Essay 1: Checklist
Before you submit your first essay, run through this checklist to be sure you’ve covered everything.
Is the paper at least 800 words?
Is the paper about the language topics we’ve been studying?
Does the paper use at least one of the readings or videos we’ve discussed in class?
Does the paper have a title, punctuated and capitalized correctly?
Don’t name the paper something lame like “Assignment One.” Give readers some hope that it will be interesting.
When the title is attached to the paper, it doesn’t need any punctuation—don’t underline or add quotation mark. Capitalize the first word and all the other main words, as in these examples:
Pardon Me, Do You Speak Hair?
The Mother Tongue
These Words Speak to Me
Have you written in a serif font, like Georgia or Century or Times New Roman?
Does the word “you” appear? If so, get rid of it; make sure the paper is in first person or third person.
Have you proofread carefully? I’ll grade with the expectation that you understand everything on this list. I’m happy to give grammar lessons and lectures, but the responsibility to learn these rules lies with you.
Ask me questions in class, ask me questions during draft conferences or tutorials which we can arrange, check your textbook or a handbook of English or schedule tutoring in the Writing Center for help. Just be sure you know the rules.
You can’t pass English 111 if you’re still getting these simple things wrong.
1. Incorrect use of apostrophes: Company’s, companies and companies’ are each correct in certain circumstances; make sure you know when to use each. Companys and companys’ are never correct.
2. Sentence boundary errors
Fragments: The dance craze that we enjoyed last summer.
Mistakes with compound sentences, including comma splices and run on sentences:
Incorrect The king is dead and he’s not forgotten.
The king is dead, he’s not forgotten.
Mistakes in which there’s no punctuation as one sentence leads to the next:
Incorrect: My mother called last night she offered to pick up Ralph from the airport he’s just getting back from Argentina.
3. Errors in verb case, tense or number:
Incorrect: I seen a concert last night.
She use to live in Charlotte.
Mice lives in my pantry.
4. Capitalization mistakes: Proper nouns (names of people, places, institutions, titles, first words in sentences, and a host of other words) must be capitalized. But don’t capitalize common nouns.
5. Using the wrong word:
whether/weather
can not/cannot
accept/except
your/you’re
to/too/two
led/lead
use/used
than/then
affect/effect
who’s/whose
woman/women
there/their/they’re
where/were/wear/we’re/ware
