English 101 Writing Assignment Instructions

I am sure this is not your first English class, but they are not all the same

You have surely written and turned in papers, but different situations call for different requirements, formats, methods. In college English classes, for example, your papers must be in correct MLA-8 format to be accepted.

"Not a prob; I know MLA format!"

Do you? Really? MLA-8? (technically we are up to MLA-9, but 8 and 9 are essentially the same); MLA-8 replaced MLA-7 way back in 2016, but most high school teachers I've talked to don't know that; they teach some odd, cobbled-together, sort-of MLA format from their own high school days, or they just teach APA (the format your psychology and sociology papers will surely be done in, not your English and humanities papers).

I mention this ONLY BECAUSE you need to know specific requirements for THIS CLASS, things like how to submit your work, what format your paper must be in and how to set up Word to make that happen--things like that. This is dull stuff; I know. But you need to know it.

important question: "just who are we writing for?"

Well, let me start with who you are NOT writing for--a Grad School PI or director.

If your papers and discussions are just crammed with inflated, off-putting, confusing, intimidating, showy language "meant to impress," you are NOT addressing your target audience.

That audience is best represented by your classmates. It's a broad range of people with different interests, backgrounds, goals, majors, skills. That is typical of colleges/universities everywhere. So your writing should be:

clear
direct
colorful (you do want people to WANT to read your writing)
engaging with loads of human interest
incredibly detailed with specific examples (so you are showing more than telling)
often thought provoking (meaning readers must understand it first) and laced with evidence that makes the claims reasonable
thorough (that is, cover all elements the prompts are asking you to cover)

Yes, you are writing for me, and if you've been READING me, you know I do not use big words just to try to pretend that I'm superior because, well, I'm not superior. I'm just a guy who enjoys playing Final Fantasy and watching Bridgerton and grew up on comic books, movies and television. Write as though you want your ideas to be shown in something like Time magazine. Do that, and you'll be fine. Write as though the goal of communication is to flex one's vocabulary, and you'll just be frustrated here.

Oh, sometimes the big word is the best word. It's had for me to write "next to last" rather than "penultimate," for example, so it happens.

Of course I KNOW lots of "big words"; it's part of my gig, after all. My goal is to communicate, not make people confused and frustrated. Oh, and I have an interesting (to me) longish story about this, but I'll only share it (in an Announcement likely) on demand. I know I don't write that many "impressive" words, but I do write a lot of words.

General Information about Essays

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)

Don't have Word?

That is not a problem. You should all know how to do a simple browser search by now.

Let's say you are a Mac user and prefer using Pages. Do a quick search for "How to set up MLA 8 paper in pages" and "How to set up MLA 8 Works Cited in pages."

You should get lots of hits (including set-up videos). And, yes, you are still responsible for saving the file as a .docx or .pdf and attaching it to an email that you send to me. I cannot open a .pages file.

Each of our essays is worth up to 100 points (compare that to a Discussion or Quiz that clocks in at 20 or 10 points), so they are a big part of your grade (not surprising, as this is a Reading and COMPOSITION class). Here are some more facts about our essays:

All of them will require you to do some research. Oh, it's really easy research, but you won't pass without that element.
All of them will be roughly 1/3 directly-quoted (and parenthetically-cited) material from that research.
All are due on specific dates, though you can turn them in early. You can also turn them in late, but (see below for more information).
All must be in MLA-8/9 format, or they will not be accepted/graded. You will have to fix them and turn them in late (see below for more information about "late" penalties and "revisions").
All papers must be saved on your computer or on a thumb drive as either .docx or .pdf files, attached to an email, and sent to me at JRCORBALLY@GMAIL.COM (if you send me a Google DOCS file or a link to a paper on OneDrive for Business or a .pages file, or if you try to send it through Canvas or via Turnitin, you'll have to resend it correctly; yes, there are reasons).
All papers must be at least four FULL pages in MLA format (there are exceptions: see Short Papers below).
All papers are evidence based, not personal opinion papers; that's just the nature of English 101. Your job in the papers (and in the Discussions) is to show you understand the ideas we are reading about and can expand on them; it is not to agree or disagree (though you certainly are free to do so NOT in your papers and discussions). This is a "here are some facts" class, not an "I believe" class.

MLA Essay Format

All essays must be in standard MLA-8/9 (Modern Language Association) format; this is the format you should have learned in English classes before, but I find most either do not know it or do not know how to actually SET UP the format in Word.

For complete information on what this format looks like, you can refer to any current writer's handbook, but this simple document not only shows it, but it explains exactly how to set it up (and it's free):

Sample MLA-8 Format Essay in Word

I also have a few required set-up videos you'll look at, and You can also find information on places like the Purdue OWL site.

"But what if I'm using different software than what's on your set-up video?"

You might be; I use full-featured, standalone Word Pro, and you may use a newer cloud-based version or something like MAC Pages. It's not a problem. You may have to search a YouTube video on "How to set up MLA 8 paper using Pages" or "How do I set up an MLA 8 Works Cited page using Word 365," and so on. Those sorts of searches take SECONDS to do.

Added Notes About Different Word Processing Software: 1) you STILL must save the file on your computer or a thumb drive as a .docx or .pdf file which you must attach to an email to send to me (that might require you to do another YouTube search, but there are indeed instructions on the internet, and 2) sometimes converting from something like DOCS or OneDrive will mess up your format. So I do advise staying away from those things.

how to submit your work

All essays must be in standard MLA-9 (Modern Language Association) format (see above).

Papers should be saved to your computer's hard drive or on a thumb (flash) drive as either a .pdf or a .docx (Word) file. I can also open .rtf. Do not send me other file formats (things like .pages or .odt; I cannot open them. If you are unsure how to save a document on your computer or a thumb drive, just do a quick search for "How to save .pages file as .pdf on my computer" (something like that).

Use the software you are comfortable with, but you still must submit your work as a saved file (.docx or .pdf) that is attached to your email and sent to me at JRCORBALLY@GMAIL.COM
If you are unsure how to attach a file to your email to send to me, you can look that up as well with something like "How to attach a .pdf to my Gmail."
DO NOT send me links to things such as Sharepoint, Google DOCS or OneDrive files.

other things:

late papers

Typically, a paper can be turned in up to a week late with just a 10% penalty. This is because sometimes things do happen. Yes, try to get things in early, or you will find that you have multiple assignments jammed up.

The last paper cannot be turned in late after the last day of class.

missed assignments

These will receive 0 points. Be sure you are watching the due dates on the Class Schedule

Students have noted on some of the Rate My Professor comments there is mention of a Free Pass and a Safety Net that allow some work to be skipped. THAT IS NOT TRUE IN THE SHORT CLASSES because you do fewer discussions and one fewer paper, and you need to do EVERYTHING to meet the minimum word count set by CSU and UC to make the class transferrable.

short papers

Any paper shorter than three+ full pages WILL NOT be accepted at all; you will be asked to revise it as a late paper. NOTE: Word count requirements for English classes is set by the State, the CSUs and the UCs. Courses that do not meet their requirements will not transfer.

revisions?

We just do not have time. Look at the Class Schedule. There is a lot going on because this class is so short. However, if you are asked to revise something because it is too short or off topic or not in MLA format (it's rare, but it happens sometimes), you will need to revise to earn credit for that paper.

the "P" word, again

Plagiarized work will earn a "fail" (for that assignment). Plagiarized work is any work not your own (and, yes, that includes AI-generated text from software such as ChatGPT; that is not YOUR work).

final note:

Always, always ask! Send questions to JRCORBALLY@GMAIL.COM.

Information on Writing Assignments