Eng 374 Special Topics

ENG 374 SPECIAL TOPICS

THE LITERATURE OF SLAVERY & ABOLITION IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA

Dr Katherine Turner, Summer 2019

(This is a provisional advance syllabus, and may change slightly)

Dr Katherine Turner Office: Carpenter Academic 413 Department of English Email: [email protected] Mary Baldwin University Office Phone: 540 887 7059 Staunton, VA 24401

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is a three-semester-hour course which earns LO2 credit for Race and Ethnicity. It is an elective for the English Major (which requires three 300-level courses) and for the African American Studies Minor.

This course will introduce students to the rich heritage of British, American & Caribbean texts which addressed the problem of slavery during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and which played a crucial role in abolition and emancipation. We will study a wide range of texts: political speeches and pamphlets as well as autobiographies, poems, and novels. We will also analyze visual images from the eighteenth and nineteenth century, and two recent movies (Amazing Grace, 2007 and 12 Years a Slave, 2013). The transatlantic scope of the course will emphasize connections between British, American & Caribbean culture at this time.

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

I am a Professor in the English department at Mary Baldwin University, having previously taught at the University of Oxford, England. I have a BA, MPhil and PhD from the University of Oxford (Balliol College). My primary research fields are the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but I enjoy teaching a wide span of literature. I have particular interests in travel writing, women’s writing, eighteenth-century poetry, and the literature of slavery & abolition. I have edited Laurence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey for Broadview Press and several volumes of women’s scandalous memoirs from the Romantic period for Pickering & Chatto.

Recent publications include “Women Travel Writers” for The History of British Women’s Writing, 1750-1830, “Travel Narratives” for the Wylie Blackwell Encyclopedia of British Literature, 1660-1789, and essays on eighteenth-century Georgia, on Daphne du Maurier’s historical novel Mary Anne, and on the anti-slavery poems of William Cowper.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Knowledge

Students will learn about the history of slavery and abolition in this period, and will explore how literary texts intersect with more functional ones to produce and modify the discourses of slavery and abolition.

Methodology

Students will hone their skills in literary and visual analysis, subjecting a wide range of texts, documents and images to close critical reading, and assessing their rhetorical impact.

Philosophy

Students will explore the texts both for insights into the pastness of the past, and as stimuli for discussing issues of continuing relevance. They will also consider the relationship between imaginative and empirical truth.

REQUIRED TEXTS & RESOURCES

Note: this list might look long , but most of these texts (except for Uncle Tom’s Cabin) are short (between 50 and 100 pages). In Week Nine you will choose to study EITHER Douglass OR Jacobs – I’d urge you to pick the text with which you are least familiar.

 Behn, Aphra, Oroonoko (1688) – available in various good paperback editions, for example the Penguin edition by Janet Todd (ISBN 978-0140439885) and the Bedford edition (in GL) by Catherine Gallagher & Simon Stern; also available as a Kindle edition for $1, or online at http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/behn/aphra/b42o/  Douglass, Frederick, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845) – available in various good paperback editions (I recommend David Blight, Bedford/St Martins 2003, ISBN 9780312257378, since it also contains “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” 1852); there is also an e-book (Oxford edition) in GL; also available as a FREE Kindle edition, and online: http://www.docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/menu.html.  Equiano, Olaudah, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or, Gustavus Vassa, the African (1789) – available in various good paperback editions (I recommend the Broadview edition by Angelo Costanzo, ISBN 9781551112626) and as a FREE Kindle edition, if you want the full text. We’ll just be looking at extracts, however: http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/index.htm .  Grimes, William, Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave (1825) – edited by William Andrews & Regina Mason, ISBN 9780195343328 or online at http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/grimes25/menu.html  Jacobs, Harriet, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) – I recommend the paperback edition by Jennifer Fleischner, ISBN 9780312442668, or the edition by Jean Fagan Yellin (in GL), but there are also free or very cheap Kindle versions available, and an online text at http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/jacobs/menu.html  Prince, Mary, The Life of Mary Prince (1831) – available in various good paperback editions (I recommend the U. of Michigan Press edition by Moira Ferguson, ISBN 9780472084104), or online at http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/prince/prince.html.  Stowe, Harriet Beecher, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) – Norton edition recommended because of the invaluable extra material on reception and criticism of the novel, ISBN 978-0393933994 (in GL); but you can also get a FREE Kindle edition, or cheaper paperback, or find it online: http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/StoCabi.html

Additional readings will be supplied on Blackboard, where key background documents (including a chronology of slavery and abolition) can also be found.

