SCSU English

Department

BLUE BOOK
Writing Guide
for Majors and Minors
 How to Use this Guide
This Blue Book is for you—in several senses. First, it is a writing guide for English
Majors and Minors at Southern. Its purpose is to help you write college-level
papers and other assignments in your literature, advanced composition, and
professional writing classes. It covers the basics of formatting, use of quoted
evidence, voice, and sentence mechanics and grammar needed to draft an English
essay. It adheres to the MLA (Modern Language Association) guidelines—the
rulebook for English literature specialists—and may not always be applicable to
other disciplines or majors. It also does not take the place of any specific writing
instruction or handouts your instructor provides.

Second, it is for you, personally. Keep the Blue Book with you—on campus, on
your home desk, in your bag—throughout your time at Southern. We have
designed this guide as a quick reference tool for those routine writing issues you
may have known but forgotten, or may have never known but didn’t know how to
find the answers easily. Many of these concepts are fundamentals that will not be
covered in your English courses, so use this book to take charge of your own
writing. For further writing help, visit the SCSU Writing Center, the Purdue Online
Writing Lab (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/), or your professor during office
hours.

Why a “Blue Book”? Simple: so you’ll remember it. To that end, we have designed
the pages below for ease of reference. When things are in bold, pay attention—
those are the main skills and principles to follow. When things are in Times New
Roman, those are examples. Look at them carefully for models of what to do (and
what not to do). Skim, dog-ear, circle, re-read as needed. Fresh copies can be
downloaded (PDF) from the English Department website.

The English Department Faculty

Revised August 2019

Table of Contents
I. The Basics of Essays in MLA Style
A. MLA Style: In-Text Citations 5-6
How to cite page and line numbers parenthetically in your prose

B. MLA Style: Works Cited 7-9

How to cite bibliographic information at the end of an essay

C. MLA Style: Sample Formatted Paper 10-15

How to format your essay following MLA style, with step-by-step
examples

D. Italics or “Quotations”: The Basics of Source Titles 16-17

How to refer to books, articles, poems, novels, essays, etc. in your
writing

II. Working with Quoted Evidence

A. Punctuating Quotations 19-20
Where commas, colons, quotation marks, and periods go before
and after a quotation

B. Integrating Quotations 21-22

What you need for a quotation to make sense in your surrounding
sentence(s)

C. Analyzing Quoted Evidence 23-24

How to “sandwich” quotations, and how to blend and vary them in
a paragraph of literary analysis

D. Block Quotations 25
When and how to off-set longer quotations in a paper

E. Revising Quotations: Additional Tips 26

How to revise and improve your use of quotations

III. Voice and Clarity

A. Beyond “I”: Varying Subject Nouns 28-29
How to vary the subject nouns of your sentences, beyond “I think”
or what the author says

B. Avoiding “You” 30
Why to avoid “you” in formal or analytical prose

C. The Literary Present Tense 31

How to make sure you are staying in the correct tense throughout
a paper
 D. “This”: Fixing Vague Pronoun Reference 32
How to recognize and fix vague references at the beginning of
sentences (“This,” “It,” etc.)

E. Cutting Fluff 33-34

How to eliminate “fluff” in your writing, from “dawn of time”
statements to “Webster’s says ....”

F. Titling Your Paper 35

What makes a good title in a college-level essay, with examples

IV. Sentence Mechanics and Grammar

A. Writing Complete Sentences, Part One 37-40
How to recognize and fix sentence fragments, run-ons, and comma
splices

B. Writing Complete Sentences, Part Two 41-42

How to combine clauses into longer sentences, including compound
and complex sentences

C. Avoiding Mixed Sentence Constructions 43

How to avoid blurring two sentence patterns into a jumble

D. Commas, Semicolons, Colons 44-46

When to use a comma, semi-colon, and colon, and what the
difference is

E. Subject-Verb Agreement 47-48

How to make sure your subjects nouns “agree”—or make sense—
with your verbs

F. Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Elements 49-50

When and why to put commas around introductory phrases,
parenthetical ideas, and “that” vs. “which”

G. Modifiers 51-52
What dangling and misplaced modifiers are, and how to correct
them

H. Getting Apostrophes and Possessives Right 53-54

How to stop mixing up “its” and “it’s”

Appendix A – English Department Plagiarism Policy

Appendix B—English@SCSU MLA Quick Tip Sheet

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I. The Basics of Essays in MLA Style

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(I.A) MLA Style: In-Text Citations

Following MLA guidelines, cite your sources in the body of your paper parenthetically.
Cite all quotations and any important information, ideas, or words not your own.

Parenthetical citations typically occur at the ends of sentences or after quotations. With
the exception of block quotations, the parenthetical citation always comes after the
quotation marks but before the period or semi-colon.

1. Basic parenthetical citation

To cite a source in the body of your paper, include the author’s last name and page number in
the parentheses; do not use “p.” or “page”:
(Ruhl 25)
As one critic has argued, “Measure for Measure raises the issue of embodied experience in the opening
scenes” (Knapp 262).

If you have already named the author in the preceding clause or sentence(s), simply cite the
page number:

As Jeffrey Knapp has argued, “Measure for Measure raises the issue of embodied experience in the
opening scenes” (262).

2. Citing a source quoted in another source

To cite an author quoted in another article, essay, or book, include the author’s name in your
prose and credit the work in which you found it, using “quoted in”:

Empson claimed that “A word may become a sort of solid entity” (quoted in Frenkel 190).

3. Citing literary works: poems, plays, etc.

To cite poetry, give line numbers, using “line” for the first citation and the number for every
subsequent citation. Use stanza numbers for larger works:

(line 13), (17-19), (16.78-9), etc.

Donne begins Satire 1 pleading, “Away thou changling motley humorist” (line 1). By the middle of the
poem, however, he calls his companion “a contrite penitent / Charitably warn’d of thy sins” (49-50).

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To cite plays in dramatic verse, give act, scene, and line numbers:

(3.3.54-7)

In Shakespeare’s final act, Coriolanus prepares to storm out before hearing his mother’s complaint,
declaring, “I have sat too long” (5.3.151).

To cite works of literary prose—such as novels or short stories—use the basic format above,
citing author and page number. When needed, include chapters for novels: e.g., (105; ch. 12).

4. Special Cases

• If there is more than one work by the same author in your Works Cited, include an
abbreviated title in the parenthetical citation: e.g., (Donne, Pseudo-Martyr 50).

• If the author is unknown, include only the abbreviated title and page number in the
parenthetical citation: e.g., (Pilgrim 63).

• If you are citing a block quotation—a longer indented quotation, to be used when you
quote more than four lines of poet—the parenthetical citation comes after the final
punctuation.

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(I.B) MLA Style: Works Cited

Below are examples of some of the most common bibliographic citations used in Works
Cited pages. Use this for papers and for any other assignment for which you need to cite a
work (an annotated bibliography, a paper proposal, etc.) following MLA guidelines.

Remember that these are examples. You need to be able to locate the author, title,
editor(s), publication information, page numbers, and any other relevant information on
your own. Be sure also to follow the correct format exactly, including punctuation, order
of information, italics, etc.

How to cite …

1. A book

When citing an entire book by one or more authors, include author(s), book title, publisher, date:

Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. Basic
Books, 2011.
Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-
Century Literary Imagination. 2nd ed., Yale UP, 2000.
2. A critical edition or translation

When citing an entire book by an author that has also been edited or translated by someone else,
add the editor or translator after the title:
Donne, John. The Complete English Poems. Edited by A. J. Smith, Penguin, 1996.
Sloterdijk, Peter. You Must Change Your Life. Translated by Wieland Hoban, Polity Press, 2013.

3. An essay or chapter in an edited volume

When citing an essay or chapter contained within a book that has essays or chapters by other
writers as well, include the author of the essay or chapter itself, the title of the essay or chapter in
quotations, the book title, editor(s), publication information, and the page range of the essay or
chapter:

Arnold, Miah. “You Owe Me.” The Best American Essays 2012, edited by David Brooks, Houghton
Mifflin, 2012, pp. 1-5.
Hauerwas, Stanley. “Why Gays (as a Group) Are Morally Superior to Christians (as a Group).” The
Hauerwas Reader, edited by John Berkman and Michael Cartwright, Duke UP, 2001, pp. 519-21.

4. A literary work (poem, short story, play, etc.) in an anthology or textbook

When citing an individual literary work in an anthology or textbook containing multiple works,
follow the same format as a work in an edited volume above, including the number of the edition
after the title, if necessary.

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Borges, Jorge Luis. “The Immortal.” Collected Fictions, translated by Andrew Hurley, Penguin, 1998, pp.
185-93.
Marlowe, Christopher. Hero and Leander. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 9th ed., edited by
Stephen Greenblatt, et al., Norton, 2012, pp. 510-30.

5. A literary work online

When citing a short work (poem, short story, etc.) found on a web page, include author, title of the
work, title and date of book from which it was derived (if provided), title of website, a URL or
Permalink, and the date you accessed it:
Wyatt, Sir Thomas. “They Flee From Me.” Luminarium, http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/theyflee.htm.
Accessed 10 Nov. 2013.
Lee, Li Young. “Arise, Go Down.” The City in Which I Love You, 1990, Poetry Foundation,
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43327. Accessed 13 Dec. 2013.

6. A scholarly article in an academic journal (in print or PDF)

When citing a scholarly article in an academic journal that you have in print or a PDF copy of the
printed page, include author of article, article title, title of journal, volume and issue number, year,
and page range of the article:
Randel, Fred V. “The Political Geography of Horror in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” ELH, vol. 70, no. 2,
2003, pp. 465-91.
Nydam, Arlen. “Philip Sidney’s Extended Family and the Catholic Petition of 1585.” Sidney Journal, vol.
28, no. 1, Spring 2010, pp. 53-79.

7. A scholarly article in an academic journal (in an online database)

When citing a scholarly article in an academic journal that you are viewing as a web page in a library
database (i.e., not in PDF), use the same format as above but include a URL and the date you
accessed it. If no page numbers to a print edition are listed, omit them or provide paragraph (par.)
numbers:
Heyen, William. “Sunlight.” American Poetry Review, vo. 36, no. 2, 2007, pp. 55-56.
ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/login.
aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24224660&site=ehost-live. Accessed 24 Sept. 2008.

8. A non-scholarly article in an online newspaper or magazine

When citing a popular newspaper or magazine article online (not found in a library database),
include author, title of the article, name of the online publication, the date of the article, a URL or
Permalink, and the date you accessed it:

Korb, Scott. “Anywhere, Nowhere, Elsewhere, Everywhere.” Slate, 10 Jan. 2014,

www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/01/richard
_powers_novel_orfeo_reviewed.single.html. Accessed 15 Jan. 2014.

Cavett, Dick. “Booze, Revisited.” New York Times, 10 Jan. 2014,

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/opinion/booze-revisited.html. Accessed 13 Jan. 2014.

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Other cases not covered above

If you have a source not covered in the examples above—e.g., a print newspaper article, an
online book, a blog, a YouTube clip, etc.—consult the MLA Guidelines at
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Things to remember

• Always compile your Works Cited in alphabetical order, author’s last name first
• Book titles take italics; articles, essays, short stories, and short poems take quotation marks
(“ “)
• If the citation is longer than one line, indent each line after the first (called a “hanging
indent”)
• Page numbers are required for any essay, journal article, or work within a larger work
• If there are more than two editors, use “et al.” (Latin for “and others”) after the first editor’s
name
• Don’t mistake authors with editors—the author is the person who wrote the work you’re
using, the editor is the one who put it where it is

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(I.C) MLA Style: Sample Formatted Paper

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Smart 5

must indicate which of the two works the quotation comes from. If your essay included only one

work by the author Magnum Q. Opus, then the work's title would be omitted from the

parenthetical reference. Note also that the second instance of poetic quotation omits the word

"lines" from the citation; once is enough to establish the pattern for readers. Notice, too, that the

title information in each of these two citations is formatted differently from the other. That's

because the first quotation comes from a short work (a lyric poem, in this case) and therefore

appears in quotation marks, while the latter quotation is taken from a long work (a book-length

poem) and therefore appears in italics. The rules for formatting quotations from plays are similar

in their logic, but would take too much space to demonstrate here, so see the MLA Handbook

for further instructions.

This document outlines most of the greatest hits of MLA: rules for the formatting and

citation feats that you'll need to perform most regularly. The Works Cited page that follows

doesn't refer to works (real or imagined) that were actually cited in the body of this essay.

