Dr. Stein's Indispensable Guide to Writing English Papers

PRELIMINARY NOTE: For some of you, this will be new or needed information, and I hope you'll read this carefully. For some of you, this will be extremely familiar and crashingly obvious territory--consider it a well-intentioned review.

CONTENT:

1) A thesis is a good thing. Your paper should make a point, not merely provide information or state the obvious. "Victor Frankenstein is a Promethean hero" is not much of a thesis; it's pretty much a given, particularly considering that the subtitle of Frankenstein is "The Modern Prometheus." "Mary Shelley uses the figure of the Promethean hero in order to examine the consequences of Romantic individualism" is a thesis because it makes a claim that can be either supported or refuted. "Authors create unconventional heroines because they make more interesting characters" is not much of a thesis; unconventional heroes and heroines are, almost invariably, more interesting than conventional characters. "The heroines of Victorian novels encounter both internal and external obstacles in their attempts to define themselves; they can never entirely transcend the attitudes of their society" is a thesis. "Donne uses cacaphonous sounds and violent metaphors in 'Batter my Heart'" is not a thesis; it is simply descriptive statement. "Donne uses cacaphonous sounds and violent metaphors in 'Batter my Heart' to convey the intensity of his internal religious struggle" is a thesis because it analyzes the significance and function of the poem's devices.

A good thesis test is to append (in a draft stage) the phrase "I am going to argue that . . ." before your thesis statement. Such a phrase will often make a non-thesis sound absurd. The other test to ask yourself throughout your paper or essay is "What's the significance of this?" or the short version: "So what?" There has to be some point to your thesis, and there has to be some point to each point you make in relation to your thesis. Your paper should consist of a logically developing, unified argument, not a list of random observations. Each part should not only have a direct bearing on the thesis, but it should make explicitly clear to the reader just what the relationship to the thesis is. It's not the reader's job to figure out how a particular point relates to your thesis; it's your job to explain it.

2) Transitions are helpful to your reader. When I see a paper in which almost every paragraph begins with the word "another," I feel like I'm reading a grocery list, rather than a paper. A list of main points or pieces of evidence does not a paper make. Each section should build on the last so that the connections between your ideas are clear. This is where transitions come in.

3) Avoid plot summary. In an English paper or essay, you can generally assume that your readers (your professor and perhaps classmates) are familiar with the work(s) being discussed. Trust me, I've read Manfred and The Prelude more times than you can possibly imagine. If you find yourself saying, first this happens, and then that happens, you're summarizing the plot, not analyzing. You should of course refer in detail to particular passages, quotes, and episodes that have a direct bearing on your thesis, but you don't need to tell the reader what happened to Jane Eyre at each stage of her life. The only exception to this would be if you have a good reason to think your reader will be totally unfamiliar with the work. For instance, a paper on Star Trek's Data as a contemporary version of Frankenstein's Creature should briefly introduce who Data is and should briefly summarize the portions of the episodes that support your thesis.

4) A paper without quotations is like . . . a paper without quotations. That is, incomplete. No matter how brilliant your analysis, it is insufficient without quotations. Quotations serve as evidence to support the claims you're making, and as illustrations of your main points. They also make your paper more interesting and show your reader that you've done your work. A list of quotations is not enough, however. You need to spend some time analyzing them in detail and explaining their significance both to the topic sentence of your paragraph and to the thesis of the paper as a whole. And avoid ending a paragraph with a long block quotation. Any long quote that's long enough to be included in your paper deserves at least a few lines of analysis, but in particular, at the end of a paragraph, a block quote leaves the reader with only an incomplete understanding of the purpose of the quotation and affords no transition to the following paragraph. Always follow a long quotation with your own discussion of its significance to your argument before going on to another topic.

5) Depth is preferable to breadth. Given the choice between writing a superficial and general discussion of five novels and an in-depth discussion of two, I would recommend the latter. In my humble opinion, the most interesting parts of a paper are the ones with detailed, thoroughly developed analysis. If you choose too large a topic, you're just asking me to think of all the items you should have discussed, but didn't. A narrow topic, however, can be thoroughly developed with a lot of concrete detail and interesting, thoughtful analysis.

6) The art of persuasion. Remember that you are trying to persuade your reader of your point of view, or at least, convince your reader that your point of view is a valid one. Part of the way you do this is by defining a strong thesis, supporting it with detailed analysis of quotations and passages, writing fluently and articulately, and presenting a paper that looks professional. But you might also consider the opposing position to your own and taking it into account. In the process, you may find yourself developing a thesis that accounts for the work or works' complexity in a more effective fashion. You also want to avoid vast generalizations that just beg to be refuted. Statements that begin with "all" or "every" (as in "All Victorian marriages . . ." or "Every Romantic poet . . . ") will get you in trouble, guaranteed.

