Tad-Bits Dr. Rearick

1
Tad-BitsDr. Rearicks Hang-ups

• My Pet Peeves in Student Writing

2
In the Future if an employer tells you he or she
does not like something. . .

• Dont Do It!

• But seriously, what I hope to encourage your
• writing is to make you. . .
• Precise in style
• Concise in meaning

3

• There is no such word as alot. Its a lot.
• When describing the past avoid the over use of
  would.
• We would often have lunch by the sea and would go
  swimming afterwards.
• We often had lunch by the sea and went swimming
  afterwards.

4

• Avoid the impersonal or the indefinite you.
  Not only often wordy but also often inexact.
• When you get pregnant your ankles sometimes
  swell as much as your breasts.
• Not me says the male reader.
• For the same reason do not use the inclusive
  we. Writers should not speak for readers.
• We know that God controls all that happens to
  us. Do we?

5

• Avoid absolute phrases, for example
• Everybody knew everybody else.
• Mom and Dad always argued about who was going
  to drive.
• Temper your writing
• Nearly everybody knew one another.
• Mom and Dad often argued about who was going to
  drive.
• Save absolutes for absolutes.
• Death comes to everyone.
• Spring always returns.

6

• Be as concrete as you can be before making
  general statements.
• Another problem with words like always is that it
  often introduces an example which is vague
  because there are no particulars.
• My friends are always there for me.
• General points may begin a paragraph but use
  specific moments in time with details to prove
  that point.

7

• 6. Awesome is not a universal adjective.
• Mountains are awesome the cosmos is awesome
  God is awesome.
• A mechanical pencil, no matter its level of
  excellence, is not awesome.

8

• Totally is intensely overused. Students should
  limit its appearance in an essay to about once or
  maybe twice and be certain that it really fits
  the use.
• I am totally bored.
• Dave is totally bummed
• Leslie is totally overwhelmed by her schoolwork.

9

• Instead use the wealth of the English language to
  find alternative words to get across ones
  meaning
• I am intensely bored.
• David is really bummed.
• Leslie is utterly overwhelmed by her
  schoolwork.
• The fact is that good writers dont even use
  intensifiers TRUST your WORDS!

10
Avoid phrases like I feel, I think, I
believe.

• If an opinion is in a paper and is not credited
  to someone else, the reader assumes that the
  feeling experienced. the position held, or the
  belief described belong to the writer without
  being overtly told so.
• Thus, dont write I believe that Fall is the
  best season of all.
• Instead, just write Fall is the best season of
  all.

11
Being is not the same as the verb is.

• Tom is going to lead the team today. Jack being
  sick. (FRAG!)
• Either make the last phrase independent by using
  the verb to be or connect the sentence to the
  first independent clause with a comma.

12
When using like remember that this word is
meant to compare two unlike things

• Thus in what is called a simile the one thing is
  in most of its characteristics is different
  except for some specific qualities which the
  writer wants to emphasize.
• Weak One student of mine described his first
  days on campus this way It was like a major
  culture shock, very eye-opening. It was not like
• Better to write something like this It was a
  major culture shock, very eye-opening.

13

• Strong A correct use of like might be something
  like this He ran his class like a marine drill
  sergeant, disciplined, organized but with very
  little room for the special needs which might
  surface from individual to individual.

14
Be careful how you use comparatives like more
or the er form of an adverb.

• Often students (probably because of the bad
  example of Madison Avenue) will use a comparative
  but forget to include with whom the subject is
  being compared.
• Dan is working harder this week. (than who?)
• He has worked through people to make me feel so
  much more welcome. (than where?)

15
As pretty as other styles may be, stay with
Times New Roman also keep your font size set
at 14.

• Remember to use one inch margins on the top and
  bottom of your page and 1.25 for its left and
  right margins (MLA requires 1 inch).
• Dont forget to double space your text Form
  matters!
• Save your creativity in a writing class for the
  writing.

16
When describing a text (that means when writing
about something you read for this class) use the
present tense. Don't say this

• Dickens used comic commentary when he described
  Ralph Nickleby's awkward farewell to his niece
  "The blessing seemed to stick in Mr.. Ralph
  Nickleby's throat, as if it were not used to the
  thoroughfare, and didn't know the way out"
  (Dickens 244).

17
Instead use the present tense

• Remember a written text is readable is still
  working, is still alive and should be described
  in present tense.
• "Dickens uses. . .when he describes. . ." Keep
  in mind that any text

18
In your papers historical facts should be
described in the past tense but events in text
are still occurring

• Centuries ago Moses and the Israelis crossed the
  red sea.
• In the book of Exodus Moses and the Israelis
  cross the red sea.

19
Paragraph Problems
When I see them my mind goes Warning! Warning!

• No page of text should be presented with no
  paragraphs. Find the break. It is always there.
• In dialogue each new speaker should be cued by a
  new paragraph. Thus the he said she said
  repetition of words can be avoided.

20
Do not begin a paragraph with a quote.

• Quotes, especially in any research setting,
  always need to be introduced so that the reader
  knows what point you--the writer-- think the
  quote makes.
• Instead of starting the paragraph with. . .
• Will our homes become such cozy entertainment
  providers well never leave? I dont think that
  will happen (Gates 61).

21

• Make what point you wish to emphasize in the
  paragraph clear in the introduction to the quote
• Gates dismisses concerns about computers
  enveloping of our spare time so much we wont
  interact with others with a simple I dont think
  that will happen (61).

22

• Note this quote does not answer the point.
  Gates reason is still needed.

23

• Be certain to take quotes from the actual text,
  not from the blown up words used to break up a
  page of words. Think of those as graphics, not
  text.
• Do not only say who wrote a quote also include
  why that source should be recognized and where
  you, the researcher, found it.

24

• In research papers be certain that all the
  information given is clearly connected with the
  main idea (the thesis) of your paper. Large
  chunks of information may fill up pages, but
  they do nothing to further your grade.

25

• Remember that paragraphs are indicated in MLA by
  the indentation of five spaces (or one tab) not
  by a triple space and NEVER by both.
• Cite Cite Cite