serial killers

1. Regarding each assignment, you must answer the question or questions posed, along with providing the reader with an overview in the form of a book review. A review does not mean writing a chapter-by-chapter explanation or a blow-by-blow account of murder. It means writing an overview of the author’s intention and an explanation of the meaning of the book.

2. You must hand in all papers for a passing grade.

3. For the final papers, plagiarism on one paper results in an F for both papers.

4. You can always write more than required. You cannot write less.

5. Your papers must have a cover sheet with your name and class on it. You can include a title if you wish.

6. On the cover sheet, you can mention the question you are answering, though that should be clear from your first paragraph or so. Do not repeat the question in your answer.

7. All papers must be Times New Roman typeface and 12 point font.

8. All papers must also be double spaced. Anything else is unacceptable.

9. Margins must be 1 inch from the border. In Word, go to: layout. Set indents at 0. See Margins – it should be 1 inch all around. On a Mac: Format, Document, Margins, then set Left, Right, Top and Bottom to 1 inch. In Google Docs, File > Page setup, margins. Make sure all margins are set at 1.

10. Everything you quote must appear within quote marks (“”) followed by a citation.

11. Stay away from semi-colons; most people do not use them correctly (it is used correctly here).

12. You are encouraged to use secondary sources. But use secondary sources only to add to your answer. Do not rely on facts from a secondary source at the expense of the primary text in the class, especially if the primary text says what the secondary text says. (It looks like you didn’t read the primary text.)

13. Avoid block quotes. Block quotes are those extended quotes that waste space.

14. Titles of books and magazines are italicized or underlined; they are not to be put in quote marks. Articles in journals or magazines are put within quote marks.

15. All citations to the assigned book must look like this: (AUTHOR’S LAST NAME, 5), with AUTHOR’S LAST NAME a stand-in for the ACTUAL author’s last name and 5 representing a page number in the book from which your quote or paraphrase comes.

16. Citations should be to the quote (one or two pages if it spills over) or to the paraphrase. But even citations to paraphrases should be no more than a page or two. That is, do not cite like this: (Davis, 9-29).

17. Once you mention the author’s name (Don Davis, for example), it is unnecessary to repeat his full name again. Use the author’s last name.

18. Once you mention the title of the book, it is unnecessary to repeat the full title.

19. Once you mention the serial killer’s full name (Jeffrey Dahmer, for example), it is unnecessary to repeat his full name. Always use the last name of the serial killer never the first name.

20. Refer to the author of a book by his or her last name. Do not write: the author writes…Write: Davis writes, Rule writes, and so forth.

21. It is necessary to cite all quotes and paraphrases correctly. Failure to do so will result in a grade of F for plagiarism.

22. Do not cite someone else’s work in place of the author’s. If you are quoting a sentence from a book that cites another work, say the work of William Julius Wilson (a noted social scientist), you must cite the book that you are reading and the page that mentions him. Do not cite another referenced work unless you have read the work cited.

23. Even if you only quote part of a sentence – “all men are created equal,” and leave off “We hold these truths to be self evident that,” it is acceptable to end and begin the sentence with a quote mark; in other words, do not use ellipses (…) either after the first quote mark or at the end, as in: (“…all men are created equal”) or (“We hold these truths to be self evident…”).

24. A bibliography is unnecessary if your only resource is the one book assigned.

25. N.P and N.D mean no publisher and no date. This is usually reserved for old and out-or-print books. The books you use (or will use) all have dates and publishers. In other words, do not use N.D. or N.P in your bibliography unless you have to.

26. Never cite “Wikipedia” as a source. Citations must be specific to the article in the archive – this applies to all archives on the Internet or otherwise.

27. If you use another source, you must cite it in the paper and in the Bibliography. This includes Dictionary.com and the like. Citations must correspond between text and Bibliography. That is, a citation in the paper that looks like this: (NJ Department of Education, 2014) must look like that in the Bibliography, with a citation either to the book or website.

28. Avoid contractions (won’t, couldn’t). Spell them out. Same with numbers one through nine.

29. There is no need to capitalize nouns you think should be capitalized (Serial Killer, for example). Only proper names and book titles are capitalized and words that begin a sentence.

30. If using an electronic copy of the book, on a separate page at the back of you paper, say this is an e-book. Try to cite as accurately as possible (chapters instead of pages).

31. Avoid writing as if you are speaking. Be formal. These are serious papers addressing serious questions. Book reviews are not Amazon reviews. Avoid saying this is a good (or bad) book or that you enjoyed reading it; avoid giving a rating.

32. Avoid citing in-class notes (class notes; Federman’s lecture). Always cite a book or some other authority for your ideas.

33. Avoid writing about yourself (or something not relevant) at the expense of answering the question.

34. Avoid “etc.” Either say what you mean or extend the example to only so many items.

35. Do not quote something without putting it in quote marks and cite it only. A paraphrase, on the other hand, requires a citation but no quote marks. Quotes require quote marks (“like this”).

36. The books in this class are not novels. They are works of non-fiction.

37. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden.