Dr. Darrel Enck-Wanzer's Website

Here are some tips for writing papers in any of my classes. I have have high expectations for the level of writing you are doing — especially in 2000 and 3000-level classes. You're in college and I expect you to be writing at the college level.

Watch out for little technical errors! Typos, grammatical errors, etc., are all small, taken alone; but they can add up to a big problem if they happen too often. A paper full of careless errors, no matter how good you make the argument, is weaker overall than a clean paper. Some things to remember include:

1. Note the page number of any quotations after the quotation marks (e.g., Burke 9). Also make sure that you are consistent in the style of your citations. So, for example, if you start the paper using MLA, make sure that you continue to use MLA throughout the entire paper. The specific style manual you use (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.) doesn't really matter to me. What does matter, however, is that you follow some style manual and follow it consistently.
2. Make sure that your sentences are complete (sentences need verbs!). Also watch out for run-on sentences. If a sentence looks overly long to you, try to break it up into two shorter sentences.
3. Spelling: your word processing program has a spell-check. Be sure it's turned on. It can be your friend. That said, it probably won't know all the words you do; so a good, recent dictionary is always helpful to have on hand.
4. Pay attention to punctuation, especially commas and semi-colons. If you're not sure about whether something requires a comma or not, you should refer to a good style guide, such as Strunk & White'sElements of Style (available in paperback or for free online).

Use your quotations wisely. It's good to use the text to support your argument, but there are effective and ineffective ways to use quotes in an essay.

1. Make sure you only quote as much of the text as you need to support your argument. I was a college student once, too, and know the lure of the Very Long Quotation; but it sticks out like a sore thumb.
2. Make sure your quotation is relevant to the argument, and not just there to keep the others company. One way to do this is to follow it up with an explanation of how it supports your overall argument.
3. Make sure that your quotations are not substituting for your own argument. We all read the same texts; you need to let me know that you know what's being argued! A good way to do this is to state your own point, follow it up with evidence (a quotation) from the text, and then summarize what the quotation says, tying it back into your overall argument. In other words, make judicious use of the text to support your argument. It sounds like it might take a lot of space in your shorter papers; but this is actually pretty simple in practice.
4. Remember that quotations do not "speak for themselves." It is your job, as a writer, to show the reader how the quotation supports your argument. Do not merely tell me that it does.

Always, always proofread your writing! In particular, pay attention to the flow of your own argument. The quickest way to identify a paper written at the last minute is to chart its flow; nine times out of ten, it starts out arguing one thing, but finishes arguing something different. This is a natural process — a lot of times, it takes writing your ideas out just to figure out what they are. The problem is when that's the end of the story — when your paper stops there. Don't let this be you! Always give yourself enough time to go back over your paper and revise it according to your new, improved argument (usually to be found in your first-draft concluding paragraph). Better yet, give yourself enough time to have someone else read it. 

1. Proofread for logic — does what you're writing make sense to you? If it doesn't, then it definitely won't make sense to me!
2. Be sure you have a thesis!
   • Thesis sentences should introduce the argument you want to prove/demonstrate in your paper.  As such, it shoold contain a contention of some sort (one that could actually be contentious).
   • This statement should bring together theory and your artifact to make a particular argument that you plan to demonstrate through your read of the artifact.

Precise use of language is especially important — particularly when you're writing about communication! Think about the words you use: what do they mean? For example, does "cause" mean the same thing as "motivate"? Arguments about some things you're going to deal with often hinge on what specific words mean; so make sure to use them wisely.

1. Remember your audience. You are writing for me; so assume that I have done the readings and have a good understanding of the arguments. Hence, you do not need to water down your argument.
2. Watch out, on the other hand, for "jargon." A lot of the writers that we're reading use some pretty discipline-specific vocabulary. Use it where it's necessary — if, for example, your argument is about that vocabulary — but be careful not to let it consume your paper. The trend in academia these days is away from impenetrable, jargon-laden texts … toward something a little more readable.
3. That said, avoid using slang or conversational expressions in your essays. If your essay sounds like a conversation with one of your friends, you might want to reconsider some of your language. The trick is to find a happy medium.
4. Above all, don't hesitate to get feedback on your writing. If you're getting a lot of comments about it on your papers, please come and talk to me! Take advantage of UGA's Writing Center; even if you made "A's" in English all through high school, it can never hurt to have someone give you feedback on your essays. Even professional writers do it — the long lists of people in the "Acknowledgments" of a book are often just lists of other people who read the book and gave feedback to the author.
5. Remember, you have a limited amount of space to make your arguments; so concise use of language is critical.

All of these tips come from my own experiences; good writing is a process that never really ends, and these are problems that we all have in common at one time or another. If you want me to look over something you've written before you turn it in, I'm more than happy to do so. Such review, though, must happen in office hours. Sorry … that's one thing I won't do over email.