MISTAKES TO AVOID IN ESSAY WRITING
Students make a variety of errors in their writing. What follows is a list of things to avoid which weaken your essays and are actually considered wrong in essay writing.
1. DON’T MENTION THE ESSAY ITSELF.
Example: “After reading this essay…” or “In my essay…” or “In this essay…” or “This essay will discuss…” etc.
2. DON’T MENTION ANY PART OF THE ESSAY.
Example: “In this paragraph…” or “This paragraph will discuss…” or “In the next paragraph” or “The body of this essay will…”
3. DON'T USE "LIKE" IN YOUR ESSAY WHEN YOU INTEND TO PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE OR CLARIFY SOMETHING. (review your handout on transitions for ideas.)
Example: This happens many times throughout the novel like when...
Use "for example" or "for instance" or "such as"
Example: This happens many times throughout the novel; for instance, when...
*Note punctuation.
4. DON’T JUST STATE A FACT IN YOUR THESIS STATEMENT; DIRECT YOUR ESSAY.
Example: “Orange juice in a box is good.” This thesis statement doesn’t direct your essay and is difficult to support in an essay.However, the thesis “Orange juice in a box is better than orange juice in a bottle”does direct the essay and is supportable.
5. DON’T START YOUR ESSAY WITH ONLY A THESIS STATEMENT. YOU MUST HAVE AN INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH AND LEAD YOUR READER TO THE THESIS.
6. MAKE SURE EACH PARAGRAPH HAS A MINIMUM OF 3 SENTENCES IN IT. Each sentence should relate only to whatever “reason” or “evidence” you are presenting in that paragraph. (Don't confuse sentences with lines!)
7. MAKE SURE YOUR ESSAY HAS A MINIMUM OF FIVE PARAGRAPHS TOTAL.
8. DON’T USE ABBREVIATIONS LIKE YOU WOULD WHILE USING MSN.
Example: Using the letter ‘U’ instead of the word ‘you’ or the number 2 instead of the word ‘to’, etc. Also be sure to capitalize the letter ‘I’ when referring to yourself!
ACTIVITY
Edit your essays for any of the errors mentioned above.
MLA SET UP
There is a specific way to set up most high school and university papers. It is called MLA (Modern Languages Association) format. For the rest of your essays throughout the semester please follow this format. Below is a sample first page of an essay. Please set yours up this way:
Your name
Ms. Engram
English 10
Date
Essay 1: Title
Your first paragraph begins her. Please note the paragraph is indented and begins on
the line after the title. Everything is double-spaced.