Formal Writing Review

Weakly integrated quotations have intros like “This quote shows...The author says...Stanza five reads...”

True

Every page of a ¶ 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 ¶ response is thesis, evidence-quotation-commentary x 3, conclusion.

True

Parenthetical in-text citation includes the first word of a works cited entry and a page # or line #.

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 ¶s should be at least five sentences; body ¶s should be at least twelve.

False

Repeated phrases like “in the poem, during the poem, at the end of the poem” are useless wordiness.

True

Metadiscourse is when a writer writes about his own writing or writing process and a sign of bad writing.
(i.e. As shown by the quote...The last paragraph has proven...After much thought and analysis....)

True

Single ¶ responses and body paragraphs in essays both need three points and three quotes.

False

No matter where a quote appears, 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, 2

nd lines indented, 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

1

st 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