[the] ENGLISH-BLOG [.com]

« The Struggle with MLA-Formatting in MS-Word--Especially in Versions since 2003 | Main | Storytelling: *The Thousand and One Nights* »

All Courses - The Most Common Writing Issues in Your Papers

Many of you are still not using enough examples in your essays to demonstrate your thesis!
*See the entry HERE that addresses why examples are important.

There should be smooth TRANSITIONS between the paragraphs in your essay
*See advice from Harvard University's Writing Center on transitions HERE.

In a typed, academic manuscript, two spaces should follow a full-stop that ends a sentence!
*See the entry HERE that addresses the confusion/controversy over two spaces after a period.

"Effective" paper titles shold be cogent and concise "fragments" that interest AND explain!
*See the entry HERE that addresses why your titles always need a little TLC!

In our class, we are using the MLA style of formatting. It ISN'T an option. Some of your are making up your own formats!
*See the entry HERE on how to format a MS-Word document correctly in the MLA format from start to finish.

"Scholarly Articles" are generally found in scholarly journals--some of you still seem confused!
*See the entry HERE that deals specifically with what scholarly articles are and how to find them.

"Synthesis" papers are research-informed essays should BRING TOGETHER the information about ONE topic from several different sources
*See the entry HERE that explains what a synthesis paper is and how to approach writing one.

See also . . .

. . . the advice I gave regarding your earlier papers:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

22 September 2008

Classes,

A few more style, grammar, and formatting issues here, this time with an issue called "The Greengrocer's Apostrophe (or) Plural" and cross-referencing sources when using the MLA style of formatting in your papers. "Cross-Referencing" is one that seems to have a few of you confused. To properly cross-reference in your MLA works cited page please see the following two bits of advice:

Cross-Referencing in MLA Format

If you cite more than one part from the same collected volume, create a full citation for the collected volume and briefer citations for the individual parts with cross-references to the collected volume. Each abbreviated citation must include the author of the part and the title of the part in quotes. The cross-reference must include the author of the compilation and page numbers of the part. (Beech and Ware wrote two of the chapters in the book edited by Powell.)

Beech, George. "Prosopography."  Powell 151-184.

Powell, James M., ed. Medieval Studies: an Introduction. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1976.

Ware, R. Dean. "Medieval Chronology: Theory and Practice."  Powell 213-237.

 

*Adapted from [http://www.spsu.edu/library/StyleGuide/MLA.html].

 

Cross-referencing: If you cite more than one essay from the same edited collection, the MLA indicates that it is optional to cross-reference within your works cited list in order to avoid writing out the publishing information for each separate essay. You should should consider this option if you have many references from one text. To do so, include a separate entry for the entire collection listed by the editor's name. For individual essays from that collection, simply list the author's name, the title of the essay, the editor's last name, and the page numbers. For example:

L'Eplattenier, Barbara. "Finding Ourselves in the Past: An Argument for Historical Work on WPAs."  Rose and Weiser 131-40.

Peeples, Tim. "'Seeing' the WPA With/Through Postmodern Mapping."  Rose and Weiser 153-167.

Rose, Shirley K, and Irwin Weiser, eds.  The Writing Program Administrator as Researcher. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1999.

*Adapted from [http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/printable/557/].

 

--------------------------

Image Source=http://www.spreadpress.com/guardian/imagescartoons/rosaquith09-greengrocer%27s-a.jpg

The Greengrocers' Apostrophe (or) Plural

According to contributor "Tdol" on UsingEnglish.com, "The so-called grocer's apostrophe, where it is used incorrectly in plurals, is one of the most common mistakes made by native speakers in English" (full discussion can be found HERE). Lynne Truss, author of the very popular guide Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, found the issue so important, she discussed it in her introduction on page 1!

The popular website "WordSpy" defines the "greengrocer's apostrophe" as a noun with "An apostrophe erroneously inserted before the final 's' " in its plural form. (full citation HERE).

To make matters worse, the apparent use of this common type of error is on the rise according to the article "Where to stick grocer's apostrophe" by John Ezard, arts correspondent for The Guardian (full article HERE). To see many, many examples of how this error is being propagated (I discussed many of these in class, e.g. "Tattoo's and Piercing's," please have a look at all the photos of signage photographed by people contributing to the site The Apostrophe Protection Society, HERE. Perhaps one of the worst ones I've ever seen, next to a sign that advertised "Cherrie (sic) Jam," was an advert for baskets of "Tart Cherrie's." Yes, not only was the word misspelled, it also had that apostrophe. Remember, just because you see /read it on a sign doesn't mean that it is correct!

Posted by lhobbs at September 23, 2008 07:39 AM

 

LEAVE A COMMENT:

 

Name:   Email Address: 

 

URL: Remember Me? YesNo
 

Your Remarks: (you may use some HTML tags for style)

 

 

Readers' Comments:

My Blog

This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Some rights reserved. 2006.