has an ill defined or poorly supported main idea, serious flaws in logic, argumentation or grammar. It shows signs of haste, sloppy thinking and lack of attention.
F: A poor paper which shows little comprehension of the subject matter, is written so poorly as to be incomprehensible, or is plagiarized.Back to Top
HELPFUL WEB SITES
ON WRITING
GENERAL ACADEMIC WRITING
ESSAY WRITING
MISCELLANEOUS
Questions or Comments?
