ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE

Revised Edition

ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

Open Oregon Educational Resources

Portland, Ore.
About Writing: A Guide by Robin Jeffrey is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/4.0/.
CONTENTS

COMPOSING

Types of Writing Styles 3

Understanding the Assignment 6

Assessing the Writing Situation 8

Test Your Thesis 9

Constructing an Outline 11

Checklist: Planning a Document 12

Transitions 13

Visuals Help You Communicate 14

ACADEMIC WRITING

Active Reading 21

Analyzing a Text 23

Rhetorical Concepts 25

Academic Writing: Point of View 28

Academic Writing: Verb Tense 29

How to: Write a Summary 30

Countering Opposing Arguments 31

Putting Inductive Reasoning to the Test 33

Most Common Evidence Used by Authors 34

RESEARCHING

Keyword Searching: Do it Better! 39

Is this source scholarly? 40

Evaluating Sources 41

Evaluating Web Sources 42

What Do You Need for a Citation? 44

Avoiding Plagiarism 46

MLA/APA/CMS

What is MLA, APA, and CMS? 51

MLA Signal Phrases 52

MLA Citation Examples 54

APA Signal Phrases 58

APA Citation Examples 60

CMS Signal Phrases 65

BASIC GRAMMAR

Introducing... Subordinate Clauses! 69

GRAMMATICAL SENTENCES

Subject-Verb Agreement 73

Should You Use –s (or –es) for a Present-Tense 75

Verb?

Is Your Sentence a Fragment? 78

Is Your Sentence a Run-On? 81

Does Your Sentence Have a Dangling Modifier? 84

MULTILINGUAL WRITERS AND ESL CHALLENGES

Verb Forms: The Basics 89

Verb Tenses: Active Voice 90

Verb Tenses: Passive Voice 94

The Meaning of Modals 97

Nouns 100

Articles for Common Nouns 103

Non-count Nouns 105

Geography and ‘The’ 107

How to Order Cumulative Adjectives 110

Three Magic Words: At, On, and In 111

Combo Time! – Adjectives & Prepositions 112

Combo Time! – Verbs & Prepositions 113

REVISING

A strategy for analyzing and revising a first draft 117

Checklist: Revision 128

How to: Be a Constructive Peer Reviewer 129

COMPOSING
TYPES OF WRITING STYLES

There are four main types of writing: expository, descriptive,

persuasive, and narrative. Each of these writing styles is used
for a specific purpose. A single text may include more than one
writing style.

EXPOSITORY

Expository writing is one of the most common types of writing.

When an author writes in an expository style, all they are trying
to do is explain a concept, imparting information from
themselves to a wider audience. Expository writing does not
include the author’s opinions, but focuses on accepted facts
about a topic, including statistics or other evidence.

Examples of Expository Writing

• Textbooks

• How-to articles

• Recipes

• News stories (not editorials or Op-Eds)

• Business, technical, or scientific writing

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 3

 DESCRIPTIVE

Descriptive writing is often found in fiction, though it can make

an appearance in nonfiction as well (for example, memoirs, first-
hand accounts of events, or travel guides). When an author writes
in a descriptive style, they are painting a picture in words of
a person, place, or thing for their audience. The author might
employ metaphor or other literary devices in order to describe
the author’s impressions via their five senses (what they hear, see,
smell, taste, or touch). But the author is not trying to convince
the audience of anything or explain the scene – merely describe
things as they are.

Examples of Descriptive Writing

• Poetry

• Journal/diary writing

• Descriptions of Nature

• Fictional novels or plays

PERSUASIVE

Persuasive writing is the main style of writing you will use in

academic papers. When an author writes in a persuasive style,
they are trying to convince the audience of a position or belief.
Persuasive writing contains the author’s opinions and biases, as
well as justifications and reasons given by the author as evidence
of the correctness of their position. Any “argumentative” essay
you write in school should be in the persuasive style of writing.

4 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

 Examples of Persuasive Writing

• Cover letters

• Op-Eds and Editorial newspaper articles

• Reviews of items

• Letters of complaint

• Advertisements

• Letters of recommendation

NARRATIVE

Narrative writing is used in almost every longer piece of writing,

whether fiction or nonfiction. When an author writes in a
narrative style, they are not just trying to impart information,
they are trying to construct and communicate a story, complete
with characters, conflict, and settings.

Examples of Narrative Writing

• Oral histories

• Novels/Novellas

• Poetry (especially epic sagas or poems)

• Short Stories

• Anecdotes

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 5

 UNDERSTANDING THE ASSIGNMENT

There are four kinds of analysis you need to do in order to fully

understand an assignment: determining the purpose of the
assignment, understanding how to answer an assignment’s
questions, recognizing implied questions in the assignment, and
recognizing the disciplinary expectations of the assignment.

Always make sure you fully understand an assignment before

you start writing!

DETERMINING THE PURPOSE

The wording of an assignment should suggest its purpose. Any

of the following might be expected of you in a college writing
assignment:

• Summarizing information
• Analyzing ideas and concepts
• Taking a position and defending it
• Combining ideas from several sources and creating your own
original argument.

UNDERSTANDING HOW TO ANSWER THE ASSIGNMENT

College writing assignments will ask you to answer a how or why

question – questions that can’t be answered with just facts. For
example, the question “What are the names of the presidents of

6 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

the US in the last twenty years?” needs only a list of facts to
be answered. The question “Who was the best president of the
last twenty years and why?” requires you to take a position and
support that position with evidence.

Sometimes, a list of prompts may appear with an assignment.

Remember, your instructor will not expect you to answer all of
the questions listed. They are simply offering you some ideas so
that you can think of your own questions to ask.

RECOGNIZING IMPLIED QUESTIONS

A prompt may not include a clear ‘how’ or ‘why’ question, though

one is always implied by the language of the prompt. For
example:

“Discuss the effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on special

education programs” is asking you to write how the act has affected
special education programs.

“Consider the recent rise of autism diagnoses” is asking you to write

why the diagnoses of autism are on the rise.

RECOGNIZING DISCIPLINARY EXPECTATIONS

Depending on the discipline in which you are writing, different

features and formats of your writing may be expected. Always
look closely at key terms and vocabulary in the writing
assignment, and be sure to note what type of evidence and
citations style your instructor expects.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 7

 ASSESSING THE WRITING SITUATION

Before beginning the writing process, always establish the

following:

• Is there an assigned topic or are you free to choose your own?

• What about your subject interests you?
• Why is your subject worth reading about?
• Double check that your subject is not too broad – narrow it
down if necessary.
• Determine the purpose of the work.
• Determine the readers of the work and their level of
knowledge about the topic.
• Determine where your evidence will come from.
• Decide what kind of evidence would best serve your
argument.
• Identify the required style (MLA, APA, etc.) of the paper.
• Be aware of length specifications.
• Consider if visuals might be helpful in your paper.
• Will someone be reviewing drafts of your paper? Who?
• Note your deadline and how much time you have for each
stage of the writing process.

8 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

TEST YOUR THESIS

You’ve come up with what you hope will be a great thesis for
your paper. Want to make sure before you get started with it? Ask
yourself the following questions:

1. Does your thesis take a position, propose a solution, or

answer a question?
2. Does your thesis give you enough material to write a full-
length paper?
3. Can you come up with interpretations of your thesis that
don’t match your own?
4. Is there evidence to support your thesis?
5. Will readers want to read an essay with this thesis?

If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no,’ you need to revise

your thesis.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 9

10 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN
CONSTRUCTING AN OUTLINE

I. Put the thesis at the top.

A. Make items at the same level have the same grammar/

tenses.

B. Use full sentences when possible.

1. Use the conventional system of numbering (such as

the one being demonstrated now).

2. Always include at least two items per level.

a. Use as few major sections (I., II., III., etc.) as

possible.

b. If the list gets too long, try clustering the items

into broader categories with more subcategories.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 11

 CHECKLIST: PLANNING A DOCUMENT

• Determine your document’s purpose.

• Plan your document’s design to support this purpose.
• Identify your document’s audience.
• Identify your audience’s expectations.
• Decide what format your document will require (include
layout, margins, line spacing, font styles, etc.).
• Decide whether or not visuals will be helpful to include in
your document. If you decide to use visuals, determine what
kind of visual would be most useful.

