Paper Guidelines

Your paper will be graded not on what you meant to say, or thought you were saying, but what you actually said and how you said it. If the reader has to stop and puzzle his/her way through your words to try to determine what you are trying to say, this is a problem. It is a problem, however, that can be avoided by thoughtful writing and careful editing. These guidelines will help you structure and present your paper and avoid some of the common errors that can bring down your grade

Substance

1. Composition Generally speaking, the procedure used in coming up with the ideas for the paper and the procedure used in composing it work in the opposite order. First, read the text keeping in mind the question you have been asked and noting relevant passages in the text. After having read the text once, you should try to formulate the overall interpretation that you wish to make and then examine the text again with an eye to finding suitable evidence (and modifying the interpretation as necessary). In effect, whereas in formulating the paper you go from the specific observations to the interpretation, in actually composing the paper you start from the interpretation that you have formulated and then demonstrate it on the basis of the observations.

2. Thesis
   • You need a manageable thesis, clearly expressed in the opening paragraph. A clear thesis allows you to arrange your evidence so that it leads to a logical conclusion, and allows your reader to follow your argument and, ideally, be convinced by it. Each paragraph should then discuss a single topic that serves to develop and demonstrate the general theme, and it is best to lay out this topic in the opening sentence of the paragraph.
   • The Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana University offers advice on generating a thesis statement as well as several other downloadable pamphlets offering help with common writing problems.
   • Another helpful resource is the Handout on Thesis Statements available from the The UNCCH Writing Center (they too have other downloadable pamphlets that will help you with the mechanics of writing your paper.
   • Prof. Lynch at Rutgers University has an excellent Guide to writing term papers which includes many useful links for matters of citation, formulating a thesis, and literary terms. This site is still a "work in progress" but has much useful information.

Form

1. Presentation:
   • Type your paper, using Times, or Times New Roman in 12 point font.
   • Double space the body of your paper.
   • Paginate your paper. (No page number is needed on the first page.)
   • Staple your paper in the top left-hand corner. Do not use paperclips or report covers. Paperclips can easily get lost; report covers make it harder to read the paper.
2. Title & Title Page Page:
   • Don't use a title page. (Save a tree!)
   • Put your name and the course number in the top right hand corner of the first page of your paper.
   • Center your title at the top of the first page.
3. Paragraphing:
   • One idea and its supporting evidence per paragraph. As a general rule of thumb, if your paragraph is a page long, you probably have too many ideas in it. These ideas need their own paragraph in which you walk your reader through these ideas and offer supporting evidence.
   • Either indent paragraphs or leave a space between each paragraph. Do not do both.
4. Style and Structure
   • By all means use appropriate technical language, but as far as possible express yourself in normal English words. Do not use words with which you are not familiar, and do not under any circumstances use the "thesaurus" functions unhappily provided with word-processing programs. Also, make sure that the words and phrases that you do use are used idiomatically (that is, that you use the regular constructions associated with those words). For example, you "show interest in something" not "with something." If in doubt, read the sentence out loud and see if it sounds natural and is readily understandable. If it isn't, rewrite it on the basis of what does sound natural.
   • Avoid contractions, colloquialisms, jargon, and pretentious diction.
   • Be careful that the words you use actually mean what you think they mean. If in doubt, check your dictionary.
     • Don't use "literally" when you mean "metaphorically". ("It was so frustrating that I was literally pulling my own hair out" is only correct if you have clumps of hair in your hands and bald patches on your head.)
     • Not all words can be qualified. For example, "unique" is an absolute; nothing can be "very unique" or "more unique" or the like.
   • Generally speaking, use the past tense for actual past events (e.g., "Sophocles wrote the Antigone") but the present tense for comments on the text (e.g., "In the Antigone, Creon refuses to allow the burial of Polyneices.").
   • There is nothing wrong with the sparing use of 1^st person statements ("I will prove that X is the case" is far preferable to "this paper will prove that X is the case").
   • Avoid "I feel" and "She believes." Feelings are for dates, and beliefs are for religious occasions. In a paper, all that matters are your thoughts (supported by careful consideration of the evidence).
   • Assume you are writing for an intelligent audience, but not one as familiar with the material as you are. Give them all the information they need to follow your argument and to draw the conclusions that you want them to draw. (Ex. Imagine you're a lawyer. Present the jury with the facts of the case and the conclusion you want them to reach. Don't leave the conclusions up to them in case they get it wrong.)
   • Be sure to express clearly and explicitly what the significance of your points is. "He fell in love because it was spring" requires your reader to know how the time of the year contributed to his falling in love. "He fell in love because it was spring, that time 'when a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love'" draws that conclusion for your reader and ensures that your reader gets the point you want to make.
   • Proofread, proofread, proofread. Better yet have a friend you trust proofread for you, both for grammar and for content. Since you already know what you're talking about you can't catch all of your own typos and you can't know if you are expressing yourself fully and clearly. (But see below under "Plagiarism" about substantial editorial assistance.)
5. Grammar
   • Don't trust the grammar checker (or for that matter the spell checker) in your word processing program. While they can sometimes highlight errors, neither one of them can read for context which means they will not correct all errors and will sometimes introduce some.
   • Common mistakes with plurals and possessives:
     • " 's " never makes a noun plural. (e.g., the plural of "dog" is "dogs" not "dog's").
     • The possessive form of Tiberius is Tiberius' or Tiberius's never Tiberiu's (e.g. Tiberius' tribunate.)
     • it's = "it is" while "its" = possession (e.g., "It's the dog's house" v "Its name is Fido").
     • who's = "who is" while whose = possession (e.g. "Who's that knocking at the door?" vs. "Whose house it is?")
   • Watch out for run-on sentences (Run-on sentences are sentences that lack punctuation they try to cover too much in one sentence they are better off broken up into separate and discrete sentences.), sentence fragments and dangling participles / modifiers (Well-written, I enjoyed the latest Zombie novel ["well-written" clearly must modify "the latest Zombie novel" but as the sentence is written, modifies "I"].
6. Quotations
   • Use quotations sparingly and only if they advance your argument. Don't put them in simply as decorative filler.
   • If you do use quotations, spell out clearly and explicitly what conclusions you are drawing from that quotation, and how you reach them.
   • How to Quote and Cite:
     1. Italicize or underline titles. Do not use quotation marks.
     2. Cite the title and (where appropriate) the ancient book number plus the number of the paragraph given on the page (these paragraph numbers go back to the editions of the original language text and are applicable to all translations). Do not cite the page number of Mellor's book.

