Essay Guidelines
Essay Guidelines
DeGraffenreid
ERWC
2016/2017
When you write in an academic setting (not your annotations or warm ups), please follow the guidelines below. These are quick and easy ways to make your writing sound better.
Rule #1- Remove contractions. Contractions cheapen academic writing. Instead of writing “don’t” write “do not”. Instead of “shouldn’t” write “should not” and so on. NOTE! Possessive words do not count! It it perfectly acceptable to write “Tony’s hat” or “Rebecca’s sense of self”.
Rule #2- Avoid “There is” and “There are”. Instead of writing “There are many issues students face these days.”, write “Students face many issues these days.” Instead of writing “There is a law in Georgia against transients.”, write “Georgia has a law against transients.”
Rule #3- Avoid “Really, Very, A lot, and So”. These words cheapen your writing. Instead of writing “This makes me very/really angry”, write “This makes me livid/disgusted/etc…”. Instead of “I am very tired” write “I am exhausted”.
When using the words “a lot” it is important to realize that in MOST cases “a lot” can be replaced by “much” or “many”. If you can count the amount that you have, use “many”. Example: “There are a lot of people in the room” changes to “There are many people in the room” because you can count the number of people in the room.
If you cannot count what you have, use “much”. Example: “There is a lot of noise in the room” changes to “There is much noise in the room” because you can’t count noise. I know we do not talk this way, but that is the point; your academic voice should sound different from your casual voice. NOTE! Sometimes “A lot” is the only thing that sounds correct. Change your sentence if that is the case.
DO NOT USE “SO” to begin sentences unless you have a clear rhetorical purpose for doing so. Using so as a coordinating conjunction is fine. Example: “I was cold, so I put on a sweater.”
Rule #4- Do not use the passive voice.
Passive: The house was built by Bob
Active: Bob built the house.
It is generally a bad idea to have “was” in front of any verb in academic writing.
Rule #5- Use strong verbs.
He gave assistance to my friend = weak.
He assisted my friend = strong.
He made an objection = weak.
He objected = strong.
He was making a lot of noise = weak.
He made much noise = strong.