12 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

TRANSITIONS

and, also, besides, further, furthermore, in addition, moreover, next, too,

Addition
first, second

Examples for example, for instance, to illustrate, in fact, specifically

Compare also, similarly, likewise

but, however, on the other hand, in contrast, nevertheless, still, even though,
Contrast
on the contrary, yet, although

Summarize/
in other words, in short, in conclusion, to sum up, therefore
Conclude

after, as, before, next, during, later, finally, meanwhile, since, then, when,
Time
while, immediately

Place/
above, below, beyond, farther on, nearby, opposite, close, to the left
Direction

Logical if, so, therefore, consequently, thus, as a result, for this reason, because,
Relationship since

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 13

 VISUALS HELP YOU COMMUNICATE

PIE CHART

Pie charts are great for illustrating comparisons between a part

and the whole. Segments of the chart represent percentages of
the whole.

“Causes of concussion” by delldot is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

LINE GRAPH

Line graphs help you emphasize a particular trend over time.

14 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

“Increase in Textbook Prices” by David Ernst, Open Textbook Network is licensed under
CC BY 4.0

BAR GRAPH

Bar graphs serve basically the same purpose as line graphs,

emphasizing trends over a particular period of time.

“Single Bar Graph” by Lauren Manning is licensed under CC BY 2.0

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 15

 TABLE

Tables are a good way to visually organize complex numerical

information, especially if you have a lot of data.

Bookstore Weekly Schedule Week of May 1-7

Sun 5/1 Mon 5/2 Tue 5/3 Wed 5/4 Thu 5/5 Fri 5/6 Sat 5/7

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Shiro, I. 9am-6pm 9am-6pm 9am-1pm

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A.

PHOTOGRAPH

Photographs depict people, situations, or ideas that might be

discussed in your text.

“College” by univfajar is in the Public Domain, CC0

16 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

DIAGRAM

Diagrams are used most often in scientific or technical writing

because of their ability to convey complex processes and
structures simply.

“Tugboat diagram” by Al2 with minor modifications by Lycaon – Own work. Licensed
under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.

FLOWCHART

Flowcharts are great for showing structure as well as steps in a

linear process.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 17

 “Flow chart determining reusability of a portrait photo” by Sebastiaan ter Burg is licensed
under CC BY 4.0

MAP

Maps are the perfect choice for illustrating geographical

distances, demographics, or other data that is at least partially
dependent on place.

“Oregon Trail wikivoyage map” by Gorilla Jones is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

18 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

ACADEMIC WRITING
ACTIVE READING

Start by getting familiar with the basic parts and structure of the
text:

• What kind of text are you reading? An essay? A web site?

• Every author has a purpose; find it.
• Who is the audience and how does the author try to appeal to
them?
• What argument is the author making/question does the text
try to answer?
• What evidence does the author provide?
• Are there any key terms the author defines?

As you’re reading, make note of anything that especially catches

your attention:

• Is there a fact or point that challenged your assumptions?

• Any surprises?
• Did the author make a point or argument that you disagree
with?
• Are there any inconsistencies in the text?
• Does the text contain anything (words, phrases, ideas) that
you don’t understand?

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 21

 After you’ve finished reading, read it again:

• Are there things you didn’t notice the first time reading the
text?
• Does the text leave some questions open-ended?
• Imagine the author is sitting across from you: what would you
ask them about the text? Why?

If the text is visual in nature, try these extra tips:

• What first strikes you about the image?

• Who/what is the main subject of the visual?
• What colors/textures dominate the visual?
• What objects/people are in the background/foreground?
• Do words or numbers play any role in the visual?
• When was the visual created?

22 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

ANALYZING A TEXT

WRITTEN TEXTS

When you analyze an essay or article, consider these questions:

• What is the thesis or central idea of the text?

• Who is the intended audience?
• What questions does the author address?
• How does the author structure the text?
• What are the key parts of the text?
• How do the key parts of the text interrelate?
• How do the key parts of the text relate to the thesis?
• What does the author do to generate interest in the argument?
• How does the author convince the readers of their argument’s
merit?
• What evidence is provided in support of the thesis?
• Is the evidence in the text convincing?
• Has the author anticipated opposing views and countered
them?
• Is the author’s reasoning sound?

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 23

 VISUAL TEXTS

When you analyze a piece of visual work, consider these

questions:

• What confuses, surprises, or interests you about the image?

• In what medium is the visual?
• Where is the visual from?
• Who created the visual?
• For what purpose was the visual created?
• Identify any clues that suggest the visual’s intended audience.
• How does this image appeal to that audience?
• In the case of advertisements, what product is the visual
selling?
• In the case of advertisements, is the visual selling an
additional message or idea?
• If words are included in the visual, how do they contribute to
the meaning?
• Identify design elements – colors, shapes, perspective, and
background – and speculate how they help to convey the
visual’s meaning or purpose.

24 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

RHETORICAL CONCEPTS

During your time as a student of writing, you may hear

instructors talk about “rhetorical situations.” This is a term used
to talk about any set of circumstances in which one person is
trying to change another person’s mind about something, most
often via text (like a book, or blog post, or journal article).

These rhetorical situations can be better understood by

examining the rhetorical concepts that they are built from. The
philosopher Aristotle called these concepts logos, ethos, pathos,
telos, and kairos – also known as text, author, audience,
purposes, and setting.

TEXT (LOGOS)

Texts can come in all shapes and sizes, such as those listed earlier.
But in this context, text is not limited to something written
down. The text in a rhetorical situation could be a film, or a
photograph, or a recording of a song or history. The important
thing to ask yourself when faced with a text, no matter what it
is, is what is gained by having the text composed in this format/
genre. What are the relevant characteristics of a book versus a
song? What might an oral history version of a text communicate
that a book version would not?

AUTHOR (ETHOS)

Here the “author” of a text is the creator, the person utilizing

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 25

 communication to try to effect a change in their audience. An
author doesn’t have to be a single person, or a person at all –
an author could be an organization. To understand the rhetorical
situation of a text, examine the identity of the author and their
background. Not only do you want to know what kind of
experience they have in the subject, but you’ll also want to
explore basic biographical information about them. Where and
when did they grow up? How could that affect their perspective
on the topic?

AUDIENCE (PATHOS)

The audience is any person or group who is the intended

recipient of the text, and also the person/people the text is trying
to influence. To understand the rhetorical situation of a text,
examine who the intended audience is and what their
background may be. An audiences’ assumptions about the
author, the context in which they are receiving the text, their
own demographic information (age, gender, etc.) can all effect
how the text is seeking to engage with them.

PURPOSES (TELOS)

What is the author hoping to achieve with the communication

of this text? What do they want from their audience? What does
the audience want from the text and what may they do once
the text is communicated? Both author and audience can have
purpose and it’s important to understand what those might be in
the rhetorical situation of the text you are examining. An author
may be trying to inform, to convince, to define, to announce, or
to activate, while an audience’s purpose may be to receive notice,
to quantify, to feel a sense of unity, to disprove, to understand,
or to criticize. Any and all of these purposes determine the ‘why’
behind the decisions both groups make.

SETTING (KAIROS)

Nothing happens in a vacuum, and that includes the text you are

26 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

trying to understand. It was written in a specific time, context,
and/or place, all of which can affect the way the text
communicates its message. To understand the rhetorical
situation of a text, examine the setting of both audience and
author and ask yourself if there was a particular occasion or
event that prompted the particular text at the particular time it
was written.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 27

 ACADEMIC WRITING: POINT OF VIEW

If you’re sitting down to write an analytical or research essay

(common in the humanities), use the third-person point of view:
Achebe argues… or Carter describes her experiences as…

Scientists (including social scientists) tend to use third-person

point of view as well, because they depend largely on quantitative
research to present their findings or support their opinions: The
results indicated…

Occasionally, social scientists and writers in the humanities will

use first person to discuss their own experiences while doing
research or if writing part of a personal narrative as evidence:
After spending a year living with the Upendi, I came to the conclusion
that… or Every Christmas we went to the same place, as if our
memories could be rekindled…

28 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

ACADEMIC WRITING: VERB TENSE

Scholars of literature use the present tense to talk about a text:

Humphrey’s continual references to the color pink further emphasizes
the imagery of the rose…

Scientists (including social scientists) use the past tense to talk

about experiments, and only use the present tense when
discussing results of those experiments: In 2013, Baker conducted
the first of his experiments… His results are interesting, if inconclusive.

