History 4

Writing Helpful Hints

(Adapted from Dr. Bingham, UCCS Educational Leadership, Foundations, and Policy)

1. Proofread. Of course a mistake or two will slip by every so often, but by the time I read your paper, you (and probably one or two of your colleagues), should have proofread your work. There should be few, if any, errors. Writing conventions, grammar, and spelling will always be a part of your grade, even if it is not explicitly listed on a rubric or assignment sheet.

2. Proper Citation Style. Use MLA, APA, or Chicago style for everything and always cite appropriately. If you are not sure if you need to cite it, cite it. You can use the Purdue OWL Guides at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl

3. Roadmap. As part of the introduction of any academic paper or article, you should always include a roadmap. What I mean by this is that you should have a brief paragraph that explains what you are going to do in the remainder of your paper. (i.e. Writing history is not simply stringing a lot of historical “facts” together in some sort of chronological order. It is the process of shaping known facts into a coherent whole, one that explains cause and effect and addresses the meaning or broader impact of an event).

4. READ. Reading the work of other scholars is unequivocally the best way to become a better writer. You will learn various strategies to analyze sources and organize papers by actually reading them. Even more importantly, you will learn what questions to ask.

5. Cite. Be sure to cite relevant scholarship every step of the way. Never make an unsubstantiated claim or make a statement without citing the work it came from. This includes citing when you paraphrase a source (i.e. Put the idea into your own words).

6. Don’t use contractions. Do or do not. There is no don’t.

7. Avoid colloquial language, idioms, and clichés. Unless an assignment specifically calls for a conversational or informal tone, use formal language. Do not use clichés (i.e. “time will tell,” etc.).

8. Use active voice. Active and passive voices are dictated by the verbs used in the sentence. For example, “Picasso painted a picture” uses an active verb. “The picture was painted by Picasso” uses a passive verb. Try to use active voice whenever possible. It will make your writing clearer and more effective.

9. Do not use second person. You should use first or third person in academic writing. The second person uses the pronoun “you” and “we”. It tells your audience what to do, which is why we do not use it in academic writing. (This tip sheet is not written in formal language, which is why I can use “you” and “we.”

10. Do not use personification. Do not personify inanimate objects in your academic writing (i.e. Do not write “This paper explains …”, write “In this paper, I explain …”).

11. Use the Oxford comma. The Oxford comma is the last comma in a list of things. For example, Please bring me toast, eggs, and orange juice. The Oxford comma comes right after eggs. This is not really a hard and fast rule. It is not technically incorrect to not use the Oxford comma, but still … you should.

12. Exchange your work with colleagues. Your colleagues in class write the same assignments you do. You should be reading each other’s work and offering suggestions. It will make you all better writers. Take advantage of the brilliant minds around you!

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14. Know the top grammatical errors. All of us make grammatical errors. The trick is to know which error(s) get you into trouble and be prepared to fix them. I recommend you print out the “14 Common Grammatical Mistakes in English – And How to Avoid Them” article at https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/15-common-grammar-gripes-avoid.html