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*make an argument or claim
*usually one sentence long
*should be last sentence of the introductory paragraph

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Each point should have direct textual evidence

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In formal writing, avoid using:
I, me, my, mine, myself
we, us, our, ours, ourselves
you, your, yours, yourself, yourselves

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Titles of novels, plays, and book-length works go in italics.
ex. The Radiance of Tomorrow is a novel by Ishmael Beah
Titles of poems, short stories, chapters, and shorter works go in quotation marks.
ex. "The Boarding House" is a story in James Joyce's collection Dubliners.

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*In the active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action:
Ex. The doctor helped the dog.
*Passive voice puts the actor at the end of the sentences (or leaves the actor out entirely):
Ex. The dog was helped by the doctor. (or) The dog was helped.

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Vivid and specific verbs will strengthen your writing! Why say
"I went to the store" ? You can use
stomped
raced
dragged myself
strolled
meandered
galloped
and more!

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*all submissions should be typed and double spaced
*use 12 point font (even for title)
*choose a "normal font" (it should look like typing)
*indent all paragraphs 1 tab
*don't skip an extra space between paragraphs

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Begin each paragraph by indenting 5 spaces (or 1 tab).

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Form possessives of single nouns by adding " 's " -- EVEN if the noun ends in s!
ex. dog -- >  dog's
Chris -- > Chris's
Form possessives of plural nouns by adding " ' " after the "s"

ex.  dogs -- > dogs'

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Each of the following should be capitalized:
1. The first word of every sentence
2. The pronoun "I"
3. All proper nouns (names of specific people, places, and organizations)
4. Proper adjectives (adjectives derived from proper nouns)
ex. Chinese, Utahn, Shakespearean
5. The important words in titles (skip of, a, the, an, and -- unless it is the first word of the title)
ex. The House On Mango Street, The Radiance of Tomorrow

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*Do not use page numbers to cite from a Shakespeare play
*Instead, use Act, Scene, and Line numbers
*You can use all Arabic numbers, separated by a period
ex. For Act 3, scene 4, lines 14 through 20, write: 3.4. 14-20
* You can also use a combination of Roman numerals and Arabic numerals -- capitalize the Roman numeral for the act, and use lower case Roman numerals for scene.
ex. III. iv. 14-20

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When you quote lines of poetry, and are integrating them into your own writing, use a / to signify line breaks. Preserve the capitalization and punctuation from the original.
Ex. Portia begs Bassanio to "pause a day or two/Before [he] hazzard[s]" because she is afraid he might choose the wrong casket. (3.2. 1-2)

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*Your thesis will structure your whole argument!
*For a "close reading" analysis, think about using an A-B-C formula:
a) something noticed in the text
(ex. use of animal metaphors)
b) an interpretation of "a"
(ex. dehumanizes  characters)
c) connection to overall theme
(suggests war makes us inhuman)

Ex. The author uses metaphors comparing the soldiers to animals, showing that they feel depersonalized in battle and suggesting that war makes men less human.

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Your thesis statement helps to determine the structure of your entire essay!

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Your thesis statement helps to determine the structure of your entire essay!

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1. topic sentence (point or mini-claim)
2. context and connection (lead into your evidence)
3. evidence (direct quote or paraphrase)
4. analysis -- explain the significance of your evidence and connect it to your point
5. transition -- more context, moving into your next paragraph

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All clauses contain a subject (noun) and a verb. If you don't have both, it's a phrase!

An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE stands alone and works like a sentence.
ex. "My dog is energetic!"

A DEPENDENT CLAUSE can't work as a sentence -- it suggests that there is more information to come.
ex. "Because my dog in energetic"

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1. If a sentence has in independent clause followed by a dependent clause, the only necessary punctuation is a period.
Ex. I went to the doctor because my toe hurt.

2. If a sentence begins with a dependent clause and is followed by an independent clause, separate the clauses with a comma.
Ex. Because my toe hurt, I went to the doctor.

3. Join two independent clauses with either
A. A comma followed by a conjuction
Ex. I was at the restaurant, so I decided to order lunch.
or
B. A semicolon
Ex. I was at the restaurant; I decided to order lunch.

Remember, you should not join two independent clauses together with only a comma!
Thou shalt not commit comma splices!

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Refer to the narrative, not the physical text

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Refer to the narrative, not the physical text

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In formal writing, when you are providing context for your evidence, locate the information within the story, rather than referring to physical aspects of the written material.

Ex.: "After Okonkwo is banished...."
NOT
"In Part Two..."

"Before Paul returns to the front...."
NOT
"In Chapter 9....."

In general, don't refer to "book", "part", "chapter", "page" (although you will cite the page number after a quote).

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For evidence in a formal essay, cut quoted material down and embed it in a sentence of your own.
If you need to change the quotation in order for your sentence to be grammatically correct, included changed material in brackets [   ].
(The example in "Quoting Shakespeare", above, is properly embedded and makes appropriate use of brackets.)

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*A restrictive clause  is essential to the meaning of a sentence because it limits the thing it refers to. The meaning of the sentence would change if the clause were deleted.

*A restrictive clause may begin with who or that.
*A restrictive clause is not set off by commas.

Ex. "The man who ordered the pizza came into the store to pick it up."
"The dog that lives in the house next door barks at night."

*A non-restrictive clause adds extra or nonessential information to a sentence. The meaning of the sentence would not change if the clause were to be omitted.

A non-restrictive clause may begin with who or which.

A non-restrictive clause is set off by commas.

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*Check for active voice
*Eliminate extra words
for example, "Due to the fact that..." becomes "Because..."
*Eliminate qualifier
Your writing will be stronger without words and phrases like "a lot", "almost", "kind of" , "very", "mostly," "large" etc.
*Sharpen vague language with specifics
"Paul faces all different kinds of traumas in the trenches" becomes "Paul faces enemy fire, gas attacks, starvation and disease".