History writers use present, or present perfect tense, to discuss

their texts: Shirley Macintyre writes in her diary that the fighting was
fiercest on the ridge… or Shirley Macintyre has written that the fighting
was fiercest on the ridge…

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 29

 HOW TO: WRITE A SUMMARY

At the very beginning of your summary, mention the title of

the text you are summarizing, the name of the author, and the
central point or argument of the text. Always maintain a neutral
tone and use the third-person point of view and present tense
(i.e. Tompkins asserts…). Keep the focus of the summary on the
text, not on what you think of it, and try to put as most of the
summary as you can in your own words. Present the text’s main
points only and be concise! Every word counts.

30 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

COUNTERING OPPOSING ARGUMENTS

Almost anything you can argue or claim in a paper can be

refuted. Opposing points of view and arguments exist in every
debate, and it’s important to anticipate possible objections to
your arguments. In order to do that, ask yourself the following
questions:

• Could someone draw a different conclusion from the facts or

examples you present?
• Could a reader question any of your assumptions or claims?
• Could a reader offer a different explanation of an issue?
• Is there any evidence out there that could weaken your
position?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, the next set of

questions can help you respond to these potential objections:

• Is it possible to concede the point of the opposition, but then

challenge that point’s importance/usefulness?
• Can you offer an explanation of why a reader should question
a piece of evidence or consider a different point of view?
• Can you explain how your position responds to any
contradicting evidence?
• Can you put forward a different interpretation of evidence?

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 31

 You can use signal phrases in your paper to alert readers that
you’re about to present an objection. It’s usually best to put this
phrase at the beginning of a paragraph such as:

• Researchers have challenged these claims with…

• Critics argue that this view…
• Some readers may point to…

32 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

PUTTING INDUCTIVE REASONING TO THE TEST

Inductive reasoning, a way of thinking that makes sense of things

by making specific observations and then drawing broad
conclusions based on those observations, is a great way to come
to a probable conclusion. Ask three simple questions of the
evidence you’re using to back up your conclusion, and you can
see if your argument is supported by inductive reasoning.

1. Is the evidence sufficient?

2. Does the evidence reflect the characteristics of all the
individuals involved?
3. Is the evidence relevant to your topic?

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 33

 MOST COMMON EVIDENCE USED BY AUTHORS

HUMANITIES: LITERATURE, ART, FILM, MUSIC,

PHILOSOPHY

• Critical essays that analyze other original works

• Details from an image, a film, or other work of art
• Passages from a musical composition
• Passages of text, including poetry

HUMANITIES: HISTORY

• Primary Sources (photos, letters, maps, official documents,

etc.)
• Other books or articles that interpret primary sources or
other evidence.

SOCIAL SCIENCES: PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, POLITICAL

SCIENCE, ANTHROPOLOGY

• Books or articles that interpret data and results from other

people’s original experiments or studies.
• Results from field research (including interviews, surveys,
observations, etc.)
• Data from their own experiments
• Statistics

34 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

SCIENCES: BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS

• Data from their own experiments

• Books or articles that interpret data and results from other
people’s original experiments or studies.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 35

RESEARCHING
KEYWORD SEARCHING: DO IT BETTER!

What do you do if the results you want aren’t coming up when

you keyword search the web or a database? Here are a few helpful
tips:

• Searching a phrase? Put it in quotation marks: “textbook

affordability” will get you results for that exact phrase.
• Searching for two terms that you think are topically related?
Use AND (or +) to connect them: education AND racism, or,
education + racism, will only bring up results that include
both terms
• Searching for a term that’s commonly associated with a topic
you don’t want to learn about? Use NOT (or -) in front of the
keyword you don’t want results from: articles NOT
magazines, or, articles – magazines, will bring up results that
are about articles, but exclude any results that also include the
term magazines.
• Want to get back as many results on a topic as possible? Use *
at the end of a word for any letters that might vary: smok*,
will bring up results that include the term smoke, smoking,
and smokers.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 39

 IS THIS SOURCE SCHOLARLY?

What is a ‘scholarly’ or ‘peer reviewed’ source? A scholarly source

is any material that has been produced by an expert in their field,
reviewed by other experts in that field, and published for an
audience also highly involved in that field. A source is scholarly
if the following are true:

• The source is written with formal language and presented

formally
• The author(s) of the source have an academic background
(scientist, professor, etc.).
• The source includes a bibliography documenting the works
cited in the source
• The source includes original work and analysis, rather than
just summary of what’s already out there
• The source includes evidence from primary sources
• The source includes a description of the author(s) methods of
research.

40 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

EVALUATING SOURCES

BIAS

Do a background check on the author and publisher of the

material. Do they support a particular political or religious view
that could be affecting their objectivity in the piece? If they are
associated with a special-interest group (i.e. the American
Library Association or Keep America Safe), this might also be
an indication of bias, unless alternative views are presented and
addressed with appropriate respect.

ASSESS THE ARGUMENT

Identify the author’s main claim. What are they arguing is true
or untrue? Pay attention to what the author uses to support
their claim – do you find relevant evidence or just emotional
examples? Statistics should be used consistently and fairly, with
an explanation of where they came from. Check for logical
fallacies in the author’s argument and make sure the author
considers opposing viewpoints.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 41

 EVALUATING WEB SOURCES

AUTHOR

Most reputable websites will list or cite an author, even though

you might have to dig into the site deeper than just the section
you’re interested in to find it. Most pages will have a home page
or “About Us”/”About This Site” link where an author will be
credited.

Once you find the name of the author, see what else you can find
out about them, including their background in the area they are
writing about. If these author’s qualifications are not listed on
the site itself, search on author sites or in other sources.

SPONSORSHIP

The sponsor of the site, the person or organization who is

footing the bill, will often be listed in the same place as the
copyright date or author information. If you can’t find an explicit
listing for a sponsor, double check the URL: .com indicates a
commercial site, .edu an educational one, .org a nonprofit, .gov a
government sponsor, .mil a military sponsor, or .net a network of
sponsors. The end part of a URL may also tell you what country
the website is coming from, such as .uk for the United Kingdom
or .de for Germany.

PURPOSE

Determine why the site was created and who it was meant to

42 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

inform. For example, is it a website that was created to sell things,
or a page hoping to persuade voters to take a side on a particular
issue?

RELEVANCE

Depending on the information you are using, the currency of the

site could be vital. Check the bottom of the webpage for the date
of publication or the date of the latest update. Most of the links
on the site should also still work – if they no longer do, that may
be a sign the site is too out of date to be useful.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 43

 WHAT DO YOU NEED FOR A CITATION?

This is a general list of the information you might need to create a

complete citation. Depending on the citation style you are using,
different information may be required for each of these
sources (see the section on MLA/APA/CMS for more
information on citation styles).

FOR BOOKS

• Author(s)
• Editors/translators
• Edition (if not first)
• Name, date, and city of publication/publisher

FOR ARTICLES

• Author(s)
• Title and Subtitle
• Name of source (magazine, journal, newspaper, etc.)
• Date of publication
• Volume, issue, and page numbers

If retrieved from a database, also…

• Name of database

44 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

• Name of subscription service
• URL of database
• DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
• Date source retrieved

FOR THE WEB

• Author(s)
• Editors/Creators
• Title of source
• Title of site
• Publication information
• Date of publication or latest update
• Site sponsor
• Date source accessed
• Source URL

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 45

 AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

This chart follows MLA style. For information on other styles see those
sections (APA and CMS).

Put quotation marks around the excerpt, use a signal

phrase, and include a parenthetical citation with the
page number:

Using something word-for-word from McGuffin and Cross have said, “No one should ever eat
another source? cake without frosting” (22).

Or

Cake, according to McGuffin and Cross, is one of those

foods that should never be eaten “without frosting” (22).

Put quotation marks around the excerpt, and put

Using something word-for-word from brackets around the segments you have changed.
another source but changing word Include a signal phrase and a parenthetical citation
forms or adding words to improve with the page number:
clarity and flow?
McGuffin and Cross seem to think that “…eat[ing] cake
without frosting” should never be allowed (22).

Use a signal phrase and include a parenthetical

Paraphrasing or summarizing the citation with the page number:
author’s ideas without using the
author’s exact words? According to McGuffin and Cross, cake is one of those
special foods that require an additive to be properly
enjoyed, like frosting (22).