Instead, it includes one example of each of the kinds of sources you are most likely to use in a

literary studies essay. More information about constructing a Works Cited page can be found in

the English@SCSU Bluebook, Buley Library's "MLA Style Guide" (which is linked from the

"Research Guides" menu on the library website), and straight from the source: the MLA

website: https://style.mla.org/formatting-papers/. See especially the "Sample Papers in MLA

Style" link and the paper there labeled "Fourth-Year Course in English Literature." English

majors and graduate students should consider buying their own copies of the latest edition of

the MLA Handbook (the 8th , at the time of this writing) and get in the habit of consulting it

routinely.

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Smart 6

Works Cited

Andrews, Albert Q. Monograph: An Entire Book by a Single Author or by Co-Authors. 2nd ed.,

Yale UP, 2000.

Billings, John. A Critical Edition. Edited by A. J. Smith, Penguin, 1996.

Cabot, Peter. A Translation. Translated by Wieland Hoban, Polity Press, 2013.

Deswan, Miah. "An Essay or Chapter in an Edited Volume." The Best American Essays 2012,

edited by David Brooks, Houghton Mifflin, 2012, pp. 1-5.

Egidio, Jorge Luis. "A Literary Work in an Anthology or Textbook." Collected Fictions, translated

by Andrew Hurley, Penguin, 1998, pp.185-93.

French, Li Young. "A Literary Work Online." 1990, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation

.org/ poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43327.

Gilroy, Fred V. "A Scholarly Article in an Academic Journal, in Print or PDF." ELH, vol. 70, no. 2,

2003, pp. 465-91.

Haimovitz, William. "A Scholarly Article in an Academic Journal, in an Online Database."

American Poetry Review, vo. 36, no. 2, 2007, pp. 55-56. ebscohost.com.www.consuls

.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24224660&site=ehost-live.

lngoldsby, Richard. "A Non-Scholarly Article in an Online Newspaper or Magazine." New York

Times, 10 Jan. 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/opinion/booze-revisited.html.

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(I.D) Italics or “Quotation Marks”?:

The Basics of Source Titles

1. Formatting Source Titles

Correctly format and punctuate the titles of your sources in your prose.

Short works such as lyric poems, articles, essays, and song titles take quotation marks:

Michelle Goldberg’s op-ed “Will the Birthplace of the Modern Right Turn Blue?” begins by quoting the
Republican congressman from Orange County.

In his essay “The Hanging,” George Orwell describes in painful detail the execution of Burmese prisoners.

The poem “What Kind of Times are These,” by Adrienne Rich, stirs up old memories of the Cold War.

Book titles and longer works (e.g., narrative poems, films, TV series, albums) take italics:

By the end of A Mercy, Morrison has changed the narrative perspective more than five times.

I have never read Edmund Burke’s The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Walter White, the anti-hero of Breaking Bad, is a classic Faustian character.

Do not use other inventive formatting—bold, cool fonts, or single quotation marks—to denote
a title.

2. Describing and Referring to Sources

Some readings you are assigned in college will appear as they were originally published: in a
book, in a collection, or in a newspaper. Others, however, you will encounter as photocopies,
web-links, or PDFs. Regardless of the medium in which a text is given to you for a particular
class, it is your job to describe the original source you are writing about accurately.

Avoid relying on vague descriptors like “a piece,” “his/her written work,” etc. Think carefully
about the original source and what kind of text it represents. Here are some very common
examples:

• An “essay” is a broad term for a short written argument—creative or expository,

historical or contemporary—that may appear in a collection of essays, online, or in a
journal

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• An “article” is a slightly more specific term for a work of reporting appearing in a

periodical (newspaper, magazine, etc.), or a scholarly paper published in an academic
journal

• An “Op-Ed” refers to an opinion article published in a periodical (newspaper,

magazine, etc.)

• A “book” may refer either to a long monograph (a book by a single author) or an

edited anthology, or collection of essays, compiled by an editor or group of editors

• A “novel” is a long work of creative fiction. Don’t use “novel” loosely—not all long
works or books are novels!

• A “dialogue,” “treatise,” “manifesto,” etc. usually refers to a major philosophical,

economic, or scientific work of historical significance (often pre-1900)

• A “report,” “survey,” “statement,” etc. usually refers to a formal publication of data or

quantifiable research by an organization

• A “study” is a broader term that refers to any short or long work detailing the findings
of an author or group of authors

• A “play” is a dramatic work, written for the stage or theatrical performance

• And many, many others: letter, editorial, memoir, speech, transcript, etc.

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II. Working with Quoted Evidence

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(II.A) Punctuating Quotations

Quotations need to be correctly punctuated in order to avoid creating run-on sentences,
comma splices, or other sentence errors.

