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Also see Finkel's original rules for paper essays. This document may be freely reproduced and modified by faculty members at The Evergreen State College for classroom use at the college. Any other use or distribution of it without explicit permission from its author is prohibited. |
| There is nothing more destructive to good writing than
trying to write content to please the teacher. We would never encourage
you to succumb to this inevitable student temptation. But regarding issues of format and of superficial form, there are 10 things we need to insist on regarding your essays. (See our online guidelines on how to write a good essay.) These are not peculiar whims of ours; there are sound reasons for each of them. We would happy to supply those reasons on demand, but we do not mind if you treat them as arbitrary whims of ours, just so long as you follow them. Violating any of them may put us into a foul and vicious mood; we may return your essay unread for correction. 1. Always start your post with a non-trivial title for your essay. Make these first few words count, since they are all your readers will see (e.g. in WebX Outline View or Moodle Threaded Discussion). There is no need to write your name or the date, as WebX or Moodle will automatically include these for you. 2. Always write in full sentences (unless you are making a conscious, stylistic choice to the contrary, and can do it skillfully). 3. Always proofread
your essay and correct any errors you find. 1. Spellcheck, 2. use
your dictionary, and 3. read out loud - all three every time.
Solicit truly critical feedback from peers, and take advantage of the FREE services
of tutors in the Writing Center. 4. Never turn in a first draft. See Rule #3. 5. Write your essay using word-processing software (e.g. Word), so you can easily spell-check. Then copy and paste it into the Post box provided by Moodle, WebCrossing (WebX), or other online classroom etool. 6. Insert an extra space between paragraphs, so they are clearly separated, visually. This will help make your essay easier to read. 7. Correct any special characters that may show up funny online. Immediately after posting your essay online, read it to see if your quotes turned into foreign symbols, or worse. You ordinarily have 30 minutes to Edit your Post and make corrections. 8. Always reference your sources, whether you are quoting a few words, paraphrasing, or quoting at length. You also need to cite a source whenever you use information that is not common knowledge. Common knowledge is something all your classmates can be expected to know off the top of their heads. Everything else should be cited immediately at the end of the sentence in which you use the information, as (Author, page). If you need to cite every sentence, you should reconsider how to make the essay more your own. 9. Include the full bibliographic reference for each source in endnotes. 10. Use "he or she" or pick one. Avoid using "their" (plural) in place of "he or she" (singular). Avoid "one" (too formal) or "you" (too informal, and probably inaccurate) in analytic essays. "He" is no longer accepted as gender-neutral. You could either alternate the gender of the pronouns by paragraph (and be consistent within each paragraph), or always use feminine gender for all pronouns. If you're not convinced of the importance of eliminating exclusive use of masculine pronouns, then you risk sounding sexist, and your language may be inaccurate. (Don often alternated paragraphs. Zita tries to be gender neutral or inclusive. We realize this can be tricky, with no easy solution - do your best.) Never use sexist cliches such as "mankind" unless you really mean to be ironic. In fact, avoid cliches altogether. |
Maintained by: E.J. Zita