Using something from a source but DON’T. This is plagiarism, even if you use a signal
substituting in some synonyms? phrase and include a parenthetical citation.

46 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

QUOTATIONS

1. All quoted material should be enclosed in quotations marks

unless set off from the rest of the text.
2. Quoted material should be accurate word-for-word. If
anything was changed, brackets or ellipsis marks should
indicated where the changes/omissions took place.
3. A clear signal phrase should alert your readers for each
quotation and tell them why the quotation is there.
4. A parenthetical citation should follow each quotation.
5. Each quotation must be put in context.

SUMMARIES (PARAPHRASING)

1. Any summaries of the text should not include plagiarized

wording.
2. Summaries must be followed by parenthetical citations.
3. A signal phrase should let your readers know where the
summarized material begins as well as tell them why the
summary is included in your paper.

STATISTICS & FACTS

1. Any facts that are not common knowledge must have a

parenthetical citation included in your paper.
2. Use a signal phrase to help your reader understand why the
facts are being cited, unless it is clear enough without one.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 47

MLA/APA/CMS
WHAT IS MLA, APA, AND CMS?

MLA stands for Modern Language Association. It is a style of

formatting academic papers that is used mostly in the arts and
humanities.

APA stands for American Psychological Association, the

professional guild who first developed the guidelines of the style.
APA is a style of formatting academic papers that is used mostly
in the social sciences.

CMS stands for the Chicago Manual of Style. It is a style of

formatting written works that is most widely used in publishing.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 51

 MLA SIGNAL PHRASES

Keep things interesting for your readers by switching up the

language and placement of your signal phrases.

MODEL PHRASES

In the words of professors Greer and Dewey, “…”

As sociology scholar Janice Kinsey has noted, “…”

Creative Commons, an organization that helps internet users

understand and create copyright for materials, reports that “…”

“…,” writes Deidre Tyrell, “…”

“…,” attorney Sanderson claims.

Kyles and Sanderson offer up a compelling point: “…”

VERBS

Acknowledges Contends Observes

Admits Declares Points out

Adds Denies Reasons

Agrees Disputes Refutes

Argues Emphasizes Rejects

Asserts Endorses Reports

Believes Grants Responds

Claims Illustrates Suggests

52 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

Comments Implies Thinks

Compares Insists Writes

Confirms Notes

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 53

 MLA CITATION EXAMPLES

IN-TEXT CITATIONS

In-text citations in MLA style are sometimes called parenthetical

citations. An in-text citation is used to let the reader of your
work know that an outside source contributed to your writing
of a particular phrase, idea, or argument. In-text citations need
to be used following every direct quotation and paraphrase/
summary that you write.

IN-TEXT CITATION FOR SOURCE WITH KNOWN AUTHOR

These citations need to include the author’s last name and the
page/paragraph number on which the information was found.
If a signal phrase is used earlier in the sentence which includes
the author’s name, the name does not need to be included in the
citation.

Stephen Hawking describes the climate at Oxford while he was

studying there as “very anti-work” (33).

The climate at Oxford during his studies is described as “very anti-

work” (Hawking 33).

54 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

IN-TEXT CITATION FOR SOURCE WITH UNKNOWN
AUTHOR

These citations need to include the title or shortened title of the

work and the page/paragraph number on which the information
was found.

IN-TEXT CITATION FOR SOURCE WITH MULTIPLE AUTHORS

These citations need to include the authors’ last names and the
page/paragraph number on which the information was found. If
a signal phrase is used earlier in the sentence which includes the
authors’ last names, the names do not need to be included in the
citation. If the source has three or fewer authors, all the authors’
last names need to be listed in the citation.

While some suggest that transgender individuals should rely

on law enforcement for protection it’s reported that “police
often participate in the intimidation themselves rather than
providing protection” (“Fighting Anti-Trans Violence” 2).

Ishiguro, Garcia, and Schmidt suggest that more scientific research

is needed before a conclusion between cause and effect can be
drawn (198).

“More scientific research needs to be completed before any

conclusions about causation can be drawn” (Ishiguro, Garcia, and
Schmidt 198).

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 55

 If the source has more than three authors, only the first author’s
last name needs to be listed in the citation, followed by the phrase
‘et al’.

WORKS CITED ENTRIES

WORKS CITED ENTRY FOR BOOK/PRINT SOURCE WITH

KNOWN AUTHOR

Last name, First name. Title of Book. City of Publication:

Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Ip, Greg. The Little Book of Economics. Hoboken: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 2010. Book.

WORKS CITED ENTRY FOR AN ARTICLE IN A SCHOLARLY

JOURNAL

Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year):

pages. Medium of publication.

Belzer, Alisa. “From Heroic Victims To Competent

Comrades: Views Of Adult Literacy Learners In The

De Walle et al. suggest that mainstream scientists and media

organizations have ulterior motives when it comes to conducting
such research (231).

The scientists involved in these studies have suggested that

mainstream scientists and media organizations may have ulterior
motives when it comes to conducting such research (De Walle et al.
231).

56 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

 Research Literature.” Adult Education Quarterly. 65.3
(2015): 250-266. Web.

WORKS CITED ENTRY FOR A WEBPAGE

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). “Page Title.” Name

of Website. Name of publisher, date of resource creation (if
available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

Ravenscraft, Eric. “How to Change Your Car’s Oil.”

Lifehacker. Lifehacker, 1 August 2014. Web. 24 June 2016.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 57

 APA SIGNAL PHRASES

Keep things interesting for your readers by switching up the

language and placement of your signal phrases.

MODEL PHRASES

In the words of Peterson (2012), “…”

As Johnson and Allen (2006) have noted, “…”

Einstein and Yvanovich (1956), researchers in physics, pointed

out that, “…”

“…,” claimed Carter (1998).

“…,” wrote Dietrich (2002), “…”

Linguists McAllen et al. (2015) have compiled an impressive

amount of data for this argument: “…”

Harrison (2007) answered these criticisms with the following

rebuttal: “…”

VERBS

Admitted Contended Reasoned

Agreed Declared Refuted

Argued Denied Rejected

Asserted Emphasized Reported

Believed Insisted Responded

58 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

Claimed Noted Suggested

Compared Observed Thought

Confirmed Pointed out Wrote

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 59

 APA CITATION EXAMPLES

IN-TEXT CITATIONS

An in-text citation is used to let the reader of your work know

that an outside source contributed to your writing of a particular
phrase, idea, or argument. In-text citations need to be used
following every direct quotation and paraphrase/summary that
you write.

IN-TEXT CITATION FOR SOURCE WITH KNOWN AUTHOR

These citations need to include the author’s last name, date that
the information was published, and the page (p.) /paragraph
(para.) number on which you found the information. If a signal
phrase is used earlier in the sentence which includes the author’s
name, the name does not need to be included in the citation.

Stephen Hawking (2013) describes the climate at Oxford while he

was studying there as “very anti-work” (p. 33).

The climate at Oxford during his studies is described as “very anti-

work” (Hawking, 2013, p. 33).

60 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

IN-TEXT CITATION FOR SOURCE WITH UNKNOWN
AUTHOR

These citations need to include the title or shortened title of the

work in either the signal phrase or in the citation itself, the date
when the information was published, and the page/paragraph
number on which the information was found. Titles of books and
reports are italicized or underlined; titles of articles, chapters,
and web pages are in quotation marks.

IN-TEXT CITATION FOR SOURCE WITH MULTIPLE AUTHORS

These citations need to include the authors’ last names, the date
when the information was published, and the page/paragraph
number on which the information was found. If a signal phrase
is used earlier in the sentence which includes the authors’ last
names, the names do not need to be included in the citation. If
the source has two authors, both authors’ last names need to be
listed in the citation.

If the source has three – five authors, all the authors’ last names
need to be used in either a signal phrase or in the citation the

In “Fighting Anti-Trans Violence” (2015), readers are told that while

some suggest that transgender individuals should rely on law
enforcement for protection, “police often participate in the
intimidation themselves rather than providing protection” (para. 2).

While some suggest that transgender individuals should rely on law

enforcement for protection it’s reported that “police often
participate in the intimidation themselves rather than providing
protection” (“Fighting Anti-Trans Violence”, 2015, para. 2).

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 61

 first time the source is cited. After the first citation, only the first
author’s last name followed by “et al.” should be used.