Enclose all quotations in double quotation marks (“…”). Do not bold, italicize, or use other
inventive formatting to mark off quoted text. Single quotation marks should be preserved for
quotations within quotations.

1. Before a quotation

There are three basic ways to punctuate the beginning of a quotation:

• A comma after a signal verb

Quotations beginning with an introductory clause that ends in a signal verb (e.g., says, claims,
suggests, observes, implies, argues, believes, etc.) take a comma:

Shakespeare’s sexual ambiguity in Sonnet 120 can be seen in the next quatrain, where the poet warns, “Yet
fear her, O thou minion of her pleasure!” (9).

• A colon and no signal verb

When the introductory clause before the quotation is a complete thought that does not end in
a signal verb, use a colon:

Shakespeare’s sexual ambiguity in Sonnet 120 can be seen in the warning that begins the next quatrain:
“Yet fear her, O thou minion of her pleasure!” (9).

• Continuing the sentence grammatically (no additional punctuation)

When the quoted text logically and grammatically continues your own sentence, no additional
punctuation is needed preceding the quotation:

The poet in Sonnet 120 speaks of a boy “Who hast by waning grown” (3).

A very common instance of a quotation completing one’s own sentence is the use of that
clauses; if the quotation logically follows an introductory clause ending in “that,” no
punctuation is needed:

Shortly thereafter, the poet remarks that “Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack” has defeated him (5).

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Finally, a quotation may also complete your sentence grammatically if it follows a subordinate
clause or introductory phrase (e.g., As a result, According to the narrator, etc.). In this case, a
comma follows the subordinate or introductory element, just as it would a typical sentence:

According to the next quatrain, “Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack” has nevertheless defeated the
speaker (5).

2. At the end of a quotation

In American prose, the punctuation at the end of the quotation as it appears in the original text
goes inside the quotation marks:

Barack Obama said, “We must honor the memory of those lost in Arizona.”

However, when the quotation is followed by a parenthetical page or line citation, the closing
punctuation goes outside the quotation marks.

The narrator then captures the protagonist’s unacknowledged feelings: “Her husband did not make her feel
like this” (Bowen 83).

When the original passage ends in either a question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!),
preserve both the original punctuation and the period after the citation.

Faustus’s famous speech to Helen begins, “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?” (5.1.120).

Finally, when eliding – or omitting – part of the end of a quotation, remove any ending commas
or colons, and add three dots (…) plus the final period. This is called an ellipsis. Ellipses should
be used sparingly in your prose, and only when they accurately preserve the basic sense of the
original.

As Wharton’s story opens, “It was three o’clock in the morning, and the cotillion was at its height…” (1).

4. Punctuating Lines of Poetic or Dramatic Verse

When quoting two or more lines of poetic or dramatic verse, mark all line divisions using a
forward slash ( / ):

Jonson’s poem is evenly divided into halves when the speaker wonders, “For why / Will man lament the
state he should envy?” (5-6).

Scene 4 begins with Angelo painting a vivid image of his sin and its bodily effects: “When I would pray
and think, I think and pray / To several subjects. Heav’n in my mouth / As if I did but chew his name”
(2.4.1-3).

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(II.B) Integrating Quotations

Correct punctuation is not enough. Quoted material in your writing needs to make
grammatical, syntactical, and semantic sense with your surrounding sentence(s); that is, the
quotation needs to fit with the sentence’s grammar, word order, and meaning. Here are three
rules of thumb for integrating quotations clearly into your prose:

1. Your surrounding sentence and the quotation need to combine to form a complete
thought.

Unrevised
According to Jonson, “As what he loves” (line 12).

The quotation itself is only a partial phrase, rendering the sentence as a whole an incomplete thought.

Revised
In the last line, Jonson forswears all long-term commitments on behalf of his son, saying, “For whose sake
henceforth all his vows be such / As what he loves may never like too much” (lines 11-12).

2. Never use a stand-alone quotation. Introduce all quotations.

Unrevised
Simmel discusses modern city life. “The psychological basis of the metropolitan type of individuality
consists in the intensification of nervous stimulation that results from the swift and uninterrupted change of
outer and inner stimuli” (25).

The quotation is left standing on its own. It’s a separate sentence, without context or an introductory
clause, and has only a vague relationship to the previous sentence.

