Writing & Grammar

Posts about writing and grammar.

Basic writing tips for college students

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Today’s blog is on writing for college. Having taught college for 11 years, there are some tips I would like to share with you.

First, please use commas with introductory words and phrases. An example of an introductory word is seen in my previous sentence. If you are looking for an introductory phrase, I just gave you one in this sentence. These phrases can make your writing interesting but please do not use too many or it becomes tedious. Introductory phrases tell your reader to breathe as he or she reads your sentences and too many breaths lead to hyperventilation!

Next, use commas with the second-to-the-last item in a list of things. Here is an example: birds, planes, and automobiles. Let me give you an example of why this comma is so important. Let’s say that your parents have three million dollars and they want to leave one million to each of their three kids. If they write “we want to leave one million dollars to child A, child B, and child C,” then each child gets one million dollars. But if they say “we want to leave one million dollars to child A, child B and child C, then child A gets a million and B and C split a million. (I guess the dog gets the remaining million.)

Finally for today, please read your documents out loud before you submit them. It is amazing what you may catch. You may find that the sentences that you thought were so lovely do not make sense at all. You may locate sentence fragments, typos, and subject/verb disagreement. If you can catch them, the professor won’t find them for you, and this will result in a higher grade.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

College idea of the day: Writing Centers

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

College writing centers can be a wonderful asset to the beginning college student. When I began college as a nontraditional (e.i. “older”) student, I had been out of the classroom for many, many years. I hadn’t written an essay since high school. Even though I was considered a pretty decent writer back then, I had forgotten many of the basics of essay writing.

One of my teaching assistants had the presence of mind to suggest I try the writing center (which is an asset that most colleges I have come across have available today) after giving me a D on the first paper I wrote for her. This formerly-A student in writing classes was totally shocked. After I picked my pride up off the floor, I hightailed it over for the first-available appointment. What a godsend that was!

Although writing centers will not write the paper for you, they will give you guidance as to where you are going wrong. You may need some remedial help in the form of a class or two, but they can work on your form and sentence structure that can help in class right now.

Do you struggle with subject/verb agreement, passive versus active voice, or semi-colon use? They can help. When do you hyphenate a word? Are you using a word that sounds like another word but is wrong (“are” for “our,” “there” for “their,” and the like). Go to the writing center. This is an asset worth talking about! Good luck!

Best,

Dr. Sheri

P.S. My grades went from a D to an A in a single semester- this strategy works!

 

Preparing a college essay

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

This blog post comes after a busy day of grading papers at the three colleges where I teach. Here are some tips I wish my students knew about writing an essay for college:

Before you submit a paper, read it out loud. You will find mistakes you had no idea were there!

Do not write a run-on sentence. If, as you read the sentence out loud, you have to come up for air, divide the sentence into more than one sentence. A sentence that goes on and on and on and on will not endear you to your prof.

Make sure you have followed the directions!!!!!! One time, I was preparing to submit a paper online but decided to go back over the instructions one more time. I had written the wrong paper! Happily, I was able to go back over the paper and make some changes that turned it into the right paper but my grade would have been seriously impacted if I had not taken the time to make sure I got things right.

Make certain that you have followed the correct formatting, especially if the professor has posted an example of the essay you are to write. Does she ask for MLA or APA format? Don’t re-invent the wheel here- it really does matter. Follow whichever style guide he or she asks for.

Don’t argue with your professor. It is fine to ask questions about the grading but do not insist he or she accept your ideas for how the paper should be written. Ask with respect and sincere politeness. You would be amazed at how flexible we may become, if we are asked nicely.

Do not write a negative review of the instructor to “get back” at her for a bad grade. Take responsibility for your own education and admit that you maybe, just maybe, might have messed up. Some of us having been doing this line of work since you were in middle school….or longer.

Have a great day!

Dr. Sheri