MOVIES

Amazing Grace. Dir. Michael Apted, 2007

12 Years a Slave. Dir. Steve McQueen, 2013

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES – WEBSITES

The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: a Visual Record: www.slaveryimages.org

The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database: http://www.slavevoyages.org

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES – WRITING SUPPORT

 If you need to hone your writing skills, brush up on grammar, or check up on correct MLA referencing conventions, use Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers – be sure to get the 8th edition, with up-to-date information following changes to MLA conventions in 2016. Alternatively, you can consult – free of charge – the generally reliable Online Writing Lab at Purdue University: (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/).  The Writing Tips folder in Blackboard contains handouts designed to help you read and write effectively as students of literature. Please download them and print them off for ease of reference throughout the course.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Reading Load

You will need to spend between six and eight hours a week doing the reading, thinking about the study questions, contributing to the online discussion board, and working on the assignments.

Discussion

The Discussion Board is our virtual classroom, and we will have a DB forum for ten out of the twelve semester weeks. You should participate fully in all forums. See the detailed information on Discussion Board procedures and expectations on page 11 below and the DB rubric on page 15 below.

Assignments

 Three 4-page formal essays to be submitted at the beginning of Weeks 5, 9 & 13, each on a topic selected from groups of titles supplied on Blackboard.

 One presentation (in Powerpoint or blog format) (Week 6/7) on a historical document (more information on this assignment will be provided nearer the time).

 Final exam (Week 12 of the course).

A shell of the final exam will be available on BB so that you know the format and expectations of the exam ahead of time.

Essay specifications and revisions

 Titles for essay topics will be posted on Blackboard.

 Length & format: formal essays should each be between three and five pages long (double-spaced, 12-point font), and should observe MLA conventions - see sample papers in the Writing Tips folder on BB. No title page. Use correct MLA headings, page numbers with your last name in the header of the file, and a centered title for your essay.

 Upload your essays to Blackboard as a Word document, via the Assignments folder.

 Revisions: students may revise Papers 1 and 2 for a higher grade, in response to instructor feedback. Essay revisions should be turned in within three weeks of the original assignment deadline. Essay revisions must be emailed to me, not uploaded to BB, and must be accompanied by a short paragraph in which you explain how you have revised your work.

 Here are sample WC entries, using the 2016 updates to MLA format. Your WC page should be a fresh numbered page at the end of your paper, with “Works Cited” centered (without quotation marks) as its title. The entries should have a hanging indent of 0.5 inch. Keep your WC page in double spacing (I have used single spacing here, to save room!)

Works Cited

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, edited by Joseph Black et al., Broadview Press, 2007, pp. 217-317.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, edited by Joseph Black et al., Broadview Press, 2007, pp. 282- 303.

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, edited by Joseph Black et al., Broadview Press, 2007, pp. 144-209. [The author of this poem is unknown, hence I have cited it by title only.]

FEEDBACK

When I grade assignments, I also write comments on your paper, using the BB mark-up facility for online submissions. Be sure you can see my comments – they may not show up on a Mac or an i-phone. You must read my comments in conjunction with the coded Feedback Sheet which is available on BB within the “Feedback and Revisions” folder and which is also appended to this syllabus (pages 16-17). So, if you find I’ve written G2 at the top of your paper, the Feedback sheet will translate this for you: “Your essay needs a header on each page which contains your last name and the page #”; or, if I write R2, then you will discover in the “References” section of the Feedback sheet some vital information on how to integrate quotations correctly.

Contacting Me Email me at [email protected]. I will generally respond to emails which require a response within 24 hours (longer at weekends). Always put your class name in the subject line so I know it is not junk mail.

