Weakly integrated quotations have intros like “This quote shows…The author says…Stanza five reads…”
True
Every page of a paragraph response or essay (Works Cited page too) requires page numbering (last name #).
True
Tacked-on or stand-alone quotes make clear connections between your words and an author’s words.
False
MLA headings should include your name, class name, assignment name, and a military-style date.
False
“She had fallen in love with someone she could never marry,” so Dickinson was never able to marry (Dickinson 372). This is an example of bad quote incorporation (repetitive quote usage).
True
Depending on an assignment’s length, thesis statements can be the first or last sentence of a paragraph.
True
Proper structure for a single paragraph response is thesis statement, evidence-quotation-commentary x 3, conclusion sentence.
True
Parenthetical in-text citation includes the first word of a works cited entry and a page # or line # if available.
True
One inch margins, double spacing (no extra skipped lines), 11-12 font, and left-margin flush are required.
True
In general, small works are shown by italics (poems-articles), large works by quotes (plays-books).
False
Your essay titles should be original (not naming the assignment) and formatted like rest of the essay.
True
Using questions and exclamations is one way to creatively emphasize an essay’s arguments.
False
All words should be written out: contractions, abbreviations, dates, percentages, numbers to 1000.
False
Write about literature in present tense; write about historical events or an author’s life in past tense.
True
Never refer to an author by just a first name; use a full name when first naming, then last name only.
True
Intro and conclusion paragraphs should be at least five sentences; body paragraphs should be at least twelve.
False
Repeated phrases like “in the poem, during the poem, at the end of the poem” are useless wordiness to be avoided.
True
Metadiscourse is when a writer writes about his own writing or writing process, and it is a sign of bad writing. (i.e. As shown by the quote…The last paragraph has proven…After much thought and analysis….)
True
Single paragraph responses and body paragraphs in essays both need three points and three quotes.
False
No matter where a quote appears in a sentence, in-text citation should be placed at the very end of the sentence.
True
Works Cited Page = page #s, Works Cited top centered, ABC order, 2nd lines indented, all double-spaced.
True
Speaking for the reader or audience means making weak, inaccurate, unknowable generalizations.
True
Use specific details from literature being analyzed (dates, names, places, etc.) whenever possible.
True
Previewing main arguments in the thesis statement is effective in persuasive writing of any length.
False
1st Person POV is wordiness; 2nd Person POV speaks uncomfortably for the reader; avoid both.
True
A single-paragraph response and a full essay assignment are structurally identical (five parts).
True