If the source has six or more authors, you only need to use the
first author’s last name in either a signal phrase or in the citation.

Research by Ishiguro and Garcia (2009), suggest that more scientific

study is needed before a conclusion between cause and effect can
be drawn (p. 198).

“More scientific research needs to be completed before any

conclusions about causation can be drawn” (Ishiguro & Garcia, 2009,
p. 198).

De Walle, Schmidt, and Lisowski (2010) assert that mainstream

scientists and media organizations have ulterior motives when it
comes to conducting such research (p. 231).

The scientists involved in these studies have suggested that

mainstream scientists and media organizations may have ulterior
motives when it comes to conducting such research (De Walle,
Schmidt, & Lisowski, 2010, p. 231).

However, De Walle et al. (2010) could not provide adequate

evidence for this assertion (p. 233).

However, adequate evidence for this assertion could not be

provided (De Walle et al., 2010 p. 233).

62 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

WORKS CITED ENTRIES

WORKS CITED ENTRY FOR BOOK/PRINT SOURCE WITH

KNOWN AUTHOR

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also

for subtitle. Location: Publisher.

Ip, G. (2010). The little book of economics. Hoboken: John Wiley

& Sons, Inc.

WORKS CITED ENTRY FOR AN ARTICLE IN A SCHOLARLY

JOURNAL

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of

article.Title of Journal, volume number, page range. doi:
0000000/000000000000 or http://dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000

Belzer, A., & Shapka J. (2015). From heroic victims to

competent comrades: Views of adult literacy learners in
the research literature. Adult Education Quarterly, 65.3,
250-266. Doi: 10.1177/0741713615580015

Willig et al. (1998) were the first group of researchers to take the
issue seriously and perform in-depth research to identify potential
negative effects of such events (p. 52).

The first group of researchers to take the issue seriously and

perform in-depth research to identify potential negative effects of
such events found some disturbing trends (Willig et al., 1998, p. 52).

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 63

 WORKS CITED ENTRY FOR A WEBPAGE

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of

document. Retrieved from http://Web address

Ravenscraft, E. (2014, August 1). How to change your car’s

oil. Retrieved from http://lifehacker.com/how-to-change-
your-cars-oil-1598482301

64 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

CMS SIGNAL PHRASES

Keep things interesting for your readers by switching up the

language and placement of your signal phrases.

MODEL PHRASES

In the words of geneticist Gregor Mendel, “…”1

As Derek Terrence Crab has argued, “…”2

In a letter to his brother, a Freedom Rider who witnessed the

riots wrote that “…”3

“…,” claims Benjamin Disraeli.4

“…,” writes Albert Camus, “…”5

Mary Shelly offers an intriguing interpretation: “…”6

VERBS

Admits Contends Reasons

Agrees Declares Refutes

Argues Denies Rejects

Asserts Emphasizes Reports

Believes Insists Responds

Claims Notes Suggests

Compares Observes Thinks

Confirms Points out Writes

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 65

BASIC GRAMMAR
INTRODUCING... SUBORDINATE CLAUSES!

There are three different kinds of subordinate clauses: adverb

clauses, adjective clauses, and noun clauses. Each of these clauses
are introduced by certain words. These words are listed below.

INTRODUCING ADVERB CLAUSES

After Though Though

Although If Unless

As In order that Until

As if Since When

Because So that Where

Before Than Whether

Even That While

These are all subordinating conjunctions.

INTRODUCING ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

That Who Whose

Which Whom

These are all relative pronouns.

When Where Why

These are all relative adverbs.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 69

 INTRODUCING NOUN CLAUSES

That Who Whose

Which Whom

These are all relative pronouns.

What Whichever Whomever

Whatever Whoever

These are all other pronouns.

How Whenever Whether

If Where Why

When Wherever

These are all other subordinating words.

70 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

GRAMMATICAL SENTENCES
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

PRESENT TENSE FORMS OF WANT AND RELAX

Singular Plural

First Person I want We want

Second Person You want You want

Third Person He/she/it wants They want

Singular Plural

First Person I relax We relax

Second Person You relax You relax

Third Person He/she/it relaxes They relax

Examples: I want to eat an ice cream. They relax visibly.

PRESENT TENSE FORMS OF HAVE

Singular Plural

First Person I have We have

Second Person You have You have

Third Person He/she/it has They have

Examples: You have my full attention. It has very bad breath!

PRESENT TENSE FORMS OF DO/DON’T

Singular Plural

First Person I do/don’t We do/don’t

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 73

 Second Person You do/don’t You do/don’t

Third Person He/she/it does/doesn’t They do/don’t

Examples: She doesn’t like to wear dresses. We do our own

homework.

PRESENT TENSE FORMS OF BE

Singular Plural

First Person I am/was We are/were

Second Person You are/were You are/were

Third Person He/she/it is/was They are/were

Examples: We are learning so much today! I was lost before!

74 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

SHOULD YOU USE –S (OR –ES) FOR A
PRESENT-TENSE VERB?

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 75

 EXAMPLES

Verb’s subject is he, she, it, or one: He loves going to watch musical
theater.

76 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

Verb’s subject is a singular noun: A parent wants the best for their
child.

Verb’s subject a singular indefinite pronoun: Everybody swims in the

lake during the summer.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 77

 IS YOUR SENTENCE A FRAGMENT?

78 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 79
 EXAMPLES

No Verb: A movie with pointless twists. VS. The movie has

pointless twists.

No subject: For not doing her own homework, Missy was

expelled. VS. Missy was expelled for not doing her own
homework.

Beginning with Subordinate Clause: Because the band didn’t know

the street address, the party was impossible to find. VS. The band
couldn’t find the party because no one knew the address.

80 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

IS YOUR SENTENCE A RUN-ON?

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 81

82 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN
EXAMPLES

Run-On Sentence: We’ve learned so much about grammar already

how am I going to remember it all?

Fix with a comma and conjunctions: We’ve learned so much about

grammar already, and I’m worried about how I’m going to
remember it all.

Fix with a semicolon: We’ve learned so much about grammar

already; how am I going to remember it all?

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 83

 DOES YOUR SENTENCE HAVE A DANGLING
MODIFIER?

84 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

EXAMPLES

Sentence with dangling modifier Correct sentence

Having finished setting up the tables, the Having finished setting up the tables, the seniors
party started. could finally start the party.

Without knowing the street address, it Because the band didn’t know the street
was impossible to find the party. address, the party was impossible to find.

To improve his results, the placement test Jake improved his results by taking the
was taken again. placement test again.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 85

86 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN
MULTILINGUAL WRITERS AND
ESL CHALLENGES
VERB FORMS: THE BASICS

Regular Verb – Relax Irregular Verb – Sing Irregular Verb – Be

Base Form Relax Sing Be

Past Tense Relaxed Sang Was, were

Past Participle Relaxed Sung Been

Present Participle Relaxing Singing Being

-s Form Relaxes Sings Is

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 89

 VERB TENSES: ACTIVE VOICE

SIMPLE TENSES

SIMPLE PRESENT

General facts, states of being, scheduled events in the future, and

repeated actions
=
base form or –s form

Examples

• Teachers often grade late into the night.

• Water becomes ice at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Celebrities donate to hundreds of charities every year.

• The plane departs tonight at 9:00 p.m.

SIMPLE PAST

Completed actions from the past that occurred at a specific time

or facts/states of being that occurred in the past
=
base form + -ed/-d/irregular form

90 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

 Examples

• Their neighbors worked together to rebuild the house.

• He drove across country to prove a point.

• When she was young, my sister played with me all the time.

SIMPLE FUTURE

Future actions, predictions, or promises

=
will + base form

Examples

• I will eat in a few minutes.

• The rain will stop any second now.

SIMPLE PROGRESSIVE FORMS

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

Actions that are happening right now, but not happening

forever or future actions
=
am, is, are + present participle

Examples

• The teachers are meeting in the boardroom. Josie is meeting the

principal.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 91

 • We are baking cookies tomorrow.

PAST PROGRESSIVE

Actions that happened at a specific time in the past or past plans

that didn’t happen
=
was, were/was going to, were going to + present participle

Examples

• They were sailing when the hurricane hit.

• I was going to fly out tonight, but couldn’t get a ticket.

