Things to remember when writing an essay:

1. Never use second person (you)

2. Try to eliminate first person (I) unless assigned

3. Avoid slang, regional expressions, and nonstandard English

4. Avoid cliches (cool as a cucumber, white as a ghost, blind as a bat, knock on wood)

5. Cut out inflated phrases like, “I believe” or “I will prove…” or “In my opinion…”

6. Do not shift from past to present tense (vise versa)

7. Eliminate contractions

8. Fix all run on, fused, and comma spliced sentences

9. Use proper English (euphemisms are sometimes appropriate economically deprived/poor)

10. Be parallel

11. Use transitions from thought to thought and from paragraph to paragraph

12. Subject-verb agreement

13. Avoid short, choppy sentences

14. Eliminate redundancy of words

15. Avoid sexist language

Manuscript format MLA:

1” margins all the way around

12-point font

Courier or Times New Roman

All double-spaced

1 space after comma and two after a period

Header with last name and page number on each page

NO COVER PAGE

Name, Prof., class, and date inverted on first page in upper left corner (also double-spaced)