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Common Formatting Errors in Essay Writing: A Guide to Best Practices

This guide addresses common essay formatting errors encountered by students. It emphasizes the importance of italicizing or underlining book titles, proper paragraph indentation, and adhering to font sizes and spacing requirements. Key points include correct comma placement within quotation marks and creating a strong, arguable thesis statement. Additionally, it offers insights on word choice, avoiding redundancy, and using apostrophes correctly. By following these tips, students can improve their writing skills and enhance the clarity of their essays, particularly when analyzing literature like Mary Shelley's *Frankenstein*.

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Common Formatting Errors in Essay Writing: A Guide to Best Practices

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  1. Common Essay Errors

  2. Formatting • italicize or underline book title! • indent paragraphs • font size (12 pt) • spacing • comma placement (always inside quotation marks, avoid comma splices) • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

  3. Thesis Statement • Create a thesis statement that responds to the prompt. It doesn’t have to be word for word, especially if a word in the prompt, like aesthetically, is in a form that doesn’t agree. Use synonyms. Ex: In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley posits that humans are negatively influenced by society. • Your thesis statement should be arguable • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/

  4. Word Choice and Analysis • Redundant/repetitive analysis or word choice. • If you don’t have anything else to say about the point you’re making, move on • Avoid using the same word of phrasing in rapid succession • http://ezinearticles.com/?Writing-Tip:-Repetitive-Word-Choice&id=406576

  5. Word Choice • Avoid colloquial/informal language and contractions

  6. Word Flow Read your essays out loud or have someone read it to you

  7. Apostrophe Use • Apostrophes indicate contractions or possession, not pluralization • http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe

  8. Writing about a novel Introduce characters- audience as general reader, not your teacher

  9. Length Requirement • 3-5 pages means three full pages minimum • DO NOT mess with the formatting to meet the page requirement. It's obvious.

  10. Integrating Quotes • Shouldn’t be a stand alone sentence with no introduction or analysis • Handout: Practice

  11. Your quotes Directions: Identify four quotes (minimum) that you would like to use in your essay. Practice how you will integrate them.

  12. Reflection Do you commonly make any of these errors? How do you plan to address them in your Frankenstein essay?

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