SOME WRITING THOUGHTS!

1. Think Creatively: don't be boring and descriptive!
2. Avoid plagiarism: I know that you've heard it all before, but please, be honorable! If you use someone else's words, even if it's justa few of them, put them in quotes and cite them!!!
3. Maintain paragraph coherence: Each paragraph should have one main point, and that point should help make your case!
4. Introduce Authors Correctly: At first mention use first and last name and the author's position of authority (such as "historian," "professor of anthropology," etc), and after the first mention, use only the author's last name.
5. Avoid fragments and run-ons (fused sentences): Listen, I can give you exercise upon exercise, but ample research shows that they don't work. If you want to avoid these in this paper, bring me a draft. If you want to solve this basic problem in your writing for the lon run there are three easy steps. Read, then read, and then read. Reading is panacea!
6. Turn in a professional final product. If your final essay has simple spelling and editing mistakes, I'll simply assume you don't care about it...turn in a polished final product.
7. THIS IS NOT A RESEARCH PAPER, NOT A TERM PAPER. YOU CAN DO THIS PAPER WITH ONLY THE READING FOR COURSE. HISTORICALLY, HOWEVER, THE BETTER PAPERS HAVE BEEN THOSE THAT READ OUTSIDE OF THE CLASS TEXTS. IF YOU FIND THAT THE BOOKS AND YOUR OPINIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A FULL PAPER, DO MORE READING. WRITER'S BLOCK IS USUALLY THE RESULT OF TOO LITTLE READING. AS COMPOSITION THEORIST JAMES MOFFETT ARGUES, WE WRITE BEST WHEN WE "WRITE FROM PLENTITUDE." DO SOME EXTRA READING TO GIVE YOURSELF MORE PLENTITUDE!