ESSAY GUIDELINES--STYLE AND CONTENT
- The opening paragraph should serve as a general introduction to the essay and should indicate the purposes and/or objectives of the essay.
- Be sure to construct sentences (subject-object-predicate) rather than mere phrases.
- Avoid one-sentence paragraphs.
- Be sure to preserve paragraph integrity. In other words, limit each paragraph to a discussion of a single factor/argument/category. For example, do not mix a discussion of politics. economics, and social developments within the same paragraph.
- Strive for symmetry in your essay. Strive to have the opening paragraph set the theme for the whole paragraph. In addition, use a paragraph's closing sentence for purposes of summation and as an introduction to the subsequent paragraph.
- Establish a "flow" in your essay. Strive to have the opening sentence of a paragraph set the theme for the entire paragraph, In addition, use a paragraph's closing sentence for the purposes of summation and as an introduction to the subsequent paragraph.
- It is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT to use contextual evidence to support your own presentation. Use appropriate citations from the text(s) of the assigned reading to substantiate your assertions in the essay. When you utilize a portion of the author's work in suport of your argument in the essay, BE SURE to place that portion of the text in quotation marks and indicate in parentheses the page number of the book.
- Avoid using slang or the vernacular. For example it is correct to write that "General Jackson's troops defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans, but it is highly inappropriate to indicate that "General Jackson's troops beat the hell out of the British at the Battle of New Orleans."
- Avoid contractions
- Remember!!!--MUST HAVE/SHOULD HAVE/WOULD HAVE NOT "must of", "should of", "would of".
- The final section of the essay should present a summary of your argument.
- It is IMPERATIVE that you proofread your final product. Hiring someone else to prepare your essay does not absolve you of the responsibility of proofreading it for incorrect spelling and/or typographical errors. Many spelling mistakes and/or typographical errors are extremely distracting to the reader and often confuse the reader as to the writer's meaning or intent. DO NOT TRUST SPELL CHECK.
- It is foolhardy to submit your first draft as your final product. Take the time to review and revise your essay several times before its completion. While it is very difficult to criticize your own work, it is essential for you to do so in order to submit your best work possible.