What To Do and What NOT To Do In An Essay!!!

What To Do and What NOT To Do In An Essay!!! Or, Ms. Fowler’s list of naughty errors!

Do NOT Use Contractions!!! • For example, • isn’t should be is not • Can’t should be cannot • Don’t should be did not….and so on…

Use Present Tense When Discussing Literature For example, In Poe’s poem, “The Raven,” the bird says (not said) “nevermore.” Or In the Anglo Saxon poem “The Seafarer,” the old mariner suffers (not suffered) from his love of the sea.

Short poems are placed in “Quote Marks,” and book titles are placed in Italics • “The Seafarer” is placed in “quotes” while The Hunger Games is italicized!!!

Each body paragraph should end with a concluding thought that briefly summarizes what the paragraph was about

This is a Classroom, not a Delicatessen • When your teacher asks you to do an assignment—do it, and do it the way you are instructed to do it! • Do your work IN THE ORDER YOU WERE ASKED TO DO IT! • When you choose not to follow instructions or do an assignment the way you are asked to do it, realize there are consequences. Not liking those consequences does not, however, make them unfair or optional.

Your Essay Must Follow the Order of Your Thesis Statement If your thesis says, Some of my favorite sports are tennis, football, and basketball. Your first paragraph should be about tennis, your second paragraph about football, and your third paragraph about basketball…

DO NOT use 1st or 2nd person pronouns in formal writing! • Do not use “I,” “Me,” “My,” “Us,” or “We” • Do not use “You” or “Your”

Avoid Vague Language • Anytime you have the word “This”—you need a noun after it • DO NOT SAY: “This shows how the author uses symbolism.” • DO SAY: “This quote from the poem shows how the author uses symbolism.” • Also do not use words like “Things,” “Stuff,” and “a lot.”

Underline the Thesis Statement and Each Topic Sentence • Do you really need an example for this one??? • Really????

BOLD all of the quotes in your essay—yes, both primary and secondary quotes!!! • Again, do you really need an example here????

What is a Primary Source? What is a Secondary Source? • A Primary Source is the poem, novel, or short story you are writing about in your essay. • A Secondary Source is an essay by another person (a critic) analyzing or commenting on the primary source.

Introduce all quotes, primary and secondary ones! For example, Ms. Fowler states, “If you don’t follow instructions in class, you won’t do your work correctly and thus you may not pass” (234). In addition, you must discuss each quote with at least two sentences after it; if you do not, I will take off points. Yes, those were two sentences of discussion!

Ask GOOD Questions, but don’t ask LAZY Questions • Your teacher is not a dictionary; you have a dictionary on your desk (or dictionary .com in the lab). Your teacher Will, however, help you understand a definition, after YOU look it up! • Don’t ask a question because it is easier than opening your notebook and reading your instructions! Again, the teacher will clarify instructions AFTER YOU have read them. • Yes, you are still responsible for instruction that happened while you were 1) not listening, 2) in the restroom, 3) daydreaming or exhibiting other off task behavior. • Your teacher is not “being mean” by not continually repeating information YOU missed by not listening!

Absences are your responsibility!!! • When you are absent, for whatever reason, class and thus life goes on. • You always have lesson plans for the entire week, so you should have a good idea of what you missed. Ask the teacher to clarify. • YOU are the one responsible for making up missed work/time OUTSIDE of class time. The missed assignments will not simply “go away.” You will receive zeroes for work not made up.

DON’T WHINE • It was not cute when you were three years old • It really is not cute now that you are (or at least look like) a grown up. • Just sayin’!

Proofread your own work BEFORE you turn it in. • Your teacher is an instructor, NOT and editor. I will point out examples of errors, but it is up to you to find all of the errors and fix them. • If you only correct the mistakes I mark (again, I only mark a mistake once or twice!) your grade WILL NOT go up! You must final ALL examples of mistakes I have pointed out!

DO NOT Practice Magical Thinking! • If you do not do your work (well), you will not “somehow magically pass.” • Completing an assignment and CORRECTLY completing an assignment are two very different things! Know the difference • Everything won’t “magically” be ok unless YOU do what you need to do in order to make that happen! • Don’t make excuses for yourself to make you feel better about making poor choices regarding your classwork. If you messed up, OWN IT! And then FIX IT! We are a school of second chances, but YOU must take the initiative! • Remember you can receive tardies and absences for not following instructions! Be aware

What To Do and What NOT To Do In An Essay!!!