7) Avoid looking stupid. Consistently misspelling an author's name, a title, or a major character's name throughout a paper makes you look stupid. Not knowing the gender of an author, such as W. H. Auden or George Eliot, makes you look stupid. Not knowing in which century a work was composed makes you look stupid. Making serious errors in describing a scene in a novel or play or a part of a poem makes you look stupid. Misreading a line of poetry because you didn't understand the literal meanings of the words makes you look stupid. Or simply careless, which makes just as bad an impression on the reader. When in doubt, look it up or ask. I won't think you're stupid if you ask me if W. H. Auden is a man or a woman, but if you consistently refer to him as "she" in a final paper, a finished product, I won't think very highly of you.

8) Essential ingredients. These are things your paper needs to be complete, that is, not half-baked. First, a title. Brilliant and witty is always nice, but at the very least the title should be informative enough to give your reader an idea where your paper is going. It's fine to include the titles of literary works in your title, but simply using the title of the work, such as "Sonnet 18" or Jane Eyre is not sufficient.

Second, an introduction. Think of the introduction as your reader's road map to your paper. Set up your topic with introductory material, if necessary, state your thesis, mention the author(s) and title(s) of the works you're discussing, and briefly introduce your main points. When you introduce the works, you needn't go into rhapsodies about "the superb tragedy of Hamlet by the incomparable Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare." A simple "Shakespeare's Hamlet" will do. The author's first name should usually be included in the first mention of the author, particularly if you're discussing such authors as the Brontës or the Shelleys.

Third, topic sentences. Just as your paper has a thesis, your paragraphs should include a topic sentence that clearly states just what it is you're trying to get across.

Last, a conclusion. A paper that just stops leaves the reader hanging. If you've discussed more than one work, they all should be mentioned in the conclusion, which serves to tie the paper together, to reveal the significance of what you've been talking about all along (the answer to "So what?"), and possibly, to raise some new avenues for future exploration.

Bear in mind that your title and first paragraph are the first things your reader sees, and your conclusion makes the final impression. They should be as good as you can possibly make them.

9) Secondary sources. Don't over-rely on secondary sources. In many undergraduate papers, there's no need for them at all. They're generally necessary in graduate papers, but for any paper, secondary sources should not overwhelm your own argument. Your reader wants to see your analysis; secondary sources, if used at all, should be supplemental. A paper that consists of a list of quotations from critics, but very little of your analysis, has a serious problem. My own recommendation is that you write a draft before you even enter the library. That way, you'll be clear on what it is that you want to say. Otherwise, it's very easy to be seduced by secondary texts that will take over your paper if you're not careful. Also remember, just because it's in print, doesn't mean it's gospel.

If you do refer to secondary sources, be sure you provide a proper citation. Any time you use someone else's words or ideas, you must give credit to that person, whether you paraphrase or quote directly. Not to do so is plagiarism, a very serious academic offense. A good source for guidelines and examples is the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. My own preference is to include a Works Cited list for all primary and secondary texts you refer to, with the specific page citations in parentheses in your text.

10) Me, Myself, and I. I have no problem with the occasional use of the pronoun "I" in your paper. The paper is about your interpretations, after all. Yet, continuous use of "I think" and "I feel" suggests that you are simply voicing emotional responses and personal opinions, not analysis. It's a very fine line between analysis and personal reaction, and your best guide to this is to discuss your paper with your instructor ahead of time. A certain amount of personal response and personal experience may help illuminate the text(s) in question and can be perfectly appropriate, but the key to remember is that the paper is about the text(s), not you. For example, I'm not interested in a paper that tells me about how much you are offended by a writer's sexism, heterosexism, racism, religious beliefs or lack thereof, sexual orientation, opinions, assumptions, and/or biases. However, an analysis of those qualities in a given work, taking into account the time at which the work was written, and discussing how the writer both reflects and influences those attitudes in his or her society is perfectly appropriate. Simply stating that Charlotte Brontë is an ignorant bigot in Villette doesn't get us anywhere; analyzing the nature and causes of her anti-Catholic attitudes in the novel could be very useful. Simply condemning a particular writer as a sexist homophobe doesn't get us anywhere; analyzing the sexism and homophobia in a work in terms of what it tells us about the characters, the author, and the society in which it was written could be very useful.

11) Poetic license. I frequently give students the option to write creative papers and exam essays--parodies, sequels, updatings, etc. These can be a lot of fun. It's important to remember though, that the intent of the project is show how well you understand the original work and to tell me something interesting about it. Your creative decisions shouldn't be arbitrary or based entirely on the intent to be comic; the driving force should still be the original work. Thus, such a paper must be written in the style or poetic form of the original, and it should illuminate the characters, concerns, and themes of the original and the period in which it was written. Creativity and humor are great, but in this kind of assignment, they're insufficient in and of themselves.

