1. TODAY:
I. COMMON ERRORS
II. OPENING GAMBITS

2. TODAY:
I. COMMON ERRORS

3. TITLES OF WORKS
Use italics ...
books The Catcher in the Rye
films Guardians of the Galaxy
tv series The Walking Dead
albums Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
periodicals Washington Post

4. TITLES OF WORKS
Use quotation marks...
short stories “A Dinner at Poplar Walk”
articles “Goodbye to All That”
tv episodes “The Iron Throne”
songs “Little Red Corvette”
poems “The Road Not Taken”

5. CAPITALIZATION
There are rules for capitalizing titles of works.
Capitalize the FIRST WORD.
Capitalize the LAST WORD.
Capitalize IMPORTANT WORDS.

6. CAPITALIZATION
It’s easiest to remember the words that are NOT important. Do not capitalize:
• articles: a, an, the
• conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, so ...
• prepositions: against, as, between, of...

7. CAPITALIZATION
Pulp Fiction
Murder on the Orient Express
Romeo and Juliet
“The Case against Free Speech”
This Is Us

8. INTRODUCING QUOTATIONS
I. As Joan Didion writes, “Actually no one is welcome, for 7000 Romaine belongs to Howard Hughes, and the door is locked.”
II. Didion explains that Hughes was a very private person: “Actually no one is welcome, for 7000 Romaine belongs to Howard Hughes, and the door is locked.”
III. Didion explains that “no one is welcome, for 7000 Romaine belongs to Howard Hughes, and the door is locked.”

9. COMMAS
Commas are not used just when you feel like it.
Commas do not indicate a dramatic pause.
Commas have nothing to do with sound.
Commas indicate meaning, syntax, structure.

10. COMMAS
In edited American English, the comma ALWAYS goes inside the quotation marks:
“Goodbye to All That,” by Joan Didion, was published in 1967.
Subordinated information should be framed by commas: one before, one after.

11. COMMAS
Many of you wrote sentences like this ...
Yet, Didion stayed in New York for eight years.
But, Didion left the city after eight years.
These commas are misplaced. Commas do not indicate a dramatic pause.
But, because New York had lost its charms, Didion left the city after eight years.

12. PERIOD
In edited American English, the period ALWAYS goes inside the quotation marks:
A few days later, he called me in and said, “I’ll sit you next to Bob Greene.”
EXCEPT when there is a parenthetical citation:
As the author states, “My books are an attempt to analyze and explain that power” (Caro 4).

13. TODAY:
I. COMMON ERRORS
II. OPENING GAMBITS

14. OPENING GAMBITS
As you write the first draft of Essay No. 2, think about how you want your essay to open.
At the minimum, your opening PARAGRAPH should be clear. Say what you are going to say. Mention both articles and their authors. Stake your claim. Where are you in this debate?
Proofread your opening paragraph! It should be free of errors. Give your reader confidence.

15. 4. Paradox or proverbial wisdom
Simple
In this essay I will argue ...
Rhetorical question
Should American colleges be free?
Counterargument
Many today feel that the electoral college is a
remnant of an earlier era. They are wrong.
4. Paradox or proverbial wisdom
One could argue that free college is not worth the
price.
Quotation from an authority
As Martin Luther King once wrote, “QUOTE HERE.”

16. 4. Paradox or proverbial wisdom
Simple
In this essay I will argue ...
Rhetorical question
Should American colleges be free?
Counterargument
Many today feel that the electoral college is a
remnant of an earlier era. They are wrong.
4. Paradox or proverbial wisdom
One could argue that free college is not worth the
price.
Quotation from an authority
As Martin Luther King once wrote, “QUOTE HERE.”