GRADING

Points per assignment: Discussion board: 100 points each week for 10 weeks: 1,000 total Three 4-page papers: 600 points each, 1,800 total One presentation: 600 points Final exam 600 points Total points possible: 4,000

Grading scale A: 90 – 100% (3,600 – 4,000 points) B: 80 – 89% (3,200 – 3,599 points) C: 70 – 79% (2,800 – 3,199 points) D: 60 – 69% (2,400 – 2,799 points) F: less than 60% (fewer than 2,400 points)

NOTE: because this course has a substantial online discussion board component, ETs can only be granted under exceptional circumstances, and only to accommodate late papers, NOT overdue DB postings. ETs will not be granted to students who have completed less than 60% of the required work.

Dates and Deadlines

Discussion Boards

DB 1 Introductory Opens Mon Week 1 Closes Weds Week 2

DB 2 Oroonoko Opens Mon Week 2 Closes Weds Week 3

DB 3 Voices Opens Mon Week 3 Closes Weds Week 4

DB 4 Brooks & other images Opens Mon Week 4 Closes Weds Week 5

DB 5 Equiano & Amazing Grace Opens Mon Week 6 Closes Weds Week 7

DB 6 Jamaica Opens Mon Week 7 Closes Weds Week 8

DB 7 Grimes & Olney Opens Mon Week 8 Closes Weds Week 9

DB 8 Douglass or Jacobs Opens Mon Week 9 Closes Weds Week 10

DB 9 Uncle Tom’s Cabin Opens Mon Week 10 Closes Weds Week 11

DB 10 Twelve Years a Slave Opens Mon Week 11 Closes Weds Week 12

Essay 1 due: 8:00 am on Monday of Week 5

Powerpoint or Blog Presentation due: 8:00 am on Monday of Week 7 (but earlier is nice!)

Essay 2 due: 8:00 am on Monday of Week 9

Essay 3 due: 8:00 am on Tuesday of Week 13 (20 August)

Final Exam must be taken during Week 12 (by midnight on Sunday 18 August)

I have to submit final grades by Thursday 22 August.

Late assignments will incur grade penalties unless there is a valid reason for their tardiness.

If you fail to complete ALL the formal assignments, you are unlikely to pass the course.

HONOR CODE

Mary Baldwin students pledge to uphold the Honor Code. They pledge to refrain from cheating on assignments, papers and tests, to refrain from plagiarism, and always to be honest in their dealings with faculty, staff and other students. To maintain the integrity of the system, students, faculty and staff who witness Honor Code infractions are expected to report them. You can find the new Honor Code, along with honor council procedures and exam “dos and don’ts,” here on the MBU website: http://www.marybaldwin.edu/student/sga/honorcode/.

If I become aware of an Honor Code offense in this class, I will encourage the student to self- report by e-mailing the Honor Council chairwoman or by filing an incident report (searchable as a “Contact Report” and available within the “Honor Code” section of the MBU website). Here is a link to the incident report page: https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?MaryBaldwin&layout_id=0.

If the student does not self-report within 24 hours, I will submit the report myself.

If the Honor Code offense is related to a course assignment, the assignment will not receive an official grade until the Honor Council investigation (and, if necessary, hearing) is complete. I will not assess a grade penalty for an Honor Code infraction unless a student is found responsible by (or admits responsibility to) the Honor Council.

Plagiarism

Downloading papers from the internet; inserting passages of text which you have found online or in books; or allowing someone else to write, rewrite or edit your work, to suggest structure, to alter the substance of your ideas, or to do your research are all serious honor code violations. Borrowing other writers’ words or ideas without proper citation of those words or ideas constitutes PLAGIARISM!!!! These conditions apply not only to your formal papers, but to the Discussion Board – I’m interested in YOUR thoughts on the texts and ideas, not in how effectively you can surf the internet for second-hand material.

Please consult, for instance, section 54 (“Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism”) in Rules for Writers (8th edn) or relevant sections of the Purdue OWL, if you are in any doubt.

USING BLACKBOARD

 You must log into Blackboard several times a week, to keep up with the course. Check the Announcements section regularly.

 Please use the Weekly Study Guides modules in tandem with the primary texts for each week. Here, you will find Reading Notes designed to help you think intelligently about the material and focus your Discussion Board thoughts. The Reading Notes will also help you build a core understanding of the material, which will be invaluable for the essays you are required to write, and for the mid-term and final exams. I recommend that you print them off and scribble intelligently upon them. The WSG modules also offer additional resources such as websites and educational movies.