Revised
Simmel wanted to explore the mental effects of modern city life, which he describes early in his essay as an
experience of almost constant overstimulation: “The psychological basis of the metropolitan type of
individuality consists in the intensification of nervous stimulation that results from the swift and
uninterrupted change of outer and inner stimuli” (25).

The quotation now follows logically from the previous sentence, which announces the main idea of the
quotation with an introductory clause (correctly punctuated).

3. Provide textual cues in introductory clauses and phrases to guide the reader.

• Prose
When writing about fiction or non-fiction prose, provide descriptive textual cues to guide your
reader to the context of the quotation. Do not use page numbers, as pages may vary between
editions (and this information is in your parenthetical citation anyway).

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Descriptive textual cues may include mini-summary, references to key events, chapters or other
section breaks, or even a simple “beginning,” “middle,” or “end” where appropriate.

Unrevised
On page 83 of Fun Home, the narrator reflects, “Dad’s death was not a new catastrophe but an old one that
had been unfolding very slowly for a long time” (83).

Revised
When Alison’s mother presents her girlfriend with her father’s copy of Wallace Stevens’ poetry, the
narrator reflects, “Dad’s death was not a new catastrophe but an old one that had been unfolding very
slowly for a long time” (83).

Coates opens the first chapter of Between the World and Me with a seemingly counter-intuitive claim: “But
race is the child of racism, not the father” (7).

On his first glimpse of the African coast, Marlow sees “The edge of a colossal jungle so dark green as to be
almost black…” (13).

• Poetry
When writing about poetry, use formal cues – line numbers, stanzas, and other structural
devices – to guide your reader around the text of the poem:

In line 3 of “The Good Morrow,” the speaker muses whether he and his lover “sucked on country pleasures
childishly” in a previous life.

By the time we’ve reached the final stanza, however, the imagery has changed: “My face in thine eye, thine
in mine appears” (15)

Donne’s closing couplet creates a paradox: “If our two loves be one, or, thou and I / Love so alike, that
none do slacken, none can die” (20-21).

• Drama
Plays, particularly those written in dramatic verse like Shakespeare’s, often require a
combination of the above textual cues. Where appropriate, use a combination of mini-
description of staged action, as well as formal references to act or scene number, to guide your
reader:

Lear utters his fateful words in the first scene of the play: “Nothing will come of nothing, speak again”
(1.1.88).

Act Three begins with Kent wondering, “Who’s there, besides foul weather?” (3.1.1).

Lear’s words to Cordelia as they are led away to prison imagine them together as “birds i’th’cage” and
“God’s spies” (5.3.9, 17).

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(II.C) Analyzing Quoted Evidence

Working with quoted evidence in a literary essay requires analyzing and using that evidence
effectively in your prose. Simply “inserting” or “adding more quotes” does not produce lucid (or
particularly meaningful) writing. It’s what you do with the quoted evidence that matters. For
you as an English Major or Minor, quoted evidence is the means to something larger: treating
the literary text as the subject of your analysis. Practically speaking, this means:

• “Sandwiching” every quotation with appropriate summary, context, and explanation

• Providing a judicious mix of full and partial quotations, including quoting key terms
and phrases where helpful
• Keeping your own words and ideas in the driver’s seat, while rooting everything you
say in the language of the text

1. Sandwiching quotations

A “quotation sandwich” means that your quotations always must have something before and
after them:

Before - An introductory clause that introduces the quotation, providing sufficient

context for what you’re quoting and who’s speaking.

Quotation - “ ... “ (citation).

After - 2-3 follow-up sentences that summarize, explain, and analyze what you’ve just
quoted, building to your next piece of evidence.

Example
At the end of the first quatrain, Hopkins raises a larger question, given the grandeur he’s just described:
“Why do men then now not reck his rod?” (line 4). The poet wonders why humans do not “reck”—reckon
or recognize—God’s authority. Specifically, the speaker imagines that authority metaphorically as a rod,
which oddly implies both a kingly sceptre and a whip or bludgeon.

2. Mixing full and partial quotation

Strong writers rarely string together a long list of quotations, one after another. They provide a
judicious mix of full and partial quotations in order to focus their prose on the language of what
they’re analyzing. For example:

Hopkins’s sonnet goes on to imagine how humans “have trod, have trod, have trod” (line 3), using iambic
repetition to reinforce his point.

