Summer 218 Writing Assignment Instructions

if you selected "Paper 1" from the Schedule, why did you end up here?

You ended up here because it is essential that you read and understand all of the information below before setting up and submitting any of your essays to me. If you do not follow the correct format, your papers will not be accepted (they will need to be redone and will be docked the late penalty you read about on the class Home page); if they are not saved properly, then I won't be able to open and read them (which is a problem). If papers are only 2 pages long, then they will not earn points.

So, yes, I know this is dry stuff; I also know many of you already know this material, but don't just pass it by. The real link to Paper 1 is at the bottom of this page; links on the Schedule will actually take you to those other paper topics.

general information about essays

The 100-point essays will generally require you to develop papers of between 4-5 full typed pages in standard MLA-8 format. Any paper less than three full pages will not be accepted; a paper that is at least three full pages but shorter than four full pages will be considered for a "C" grade; if you are trying for a higher score, the paper must be at least four full pages. You'll want to use specific examples whenever possible. Content is most important with these essays, but I will look closely at the form of the essays as well, so you'll need to edit and proofread to eliminate as many of the spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax errors as possible to earn a high score.

NOTE: these are not just personal opinion papers.

These are, for the most part, literary analyses. You'll need to locate themes / issues / ideas in the work(s) you are discussing; generate a clear, focused thesis; build your essay with clear observations supported and illustrated by direct quotations and parenthetical citations.

For more information on how to Write about Literature, click the button below:

And feel free to visit the school's Writing Lab (LAC 113a) for more examples and writing help.

MLA essay format

Save a copy

always keep copies of all of your assignments. If there is a problem with either e-mail or snail-mail, you will need that copy to re-send for credit. Give it a name that is easy to recognize and save it on your computer where you can easily locate it.

formatting in WORD

to change the left and right margins to 1" go to PAGE LAYOUT and select the "Normal" template with 1" margins all around (in earlier versions of WORD select the FILE tab then PAGE SETUP; there is a space where you can change the 1.25" margins to 1" quite easily)
double spacing your paper is done by selecting PARAGRAPH (found under the FORMAT tab in older versions); in the LINE SPACNG box select "Double"; also make sure that BEFORE and AFTER are both set to 0, or you will get extra spacing each time you hit "Enter" while typing
the header (your last name and the page number 1/2" from the top right of each page) is handled using the HEADER/FOOTER feature found under INSERT (or VIEW in older versions)

attaching your file

make sure the file you send me has been saved as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file; these formats are easily opened by most software, and they retain MLA format
in your e-mail program click ATTACH; a dialogue box will appear; there is a BROWSE button you can click to locate your file; click OK when you find the file you want to attach
remember to put your name, the class, the assignment in your e-mail (or on the subject line) and send it to jrcorbally@gmail.com

All essays must be in standard MLA (Modern Language Association) format; this is the format you should have learned in English 101. College and university academic standards require that papers written in the humanities (there is a different format for scientific papers) be submitted in this format.

For complete information on what this format looks like, you can refer to any current writer's handbook, such as Rules for Writers. I have also included a copy of a sample MLA paper with some instructions that you can look at here:

Sample MLA-8 Format Essay in Word

You can also find information on the MLA format and more general information on academic writing on the Purdue OWL site, and I have added a file on MLA Format along with a set-up video in the Files section of Canvas.

how to submit your work

Your essays will be submitted to me as attachments to e-mail. Write the paper in standard MLA format in WORD, save your paper on your hard drive or on a floppy disk, and attach the file to an e-mail addressed to me. When sending assignments, YOUR E-MAIL MESSAGE should include your name, the class, and the name of the assignment which is attached (this is in addition to the heading information that you'll have on the attached essay itself). Send your e-mail to me at jrcorbally@gmail.com.

NOTE: If you do not have Microsoft WORD (Word 365 is free; check the LAHC Student Portal) on your computer, you must save your file as either a Word (.doc, .docx, .rtf) file or as .pdf file before attaching it. My WORD software can translate files from a number of other word-processing programs, but there are many that it cannot. Gooogle Docs often will mess up the format, and I do not have various DRIVE accounts (such as OneDrive), so do not send those.

late essays

Try to get all work in on time. Late essays will always (unless there's some problem with my server on the day the work is due) be penalized. A late essay will lose 10% of the total score. NOTE: Any essay that is more than one week late will receive no credit! To avoid a late penalty (or a zero), it's a very good idea to submit work early. Always keep a copy of your work in case it gets lost in transmission.

extra credit (sort of)

Paper 4 is optional. So why would you want to do it?

If you have missed paper1 or paper 2, you will be able to turn in paper 4 to take the place of that missed assignment (in many cases that will make the difference between passing and failing the course). You may also turn in paper 4 hoping to get a score higher than you earned on either paper 1, 2 or 3; if you do earn a higher score, that higher score will completely replace the lower score (on the rare chance that you might get a lower score, you would still keep the higher score; paper 4 cannot hurt your grade; it might help it).