Essay tips
Instructions checklist ☑
- how to format (e.g., double space)
- where to include name
- structure
- bibliographic style, etc.
Active voice
Lotteries are offered by many state governments so that services can be funded.
Use subjects to name characters; use verbs to name important
actions.
Many state governments offer lotteries to fund their services.
—See Explorations of Style Clear subjects
and strong verbs
“I statements”
- While “I statements” should be used sparingly,
the first person (e.g., “I argue…”) is better than indirectness (e.g., “It is argued…”), nonsensicalness (e.g., “This
paper will argue…”), or the royal we (e.g., “We will argue…”)
- Claims should be substantiated by logical development, evidence, analysis, authority—via citation—or personal
experience, as appropriate to the assignment.
- “I statements” can be useful meta-discourse,
telling the reader what your are doing: use as much as necessary, no more. Don’t enumerate a
recipe.
The “4Cs”
- Check for:
- clarity in underlying thought and its expression.
- concision with as few words as possible.
- cohesion so that sentences flow together.
- coherence so that each paragraph is a discrete & coherent thought.
Structure
- snappy start
- sharp, surprising, specific, controversial, or funny
- no boring meta-discourse (e.g., “The topic I have chosen for my paper is …”)
- no trite universal claims (e.g., “Social media keeps growing and growing…”)
- no “very interesting” (“insightful”/“fascinating”); show it
- thesis: argue or answer
- framing of what is to follow
- support of thesis (i.e., argument/answer/analysis)
- conclusion: a concise restatement of thesis and its support
—See OWL on
structure
Thesis
A good
thesis does NOT “describe,” “consider,” “explore,” or “discuss.”
A good thesis:
- is narrow and focused
- is novel (relatively unique to you)
- answers a mystery or makes an argument
- addresses something that is open or debatable, and you are making a case
- prompts the reader to want to read how you support it
Example intro
“According to the 2008 US Census, Massachusetts had a total of 141,843
business organizations…. I argue that although small businesses are often
overlooked, they do still exhibit important facets of organizational culture. I will focus on the application of The Zen of Groups, Geert Hofstede’s power
distance, and theories of organizational behavior to my experiences in these settings. Providing concrete
instances of these theories will offer a solid understanding of the ever changing and complex environments of
contemporary business organizations.”
snappy start… thesis…frame.
Heavy concepts in intro
In the first few introductory paragraphs, be wary of using special terms that need explanation.
- Not explaining them will be confusing.
- Explaining them will be distracting from thesis and framing.
For instance, instead of using intrinsic and extrinsic in the first paragraph, speak of motivation
more generally (or give the quickest of parenthetical explanations).
Analytic concepts
Don’t imply your analytic concepts have agency.
The phenomenal theory would look at …
Theories don’t look at anything.
The creators of these ads use the theory of ideology …
The creators haven’t given any thought to the theory.
Write, print, revise
“The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the same as the difference between lightning and
the lightning bug.” —Mark Twain
“There is no great writing, only great rewriting.”—Justice Louis Brandeis
Composition
“A woman without her man is nothing”?
A woman, without her man, is nothing.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
—Sources: Hacker’s (2010, 5th) A Pocket Style Manual and Purdue’s
Online Writing Lab.
Clarity
Strive for clarity in underlying thought and its expression.
Getting feedback from others helps.
—See OWL:Clarity
eg trim
Fiat, an Italian car manufacturer, came out with a commercial that launched a new
commercial this year during the 2012 Super Bowl.
superfluous: “came out” and “launched”; “this year” and “2003”
ex. tighten a few sentences (7min)
Complete five of Tony1’s
exercises (of varied difficulty).
Which ones did you have difficulty with?
Did you get an “aha” moment from any?
Cohesion
- Cohesive sentence flow together:
- have sentences share a topic
- use the old-to-new information pattern
- turn subjects into topics
- start sentences directly
— See SFU: Better
Sentences
Coherence
Each paragraph should be a discrete & coherent thought—even if, occasionally, it’s only a sentence or two.
