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CONVENTIONS OF FORMAL WRITING

What to Include

What to Avoid

Format your paper in the style required by your major: APA, MLA, Turabian/Chicago/Chicago Solid thesis statement Standard English grammar, spelling, and mechanics Third person personal pronouns only Attention-grabber opening sentence Active verbs; minimal “to be” verbs Analysis (cited examples and/or quotes) to support assertions Scholarly research (e.g., professional journals—General Writing Resources and Requirements Present tense unless referring to historical background or context Transitional words and phrases between sentences and paragraphs Semiformal-formal tone Use characters’ and authors’ first and last names once; after that, use last names only Vary sentence structure and word usage in close proximity Times New Roman, size 12 Place commas and periods inside closing quotations marks unless citations follow in which case they are placed after the citation’s closing parenthesis.

Acronyms (unidentified) Anecdotes Informal/conversational tone Everyday speech ·         Contractions ·         First or second person personal pronouns ·         Slang, colloquialisms, regionalisms ·         Clichés ·         Idioms References to self as the writer (e.g., “this writer”) References to “the reader” (of this paper) –which is 2nd person voice Personal opinions, commentaries, or suppositions Obvious or simple with which your audience is familiar, Pretentious language Non-scholarly material—online or printed. (e.g., encyclopedias, general websites, Spark Notes) Questions Italics—Use italics sparingly Announcements—Avoid phrases such as the following: ·         “This paper will address”—Do not literally tell your audience what you will be accomplishing in your paper. ·         “In Conclusion”—If it’s your final paragraph, your audience know it’s your conclusion. ·           New information in the conclusion

If you have questions, please email your professor.