Key to Markings
S HORTCOMING AS M ARKED ON P APER C ORRECTION
She read the book, she then wrote the paper. She read the book. She then wrote the
paper.
or
She read the book then wrote the paper.
Avoid comma splices. In formal writing, two
indepdendent clasues should be separated by
hard punctuation (period), not joined by a
comma to form an awkward run-on sentence.
We won the American Revolution. [No you didn’t. And no you weren’t. You
or weren’t there in the distant past.]
We enslaved people. So the correction: Americans of the day won
or the revolution and enslaved people or else were
We were enslaved. enslaved.
Avoid first-person collective voice. Don’t take
credit--or blame--for things that weren’t your
doing. Moreover: be specific. “We” is vague.
”. .”
Punctuation then quotation mark.
1 1
. .
Punctuation then endnote designator.
2
.” .”2
. 10
.10
No space between punctuation and designator.
i 1
(as endnote designator)
Convert endnote designator style to cardinal
numbers in Word, etc. Default is Roman
numerals; you need to change/figure it out.
1 one
Write out numbers less than 100, excepting
endnote designators, dates, and page numbers.
13th amendment Thirteenth Amendment. See next extry below.
Also: acknowledge formalities in formal writing.
16th sixteenth
Write out numbers less than 100, even when
expressed in ordinal form.
“The American Nation of 1776” “The American Nation of 1776”
The American Nation of 1776 If the writing referenced is neither a book nor
has it been published: use quotation marks to
offset such writings.
1
Colonial colonial
Conventional usage.
don’t do not
Avoid contractions in formal writing.
Ellis’ Ellis’s
More awkward but grammatically correct.
essay 1, essay 2, etc Essay 1, Essay 2
Acknowledge formalities in formal writing.
felt/I feel seemed/I think
Feelings and critical analysis/ critical thinking
don’t exactly mesh. In fact, they’re polar
opposites. If you want your audience to think
you are devoid of all thinking capacity
whatsoever, use these terms and often.
Otherwise avoid always.
From the time of its ratification, theories… From the time of its ratification, the
Constitution has occasioned theories…
For clarity a dependent clause opening a
sentence must be followed immediately by the
antecedent referenced. As written the sentence
in the left-hand column implies that it was
theories that were ratified, not the Constitution.
Clearly that’s not the case.
Gibbons V. Ogden Gibbons v. Ogden
Offset titles of judicial rulings; offset = italicize
or underline. Note also: “v” is not capitalized.
I believe… Omit first-person reference.
I chose… Your paper is not about you. It is about your
I decided… topic. So quit trying to make your paper about
I elected… yourself and get you out of your paper. What
I had to guess… you say about your topic in your paper is
I have chosen… obviously your opinion – no need to belabor the
I selected… obvious. If you have “me issues,” open a
I think… Facebook account. Or see a psychiatrist. Or a
I will be… team of psychiatrists. There is good reason why
my review… people with “me issues” find persuasiveness a
tall challenge--as Three Dog Night mused way
back in 1969, one is the loneliest number; talk to
people, not at them, if you wish to include them.
This rant was purposeful. Remember it.
intro introduction
Avoid informality in formal writing.
isn’t is not
Avoid contractions in formal writing.
2
it is believed… [Rephrase in active voice by answering the
question: who believes?]
Avoid passive voice and weak writing.
July 4th 1776 July 4, 1776
July 16th July 16
Use cardinal number when writing dates. We
often use ordinal numbers when speaking of
dates, but avoid them in writing.
McCulloch V. Maryland McCulloch v. Maryland
Offset titles of judicial rulings; offset =
italicize or underline. Note also: the “v” is not
capitalized.
Mccholluch McCulloch
Mculloch Make it a point to spell correctly, especially
matters of high importance. Otherwise readers
may think you lazy, stupid, or worse…they
might think you’ve received a poor education.
We faculty here at FAU especially don’t want
the latter, so please make it a point to bother to
look like you care. As we do.
Marybury v. Madison (1803) Marbury v. Madison (1803)
The date doesn’t italicize.
The ‘Myth of the Weak American State “The ‘Myth’ of the Weak American State”
The “Myth” of the Weak American State Novak’s writing is an article; offset articles by
quotation marks (double marks); if quotation
marks are needed within the title of an article,
use single-mark quotation marks. Note also:
Novak’s article was published in the American
Historical Review, which is a journal title; offset
titles of academic journals, magazines, etc. with
italics or underlining.
the north / Northerners the North / northerners
Conventional usage.
one must first know… requires understanding…
Avoid stilted usage, especially redundancies.
paper 1, paper 2, etc Paper 1, Paper 2
Acknowledge formalities in formal writing.
the Quartet The Quartet
“The Quartet orchestrating the second…” Capitalize and offset titles of books; offset =
“The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second…” italicize or underline.
No need to include the subtitle when mentioning
the title in your main narrative; it is both
unnecessary and strikes the reader as filler/fluff.
The Revolution That Made Us “The Revolution That Made Us”
“The Revolution That Made Us” The writing referenced is neither a book nor
3
The Revolution That Made Us has it been published; use quotation marks to
offset such writings.
the south / Southerners the South / southerners
Conventional usage.
there’s there is Avoid contractions in formal writing.
they/their (non-specific gender usage) the author / the author’s
Okay so this one is tricky: liberal emphasis/
vogue of late asserts that we should de-gender
non-specific pronouns by substituting “they”
for the gender-specific “he,” “she,” “he or she,”
or (ugh) “he/she.” Let’s face it: at best “they”
may be the best of a weak set of options, but
that doesn’t make it a good option. A better
option is to replace the pronoun with a strong
and descriptive noun. Using a plural pronoun to
refer to a single person is awkward, plus it will
likely slam doors of opportunity if your
audience does not share/tolerate/indulge liberal
views of gender sophistication.
this is… this (x) is…
this is a problem…(etc.) Avoid demonstrative pronouns
(this, that, etc.).
Use demonstrative adjectives instead.
Compare:
1. That clear?
2. That point clear?
True, demonstrative adjectives are wordier (by
one word). But clarity demands it.
The True American Revolution “The True American Revolution”
The writing referenced is neither a book nor
has been published; use quotation marks to
offset such writings.
the U.S. (referenced as a noun) the United States
Limit U.S. to usage as an adjective.
Acknowledge formalities in formal writing.
We emphasized this point in class.
US U.S.
Acknowledge formalities in formal writing.
Abbreviations require periods.
“We hold the truth to be self-evident…” “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”
It’s just one of the most famous quotations
ever. Good idea to get it right.
weren’t were not
Avoid contractions in formal writing.