Useful Resources

• William Strunk jr. and E.B. White. Elements of Style. 4th ed. Longman, 1999.
  A very clear and readable look at how to write well, covering grammar, spelling, sentence structure, word usage, etc.
• Kate L. Turabian. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
  The Chicago Manual of Style is one of the standard style guides for the Humanities. Turabian's book is an abridged version of it, written in very clear and understandable prose, with plenty of precise examples of how to cite virtually anything, both in footnotes and in bibliographies.
• Lynne Truss. Eats, Shoots and Leaves: A Zero-Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Penguin, 2004.
  An enjoyable book about correct punctuation and its importance.

Plagiarism

• "The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behavior and avoid any behavior which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University." (U of A Calendar 23.4.2c)
• Like the U of A, I have a zero-tolerance policy for cheating and plagiarism. I will not hesitate to seek the highest possible penalty against anyone caught committing these offenses or helping others to commit them. Penalties include failure in the course (i.e., not simply on the assignment) together with an indication on your transcript that the failure is for academic dishonesty, and suspension from the University. Often failure in the course and suspension from the University go hand in hand.
• Ignorance of what constitutes academic offenses is not an acceptable defense. Refer to the Code of Student Behaviour in the Calendar for a full description of academic offenses and their possible penalties. If you have any questions, see me or see The University Secretariat's page.

• Of particular importance to the Writing Assignments:
  • Self-plagiarism
    • Just as you can't win 2 medals for the same race, you can't turn in the same paper, or substantially the same paper, for credit more than once.
  • Substantial editorial assistance
    • It's a good idea to have a friend proofread your draft. Your friend may point out the errors in spelling or argument, but may not correct them for you. Having your friend rewrite your paper into scholarly English ("substantial editorial assistance") is a form of cheating and carries penalties equal to those for plagiarism.
  • Paraphrasing someone else's work does not make that idea or those words yours.
    • I may write that "MC²=E" but that doesn't make Einstein's Theory of Relativity mine.
  • Be careful when you make notes that you distinguish between your words and ideas and those you have taken from the sources you are reading. Faulty note-taking, where you don't know where your source's words and thoughts end and yours begin, can lead to inadvertent plagiarism. Inadvertent plagiarism is easily avoidable and can incur the same sanctions as deliberate plagiarism.
  • Don't leave your paper to the last minute. Often plagiarism results from rushing to finish the assignment by the due date. Consider the papers to be as much exercises in time management as exercises in writing and forming convincing arguments (all skills highly desired by the job market), and start your paper early.
  • When it doubt, ask questions. You can talk to me, or else see the links on the University Secretariat's Page. It's better to err on the side of caution than to leave yourself open to charges of academic dishonesty.