English Essay

Common Surface-Level Issues for the Informative Essay

(Note: These Surface-Level Issues will be the only grammar/mechanics issues that I will look for in this paper. I will add more in subsequent papers.)

· Have a title! Every written work has a title; yours should be no exception. (The title should be something interesting, and NOT Assignment 1 or Informative Essay!)

· Neither authors nor articles SAY anything (same thing with TALKS ABOUT) – it’s a text. “Anderson argues…” or “Jones believes…” or “Brown states…”

· Always write about the article (or any source you are use) in the present tense. It is a text, which means it always exists in the present. Even if the author is dead, the text is not. This means “Smith notes…” not “Smith noted…”

· The titles of articles belong in quotations marks. Italics are for books and movies.

· Make sure your writing is more formal than your speech – there should be no “I was so freaked out” or “I was totally bummed.” This is a formal essay, so even though it is personal, your writing should reflect formality. Don’t use slang.

· Do not use the word “you” (the second person) in a formal essay. People use it a lot to try to generalize. “You think the Internet is safe, but it’s not.” Instead, you can write, “Many people think the Internet is safe, but it’s not.”

· Avoid using too many rhetorical questions in your essay. A few are fine for effect, but be careful how and why you use them. It is generally not considered a good idea to begin paragraphs with a rhetorical question either.

· Notice how I changed it to, “MANY people think…” rather than, “EVERYONE thinks…” Be careful that you don’t assume too much about what people in general think.

· Introduce all quotes. They should not be their own sentences. (Also a reminder that the first time you introduce a source you need to give that source credibility so it is clear that the source has expert knowledge.)

Grammar/Mechanics Issues:

· Make sure all of the punctuation is correct. One thing to remember is that the quotation marks go right after the quote, not after the in-text citations parentheses.

· Make sure everything is spelled correctly. One thing to look for: there/their/they’re issues as well as to/too/two. Those are the most common, but there are others, of course.

· Subject/verb agreement. This is pretty-straightforward, and means looking for things like, “There is some more of those in the other room.” And, “My brother receive the prize for the best haircut.”

· Sentence fragments/run-on sentences. Make sure that all your sentences. Have a complete thought! Also, make sure they do not have too many thoughts in them because that means that it is a run-on sentence and that means that it can be too confusing for your readers if you include too much in one sentence, so you will want to be sure to break it up. (

Formatting/Documentation Issues

· Make sure the paper is written in 12 point Times New Roman font with 1 inch margins on all sides.

· Every line should have one double space between it.

· Make sure that you are formatting in MLA, APA, or Chicago Style. Look in your handbook if you are not sure how to set up the essay (headers, title page, etc.).

· There should be in-text citations or footnotes that coincide with your chosen documentation style.

· There should be a Works Cited/References/Bibliography page that notes your sources and formatted in your chosen style.

· If you choose to use visuals, you will need to label them and cite them directly underneath the visual. There are directions for doing this in each documentation style, which you can find in your handbooks.

Citing Visuals within the Text

Visuals in MLA

Instead of including it in the Works Cited page, you will simply include both a label and a source in the body of the essay. The label for a table should go above it, flush left (Table 1, Table 2, and so on). The label for a figure (graph, chart, photograph, etc.) should go below it, flush left. The source information for both should go below the table or figure in the same way that you would cite text from that source. Example:

Source: Smith, John. “The Facts of Climate Change.” Environmental Protection

Agency 26 Sept. 2011. 12 Apr. 2012 www.epa.gov.

Note: If you created the table/figure yourself out of raw data, make sure to create a note, formatted just this way and explain that you created the table/figure.

Visuals in APA

Instead of including it in the References page, you will simply include both a label and a source in the body of the essay. The label for a table should go above it, flush left (Table 1, Table 2, and so on). The label for a figure (graph, chart, photograph, etc.) should go above it, flush left. The source information for both should go below the table or figure in the same way that you would cite text from that source, but single-spaced. Example:

Source: Michigan Department of Health. (2010). Annual live births. In 2009 Michigan health statistics annual summary. Retrieved from www.health.state.mi.us.pdf

Note: The note for APA would be the same format as the source.