If your draft is disorganized, create a reverse outline of your paragraphs and think about how to
reorganize. Use the outline to then improve your thesis, framing, and conclusion.
—See Explorations of Style on paragraphs and reverse outline
Transitions
Use organic and motivating transition phrases between your paragraphs, rather than abrupt shift or enumerating a
recipe/list.
Avoid this:
¶ The next paper I looked at was Smith et al. (2013) ….
for this:
¶ Despite this census data, Smith et al. (2013) claim…
Balance parallel ideas
Balance items in the series by using them in parallel grammatical form.
Running, swimming, and lifting weights are all examples of cross-training workouts.
—See OWL:Parallel
Structure
Shift in tense
Don’t confuse the reader by beginning in one tense and shifting into another.
I couldn’t fight the current and make it. As I was losing hope, a woman sees saw me and
threw me a flotation ring.
—See OWL:Verb Tense
Consistency
Misplaced modifiers
Almost, even, only, nearly, and just should appear in front of the words they modify.
Phasers only destroy only the aliens, leaving the nearby humans safe.
—See OWL:Misplaced
modifiers
Misplaced (distant) phrases or clauses
On the walls there are pictures of singers who have performed at Tony’s on the
walls.
The singer weren’t performing on the walls; the pictures were on the walls.
Unclear pronouns
Use pronouns with care—especially “it” at the start of sentences.
Take the radio out of the car. It’ll sell then.
Sell the old car after removing the new radio.
Subordinate clauses
Subordinate clauses looks like a sentence, with a subject & verb, but indicates it can’t stand alone via:
after, although, because, before, if, so that, that, though, unless, until, when, where, who, or
which.
They can be pulled into a sentence nearby.
Patricia arrived on the island of Malta. Where where she was to spend the summer
restoring frescoes.
—See OWL:Sentence
Fragments
Fragmented phrases
Fragments lack a subject, a verb, or both. They can often be attached to a nearby sentence.
The anthropologists work slowly . Examining examining and labeling hundreds of bone fragments.
The word group beginning with Examining is a verbal phrase, not a sentence.
Independent nonrestrictive clause
Use comma when independent (i.e., distinct subjects).
Nearly everyone has heard of love at first sight, but I fell in love from a distance.
Do not use when the clauses are dependent.
Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer program and envisioned a future beyond simple calculation.
Coordinate adjectives
You can use a comma between coordinate adjectives (which modify nouns separately & can be
replaced with an ‘and’.)
Patients with severe, irrecoverable brain damage should not be put on life support.
Patients with severe and irrecoverable brain damage should not be put on life support.
Cumulative adjectives
Do not use commas between cumulative adjectives.
He bought a bright red car.
It was not dark red but bright red.
Nonrestrictive clause
A nonrestrictive phrase is not essential and needs commas.
The shark, with its jaws full of teeth, circled below.
A restrictive phrase is essential and is without commas.
One corner of the basement was filled with magazines from the 1970s.
Restrictive appositive
An appositive is a (pro)noun that renames a nearby noun.
Nonrestrictive with commas:
Darwin’s book, The Descent of Man , was controversial.
Restrictive without commas:
The song “Vertigo” was blasted out of speakers ten feet tall.
The colon
The colon follows an independent clause to highlight the words that follow (e.g., a list, an appositive, or a
quotation).
Punctuation within quotation marks
In American English, periods/commas go inside quotation marks; colons/semicolons outside; question/exclamation marks
go inside unless they apply to the sentence as a whole.
He said, “I won’t go.”
In APA, a period follows the citation.
… the ‘end’ of a quote” (p. 53).
—See OWL:
Punctuation when Using Quotation Marks
Glossary of usage
- affect vs effect
- constant vs continual vs continuous
- its vs it’s
- who vs whom
—See WW Norton’s Glossary
of Usage
