No contractions in formal writing.
All small numbers (1-10) should be spelled out (one, two, three, etc.).
All foreign words, which are not proper nouns or found in an English
dictionary, should be italicized.
Capitalization and spelling should be consistent.
Acronyms should be defined at first use (GNP = Gross National Product).
Dates should never be written out (two thousand and five)
Never use colloquial abbreviations or symbols for words (B/C for because)
or “Smiley” faces.
Published books and magazines (except the Bible and the Koran) should be
underlined.
Plays, musical compositions and essays should be italicized or underlined.
Commas and periods always go inside quotation marks. Colons and semicolons
always go outside quotation marks. The placement of question and
exclamation marks is dependent on the action in the sentence.
Positions and titles are in lower case unless they include a proper noun
(king of England…King John of England). An exception to this rule is the
use of the word Pope.
Make sure all subjects and verbs are in agreement.
Be careful about your use of commas.
Make sure your sentences are correctly structured and MAKE SENSE!
Titles of articles in magazines or essays in a collection should be in
quotation marks.
Names of ships and works of art should be italicized.
Cutting and pasting from the Internet (or copying verbatim from books,
magazines, etc.) is PLAGIARISM and will result in a grade of ZERO! Put
things in your OWN words.
Your “Works Cited” page should be according to MLA format.
Although they might not specifically be enumerated above, you are also
expected to follow basic grammar rules.
If you have a question about your writing, see me BEFORE the DUE DATE!