 The Discussion Board operates on a “long weekly” basis – this is my own invention, to allow people about ten days to contribute to the DB, including that precious weekend when most of you tend to do all your work! However, if you leave it until the eleventh hour to make your postings, your grade for the discussion board will suffer, because late submissions make stimulating group discussion impossible. You should visit the DB two or three times for each week’s discussion so that you are indeed having a conversation with others, not simply posting a mini-essay at the end of the week. Your grade will reflect the frequency of your engagement as well as the quality of your contribution(s).

 A note on DB dates: each DB week begins on the Monday (see Schedule of Readings below) and is deemed to finish at 11:59 on the following Wednesday (that is, ten days later). Obviously, these wacky dates do not apply to other deadlines, such as essay and exam deadlines.

 I will also post topics for formal essays and SPAs on Blackboard. You will upload your completed essays via the SafeAssign feature (plagiarism-checker) within Blackboard. My marked-up & graded versions of your essays will be returned to you via Blackboard.

 You will access and complete the mid-term and final exams via Blackboard. Further information on exam format will follow.

 Grades will be recorded in the Gradebook.

 If you encounter technical problems with Blackboard, please contact the technical support staff in the first instance. Our Blackboard co-ordinator is Beverly Riddell: [email protected].

DISCUSSION BOARD

The Discussion Board is our virtual classroom. Bear in mind that on-campus students are in class for two and a half hours each week: I don’t expect you to spend that long on the DB, but nor is it acceptable to make just one or two five-minute visits. You should aim to make at least two substantial discussion board postings per week, and to respond to others’ postings. Points will be awarded for postings which enter into dialogue with other students, and are not simply isolated mini-essays. See the grading rubric at the end of this syllabus (page 15), which makes it clear, for example, that to gain an “A” grade you’ll need to post meaningfully at least three times a week; and that if you contribute little more than “great post, I agree,” or “I didn’t like this poem,” you are unlikely to gain a passing grade for that week’s discussion.

Postings can range from sentence-length comments on others’ ideas, to more substantial paragraph entries of up to about 400 words (more than this tends to weary other readers). Your postings should reflect considered thought on the topic and show engagement with the primary material: you should back up your points with appropriate quotation (correctly referenced) from the text, and comment on how the passages you have quoted help the text to generate its effect (with reference to literary form, diction, figurative language, rhetorical devices, etc.) DB postings during the first few weeks will receive instructor feedback on these fundamental skills in literary analysis, as preparation for the formal written assignments required by the course – so you must engage with the DB right from the start.

I expect you to read everything on the discussion board, including questions which you did not respond to and postings that might have been made after you posted. Keep in mind that many students will post over the weekend, and I will make some closing comments after the discussion board closes on Wednesday night. I often post very important notes this way. Therefore, you will need to revisit the discussion board well after the Wednesday due date to make sure you have read everyone’s comments including mine.

The discussion will still be visible, and indeed worth revisiting many times as you prepare for formal essays and exams; but anyone who posts past the due date will not receive credit (unless I grant you special permission). This means that if you do not keep up with your weekly postings, you will lose your opportunity to post, which will negatively affect your final grade. The DB is the equivalent of the classroom. If you do not post in time to engage in discussion, you are effectively skipping class for a whole week.

SCHEDULE OF READINGS

WEEK 1 Introductory material (supplied on BB as Powerpoint lectures) Week  overview of the transatlantic slave trade begins  religion & race Tues Readings: three poems (pdfs on BB): 28 May  William Blake, “The Little Black Boy”  John Dyer, “The Fleece” (excerpts)  Poems by “A Very Ingenious Lady, and A Devout Christian” Plus a short prose text: Ukawsaw Gronniosaw’s Narrative (1772): http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/gronniosaw.htm

WEEK 2 Mon 3 Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (1688) – see list of required texts on page 3 of the syllabus. June