Chapter One of Exit West opens with the image of a “city swollen,” full of “clothing,” “choices,”
branding,” and “luxury” (Hamid 1).

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3. Sample paragraph

Notice how the writer of this paragraph combines quotation sandwiches and a mix of full and
partial quotation to drive his or her own ideas, while rooting every sentence in the language of
the text.

Donne uses the word “sense” only once in the middle of “A The writer correctly integrates
and punctuates full quotations
throughout the paragraph using
Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” in a parenthesis that nevertheless carries introductory colons and
commas, parenthetical
great weight: “Dull sublunary lovers’ love / (Whose soul is sense) cannot citations, and line breaks.

admit / Absence …” (lines 13-15). The speaker contrasts his “refined” (17)

love with the love of those who are “dull” because they are “sublunary,” or
Notice how the writer pulls out
live on earth, below the moon. He suggests that he and his beloved are key words and phrases from the
previous quotation and its
defined by their minds, not physical things, and therefore do not care about surrounding lines for further
analysis.

being absent from each other. Dull or superficial love, by contrast, relies on

“Those things which elemented it” (16), or sense, to keep it alive. On one

hand, by putting “soul is sense” in parentheses, Donne might be taken to The writer continues to treat
the text as the subject of his or
her analysis by considering two
mean that his thoughts are free from such superficial things. The word
contrasting interpretations of
the original quotation.
“sense” in line 14 serves as a metaphor to imply that other lovers’ souls are

like mere blocks of wood or stone. On the other hand, the same word can be

read literally to mean that some lovers’ souls are preoccupied with the bodily

or emotional senses. This latter connotation of “sense” is ironic because

Donne’s poem seems preoccupied itself with physical imagery for emotional Using helpful textual cues (e.g.,
“closes”), the writer advances
connection. The poem closes, “Thy firmness makes my circle just, / And the paragraph’s analysis by
linking the original passage
discussed to a quotation at the
makes me end where I begun” (44-45). If Donne needs to sense his lover’s end of the poem,
“sandwiching” the quotation
“firmness” in order to feel justified, or complete, one wonders if their love is with context and follow-up.

really that different from the rest of the “dull” world.

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(II.D) Block Quotations

Block quotations are long quotations that are more than four lines of prose or more than three
lines of verse, indented and offset from the main body of your text.

Block quotations should always be used sparingly in any essay or writing assignment under ten
pages. In very short papers (under three pages), you should avoid them entirely, unless it is
absolutely necessary or you have been specifically instructed to use them.

Here are two rules of thumb for the use of block quotations:

1. Never end a paragraph with a block quotation.

If the quotation is that important, surely it deserves extended explanation and analysis.

2. Devote at least twice as many lines of explanation to a block quotation as the quotation
itself.

If the block quotation is four lines long, you need eight lines of explanation, analysis, or
commentary. If it’s eight lines, you guessed it: you need sixteen (and probably two paragraphs
of explanation). If it’s over ten lines, it’s too long!

For an example of a properly formatted block quotation, see page 12 of this Blue Book.

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(II.E) Revising Quotations: Additional Tips

Here are some additional rules to keep in mind when working with and revising your use of
quotations:

1. Avoid telling us that you’re interpreting or analyzing. Just do it.

In a literary essay, there is rarely a need to tell us you’re interpreting or analyzing something.
Just make the interpretation or assert the analysis. Be confident. (And if asserting it confidently
looks wrong, then you may need to re-think your analysis or interpretation.) For example:

Unrevised
The screaming horses could be interpreted as threats to the character’s connection to their tribal history and
identity.

Revised
The image of screaming horses represents threats to the characters’ connection to their tribal history and
identity.

2. “Quotations” don’t do the talking.

Discuss the content of quotations directly, rather than wasting space referring to the fact that
you're writing about a quotation. “Quotations” or “quotes” don’t do the talking; the author,
speaker, or content of the passage is doing the talking. This means you should always avoid
beginning your discussion of quoted material with words like "This quote is saying that ....” For
example:

Unrevised
The quote is saying that Coates is addressing his memoir to his son.

Revised
Coates addresses his memoir, here, to his son.

3. Replace lazy or unnecessary quotation with smart summary.

Don’t be a lazy quoter. Paraphrase or summarize the text when it’s the content of the text (a
plot event or a dramatic interaction between characters, etc.) that helps you make your point.
Use direct quotation only when the specific language of the text is directly related to whatever
point you’re trying to make. Never use direct quotation as a substitute for basic summary or as
filler for your own argument.

