Mr. Svab's Essay Writing and Format Guidelines

Hints/Do’s and Don’t’s

2022-2023

• Font: Use 10 or 12 point font only, double-spaced. No comic sans!

• Your title: Try to make your title something interesting and specific. Often a quote from a novel/text, followed by a brief, yet witty title, is extra cool.

Example:

“It isn’t fair!”

Justice in a Conformist Society in “The Lottery”

If you’re really stuck on a title, just stick with something simple, like a character’s name, or something like “Justice in Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery.’”

• Avoid overtly general introductions. Be specific and interesting when you start your essay. Grab the reader’s attention! “There have been many interesting characters since the dawn of literature” is an automatic sleep-inducer. In your introduction, you need to do the following:  Captivate the reader.  Offer, by way of a persuasive thesis, a sense of what you’re doing with the material and why it matters.  (Remember that a good thesis is arguable, textually supportable, original, unified, and worthy.)  You need to offer a blueprint of where you’re going and in what order. 

• Avoid summarizing the story/novel in the introduction (beyond a sentence or two). Assume I've read the story.

• Do not use quotation marks unless you are directly quoting the text. Do not put something in quotation marks just because you think it should be in them, or because you would do little quotation marks with your fingers if you said the sentence.

• Numbers: Write numbers one through ten as words (e.g., “seven”). Write numbers 11 and higher with Arabic numerals.

• Refer to an author by first and last name the first time you mention him/her (i.e. “Ernest Hemingway”), and then subsequently use only his/her last name (i.e. “Hemingway). Don’t call the author “Ernest.” You aren’t pals.

• Avoid informal language and boring words (diction). Examples include: “a lot,” “alot,” “nowadays,” “ok,” “okay,” “O.K.,” “vs.,” “vice versa,” “silly,” “uptight,” "kinda," “unique.” “Good” and “”bad” are EXTREMELY BORING words. Find more interesting synonyms.

• Avoid clichés & useless phrases. A cliché is a phrase that is trite and overused. Examples include: “Turn the other cheek,” “That’s life,” “You take the good and you take the bad,” “forgive and forget,” “heartwarming.”

Other examples of useless rhetorical phrases. You should avoid these in speech and in writing:

• “It is safe to say…”
• “Honestly…”
• “In conclusion,…”
• “If I’m being honest,…”
• “Needless to say…”
• “It goes without saying…”
• “At the end of the day…”
• “I feel like…”

• Avoid the fallacy of begging the question. Begging the question is a term used to describe when someone is using circular logic. Example: “Symbolism is important in the novel because there is much of it. There is much symbolism because it is so important.” These two phrases cancel each other out, and your argument goes in a circle. THAT is begging the question.

• Avoid ending a sentence with a preposition (esp. “at”). Example: “Where is my book at?”

• Titles of books, plays, movies, and regularly-occurring TV shows go in italics (The Catcher in the Rye, Death of a Salesman, Star Wars, Modern Family). Poems and short stories go in quotation marks (“Dover Beach,” “Araby”). NOTHING gets underlined--in the 21st century, only hyperlinks are underlined.

• QUOTES

• While not always possible, attempt to integrate quotes from the text into your sentences. Quotes standing alone, while sometimes unavoidable, leave the reader wondering what the purpose of the quote is. Help LEAD your reader through your argument.

Bad example: Holden is sad. “I damn near cried, it made me feel so terrible” (155). He is upset the record is broken.

Good example: Holden is obviously despondent when he says, “I damn near cried, it made me feel so terrible,” and one of the few generous gestures he attempts in the novel fails miserably (155).

Remember the Quoteburger:

Top Bun: introduce the context of the quote—who says it and when.

Burger: the quote itself.

Bottom Bun: explanation of the quote’s importance and significance.

Think of quotes like seasoning in a soup or dish. Without them, the essay is bland. Too much, and it is disorganized and confusing. The right quotes, used carefully, will produce the best result.

• Avoid using “they” without a clear antecedent. Example: “That’s what they say.” Not only is that a cliché, but is also gives no indication as to who “they” are.

• Many writers hate to proofread, and it shows.  Do it anyway.

• You need to find a structure for your essay that makes sense. Your paragraphs should be focused. Do not neglect transitions.

• Take ownership of your argument.  Use the first-person pronoun, sparingly and well.  If you have cool digressions to make, make them in unforgettably hilarious and witty footnotes^[1].

• Contractions are acceptable in essays for my class (e.g. “don’t” and “isn’t” are fine).

• First person: The use of “I,” the first person, is not forbidden, per se. But it should be used sparingly and well, and in the right context. .

• Stick to present tense when discussing events in literature.

• When Sammy notices the girls, he immediately starts describing them.
• Kyle throws the geode at the kidnapper’s head.

• Use past tense when discussing historical events.

• When the Germans invaded Poland, the Jewish population was persecuted.

• Try to vary your sentence structure (syntax)!

Example: “Huck is honest when talking to Jim. That is why Jim likes Huck.”

How can we make this flow? How can we improve it? What better vocabulary can we use?

Better example: “When Jim and Huck are together, Jim clearly admires the young boy’s honesty.” (followed by quote to support statement)

A FINAL DRAFT OF AN OUT-OF-CLASS ESSAY SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY SPELLING OR MAJOR PUNCTUATION MISTAKES.

Dr. Z. Bart Thornton provided much guidance in creating this document.