WEEK 3 A range of voices (short poems): Mon 10  The “Introduction” to James G. Basker, Amazing Grace: an Anthology of Poems about June Slavery 1660-1810 (Yale, 2002), pdf on BB  The “Epilogue” to The Padlock (1768): http://www.brycchancarey.com/slavery/padlock1.htm  James Stanfield’s poem, The Guinea Voyage: http://archive.org/details/guineavoyageapo00stangoog  Robert Southey, “The Sailor who had served in the Slave Trade,” pdf on BB  Thomas Day, “The Dying Negro,” pdf on BB  Phyllis Wheatley, “On Being Brought” and Matilda, “On Reading the Poems of P W,” pdf on BB  Anon., “The African’s Complaint,” pdf on BB  John Jamieson, “The Sorrows of Slavery,” excerpt, pdf on BB  Anon., “Help! oh help!”, pdf on BB  Mary Stockdale, “Fidelle; or, the Negro Child,” pdf on BB

WEEK 4 A case study in print campaigning: Mon 17  Marcus Rediker, “The Long Voyage of the Slave Ship Brooks,” chap 10 of The Slave June Ship (London & New York: Viking Penguin, 2007), pdf on BB And a selection of other influential images (www.slaveryimages.org)

WEEK 5  Poems by William Cowper – pdf on BB Mon 24  Equiano’s Interesting Narrative (1789) – excerpts on June http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/ (and read also the section on the website entitled “Where was Olaudah Equiano born?”)  Epitaph on Equiano’s daughter – pdf on BB

Viewing and discussion of Amazing Grace (2007, director Michael Apted) in relation to this week’s readings.

WEEK 6 Presentations on historical documents (mostly excerpts, not more than about 20 pages). Mon 1 Each of you will be assigned one of these texts on which to present – we’ll double up, or July I’ll provide more texts, as necessary. Online links or pdf files on BB.  James Ramsay, An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies (1784) – excerpts. The full text is available on googlebooks: look at pp. 249-53 for the story of “Quashy”  Thomas Clarkson, An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species (1788)  John Newton, Thoughts on the African Slave Trade (1788)  Alexander Falconbridge, Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa (1788)  The Speech of Mr Wilberforce … on a Motion for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the House of Commons, May the 12th, 1789 (1789)  William Fox, An Address to the People of Great Britain on the Utility of Refraining from the Use of West India Sugar and Rum 4th edn (1791)  Edmund Burke, Sketch of a Negro Code (1792)  Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “On the Slave Trade,” The Watchman (1795)  William Beckford, Remarks Upon the Situation of Negroes in Jamaica (1788)  Raymond Harris, Scriptural Researches on the licitness of the Slave Trade, shewing its conformity with the principles of natural and revealed religion (1788)  Bryan Edwards, A Speech delivered at a Free Conference between the Honourable Council and Assembly of Jamaica (1790)  J. B. Holroyd, Earl of Sheffield, Observations on the Project for Abolishing the Slave Trade (1790)

WEEK 7 Jamaica: Mon 8  Captain John Marjoribanks, “Slavery: An Essay in Verse,” pdf on BB July  Mary Prince, The History of Mary Prince (1831) – see list of required texts.

WEEK 8  William Grimes, Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave (1825) – see list of Mon 15 required texts July  James Olney, “‘I Was Born’: Slave Narratives, Their Status as Autobiography and as Literature,” Callaloo 20 (1984), 46-73: link to the article on JSTOR is on BB

WEEK 9  EITHER Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845) – see Mon 22 list of required texts; OR Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) – July see list of required texts OR another slave narrative from the “Documenting the South” website  Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1852) http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=162

WEEK 10 Mon 29 Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) July

WEEK 11 Mon 4 Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852); and responses to UTC in British & Aug American culture (see Sarah Meer, Uncle Tom Mania: Slavery, Minstrelsy and Transatlantic Culture in the 1850s, 2005)

WEEK 12 12 Years a Slave (dir. Steve McQueen, 2006/07) – see also Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Mon 11 Slave, http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/northup/menu.html Aug

Final Exam must be taken by midnight on Sunday 18 August

DISCUSSION BOARD GRADING RUBRIC

 Remarks are well written and argued effectively, above the level

normally expected of college students.  Observations are backed up with close reference to and quotation from A the literary texts; and there is some analysis of the quoted material.

Exceptional for college-  The student visits the discussion board 3–4 times per week, reads the level work discussion posts and responds to the postings of fellow students. The student engages collaboratively with others, interacting intelligently and thoughtfully, supplementing existing posts with additional new and relevant material (properly cited). The student may challenge existing posts and ask probing questions.