PERFECT TENSES

PRESENT PERFECT

Repetitive or constant actions that began in the past but are still
happening or actions that happened at an unspecified time in
the past
=
has, have + past participle

Examples

• I have loved dogs since I was a child.

• Alex has lived in the UK for over a year.

• Stephanie has bought three cars in three years.

92 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

PAST PERFECT

Actions that occurred/began before something else in the past

=
had + past participle

Example

• He had just choked when the ambulance drove by.

PERFECT PROGRESSIVE FORMS

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

Continuous actions that began in the past but are still occurring
=
has, have + been + past participle

Example

• Ygritte has been trying to learn knitting for years.

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

Actions that began and continued in the past until some other
action in the past occurred
=
had + been + present participle

Example

• By the time I moved to Klamath Falls, I had been writing for ten years.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 93

 VERB TENSES: PASSIVE VOICE

SIMPLE TENSES

SIMPLE PRESENT

General facts or habitual repetitive actions

=
am, is, are + past participle

Examples

• Lunch is served at noon.

• The locks are checked every night.

SIMPLE PAST

Completed past actions

=
was, were + past participle

Example

• She was rewarded for her information.

94 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

SIMPLE FUTURE

Future promises, predictions, or actions

=
will be + past participle

Example

• I will be there on Saturday.

SIMPLE PROGRESSIVE

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

Future actions (paired with go, leave, move, etc.) or actions that
are currently in progress
=
am, is, are + being + past participle

Examples

• The votes are being counted by impartial volunteers.

• Joe is being crowned king of the dance.

PAST PROGRESSIVE

Actions that were in progress at a specific time past

=
was, were + being + past participle

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 95

 Example

• They thought they were being careful.

PERFECT TENSES

PRESENT PERFECT

Actions that happened at an unspecified time in the past or that

begin in the past but are still currently occurring
=
has, have + been + past participle

Examples

• The boat has been delayed because of the hurricane in the Atlantic.

• Tests have been proctored by teachers for many years.

PAST PERFECT

Actions that began or occurred before something else in the past

=
had + been + past participle

Example

• She had been searching for clues for hours before bedtime.

NOTE: Future progressive, future perfect, & perfect progressive

are not used in passive voice.

96 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

THE MEANING OF MODALS

CAN

General ability in the present to do something, or an informal

request or permission granted.

Examples

• I can write a grammar book. George can sing better than his brother.

• Can I have the last cookie? Megan can use my book.

COULD

General ability in the past to do something, or an informal

request or permission granted.

Examples

• Lester could play the piano when he was five.

• Could you pass the salt?

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 97

 MAY

A formal request or permission granted, or a possibility,

something that could or could not happen.

Examples

• May I go to the bathroom? Students may use a calculator on the test.

• I may go see the movie tonight, or I may wake up early tomorrow to

see it.

MIGHT

A possibility, something that could or could not happen. Usually

stronger possibility than may.

Example

• The library might allow students to bring in food.

MUST

Something that is a necessity either in the present or the future,

a strong possibility, or a near certainty in the present or past.

Examples

• For the best result, you must mix the batter for five minutes.

• Andrew must be late.

• You must have left the tickets in the car.

98 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

SHOULD

Suggestions or advice, obligations or duties, or expectations.

Examples

• Everyone should drink water every day.

• The teacher should protect your personal information.

• Your food should arrive soon.

WILL

A certainty, request, or promise.

Examples

• If you don’t go to sleep now, you will regret it tomorrow.

• Will you go to Miranda’s party with me?

• Jamie will plan the wedding.

WOULD

Polite requests or repeated actions in the past.

Examples

• Would you help me finish this pie? I would like some milk.

• Whenever Elias needed help with writing, he would visit his

professor.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 99

 NOUNS

COMMON

Common nouns are words that name general persons, places, or

things, and they begin with lowercase letters.

Examples

school, ignorance, sunshine, teacher, city

PROPER

Proper nouns are words that name specific persons, places, or

things, and they being with capital letters.

Examples

Mazama High School, Robin, Japan, President Obama, Lincoln Memorial,

Enlightenment

COUNT

Count nouns are common nouns that name general persons,

places, or things that can be counted, either singularly or plural.

100 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

 Examples

boy, boys OR town, towns OR pigeon, pigeons OR religion, religions

NON-COUNT

Non-count nouns are common nouns that name things or ideas

that can’t be counted or made plural.

Examples

gold, rain, gravel, goodness, ignorance, air

SINGULAR

Singular nouns are any nouns that represent only one person,
place, or thing.

Examples

purse, county, man, failure, Amazon River, Albatross Island

PLURAL

Plural nouns are count nouns that represent several persons,

places, or things.

Examples

purses, counties, men, Cascade Mountains, Canary Islands

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 101

 SPECIFIC (DEFINITE)

Specific (or definite) nouns are words that name people, places,
or things that can be identified within a group of the same type.

Examples

• The students in Professor Alan’s class are very bright.

• The train carrying the President was an hour early.

• The books in the car were damaged.

GENERAL (INDEFINITE)

General (or indefinite) nouns are words that name categories of

people, places, or things, and are often plural.

Examples

• Teachers should grade.

• Plays help people connect.

• The subway has made commuting between libraries easy.

102 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

ARTICLES FOR COMMON NOUNS

Use the if a reader could identify the noun specifically.

Examples

• Please turn off the lights. We’re not going to the museum tomorrow.
(Count)

• The food throughout Korea is excellent (Non-count)

Use a/an if the noun refers to a single item that is not specific.
Never use a/an with plural or non-count nouns.

Example

• Bring an eraser to class. You’ll be using a pencil to write an essay

today. (Count)

Use a quantifier such as enough, many, some, etc. if the noun

represents and unspecified amount and that amount is more than
one but not all.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 103

 Examples

• Amanda showed us some souvenirs of her trip to New Orleans. Many

birds go there in the summer. (Count)

• We didn’t get enough snow this winter.

Use no article if the noun represents all items in a category or the

category in general.

Examples

• Teachers can attend the game for free. Actors must report backstage
by 5:00 p.m. (Count)

• Gold is a natural resource.

104 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

NON-COUNT NOUNS

FOOD

Beef Cheese Rice

Bread Cream Salt

Butter Meat Sugar

Candy Milk Water

Cereal Pasta Wine

NONFOOD

Air Paper Soap

Cement Petroleum Steel

Coal Plastic Wood

Dirt Rain Wool

Gasoline Silver

Gold Snow

ABSTRACT

Advice Fun Knowledge

Anger Happiness Love

Beauty Health Poverty

Confidence Honesty Satisfaction

Courage Information Wealth

Employment Intelligence

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 105

 OTHER

Biology Machinery Scenery

Clothing Mail Traffic

Equipment Money Transportation

Furniture News Violence

Homework Poetry Weather

Jewelry Pollution Work

Luggage Research

106 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

GEOGRAPHY AND ‘THE’

With geographic nouns, sometimes you use ‘the’ and sometimes

you don’t. Confusing, right? No longer:

DON’T USE ‘THE’

Single Mountains or Islands

Examples

Mount Hood, Madagascar

Most Countries and Continents

Examples

France, Algeria, North Korea, Australia, Antarctica

Streets, Squares, and Parks

Examples

Linden Street, Madison Square, Yosemite National Park

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 107

 Bays, Single Lakes

Examples

Honolulu Bay, Lake Michigan

Cities, States, and Counties

Examples

Reno, Florida, Howard County

USE ‘THE’

Groups of Islands

Example

the British Isles

Canals and Rivers

Examples

the Suez Canal, the Mississippi

Peninsulas

108 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

 Examples

the Arabian Peninsula, the Iberian Peninsula

Country Names with of phrase

Examples

the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of South Korea

Mountain Ranges

Examples

the Cascades, the Andes

Oceans, Seas, and Gulfs

Examples

the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico

Large Regions and Deserts

Examples

the West Coast, the Gobi

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 109

 HOW TO ORDER CUMULATIVE ADJECTIVES

1. Article (or other Noun Marker) – a, an, the, her, this, my Joe’s,
two, many, some
2. Evaluative Word – repulsive, lazy, gross, beautiful, magical
3. Size – miniscule, small, large, gargantuan
4. Length/Shape – short, oval, long, diamond
5. Age – new, young, old, ancient
6. Color – orange, cerulean, red
7. Nationality – German, Chilean, Korean
8. Material – pewter, wood, silk, granite
9. Noun/Adjective – safe (as in safe room), mobile (as in mobile
home)

Example

• My collection includes ten large new figurines.