FORMAT:

Note: The following may seem terribly trivial, but it isn't. Just as you dress up for a job interview, you want to convey a professional attitude in a final paper. A sloppy-looking paper makes a bad impression that cannot but influence the reader, no matter how stunning the content. Errors in grammar, typing, and format are also extremely distracting, which prevents the reader from paying attention to the important stuff. A final paper should read and look like a finished and polished product. If I'm not being distracted by errors, I can focus on what you're actually saying. But if your paper looks like you didn't give a [expletive of your choice deleted] about what you were doing, then your reader is not going to be inclined to look at it with the utmost generosity of spirit.

12) Papers should be typed. They should be double-spaced, with 1" margins all around. Paragraphs should be indented. The paper should be stapled or paper clipped together in the top left hand corner. OMIT covers or folders--this particular instructor really hates them with a deep and abiding hatred.

13) Include the following information on your first page OR on a title page: 1) the title of the paper, 2) your name, 3) the class (English ___), 4) instructor's name, and 5) the date. The title should be centered on the page. Do not capitalize or underline the entire title or enclose it in quotation marks. Capitalize the first letter of the first word and all essential words, leaving articles, prepositions, etc. uncapitalized. If you use the title of a work in your own title, it should be in quotes or italicized (see # 17 below). The other information should be in the top left corner of the first page or on the bottom right corner of a title page. My own recommendation would be to save paper and skip the title page.

14) Your paper must have the pages numbered. I don't care where your page numbers are as long as they're present. When I comment on papers, I refer to particular pages, and it's extremely irritating if they don't have numbers. And in upper-division or graduate classes, it looks seriously unprofessional to turn in a paper without page numbers. Any paper without page numbers will have its grade lowered by a third of a grade--you have been warned.

15) You are responsible for backing up your work. Stuff happens, and papers disappear. It's your responsibility to make a xerox copy of your paper before you turn it in or make sure you have a backup on your computer. Stuff particularly happens with computers, and you should probably have the most recent version of your papers on a hard drive, on a floppy, and in a printed hard copy.

16) Proofread, proofread again, proofread once more, and then get someone else to proofread for you. Do not rely entirely on your spell checker; there are too many types of errors it will miss. Feel free to make small corrections with liquid paper and black pen, but if you need to add or omit several words or a sentence or more, you should redo the page. There are several types of errors that get me particularly incensed, since they distract me from what you're saying and make your paper look carelessly put together: 1) many typos, 2) comma splices and run-ons, 3) sentence fragments, 4) misused or omitted apostrophes, 5) unclear writing, such as dangling modifiers, and 6) errors in quotation format (which will be discussed below). If you have no clue how to avoid such errors, invest in a grammar handbook, see a tutor, get a friend to help you, and/or ask your instructor.

17) When referring to titles of plays, novels, long poems, and books, the title should be in italics or underlined, e.g. Shakespeare's Hamlet; Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre; Milton's Paradise Lost; Diana Fuss, ed., Inside/Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories. Titles of short poems, short stories, essays, chapters, and articles should be in quotation marks, e.g., Tennyson's "Ulysses," Joyce's "Araby." These rules apply in your title, your text, footnotes or endnotes, and bibliography entries.

18) Authors should be referred to by last names, after their initial mention in your paper. If you have two authors with the same name, you may specify that you will refer to them by first name or by first initial and last name for clarity, e.g. Charlotte and Emily, or C. Brontë and E. Brontë. It is considered extremely uncouth to refer to a male author by last name and a female author by first name, so using "Mary" to refer to Mary Shelley, and "Shelley" to refer to her husband, Percy, simply will not do.

19) Always lead into a short or long quotation with one of your own sentences. Generally the punctuation mark before a quotation should be a comma or colon within your own sentence. If you end a sentence immediately before you start quoting , the context is much less clear to your reader, particularly as a quotation should not stand by itself as a grammatical unit. See examples below.

20) To omit words from a quotation, use an ellipsis. Use three dots if your omission is within a sentence. Example: Although he feels his "soul . . . grappling with a palpable enemy," Victor's mind is soon filled with "one thought, one conception, one purpose" (from a paper by Ann Banion, CSUF student). If you omit the end of a sentence within a quotation, you must use four dots, one to indicate the original end of the sentence, and three dots to indicate missing words. If you are quoting a long passage of poetry with a line or more omitted from the middle, you must include a single line of dots to indicate the missing line(s). If your ellipsis falls at the end of a quotation, and you are using parenthetical citations, use three dots, and place the period of your own sentence after the parentheses. Finally, and this is where it gets really complicated, if your quotation already has an ellipsis in it (that is, an ellipsis is part of the original), you must distinguish your own ellipses by enclosing them in square brackets: [ . . . ]. A much longer and clearer explanation of this is in MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6^th ed.), section 3.7.5.

