GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR PAPERS IN DR. HALBERT'S COURSES

One of the biggest challenges writers face in college is coping with both the expectations of an academic voice and the individual priorities of each professor. Too often, professors don't share this information with students, leaving them to guess what is acceptable and what will be perceived as an error by the professor. For my course, the following guidelines outline the expectations I have for your papers.

1. Central argument:

All of your papers must have a position you are trying to argue. Providing only a summary or performing a simple "compare and contrast—you decide" is generally not acceptable unless the assignment specifically states so. You should see your paper—particularly papers about cultural, literary, historical, or political topics—as your attempt to make a claim that you are then going to support with arguments, facts, and persuasive language suited to your audience. Papers that lack this basic component are not going to do very well in this course.

2. Introductions:

Introductions should not start off with a generic claim that could be used to start any paper on the same subject. Starting with biographical information that is not central to your overall argument or an empty statement on how "controversial" a topic is usually can be cut.Get to your specific focus and thesis quickly.

When dealing with literature, an introduction should identify who the author under discussion is and give the titles of key texts that will be discussed. Major points from the paper should be previewed in a plan of development, and the paragraph should end with a springboard statement that returns the discussion to the thesis instead of ending with a list of sub-topics in the paper.

3. Announcements:

In terms of academic writing, "announcements" are statements that announce your intentions: "This paper with discuss" or "In the following paper I will argue" are typical examples. Such announcements are perfectly fine in some academic writing (like the hard and soft sciences), but they are generally frowned upon in the humanities. To me, it's the written version of the student who desperately raises his or her hand and then when called upon says, "I just want to say" instead of just stating their idea without preamble. Avoid announcements in my papers.

4. References to the essay topic, act of reading, or research process:

In general, comments that point to the fact that you are a student doing an assignment should be omitted. There's no need to say, "I chose to write about Topic X," nor does your reader (usually) want to hear that "While I was reading the novel, I thought about ______" or that "during my research I kept finding ______." Such statements only pad your essay and feel like a student's assigned task and not a piece of writing in which he or she is personally invested.

5. Body paragraphs:

• Should focus on one topic only.
• Should be at least five sentences unless you have a concrete reasons to write short paragraphs.
• Should probably not go over one page in length unless you are absolutely sure it could not be broken up into smaller paragraphs.
• Should have a topic sentence that serves as the transition from the previous paragraph while it establishes the topic and point of the paragraph.
• Should not let quotes take up more than 50% of the paragraph, generally.
• Should avoid starting or ending with a quote. The paragraph should establish the relationship between the point of the paragraph and the quote-as-evidence before giving the quote.
• Should avoid ending the paragraph without discussing the quote. A lack of discussion leaves the reader free to interpret the quote in his or her own way, which may be different from what you intended.
• Should end after the central point of the paragraph is made clear. Do not introduce the topic of the next paragraph in the final lines of the paragraph: that's what the transition at the start of the next paragraph is for.

6. Quotes, paraphrases, facts, and works cited pages:

• All quotes should have a signal phrase ("According to _____,").
• All quotes should have a parenthetical citation places before the next natural piece of punctuation (which may not necessarily come right after the end of the quote)
• All quotes should be discussed or interpreted.
• Ideas or facts taken from a source that aren't specifically quoted, but rather are paraphrased, should have a citation.
• Works cited pages should follow MLA style, be alphabetized, and only contain items that are actually cited in the body of the paper. If you didn't cite it in the paper, you can't put it on the works cited page.

7. Conclusion:

• Should avoid "in conclusion" at all cost.
• Should have a smooth transition.
• Should recap the major points from the entire paper, not just the last one.
• Should attempt to connect the points as justification for the central claim of the paper.
• Should attempt to expand the implications of that claim without introducing new evidence or points not in the body of the paper.

8. "I" statements:

• "I" is not categorically banned in the course, but its use should be strictly limited to statements about your life.
• Statements such as "I believe," "I feel," "In my opinion," or "In my opinion I honestly believe that I feel that _______ " should be avoided. You wrote the paper, and it's a given that you were giving your opinions.
• When discussing literature, it is generally seen as incorrect to use "I" in a paper unless you are writing a reader-reaction paper. Think carefully about the relative value of using "I" in a paper given that expectation.

9. "You" statements:

• Unless you are writing instructions, a process analysis, or a personal letter, "you" is generally avoided in most academic writing.
• The "you" used in conversation usually means "people in general" and not "you specifically" ("You need a job to get ahead in life"), but in writing, readers tend to personalize it and feel that the writer is speaking direct to them. If the writer ascribes "you" to a reader who disagrees with what the writer has "you" doing, the reader can be alienated ("You may make racist statements from time to time").

10. "Yes . . . but" statements:

• Using the verbal construction "Yes, _______ (is true), but _________" conceptually works to show a contrast, but it makes the paper sound very casual.
• Try "While _____ (is true), _______ (is more important).

11. Profanity and slang:

• Written profanity is far more aggressive than verbal profanity, so think carefully before using it.
• Slang is often rejected by professors out of hand, especially in literary analyses.
• If you opt to use profanity or slang, make sure that it seems consistent with your voice throughout the paper.

12. "This," "it," and "thing":

• "This" by itself is not specific enough: always follow it with a noun so we know what "this" refers to.
• Make sure the noun that "it" refers to is clear. If you can't point to a noun in the preceding sentences that is clearly "it," rewrite the sentence without "it."
• "Thing" (and related words like "something") is often too vague: try to find a more specific noun to express yourself.

13. Dashes:

• A dash is typed with two hyphens (--) that MS Word then converts to a hyphen symbol (—). A hyphen alone is too short.

14. Editing, spell check, and format:

• You should edit your paper throughout.
• Reading the paper out loud slowly may help you catch basic errors like missing words or incomplete sentences.
• Running spell check is not optional.
• You are expected to refer to the handbook and follow the formatting guidelines for the course.

15. Internet Sources:

The Internet provides a glut of information that is accessible to anyone who cares to search it. Not all information on the Internet is valuable, though. Before you build an argument based on an Internet source, take a moment to evaluate if the source is authoritative or not. Keep the following ideas in mind:

• Wikipedia should never be cited in a college paper because the documented cases of falsified information make it unreliable at best. It can, however, give you some ideas of search terms to enhance your efforts to find a legitimate source.
• Special interest groups often have very useful web sites, but remember their information will be slanted, something you need to take into account in your paper.
• Do not be afraid of the academic databases found under "electronic sources" in the library's web page: these are generally the best possible sources for college papers.