110 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

THREE MAGIC WORDS: AT, ON, AND IN

These three words can help you show either time or place.

Time Place

At the library, standing at the edge, walking at

At 12:45, at dusk, at sunrise
the signal, yelling ‘Surprise!’ at Sophie

On the fridge, the building on Sixth Street, on

On Friday, on our anniversary
the stage

In the evening, in June, in 1990, tested in

In the book, in Seattle, in my bedroom
forty minutes

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 111

 COMBO TIME! – ADJECTIVES & PREPOSITIONS

Accustomed to Guilty of

Addicted to Interested in

Afraid of Involved in

Angry with Involved with

Ashamed of Known as

Aware of Known for

Committed to Made of

Concerned about Made from

Concerned with Married to

Connected to Opposed to

Covered with Preferable to

Dedicated to Proud of

Devoted to Responsible for

Different from Satisfied with

Engaged in Scared of

Engaged to Similar to

Excited about Tired of

Familiar with Worried about

Full of

112 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

COMBO TIME! – VERBS & PREPOSITIONS

Agree with Decide on Respond to

Apply to Depend on Result in

Approve of Differ from Search for

Arrive at Disagree with Speak to

Arrive in Dream about Speak with

Ask for Dream of Stare at

Believe in Feel like Succeed at

Belong to Forget about Succeed in

Care about Happen to Take advantage of

Care for Hope for Take care of

Compare to Insist on Think about

Compare with Listen to Think of

Concentrate on Participate in Wait for

Consist of Rely on Wait on

Count on Reply to

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 113

REVISING
A STRATEGY FOR ANALYZING AND REVISING A
FIRST DRAFT

Here are some steps for re-reading and revising your essays in
a reasonably objective way. These steps may seem formulaic and
mechanical, but you need a way to diagnose your own prose so
that you have some sense of how others will read it.

FINDING YOUR BEST POINT — AND MAKING SURE YOUR

READERS CAN FIND IT

This first step is intended to ensure that the beginning and end of
your paper cohere with each other, that they “frame” your paper
is an appropriate way.

1. Find the beginning and the end.

Draw a line after the end of your introduction and just before the
beginning of your conclusion.

2. Find candidates for your point.

Underline one sentence in both your introduction and

conclusion that comes closest to expressing your main point,
your claim, the thesis of your paper. In your introduction, that
sentence is most likely to be the last one; in your conclusion, it
might be anywhere.

3. Find the best candidate.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 117

 Read the introduction and conclusion together, particularly
comparing those two most important sentences. They should at
least not contradict one another.

From an introduction:

During this unprecedented period, African-American artists shared

in the process of creating a black urban identity through their
depictions of a culture’s experience.

From a conclusion:

While many were eager to slash the culture’s ties to its primitive
history, Armstrong and Motley created art which included elements
of the community’s history and which made this history a central
part of African-American urban identity.

It is likely that the sentence in your conclusion will be more

specific, more substantive, more thoughtful than the one in your
introduction. Your introduction may merely announce a general
intention to write about some topic. If so, your conclusion is
more likely to make a more important claim, generalization, or
point about that topic. In the example above, the sentence from
the introduction describes only the fairly general idea that artists
contributed to a culture’s identity by depicting its experience.
An important idea, certainly, but one that your readers probably
already hold. An essay that did no more than reiterate it would
not be especially valuable. Contrast the sentence from the
conclusion. Here, the writer is more specific in several important
ways. First, she is specific about one element in African-
American experience: its ties to its primitive history. She is
specific about what the artists did: they included aspects of that
history in their art. She also adds the suggestive information
that some people opposed including primitive history in African-
American culture (“While many eager to slash the cultures ties . . .
“). This controversy is potentially enriching for the essay because
it may prompt the reader (and the writer) to analyze the subject
from a very different perspective.

118 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

4. Revise your introduction to match the best point.

If you find that the sentence from your conclusion is more

insightful than the one from your introduction, then you have
to revise your introduction to make it seem that you had this
sentence in mind all along (even though when you started
drafting the paper you may have had no idea how you were going
to end it). You can do this in one of two ways:

• Insert at the end of your introduction some version of that

sentence in your conclusion that comes closest to expressing
your main point. You may have to revise the rest of the
introduction to make it fit.
• If you don’t want to “give away” the point of your paper at the
beginning, insert a sentence at the end of your introduction
that at least anticipates your point by using some of its same
language.

For example:

As African-American artists such as Louis Armstrong and

Archibald Motley, Jr. shared in the collective process of creating a
black urban identity, they reflected their community’s struggle to
define the role of historical experience in modern culture.

Note that this sentence does not conclude that Armstrong and
Motley did include primitive history in their art. But it does
introduce some implicit questions that anticipate that
conclusion: did these artists use their historical experience? If so,
how? Those implicit question set up the explicit point.

How do you choose between stating your main point at the

beginning of the essay or waiting to state it at the end? If you
think you are a skilled writer, the second choice–the “point-last”
strategy–is a possibility. You must be certain, though, that the
rest of the paper plausibly takes your reader to your conclusion.
(We’ll talk more about that in a minute.) Point-last writing,

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 119

 however, is always more difficult that point-first, and if you feel
uncertain about your writing or more important, if you aren’t
interested in spending the extra time it takes to write good point-
last prose, then you should state your main point explicitly at
the end of your introduction. If you’ve stated your main point at
the beginning of your essay, your reader won’t lose track of your
argument, won’t lose the sense of where you are headed. More
important, it will focus your attention on where you are headed.
Don’t worry that if you state your point first your professors will
lose interest in your paper. If your point is interesting (or even if
it’s not), they will read on to see how you support it. (That, after
all, is what you’re paying them to do.)

There are, to be sure, some instructors, mostly but not

exclusively in the humanities, who prefer point-last papers:
papers that pose a problem in their introductions, then work
toward a conclusion, demonstrating how the writer thought
about the topic, wrestled with alternative answers, and finally
discovered a solution. That kind of organization creates a
dramatic tension that some instructors like, because they want to
see the processes of your thinking.

The risk is that you might do exactly that! For nearly all of us, the
process of our thinking is messy, inefficient, and hard to follow.
If you write a paper that in fact tracks what you thought about
at 1 AM, then 3 AM, the 6 AM, you’re likely to write a messy,
inefficient and hard to follow paper. Few instructors want to see
that. They want to see a coherent, ordered, analytical account
of your thinking that may seem to be a narrative, but in fact is
always an artful invention, something that requires writing skills
of a high order.

So when you go through this first phase of your analysis, you

have to make a thoughtful choice about where you want to locate
your point–in your introduction and your conclusion, or just
in your conclusion, with an “anticipatory” point in your

120 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

introduction. The default choice for both writer and reader is the
first: point-first.

CREATING COHERENT SECTIONS

Now you need to determine whether the parts of your paper

hang together to form a coherent argument and whether the
parts are in an order that will seem to make sense to your reader.

1. Find the paper’s major sections.

Draw a line between every major section in your paper. A four or

five page paper should have at least two and probably not more
than three or four.

Now, analyze and revise each section as you did your whole
paper:

2. Find each section’s introduction and conclusion

Put a slash mark after the introduction to each section. The

introduction to a section may be only one sentence or it may be a
complete paragraph. Each section needs a sentence that tells your
readers that they have finished one segment of your argument
and are moving on to another.

Put a slash mark before the conclusion to each major section. If

your sections are short–only a couple of paragraphs or less–that
section might not need a separate conclusion.

3. Identify the major point in each section.

Just as your whole paper has to have a point, so should each

section have a sentence that offers some generalization, some
point, some claim that that section is intended to support.

If most of your points seem to be at the beginnings of your

sections, fine. If most of them are at the ends of your sections as
conclusions, you have to . . .

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 121

 4. Think hard about whether you want any particular section
to be point-last.

If you can think of no good reason, revise so that that section is

point first. If you decide that you want the section to be point-
last, then you’ll have to repeat for the section the process we
described for a point-last essay. You’ll need to write an
introductory sentence for the section that uses some of the key
words that will appear in the point sentence that concludes the
section. This principle simply reflects the needs of readers to
know where they are and where they are going. Nothing
confuses a reader more than moving from paragraph to
paragraph with no sense of the logical progression of your
argument. Such an essay feels like pudding with an occasional
raisin to chew on, but not in any particular order.

