Monday, October 1, 2012--third posting of the day

Hello once again...yikes, the third posting today.

I am working on grading the last batch of out of class essays #1.

I am getting a little weary of writing the same reminders on essays. From what I can see, very few of you paid heed to a handy check list I posted on the blog on the 24th of September. It was for use while you were conducting the final editing and proofreading of out of class essay #1.

It continues to puzzle me that so many of you do not take advantage of the help you are given. As you can see, many of the bulleted points are things many of you did not adhere to at all.  I cannot possibly cover everything I want to during class, so the blog serves as an excellent place to remind you of things I have talked about in class as well as offer extra tips. At any rate, for those who wish to improve their writing and increase their success in English 1A, here is the list...again:

• Check for unacceptable errors as well as for other sentence level errors mentioned on the bottom half of your handout on unacceptable errors.
• Underline your thesis statement.
• Eliminate wordiness and repetitiveness.
• Write clear transitions between paragraphs.
• Give your essay a title. Center it and do not type it in all caps, do not underline it, do not type it in a different font. and do not put quotations around it.
• Be sure each paragraph has a concise, specific and focused topic sentence and discusses one main topic only.
• Run a spell check program.
• Type your last name and the page number in the upper right hand corner of each page.
• Since it is a narrative AND an analysis essay, it is perfectly acceptable to use the pronoun "I" but do not add unnecessary words to your sentences such as "I think" or "I believe." For example, do not write: I think my grandmother's house was the truest home I experienced in my childhood. Instead you would write: My grandmother's house was the truest home I experienced in my childhood.