Some key points to keep in mind, and some common errors to avoid in writing essays

Things to keep in mind

Title and Author you must include the title of the story and the full name of the author near the beginning of the essay you must refer to the author by last name only after the first mention you must format the title properly every time you use it: “titles of short stories” or “poems” titles of novels or titles of novels or movies

you must spell the names of the characters correctly you must proofread and spell check your essay before you turn it in your header stays the same as usual your essay needs a title the title of the story is not the title of your essay your essay title does not get underlined, italicized or put in quotation marks your title should be informative: »Irony in Three Short Stories »Odysseus is Not an Epic Hero the title of a story that finds itself in your essay title gets formatted properly »Symbolism in “The Scarlet Ibis”

typing your essay Your essay must: be double spaced in Times New Roman or Arial font 12 point font (not bold, just regular) in black ink on white paper have pages numbered in the bottom right hand corner of each page after the first page (start with 2) have the header in top right hand corner, as usual not have a cover page or pictures

some common errors to avoid in writing essays

You should not appear in your own essay. Take yourself out of it. Here are some sample essay sentences (by real live former students!) that make the mistake of using the first person: By this I mean she has to be the only one to not look always at a suspenseful moment in the act. I chose to do this topic because it seemed more interesting to me. The second comparison I made was that each of our killers doesn’t let their victims know their going to kill them until later. I can understand why Montresor would kill Fortunato, but I can’t understand why General Zaroff would kill men for fun. I don’t like this because he killed his brother out of embarrassment, which is really mean. Like I already said before…

Instead of telling me what your essay is going to do, just do it. Here are some sample essay sentences that do not just do it: What follows in the next paragraphs is a comparison… In my essay I will show the theme of things aren’t as they seem… In this essay, I plan to show the comparison of Doodle and Juliette. Two characters with completely different life-styles will be compared in this essay. As I have shown these two characters share many characteristics.

Do not make factual errors about the story. Use the book to get it right. Montresor kills in revenge. He kills a man named Amontillado. He does this by telling him he needs him to taste wine in the basement of the circus and then he chains him up to a wall. General Zaroff lures Rainsford into his island because Rainsford fall off a yacht and is desperate so General Zaroff offers him food, drinks, and shelter. Fortunato was tricked by Amontillado; from him he made a wall around Fortunato, which killed him over time.

Use clear and specific language that is appropriate to an essay. Don’t make it personal or cutesy. In Henretta’s case, she was not the “most attractive.” Both of these men are evil, pure unadulterated evil. Let us see what these similarities are shall we. Doodle and Fortunato are the same in their stories by many reasons by far that would blow your mind. As you have read in my essay, you may notice that there are lots of similarities between these two characters. Are there any similarities you can find while reading these two stories?

Use succinct and specific language that is appropriate to an essay. Don’t use superfluous, unnecessary verbiage. Since, Henrietta (Juliette’s older sister) was her older sister While Zaroff is cunning in his apprehension, his spontaneous behavior can lead him away from a fully comprehensive state of mind. The first similarity between the characters is their varying outtakes on the situation. They are unconventional in their processes and syncopated in their realizations, but they are able to apply logical thought in an intense situation.

Use the text to prove your point. Avoid speculating. Don’t make things up. Also, if Montresor was a popular man and had many friends he would have not cared if Fortunato had made fun of him because he would have had so many friends that Fortunato’ insult would have meant nothing to him. I believe that if these two men were real and that they had met each other that they would have been very close friends. These are some interesting comparisons made, unknowingly by two completely different authors. There is no possible way that the authors could have met each other, so the similarities must be coincidences.

Don’t say things that don’t mean anything. Doodle and Henrietta are two very different but very similar characters. They are both villains in the story but without them the story couldn’t be possible. They learned a lot and did accomplish what they wanted. It was either consciously or they did it on purpose. Both of them had their major or minor accomplishes, and in the end you can tell.

Make sure what you write actually makes sense. So in a way the both of them are so called better than their siblings. And they notice it and they dont care but still ask why they are so far behind. They as people in their stories show a lot to the story it’s self. Another thing is in the “Most Dangerous Game” is how Gen. Zaroff lingers around all the questions he is asked. As the stories go on one might die or not but it only adds to them. In their stories and tale they spoke about you can plainly see that they are quiet alike given their qualities and accomplishments, not to mention their personality. Both of the characters of these two stories are not very good people with many character flaws. The Characters: Juliet and Fortunado from Waiting and Edgar Allen Poe’s The Cask of Amontialldo, Displayed key distinguishing factors. These points are similar to both characters, expressed between themselves and another person. In the following you will read have these very own examples.