Paper Guidelines

Ask yourself how the reader(s) will use a particular paragraph. What help will it provide for meeting their needs? Be sure to include your answer in the paragraph! That's the paragraph's point.

Support claims with evidence! Make it clear to the reader how strong you find that evidence. Don't settle for claiming that all your evidence is very strong—acknowledge shades of gray.

Avoid discussions that feel like lists of ideas. Spend time figuring out how the themes in your main point relate to one another. Try connecting one to another with the word "because" or "since" or some other strong connector. Your main point is probably in danger of making a list if it contains more than one or two commas.

Use the name of the writer as your agent when reporting his or her argument.

Tyack and Cuban (1995) argue... Westbrook (1996) claims... Dewey (1916) wrote...

Report more than his or her conclusions. Provide enough detail so the reader can assess how convincing the researcher's study and findings are.

Include page #s only with quotes. Use quotes; don't simply provide quotes that say the same thing you've already said.
 

Apostrophes:

Use an apostrophe to indicate possession, not plurality. Thus, "girls" means more than one girl. We use "girl's" to indicate something that belongs to the girl, such as a purse, a smile, an idea. If something belongs to more than one girl, we signify such possession by placing the apostrophe after the s which makes it: girls'. Examples

One teacher owns a book: teacher's book
One teacher owns several books: teacher's books
Several teachers own one book: teachers' book
Several teachers own several books: teachers' books

 
Frequently confused words:
They're, there and their                                                                 It's and its
You're and your                                                                           Who's and whose
All of the above apostrophes signify the verb 'are' or 'is.'
Use these only where you could use the two words,
that is the pronoun and the verb separately.

Adolescents are people; adolescence is a time of life, generally from age 12 to 20.
Accept and except are close to being exact opposites.

Accept means to take or receive
Except means to exclude, to leave out
Effect and affect: The first is usually used as a noun, the second is a verb. That is, if there is or could be the word 'the' before it, use 'effect.' If you would put an -ed, -ing, -s as you change when the action is taking place, use 'affect'.
 
Examples:
The effects of poverty are often devastating.
TV has affected children in harmful ways.           Did the lesson result in the effects the teacher wanted?
 
 
HOW TO WRITE GOOD (by Sally Bulford)
1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old hat.)
4. Employ the vernacular.
5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
8. Contractions aren't necessary.
9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
10. One should never generalize.
11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you
        know."
12. Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
13. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. Be more or less specific.
15. Understatement is always best.
16. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
17. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
18. The passive voice is to be avoided.
19. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
20. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
21. Who needs rhetorical questions?
22. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.