English 0950
Essay #2
My Observations on Essay #2 Drafts
1. You do not need a "forecast" statement in your introduction as part of your thesis statement, but one is sometimes helpful, not only for your readers, but also for you as a writer as you are drafting. Just be sure that, in the final draft, the forecast statement "matches" the rest of the paper.
2. Really study "short" paragraphs -- i.e. paragraphs less than five typed lines (although there is no "magic" length for a paragraph). Sometimes, a short paragraph is used as a transition paragraph, but most of the time, short paragraphs indicate either (a) a lack of development, or (b) a need to be combined with another, related paragraph.
3. BE CAREFUL with quotations:
Be sure to quote accurately.
Be sure to use quotation marks.
Be sure to introduce all quotations using the author's name and possibly the title of the essay from which the quote is taken.
Be sure to end all quotations with a parenthetical citation which includes the page number from which the quote was taken.
4. Remember to format this paper as you've formatted all past papers -- double-spaced, 1.0-1.25" margins on all four sides, and a 12-point "normal" font (Arial or Times New Roman).
5. Your final draft should be at least 2 pages long but no longer than 4 pages long.
6. Each paragraph should have its own topic sentence, and everything in the paragraph should relate to and support that topic sentence.
7. Try to avoid phrases like "In this paper, I am going to write about ..." or "I will argue that ..." or "I hope to show you that ..." These phrases are O.K. for the first draft, but revise them out by the final draft.
8. REMEMBER how to do titles: titles of the essays in The Mercury Reader are "quoted" -- e.g. "How to Mark a Book" -- as are titles of other articles and songs. Titles of books, newspapers, magazines, CDs, movies, and TV shows are all underlined. -- e.g. The New York Times or Friends.
9. If you want to emphasize certain words, like swear words or slang, in your paper, you can also "quote" these words for emphasis.
10. As you revise, be sure you are using the correct words -- e.g. "Profane" vs. "Profound."
11. Try to have a better, more creative title than Essay #2 or Nickel and Dimed. And remember, DO NOT quote, underline, bold, italicize, or enlarge your title.
12. What if I want to quote something that already contains quotation marks?
Put your double quotation marks “ “ around the text you want quoted and move any existing quotation marks to single quotation marks ‘ ‘ (use the apostrophe key) to show that those quotes were already there.
Example from Tannen, page 57:
Your sentence: