ENG 102 CI Research Paper Self Check

You are going through this power point on your own. At this point you will get out of this self edit

experience what you put into it. Do your best to reflect on each and every element to this review. This will help you for when you bring in your next

round of editing. We want to be sure we get all the editing issues taken care of. If at any point you have

questions, just ask.

Check for the structural elements required:

• Do you have headers? Your last name and page number ½ an inch down on each page?

• Is the full paper double spaced?• Do you NOT have any extra spacing?• Is your title strong and effective? Not something simplistic like

Cyberbullying, but not drippy and sappy? Find that happy medium.

• Do you have proper heading information and is it in the right order?

• Do you have our current section number? It is at the top of our ENG 102 page if you need it.

Check for the structural elements required:

• Do you have your intro and conclusion sitting at 5-7 sentences?• Are your body paragraphs 7-10 sentences?• Do you have two parenthetical documentations for each source?• Do have all your PD highlighted from the beginning to the end of the

PD?• Are all 20 of your vocab words highlighted?• Have you labeled in brackets your sources? Here is how it should look:

Author. More info. The rest of the important info. Even more stuff you need to have. Medium. 15 February 2015. [Scholarly]

First, go through and ensure you don’t have any of these common mistakes: • Be sure you have a minimum of 5 quotes!• No Stacking! You need at least two sentences between all quotes/paraphrases!• 3rd person only – no: I, you, we, us, our, me, my, mine, your . . .• No quotes or paraphrases as the topic sentence or the last sentence in the

paragraph.• No dropped quotes – everything needs a lead-in!• Proper PD: Lead in “blah blah blah” (Smith).• Match your PD if you don’t have an author: (“My Article”)• All numbers are written out if they are under 100 – the only exception would be

numbers in a quote.• No quotation marks around words for emphasis.• Cross out tired words: bad, good, problem . . . . Go through and choose 10

words that can be strengthened. Highlight them – this way you can change for your next round of editing.

• Check for quotes or paraphrases that are too long! Your words should drive this piece.

• Check your PD for internet sources, do not put any page numbers! (Smith).

• You can have one blocked/long quote in your paper – although, I don’t recommend having any.

• Be sure that your end punctuation for short quotes and paraphrases follows the parentheses: “blah blah blah” (Smith).

• Be sure that the final sentence of your body paragraphs are a summation of your ideas and a transition into the next.

• Don’t forget about ellipses! Use three evenly spaced periods to show omission, add a fourth period (your end punctuation is added) if you remove a full sentence, don’t use an ellipses at the beginning or end of a quote. Use [sic] if there is an error in the writing and interpolation (words in brackets) if you need to clarify [because something is confusing].

Focus on your Works Cited page now:• Must be double-spaced.• It too has to have a header.• Entries need to be in alphabetical order• If you don’t have an author and you have to put the article title in your

parentheses for your PD be sure you have the title in quotation marks in your PD! You have to match it to your works cited page!

• Journals, magazines, newspapers, and web page titles are all in italics. Article titles are in quotation marks. NOTHING is underlined.

• We don’t put the web address in the works cited entry.• List Web or Print.• Your access date is the last item. Your access date is written weird: 4 Feb.

2014 NOT Feb. 4, 2014.• Place a period at the end of each entry.• Be sure if you used the cite now feature that you selected MLA and not

APA!

On the next few slides are common feedback statements that I put on this research paper. Some of these may be repetitive of issues I have

already had you review, but that is okay. Look through these statements and be sure you are avoiding these issues in your paper.

Make me work hard to find any errors in your paper!

Be sure your header is really ½ an inch down. Do you have the right section number? Write out the due date for your paper! We don’t have a title page for this! Don’t have extra spacing between your date and the title of your essay. Remember that your title of your essay must be in third person too! Be sure your vocab words are not awkward! Don’t throw in a fifty dollar word with a bunch of one

dollars! Consider reading your paper out loud! You will feel silly – but you will notice that you will stumble as

you read the awkward spots! Any place that you stumble, mark it, and go back and review!

Topic sentence can’t have quotes or paraphrases. Be sure that you don’t have too much narrative or story – this is not descriptive writing! Be sure you don’t have lead-ins that are awkward. Don’t say: Cooper believes “blah blah blah” – who

is Cooper? The first time you mention say at least the full name, Mary Cooper. If you can add any credential that is helpful too!

Only capitalize when necessary! Please do not make-up your own capitalization rules! Write out U.S. – this is a formal paper! Write out television, don’t shorten to TV Keep your word choice formal! Be sure your parenthetical documentation has the right structure and the end punctuation is in the

right place.

Don’t fall into your opinion – keep focused! No air quotes! Think about the purpose of every paragraph! Don’t lose that focus and go off on a tangent. Only one

main idea per paragraph! Your final sentence in your paragraph should be a summation and transition! You are summing up

that paragraph and creating a smooth transition into your next idea! The only exception is the last sentence of your intro (it is the thesis) and the last sentence of your conclusion must a powerful sentence that wraps up everything. By the time I am done reading your essay I should be ready to go and fight whatever you told me is destroying America!

Don’t be formulaic with your topic sentences! Vary your sentence structure! Sprinkle your quotes/paraphrases throughout everything!

Do not use the following words anywhere in a topic sentence: this, these, those. We don’t want shady pronouns!

Use a semicolon properly! It connects two independent clauses! Watch for pronoun agreement issues! Stay persuasive! This isn’t a report. You want to demand your reader take immediate action! Aim to

keep your reader up at night pondering this major problem in society that you are bringing to light! Two solutions = two solution paragraphs! If anything is NOT common knowledge it must be cited! Don’t glob your vocab words together in one section – sprinkle those as well!

Be sure your works cited page is double spaced without any extra spaces between your entries. Be sure your article titles are in quotation marks and your journal\newspaper\magazine titles in italics. Your access date is backwards: 25 Jan. 2014.

A great attention getter for this paper is painting the image of hor r or that your problem is creating – this is the place you can let your scintillating descriptive skills shine! But, then you need to dial it down and be formal.

The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our

equilibrium. ~Norbet Platt

Next Steps: Hopefully you have completely marked up your paper and found some

errors that you can fix for our next round of editing. So go ahead and make those changes.

Bring to class Friday a new, clean final draft. This should be the strongest possible draft that you can prepare. We will do the peer edit then.

Be sure that you highlight everything that is required (PD and vocab) and that you label your sources. You do not need to have a key for this paper. It is pretty obvious which are your quotes and which are your paraphrases.

If you need help or have questions – please ask! That is what I am here for! This paper is worth a lot of points – we want this to be the best possible paper can submit.

Now that you are finished with the self edit, you need to get the QR code to scan so you can get your points for this activity. Be sure this is

submitted to me BEFORE 7:30am on Friday! This is how you get your points for the first round rough draft self edit. You are essentially assigning yourself the points. You will find the QR code on the filing

cabinet under the mirror in our room. Right by all my magnets that have the witty quotes on them.