CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

Guidelines for Writing Studies I Essays

from the essay grading checklists

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

Rhetorical Purpose

• you should have a clear purpose for writing your essay and the essay should support that purpose throughout

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

Attention to Audience

You should • write for a general, academic audience• supply necessary background

information on the topic and the reading source

• have an appropriate tone use a “medium level of formality,” i.e. not

too informal (no slang, no conversational expressions) but not too formal, e.g. no overly technical terms or complicated sentence structure

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

(Manuscript) Conventions

• correct punctuation• required document format• neatness• grammar rules of standard

written English

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

Use of Source Material

• avoid plagiarism (see pp. 14-15 of the Composition Handbook and this from the Writing Resource Center), whether it is intentional or unintentional

• incorporate material from reading sources through quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing

• document sources with APA Style

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

APA Style Documentation in the Body of the Essay

Pogue (2009) argues that “the theft-of-privacy threat remains mostly in the realm of the theoretical and the someday” (p. 87).

(Note: 2009 is the year of the publication of the book that contains the article by Katz, not the actual year the article may have been first published.)

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

or:

We have to realize that “the theft-of-privacy threat remains mostly in the realm of the theoretical and the someday” (Pogue, 2009, p. 87).

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

or:

Dyson (2009) states, “We haven’t created a perfect society on earth and we won’t have on in cyberspace either” (p. 28). She argues against government attempts to regulate the Internet like the Exon-Coats Amendment (2009, p. 25).

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

or:

It has been observed that when bloggers “spend more time hunkered over their computers, they neglect family, friends and jobs” (Hafner & Gnatek, 2009, p. 35).

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

or:

Hafner and Gnatek (2009) observe that when bloggers “spend more time hunkered over their computers, they neglect family, friends and jobs” (p. 35).

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

Taking on a new identity online “allows you to perpetually live in a fantasy instead of living in real life” (Wesson, as cited in Harmon, 2009, p. 43).

or:

Wesson believes that taking on a new identity online “allows you to perpetually live in a fantasy instead of living in real life” (as cited in Harmon, 2009, p. 43).

CPN 100 — Writing Studies I

Structure of Essay

• the structure of the essay as a whole (e.g. does it have the traditional structure of an introduction, a body and a conclusion)

• structure of the individual paragraphs that make up the essay (see the Paragraphs lecture)