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College Essay Writing Help

Common mistakes to avoid when writing a term paper

Nov 2, 2006 Naomi Rockler-Gladen

What's the first step towards better grades on your college term papers? Avoid these common mistakes that students often make.

Writing a college paper? I've read more than my share of college term papers, so I can give you some tips on how to write a great college essay. I can also help you avoid some common writing mistakes. Here's a list of the most typical writing errors that I come across when grading student papers. These kinds of mistakes are professor pet peeves, so it's best to avoid them.

  • Failure to follow instructions. Read the assignment sheet carefully. If you don't understand, ask questions. Don't guess.
  • Incorrect capitalization of proper nouns. Proper nouns should be capitalized, and common nouns should not be capitalized. A proper noun refers to a thing that is specific (Catholicism, Canada, Seinfeld, George W. Bush), while a common noun refers to a thing that is general (religion, country, television show, president).
  • Incorrect use of IT'S and ITS. "It's" is a conjunction for "it is." An example: "I know that it's late to be calling." In contrast, "its" is a possessive word for something of nonspecific gender, and is used like the words "his" or "her." An example: "The long winter wore out its welcome."
  • Poor use of paragraph breaks. Each paragraph should contain one succinct idea. When the idea changes, start a new paragraph. Students often hand in papers with very few paragraph breaks. As a general rule, every page of a double-spaced paper should include at least one paragraph break.
  • Failure to meet the page limit. If the page minimum is six pages, do not turn in a paper that is five pages plus one paragraph long. Also, messing around with font sizes to get more pages is not a good idea; professors know how to do this better than you do.
  • Really, random and, screwed up use, of, commas. Commas serve a number of functions. Primarily, they denote pauses. While you are proofreading, read the sentence out loud. If it doesn't sound right, the first place you should look is the commas.
  • Run-on sentences. Run-on sentences are two complete clauses stuck into one sentence these are confusing because they are not separated with punctuation.
  • Comma splices. Comma splices are two complete clauses that should be separate sentences, they are grammatically incorrect because they are separated by a comma.
  • Poorly attached papers. Professors have an awful lot of papers to grade, so poorly attached papers can result in missing pages. Attach your paper with a binder clip or (preferably) a staple; paper clips come loose too easily. Never hand in a paper with the corners crinkled up. Also, put your name and the page number on each page in case your pages get separated.

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Papers with binders., Morguefile.com. Papers with binders.
   
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