 Remarks are at or above the collegiate level in writing and argument.  B Observations are generally backed up with close reference to and quotation from the literary texts. Above average for  The student visits the discussion board 2–3 times per week, reads the college-level work discussion posts and responds to the postings of fellow students. Most interactions are collaborative and advance the conversation; they are thought-provoking and motivate responses from others.

 Remarks, in general, are at the collegiate level in writing and argument. C  The student visits the discussion board at least once per week and contributes to the dialogue. Interactions with others, however, are Average participation generally one-way and do not lead to probing thought; they seldom for college-level work advance a conversation.

 Remarks are poorly written and/or argued. D  The student visits the discussion board 0–1 times per week, or Below average inconsistently throughout the semester. Contributions are rarely participation interactive or engaging and do not advance the conversation.

 Little or no participation; remarks, when written, do not advance the F conversation. Unacceptable level and  The student visits the discussion board less than once every other week quality of participation and makes little or no meaningful contribution to the dialogue.

Essay Feedback for literature courses

S. Structure & argument

1. Introduction is too complicated – make your argument clearer

2. Introduction is too simplistic or factual – be sure you have an interesting argument

3. Identify the text and (if known!) the author of the text(s) you’ll be discussing – do this in the first paragraph. You may also wish to give the date, especially if you are making any kind of historical or contextual argument

4. You need a clear thesis statement

5. Improve transitions between paragraphs

6. Be sure to have a clear topic sentence for each paragraph

7. Improve transitions between sentences

8. Consider merging sentences to eliminate repetition and improve fluency

9. Your essay is too dependent upon summarizing the literary text: you need to be analyzing it

10. Pay more attention to the literary qualities of the text you are discussing: show not WHAT it says, but HOW it says it

11. Back up your argument with quotation from the primary text(s) – at least one quotation per paragraph, but more if your paragraph makes several points

12. When you’ve introduced a quotation to back up your point, take time to comment on how it works; comment on how particular words, phrases, images, sound patterns contribute to the EFFECT of the quoted passage

13. You need a punchier conclusion which not only shows the reader how you have argued what you said you would argue in your introduction; but also adds something about the “so what” factor of your argument.

G. Grammar, mechanics, and key stylistic points – the basics

1. Your essay needs correct MLA headings on page 1 – consult sample MLA essay in Writing Tips folder on BB.

2. Your essay needs a header on each page which contains your last name and the page #

3. Your essay needs a title

4. Comma splice 16

5. Sentence fragment

6. Run-on sentence

7. Avoid vague use of “it,” “this,” “they” and other pronouns; and avoid “there is/are” constructions

8. Watch for inconsistent verb tenses, and be sure you have used the correct form of the past tense. Use the present tense when describing what happens in literary texts, but the past tense when describing historical events or contexts

9. Eliminate dangling modifiers (“As a child, my mother read me Goodnight Moon”) – your mother was NOT a child when she did this …

10. Careless spelling mistakes and typos

R. References and quotations – BASIC & ESSENTIAL aspects of MLA format

1. If you are referring to other texts, remember that titles of separately published works (novels, plays, long poems, newspapers, magazines) go into italics (The Hunger Games; Paradise Lost; Newsweek): titles of poems, short stories, essays or articles go into quotation marks (“The Wanderer,” “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “Consider the Lobster”)

2. Introduce quotations properly (use signal phrases!) with proper grammatical consistency (or “flow”) between YOUR sentence and the quoted material. Use a colon if you introduce a quotation with a full independent clause of your own.

3. Lay out your quotations from poems with proper attention to LINES. Set off quotations of more than four lines of poems as an indented block quotation. No quotation marks when you indent longer quotations: the indentation performs the same function as quotation marks for shorter, non-indented quotations. For fewer than four lines, incorporate the quotation into your own sentence and paragraph; if you quote more than one line, indicate line breaks with a slash /

4. Punctuate quotations correctly – pay attention to where the quotation marks, periods, and parenthetical references should all go, in relation to each other. Avoid "dropped quotations" (DQ) where you stick a quotation into your paper without incorporating it into one of your sentences.

5. Reference quotations correctly (line numbers for poems, page numbers for prose texts).