1. Essay Tips AND Grading Symbols

2. Title Have a title for your essay and make it interesting and specific to your essay. Here’s a typical academic one: The Book of Daniel: Multiple Perspectives of Prophecy

3. The Essay An essay must have an introductory paragraph, several body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Introduction (w/thesis) Body Paragraph: Explain & Develop Ideas Body Paragraph: Explain & Develop Ideas Body Paragraph: Explain & Develop Ideas Body Paragraph: Explain & Develop Ideas Conclusion

4. Thesis The thesis is the main point that you make in the essay

5. The Body Paragraph A body paragraph contains approximately 7-8 sentences and has a topic sentence. What is a topic sentence? –The key point that you make in the paragraph.

6. Basic Sentence Structure This is the minimum required for a simple and complete sentence with no errors. 1. Subject 2. Verb 3. Complete thought

7. Spacing & Format Indent 5 spaces to indicate a new paragraph. Double space your essay. Do not put extra spaces between paragraphs. Put two spaces between sentences.

8. Specificity If you are specific in your writing, your communication will be more clear and powerful. Use details, examples, and precise language.

9. Avoid Using the second person point of view (p.o.v.) “you.” These phrases: I believe…, I think…, In my opinion…, I personally…, I myself personally believe that… Writing like you speak

10. Avoid Words such as: thing, a lot, basically, nice, just, something, would, like Contractions: Use cannot (not can’t), I am (not I’m), I will (not I’ll), it is (not it’s)

11. Avoid Directly addressing the reader Ex: You are going to learn about how (or I am going to tell you about how) after our family trip to Oregon, I realized how dysfunctional my family really is. Correction: After our family trip to Oregon, I realized how dysfunctional my family really is.

12. Avoid Announcing your purpose and plan Ex: In this essay, I am going to discuss how MTV has had an enormous impact on the spending habits of young people.. Revised: MTV has had an enormous impact on the spending habits of young people.

13. Avoid Abbreviations, and symbols: do not use & or L.A. Using sentences from the prompt. Assuming the reader knows the prompt or your topic.

14. Grading Symbols 1. sp.=spelling error 2. pr.=error in using a pronoun 3. s/v=lack of agreement between the subject and the verb. Example: The student love poetry. s Correction: The student loves poetry.

15. Grading Symbols 4. frag.=sentence fragment, a part of a sentence punctuated as a sentence. –Example: Before leaving for work this morning. I drank a pot of coffee. –Correction: Before leaving for work this morning, I drank a pot of coffee.

16. Grading Symbols 5. RO (run-on) or CS (comma splice)=two or more sentences incorrectly punctuated as one. Example: My cousin invited many of her friends, I did not know all the people who were running around preparing for the party. (CS) Correction: My cousin invited many of her friends, so I did not know all the people who were running around preparing for the party. Correction: My cousin invited many of her friends; therefore, I did not know all of the people who were running around preparing for the party.

17. Example: The James Brown concert was amazing I couldn’t believe a man of his age could dance and sing with such energy. (RO) Correction: The James Brown concert was amazing. I couldn’t believe a man of his age could dance and sing with such energy.

18. 6.Mm= misplaced modifier. The modifier is not close enough to the word it is modifying. Example: The phone almost rang ten times. Correction: The phone rang almost ten times.

19. 7. Dm=dangling modifier. There is no word to be modified. Example: Driving down the road, the dog was hit by the truck. (Who is driving?) Correction: The driver of the truck hit the dog.

20. 8. vt=lack of verb tense consistency, unnecessarily switching from one tense to another. 9. a=error in using an apostrophe 10. c=error in using a comma 11. cap.=make it a capital letter 12. lc=make it a lower case letter

21. 13. red.=unnecessary repetition. 14. trans= insert a transition 15. ¶ = create a new paragraph 16. ^ = insert something that I specify 17. | = separate (example: alot = a lot) 18. ‿ = bring together 19. q= error in using quotation marks

22. 20.ww = wrong word. The word doesn’t make sense in the context. It probably means something other that what you think it does. Look up the word in the dictionary. 21.fp = faulty parallel structure. Example: In the mountains, we went fishing, biking and walked. Correction: In the mountains, we went hiking, biking, and walking.

23. 22.pass= passive voice. Example: Mistakes were made. Correction: The quarterback made mistakes. 23.mw= missing word 24. red. = redundancy, omit something that is unnecessarily repeated 25. ?= After much effort and time, I cannot understand what you are trying to communicate.

24. Review these notes before you turn in your first assignment. Look at the grading symbols after you have received your first graded work.