Notes for Essays

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Avoid “The reader”

Avoid Generalizations: Most people…everybody…nobody…

Make sure you are answering the prompt in each and every paragraph.

Avoid summarizing the story.

Avoid using questions…this is a big boy paper…you are the authority here…be the answer man, not the question man

For title…use italics for the title of a novel, don’t underline

Use only as much of the quote as you need to make your point…and if the exact words aren’t especially important – like anyone could have said them (as opposed to the way this author wrote it was amazing) – then just paraphrase.

I believe…I think…etc…, lose those phrases…your name is on the paper…the reader already knows you think or believe these things…you wrote them!

Avoid using you…not like the plague, but use it sparingly if at all. These are academic papers.

Use specific support from the novel, not vague, general support.

Seems…kind of…sort of…these are wishy-washy phrases. 

Don’t use quotation marks to emphasize words: Ex. When Oskar went on his “mission” to find out where the key was from…Trust your reader to emphasize what they feel is important. Unless it is a unique word or a direct quote, avoid using quotation marks.