WHISL Dingle/Erickson/Gravelle Essay Tips Two

Content Style grammar Introducing quotations Avoiding redundancy/wordiness Comma review 1. Before you drop in a quotation, you need to Redundancy is when you say the same thing There are many comma rules, but we’ll focus on back up to inform the reader of what’s been twice and/or are wordy in your execution. three. happening before a quotation is written. Again, remember the cardinal rule of academic writing: Examples: 1. To set off parenthetical elements. You assume your audience is intelligent, but knows should avoid parentheses whenever you nothing about your subject. 1. Justice, by nature, is hard to define. can in your writing. There are times 2. My weekend was absolutely spectacular. when they are necessary, but few “Cinderella was permitted to attend the ball.” 3. In spite of the fact that more people students use them properly. voted for Gore, because of the Electoral 2. To link two clauses WHEN A 2. Try to smoothly introduce quotes. College, Bush won. FLIPPING COORDINATING 4. The squirrel was massive in size. CONJUNTION (FANBOYS) is used. If Plato writes, “justice is good.” there’s no coordinating conjunction, YOU HAVE GRIEVOUSLY ERRED- To address this conflict, “we need to work YOU HAVE CREATED A BLOODY together.” COMMA SPLICE! 3. Before a quotation (or a colon) 1. Better: 5. Larry walked into class, late as usual, and sat at his desk. 1. Justice is hard to define. 6. Bad: Gilgamesh is a story of growing 2. My weekend was spectacular. up, its characters learn many lessons. 3. Although more people voted for Gore, Good: Gilgamesh is a story of growing because of the Electoral College, Bush up, as its characters learn many lessons. won. 3. …thus Plato writes, “garden gnomes are 4. The squirrel was massive. bad news.”