Finally, the way your paper looks is very important, too. Its professional appearance shows you care about the reader's opinion. You should always present a neat paper which you have proofread and that represents your own work.
18. Neatness and Formatting
I am concerned much more with what your papers say than with how they look but, when you are given time outside of class to prepare them, as you are here, I expect something legible, neat and typewritten. In an age of computers and keyboards the ability to type is a must in virtually every field. Even car mechanics have to type these days. If your keyboarding skills are limited, now's the time to learn.
What's "Neat"?
In this class, neatness entails the use of a standard format acceptable to most editors, which means your papers should be formatted in the following way:
- one-inch margins all around
- 12-point character width
- Times New Roman font
- double-spaced
- black ink or typeface
- indent paragraphs
- print on only one side of the page
- no empty line(s) between paragraphs
- and no right-margin justification.
A title for the paper is unnecessary since your name, the name of the assignment and the date you turned in the paper are included—single-space these three items—in the upper corner of the first page (either right or left side). Unless you are told otherwise, double space the rest of the paper. Any written work longer than one page must be stapled in the upper-lefthand corner. Dog-earring is absolutely forbidden! Foreign words and the titles of literary and historical works should be italicized or underlined, including "The" or "A" if the title begins with an article (e.g. The Iliad).
So, before you turn it in, look your paper over for blank spaces and any general flaws in its presentation. Only papers which meet these basic professional courtesies and look formal in a way appropriate to formal education will be accepted for credit in this class.
19. Quotes
"Of all the devices that can add humanity to your writing, the direct quotation is the most overused. A newspaper sports story or a traditional news feature may contain a direct quote in every other paragraph, a practice that usually produces a parade of inane or merely dull utterances."
Do not quote someone else's work extensively. One sentence (ten to twenty words) drawn from a book or article is usually enough to show your idea has general merit and is grounded in scholarly consensus. Beyond that, paraphrase others' words. That is, restate their words in your own. It is important that you maintain ownership of the thoughts you express in your papers, even if they are built upon someone else's (see Plagiarism).
Understand this, too, please. If you quote another's words at length, I won't subtract points from your paper, but I won't give you credit for them either. I'll attribute what's good in your paper to Benjamin Franklin or whomever you quote. And, believe me, people like Benjamin Franklin don't need any more credit on their papers and you do. The point here is, formulate your own ideas and do your own work.
20. Proofreading
Revision is an essential part of the writing process, and I expect it of you, just as you expect it of me. By now, for instance, I've probably read this Writing Guide at least thirty times over, and never once have I failed to make changes in it—changes, I might add, for the better. No writing of any sort should ever be handed over to a reader without the author having closely and rigorously reviewed the style and presentation of the work: no "the's" or "and's" left out! No sentences without verbs! No misspellings! You must learn to be your own editor. It's one of the most valuable skills you can have in life, and one of the best reasons there is for going to school.
Let's look at it another way. Say I'm your guest at dinner and you are serving me a meal. But I can see you're not eating it. Shouldn't I wonder? What if I say to you, then, "I'll eat this but only if you eat some first!," and you refuse? Should I eat the food? If the situation were reversed, would you eat the food? It's the same with a paper. Don't "serve" me a paper you yourself haven't and can't bear to read. That is, before you ask me to read your words, take a long, hard look at them yourself! Ninety percent of what's wrong with your writing will be self-evident to you upon even the simplest review.
Check Your Comprehension
Use these resources to test your comprehension of this section of the Writing Guide.
Comprehension Check (Powerpoint) Comprehension Check (PDF)
Prepositions
Prepositions at the End of Sentences
Finally, with all I have said you shouldn't do, here's one traditional point of style I don't care about. Let your sentences end with prepositions. It's a natural feature of English—I can show that linguistically!—so whoever made up the ridiculous rule that prepositions ought not come at the end of sentences didn't understand the nature or history of the English language and probably should be put on trial for linguistic perversity. Thereupon, I call Winston Churchill as my first witness. When some pompous cretin complained that the great British leader ended his sentences with prepositions, Churchill retorted, "That is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put." Right on!
Plagiarism
I'm sure I need not remind you that plagiarism is not only an offense but a crime. It's defined as "knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise or activity." Thus, if any idea you put forward in your paper is not your own—let's say, three or more words in succession—instead, you've derived them from somewhere else, you must cite that source.
Plagiarism includes either the restatement or the wholesale copying of another's words or ideas which you then hand in as if you had created them. This means "borrowing" from other students' papers, or from any of the materials I present to you in class (including texts) or from material you've found in print or on the Web or generated by AI. Nor does ignorance of these laws constitute a valid excuse for plagiarizing.
All in all, your paper should represent your own thoughts phrased in your own words. Otherwise, it is unacceptable for credit. Bear in mind that at this university plagiarism may result in:
- a reprimand;
- a grade adjustment;
- being placed on warning or probation;
- suspension from the University; or
- expulsion from the University
The point is, make your work your own! If not, be assured that I will prosecute any misrepresentations to the fullest.