Follow the lesson and the discussion questions General Writing Guidelines* For

WRITE MY ESSAY

Follow the lesson and the discussion questions
General Writing Guidelines*

For

Follow the lesson and the discussion questions
General Writing Guidelines*
Format and Presentation
Do not skip lines between paragraphs (like I’m doing here). Use Times New Roman or CG Times as your font, 12-point size. Papers must be typewritten, double-spaced with approximately 1” margins. Number all pages. Include your name on the upper right-hand corner of the first page, followed by the title, centered. A bibliography is a necessary part of any written assignment (see Citation, below), and should be attached at the end. Cover page is not necessary. In your essay assignments you will critically reflect on assigned reading, or video, or artwork and make connections between these artworks, lessons learned in this course, and your artworks. Make sure your paper is an essay – it has at least 3 distinct paragraphs (introduction, supporting paragraph(s) and conclusion). Citation
This is sometimes tricky, but by this point in your academic career, it is essential that you do it correctly. It is expected that you will use material from the texts and lecture to analyze your subject. Thus, whether you use direct quotes or paraphrases, you must give credit to the authors of those words, when they are not your own.
If you cite a lecture, do it this way: (Lecture, 5/31/05). However, relying solely on lecture citations for material that is also in the readings reveals to me that your familiarity with the readings is inadequate. So you should be sure to prioritize. Where appropriate, always cite the original source and not my delivery of it in lecture. In the text, directly quoted course materials from the textbook should be cited in one of the following ways: “The stereotypes that we learn not only justify prejudice and discrimination but also can produce the behavior depicted in the stereotype” (Henslin, 2001:331).
Or alternately: James Henslin (2001:331) suggests that, “The stereotypes that we learn not only justify prejudice and discrimination but also can produce the behavior depicted in the stereotype.”
Also, be sure to cite any ideas that you borrow, not just quoted text. For instance:
Many analysts have noted how stereotypes may produce the behavior they depict (Henslin, 2001:331). Any direct quotation that is longer than three lines needs to be set off from the body of the paper by indenting and single-spacing. Since your papers will be double-spaced and indented only to begin paragraphs, you will see the contrast. Be careful to differentiate between what the textbook authors are saying themselves, and the other authors that they may in turn quote. Cite accordingly. Do not string quotes together without putting them in context with your own prose. When you use a direct quote, place it in the context of a sentence that includes an explanation of what the quote means and why it is useful in service of the point you are making. A full reference, including the author’s name, book or article title, publishing information and page numbers will appear in a separate, alphabetically organized bibliography at the end of the paper, under the heading, “References”. Below is an example of a reference from the reader and from Henslin. Anderson, Elijah. 1996. “The Code of the Streets.” Pp. 62-73 in Susan J. Ferguson (Ed.) Mapping the Social Landscape. London: Mayfield.
Henslin, James. 2001. Mapping the Social Landscape. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Style
In general, write as simply as possible. Never use a big word, when a little one will do. Big words don’t necessarily convey intellectual prowess, especially when they are awkwardly used. Your word choice should be appropriate to formal writing: no slang, and no contractions (“can’t”, “don’t”), unless you are quoting others or it somehow improves your point. You must use words that actually exist, and words must be used correctly. Look up definitions and spellings if you are unsure. Spell check often misses words.
Avoid using the indefinite “you.” You will notice that I am addressing these instructions to you; that is, I am using the second person. That is because I am giving these instructions to a definite person or set of persons. In your papers, unless you mean to address the reader directly, do not use “you” when you mean to use “one” or “we.” Refer to yourself as “I” in describing your experience, and as “we” in your analysis. It is perfectly acceptable to use the first person singular in papers – it is not too informal. Use “we” for the author and the reader together: “We have seen how breaching experiments disturb our taken-for-granted notions about reality.” Avoid “a lot” (and by the way it’s not spelled “alot”), and “very.” Hemingway and Morrison do not need them, and neither do you. Don’t confuse “their/there/they’re” or “it’s/its”, or “to/two/too”, or were/we’re/where”, etc. Also please differentiate between “suppose” and “supposed.” These are not interchangeable, and are almost always improperly applied. These sets of words give many students trouble, so please be careful.
Try to avoid using “he”, “his”, or “mankind” to mean anyone or all in general. If for some reason you have a strong ideological commitment to using “he” as the generic, you may do so, but it is not accurate, and there are other options available. Make sure that nouns and verbs agree in number. Avoid sentence fragments. Make sure that the sentences you write have subjects and predicates. Verbs are also necessary. Do not leave a clause hanging without these necessary components. Avoid run-on sentences. Make sure that if you link things together in a sentence that you do so by using the proper connective words or punctuation marks. These kinds of mistakes can often be caught by reading your paper aloud. If it sounds wrong, it probably is. Always follow the parsimony principle. That is, use as few words as possible to make your point. Never refer to “society” as an active agent (that’s my pet peeve), as in, “Society requires that people follow norms.” Process
One way to start is by saying your ideas out loud, and writing them down. Just get the words out of your head and onto the page where you will be able to work with them more easily. I strongly suggest that you write more than one draft of your paper. Most successful papers are begun well in advance of the night before the assignment is due. The best way to start is to just spew out a messy first draft, getting all of your ideas and facts down on paper (if you write long-hand) or your computer screen (if you prefer to word process). Then, a second draft will help you to organize the sections, focus your argument, and refine the content and style. You must be at this point before you come to see me about your paper. Although I will be unable to read entire drafts, I may be able to discuss specific parts of your thesis or analysis, and/or help you with difficulties in transitions between ideas or sections of your argument. Be sure that all spelling and grammatical errors, and the formatting the paper are correct in the final draft. You must proofread your own paper. It is not acceptable to turn in a paper with typographical errors, misspellings, nouns and verbs that do not agree, misused words, run-on sentences, sentence fragments, etc. You may want to rewrite the beginning or end of your paper in the last draft. Often in composing your paper, you will have changed your focus or ideas somewhat by the time you finish. You will want to make sure that these changes are reflected in a new version of your introduction or conclusion.
Finally, re-read your own paper and imagine that someone else wrote it. Does it make sense? Fix it, if it doesn’t. You may also want to get someone else to read your paper and give you comments. It is often hard to be objective when you are so close in the writing process. If you have trouble with your writing, get help. I am happy to help you in office hours or by appointment, and the campus has a variety of tutoring services available to you

WRITE MY ESSAY