•

Title of your essay should be:

• Centered• Same size font and same style font as

the rest of your essay• No bold • or underline • or Italics• Capitalize essential/important words

(not a, and etc,)

In your introduction…

• Always mention the author and title somewhere in your introduction.

• The first time you mention the author in your essay, use his/her first and last name. After that, last name is fine.

Thesis

• Always be sure that your thesis statement is a statement.

• Thesis statement is an argument, even if it isn’t an argumentative essay.

Using a quote within your essay:

• “This is an example quote” (Heisenburg 36).

• use quotation marks• page number in parentheses,

without any abbreviations• period AFTER the parentheses

For the title within the essay, italicize!

Of Mice and Men

(But-this does not apply to your ESSAY title; see format rules)

• Proper use of commonly confused words:

“Their bodies start to collapse.”“They’re going to the fair.”“There is the store.”

• These types of errors are unacceptable, so a list of commonly confused words is on the class website. You are expected to edit your essay for these mistakes.

Proper use of that/who

“Ms. Otte is a teacher who…”

“The car is one that can…”

(People use WHO; things use THAT)

• 11, 12, 45, 100zero, one, two, three

(spell out numbers zero-ten; use digits after that)

Age: This can be based on the instructor’s

preference. In this class, spell out the age.

“So” can usually equal “therefore” and “therefore” is a much more sophisticated transition word.

NO contractions!

Can’t = cannotwon’t = will not

Avoid sounding too much like a thesaurus…use words that are

sophisticated, but not awkward.

Always use PRESENT TENSE when referring to a novel’s events.

In Anthem’s society, there are many rules. Equality does not like the rules; therefore, he

creates a new society with better rules.

“Entire Novel”not

“Whole Book”

The “entire novel” sounds much more sophisticated and formal than the “whole book.”

In general, use “entire” instead of “whole” in any

circumstance.

Word choice: avoid too much repetition.

NOT:Their death

Their lifeTheir profession

CORRECT:Their deathsTheir lives

Their professions

Avoid drama/conversational words!

Really, very, extremely, major, huge, totally, way, basically, like…

These are informal and unnecessary words!

“I will explain…”

“This essay will examine”

“In my opinion”

This is informal and unnecessary. Take yourself out of it; don’t tell me what you’re going to do-just

do it.

Either say

“In Of Mice and Men…”or

“In the novel…”

notIn the novel Of Mice and Men…

(you don’t need both—repetitive)

• COMMA USAGE!!!• Edit carefully!

• The reason why…

Eliminate “YOU, YOUR, YOU’RE”

It is informal; think of a more sophisticated way to write it

• Do not start a sentence with “Such as…”• Do not start a sentence with “Which…”

• It always makes an incomplete sentence!

• If you want to use “such as” or “which” it would come in the middle of a sentence:– I really like junk food such as candy and pop.–My birthday is in March which is next month.