5. Ordering the sections.

Try to explain to yourself why you put the parts of the paper in
the order you did. If you arranged the parts of your paper in the
order you did because that’s the order in which they occurred to
you, your readers are likely not to see any rationale for moving
through your paper in the order they do.

• If you have three (or four, or whatever) reasons for something,

why are the reasons in the order they are in? (By the way,
beware of organization-by-number: “. . . for three reasons.
First . . . Second . . . Third . . . “If the only relationship you can
demonstrate among your arguments is “first-second-third,”
your essay will probably be perceived as unsophisticated.
Most significant arguments have substantive relationships:
they are related not merely by number but by content.)

• If you have ordered the parts of your paper from cause-to-

effect, why did you do that? Why not effect-to-cause?

• If you organized your paper to echo the organization of the

122 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

 text you are writing about, why have you done that? If you
did, you risk having written a mere summary.

• If you organized your paper to match the terms of the

assignment, is that what your instructor wanted, or did your
instructor want something more original from you?

• If you organized your paper around major topics in your

assignment (“Compare and contrast Freud and Jung in terms
of the role of society in the development of their theories”)
did you write about, say, Freud first and Jung second simply
because that was the order in the assignment?

There are so many principles of order that we cannot list them

all here. We can only urge you to identify the one you chose and
then to justify it as the best one from among the many possible.

ENSURING YOUR EVIDENCE FITS YOUR CLAIMS

The most common evidence you will offer to support your

claims will be quotations from the texts you read and references
to passages in them. Without such evidence, your claims are
merely statements of opinion. As we said, you are entitled to your
opinions but you’re not entitled to having your readers agree
with them. In fact, your readers generally will not highly value
your opinions unless you provide some evidence to support
them. When you provide evidence, you turn your opinions into
arguments.

But before readers can value your claim as supported with

evidence, they must first understand how your evidence counts
as evidence for that claim. No flaw more afflicts the papers of less
experienced writers than to make some sort of claim, or to offer a
quotation from the text, and assume that the reader understands
how the quotations speaks to the claim. Here is an example:

Lincoln believed that the Founders would have supported the

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 123

 North, because as he said, this country was “dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal.”

The writer may be correct that Lincoln believed that the

Founders would have supported the North, but what in that
quotation would cause a reader to agree? In other words, how
does the quotation count as evidence of the claim? The evidence
says something about the views of the founders in 1776. How
does that support a claim about what the founders would think
about 1863? When pressed, the writer explained: “Since the
Founders dedicated the country to the proposition that all men
are created equal and Lincoln freed the slaves because he thought
they were created equal, then he must have thought that he and
the Founders agreed, so they would have supported the North.
It’s obvious.”

Well, it’s not. After it has been explained, it may or may not be
persuasive (after all, the author of “all men are created equal” was
himself a slave owner). But it isn’t obvious. Quotations rarely
speak for themselves; most have to be “unpacked.” If you offer
only quotes without interpreting those quotes, your reader will
likely have trouble understanding how the quote, as evidence,
supports your claim. Your paper will seem to be a pastiche of
strung-together quotations, suggesting that your data never
passed through the critical analysis of a working mind.

Whenever you support a claim with numbers, charts, pictures,

and especially quotations — whatever looks like primary data —
do not assume that what you see is what your readers will get.
Spell out for them how it is that the data counts as evidence for
your claim. For a quotation, a good principle is to use a few of its
key words just before or after it. Something like this:

Lincoln believed that the Founders would have supported the

North because they would have supported his attempt to move
the slaves to a more equal position. He echoes the Founder’s own

124 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

 language when he says that the country was “dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal.”

MAKING YOUR CASE WITHOUT OVERSIMPLIFYING IT

Some inexperienced writers think that the strongest and most

persuasive kind of writing projects a voice of utter confidence,
complete certainty, and no room for doubt of the possibility of
seeing things in a different way. That view could not be more
mistaken. If communicating with your readers is like having a
serious, mutually respectful conversation with them, then the
last kind of person you want to talk with is someone who is
UTTERLY CERTAIN OF EVERYTHING WITH NO
QUALIFICATIONS, RESERVATIONS, OR LIMITATIONS.

Two minutes with such a person is at least one too many.

Compare these two passages:

For more than a century now, every liberal has vehemently argued
against any kind of censorship of art and/or entertainment. And in
the last 20 years, the courts and the legislatures of Western nations
have found these arguments so persuasive that no one remembers
any rebuttals to these arguments. Censorship has simply ceased to
exist.

For almost a century now, many liberals have argued against the
censorship of art and/or entertainment, and in the last 20 years,
courts and the legislatures in most Western nations have found
these arguments fairly persuasive. Few people now clearly
remember what the rebuttals to these arguments were. Today, in
the United States and other democracies, censorship has just about
ceased to exist.

Twenty pages of the first prose would quickly grow wearisome.

It is too strident, too flat-footed, completely unnuanced. But
some would say the second is mealy mouthed, too hedged about
with qualifiers. Here is a third version, which neither proclaims
nor hedges:

For a century now, liberals have been arguing against the

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 125

 censorship of art and/or entertainment, and in the last 20 years,
courts and the legislatures in Western nations have found these
arguments so persuasive that few now remember what the rebuttals
to these arguments were. Today, in the United States and other
democracies, overt censorship by the central government has
largely ceased to exist.

It is hard to give completely reliable advice about hedging and

emphasizing because different writers have different opinions
about it, different fields do it in different ways. But something
most of us share is a sense of caution. (Notice that we said “most
of us.”)

Another kind of reservation you ought to make room for in

your papers is plausibly contradictory evidence. No matter what
position you take on a text, there will almost always be some
evidence in it that someone can use as a basis to disagree with
you.

Lincoln may have been willing to let his readers associate the
Founders with the North, but it is not clear that he actually believed
that they would have supported the Union. He does not specifically
say so. Although he describes what the founders did in the past
(“Four score and seven years ago”), he does not say what they would
do in the present.

The shrewd writer considers these kinds of objections before

readers do, and may include the objections in the essay. Once you
think you have constructed an argument that fully supports your
claim, skim your reading again specifically looking for evidence
that might support a different conclusion. Then raise that
evidence and counterclaim in order both to acknowledge and, if
you can, rebut them. Even if you can’t fully rebut them, you can
suggest that the weight of evidence is still on your side. Don’t
worry that including counter evidence will make your argument
less persuasive. On the contrary. While there are exceptions,
most academic readers are much more persuaded by writers

126 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

who admit reservations then by writers who insist that they are
always absolutely correct.

The point here is to avoid the kind of flat-footed, unnuanced,

unsophisticated certainty that characterizes the thinking of
someone who does not recognize that things are usually more
complex, less clear-cut, than most of us wish.

LICENSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS

“A strategy for analyzing and revising a first draft” by Joseph

M. Williams and Lawrence McEnerney, Writing in College,The
University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago Writing Program is
licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 127

 CHECKLIST: REVISION

• The draft addresses a question or issue that readers will care

about.
• The draft is written at the audience’s level, accounting for
their level of knowledge and attitudes.
• The thesis is clear and placed at or near the beginning of the
paper.
• All ideas within the draft relate to the main thesis.
• There are plenty of organizational cues (topic sentences,
headings, etc.) to help guide the readers through the paper.
• Ideas are presented in an order that makes sense.
• Paragraphs are long enough to cover the topic, but short
enough to keep it interesting.
• The evidence used is relevant and persuasive.
• All ideas are fully developed.
• Any unnecessary material has been deleted.
• The point of view is appropriate both for the draft’s purpose
and the intended audience.

128 ROBIN JEFFREY AND JEFFREY, ROBIN

HOW TO: BE A CONSTRUCTIVE PEER REVIEWER

• You aren’t casting judgment on a work, you’re coaching the

writer. Remember to include the writer in the process,
helping them find the draft’s strengths and weaknesses rather
than telling them what they are or are not doing wrong.
• Check with the writer to make sure you’re understanding the
main ideas of the work.
• Give specific compliments as well as specific criticism;
reviewing isn’t just about one or the other.
• If you find a passage confusing, ask the writer for
clarification.
• Always express an interest in reading the next draft.

ABOUT WRITING: A GUIDE 129