A Few Things To Remember When Writing A Paragraph or an Essay
 

1.              Do not use the 2nd person pronoun “you” to refer to the reader.
Ex. When Brutus delivers his speech, you do not expect him to be able to persuade the crowd.
 

2.           Do not use 1st person to refer to yourself (too informal).
Ex.  I believe that Antigone is justified in defying Creon because…
 

3.              Do not switch verb tense.
Ex. Antigone believes that everyone is entitled to a proper burial.  Her burying of Polyneices was the right thing to do.
 

4.              Do not use unclear pronoun references.  The reader does not know who or what is referred to.
Ex. Antigone does have the right to defy Creon.  He’s her brother, and he’s her nephew.  I think that he should at least be given the right to be buried.
 

5.              Do not use fragments and run-ons.
 Ex. Which leads us to understand Antigone’s decision.

Ex. Then Creon, acting high and mighty, trying to detour anyone who thinks differently than he does about Polyneices.

Ex.  Antigone does not defy Creon just to defy Creon she has a good reason.
 

6.              Do not begin a sentence with “This” without a noun following it.
Ex. This is why…  This tells us…This is an example of…

                                This WHAT? This mistake… This confession… This passage…
 

7.              Do avoid repetitious or redundant wording.
Ex. …she loved them equally the same.
 
        8.              Do check your spelling.  Use a dictionary.
 

9.              Do choose one side of the argument and support it when writing an opinion / argumentative paragraph or essay.
Ex.  Antigone does not have the right to defy Creon.  He is the King of Thebes. But in some way, I think Antigone does have the right to speak out against Creon.  Polyneices is her brother.
 

10.        Do use a comma after an introductory adverb clause (one that tells why, when, how, to what degree, or under what circumstances something happens).
Ex. Because she feels strongly about upholding the laws of the gods, Antigone chooses to defy Creon.

 

11..              Do use a comma after introductory prepositional phrases.
Ex. In Creon’s proclamation regarding the burial of Polyneices, he states …
 
        12.   Count the number of to be verbs (is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been).  Find three that can better be expressed as action verbs and rewrite the sentences that way.
 
        13..              Look at how your sentences begin.  If more than half of your sentences begin with a subject, rewrite them in a way that varies the beginning.
 

14.              Check your comma use by applying these four rules:

a.        Use a comma before and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet, and still when those words join independent clauses.

b.       Use a comma between all terms in a series.

c.        Use a comma(s) to set off parenthetical openers and afterthoughts (in fact, for example, of course, indeed, however, incidentally, nevertheless, on the contrary, at any rate…)

d.       Use a comma after introductory clauses and phrases.
 
        15. Find all instances of there is or there are and eliminate as many as possible.
 
         16.  Find all instances of the pronoun it with no antecedent and eliminate.

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