21) Use square brackets to indicate words or parts of words (such as verb endings) that you are inserting into quotations to better help them fit your own sentence. This technique should be used very sparingly. Example: His imagination sees "The Frost perform[ing] its secret ministry" with nature. (from a paper by Michael Quesada, CSUF student).

22) If the work you are quoting from is long (as in any longer than a short poem), you need to indicate the location of the original quotation by reference to page or line number (if a play in verse, refer to act, scene, and line number). This reference should be in parentheses, outside your quotation marks, but before your own punctuation. Example: In her innocent amazement, Miranda declares, "How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, / That has such people in't" (V.i.183-84).

23) Quotations of two lines of poetry or less or less than four lines of prose should be incorporated into your own text, set off by quotation marks. As much as possible, they should be clearly and fluently incorporated into your own sentences. Example: Lily's goal in life is to establish herself in high society, all the while having "fits of angry rebellion against fate, when she longed to drop out of the race and make an independent life for herself" (36). (from a paper by Joanne Macauley, CSUF student).

24) Short quotations of poetry should be set off by quotation marks, with individual lines separated by a slash with a space on either side. Retain the capitalization of the original. Example: Coleridge has determined that his infant shall "learn far other lore, / And in far other scenes!" (from a paper by Michael Quesada, CSUF student).

25) Short prose quotations should be set off by quotation marks and incorporated into your own text. Example: The room she rests in has barred windows, the bed is nailed to the floor, and the wallpaper is a "smouldering unclean yellow" pattern, "committing every artistic sin." (from a paper by Kim Meyer, CSUF student).

26) Punctuation: You may alter the final punctuation of a quotation to fit the grammar of your own sentences. If a quotation comes at the end of one of your own sentences, for example, you may insert a period whether it originally existed in the quotation or not. Similarly, you may insert a necessary comma, semi-colon, etc. if appropriate. Commas and periods belong inside quotation marks (see examples above), while semi-colons and colons must be outside quotation marks. The exception to this rule is if you're including page or line references in parentheses, in which case you omit final punctuation from the quotation (except question marks and exclamation points), and include the page or line number(s) in parentheses between the end quote and your own punctuation. (See #22 above and #27 below.)

27) If you include a quotation within a quotation (for instance you are quoting a passage from a novel with a character's quotation within it), the internal quotation should be set off with single quotation marks (apostrophes on your keyboard). Example: Catherine is outraged that marriage to Linton should separate her from Heathcliff: "'He quite deserted! we separated!' she exclaimed, with an accent of indignation. 'Who is to separate us, pray?'" (81).

28) Verse quotations of longer than two lines must be in block format. The entire quotation is indented ten spaces and is not set off with quotation marks, as the indentation serves the same purpose. Reproduce the verse exactly as it is in the original, with the same punctuation, capitalization, and line endings. Example: He seeks to become a legend (if nothing else) in the minds of humans and he will not permit "Old age" to stop him. He tells his crew:

(from a paper by Nagmeh (Shaddi) Kamyabipour, CSUF student).

29) Long prose quotations (4 lines or more) must be in block format, again indented 10 spaces and omitting quotation marks. Although the beginning of each line is indented, the lines may end at your regular right margin.

PAPER COMMENTS AND MARKS:

The following are some of the comments and marks I may make on your paper:

The good news: A check (Ã) means "Good point!" If I underline part of your text with a straight underline, that also means "Good point!" and I am emphasizing the part I particularly liked. I also may underline a particularly judicious word choice. A smiley face means you made a successful funny--always a good way to win favor as long as the humor contributes to your paper.

The bad news: A circled word is a typo, spelling, or grammatical error or an inappropriate word choice. A circle toward the end of a word may indicate a punctuation error, most often a missing or misused apostrophe, or a comma where there should be a semi-colon (comma splice). Portions of text underlined with squiggly lines are problematic. Either you've made an erroneous statement, or a grammatical error such as a sentence fragment, or I simply find that section of text unclear. I often indicate the latter with a question mark in the margins. An insert mark leading to an empty circle means you've probably left a word out.

I will also refer directly to this guide. For instance, "See Guide #24" means I want you to look up #24 on this very guide and learn about using slashes in short quotations. "See Guide #4" means you probably ended a paragraph with a block quotation, and I want you to read the explanation of why this is a bad idea.

FINAL NOTE: Always feel free to ask questions of your instructor before you turn in a final paper with errors in it. If portions of this guide are unclear, or you're working on a paper and have a question about something (either in regard to content or format), ask!

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