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III. Voice and Clarity

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(III.A) Beyond “I”: Varying Subject Nouns

Often, students think that they can’t express an opinion or an original interpretation in their
writing without using the word “I.” Not so. There are many other possibilities.

At times, “I” is indeed the best option. Turns of phrase like “In this paper, I will argue that…” or
“As I have tried to show …” can announce explicitly to your reader what you’re trying to prove.
When “I” serves as a statement of mere opinion, however (“I can see links between…,” “I like
when Wordsworth says…,” etc.), it improperly takes the place of argumentation and evidence.

Strong writers, instead, vary their subject nouns. They experiment with different ways of
referring to author, speaker, text, reader, and the language of a work itself in order to express
complex ideas using strong subjects and action verbs.

Here is a list of guidelines and suggestions. Think about what fits best with what you’re trying to
do and say in a given sentence, paragraph, or essay.

1. Author

When first referring to the author of a text in an essay, use his or her full name. Afterward, use
his or her last name.

Virginia Woolf wrote the character Septimus Warren Smith in Mrs. Dalloway based on cases of shell-
shock from World War I. Woolf later portrays Septimus as a psychological parallel to the disaffected
Clarissa.

2. Speaker

The author is not always the one doing the talking in a poem, story, or novel. Even when the
speaker is not an actual character or persona, it is an effect of the text—an effect you can more
formally denote with words like speaker, poet, narrator, etc.

In the beginning of the poem, the speaker conveys a tone of assurance and confidence.

In the closing couplet, however, the poet uses enjambment to call that confidence into question.

When Mangin’s sister appears on the balcony, Joyce’s first-person narrator focalizes the story so that we
see her from the perspective of a young ten- or twelve-year-old boy.

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3. Text

Overall, the text itself is the main speaker in any literary essay. More than author or speaker,
there are many ways to make the text as a whole or a portion of it the agent of your sentences.
Here are just a few:

poem scene narrative

line act discourse
sonnet passage structure
stanza dialogue metaphor
refrain chorus imagery
couplet (octave, prologue ending
sestet, etc.) chapter beginning

Scene Two suggests an entirely different picture of Shakespeare’s Prospero, as seen in his dialogue with
Miranda.

The structure of line 2, which relates the “approach” with “taste,” implies Herbert’s reluctance toward
Christian worship in “Superluminarium.”

With an entire page devoted to fog, the imagery of Bleak House sends an early signal about its allegorical
intentions.

4. Reader

At the same time, the reader—real or imagined—is just as much an active subject in the
construction of a text. Beyond “I,” your words can indicate that effect formally or informally
with subject nouns like one, the reader, or simply we.

In Auden’s imagery of jack-boots marching, one detects a direct response to 1930s fascism.

We first meet Barabas in The Jew of Malta counting his “Infinite riches in a little room” (1.2.1), and our
impression is of a character paradoxically both large and small.

By the story’s conclusion, the reader wonders what has happened to the opening premise, which
concerned a man getting hit by a truck and being taken to a hospital.

5. Language

What ties all these options together, of course, is words—the language of the poem, play, or
narrative you’re analyzing. Keep it simple: sometimes the clearest subject noun for making your
point in a paper is a word or phrase itself.

“Quintessence of dust” relates two seemingly opposing ideas, essence and ephemera.

Taken together, these words capture the tension Shakespeare wants us to feel in Hamlet.

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(III.B) Avoiding “You”

While “I” may sometimes be useful in announcing a thesis, clarifying your point, or drawing
your essay to a conclusion, one should always avoid “you” as the subject noun in academic
prose. The present Blue Book, of courses, addresses “you” because it contains instructions for
you to follow. An academic essay, by contrast, elaborates ideas, concepts, and evidence whose
clarity and reasoning should be able to stand on their own, regardless of the given reader.

“You,” in this respect, is presumptuous. It presumes what an imaginary reader feels or thinks,
rather than assuming the burden of proof that the kinds of subject nouns in the previous
section force one to adopt.

“You” is also imprecise. It’s often a way to avoid either making a stronger claim of your own or
providing sufficient evidence about the author’s point in question.

Here are some examples. Consider how changing the “you” to another subject noun makes the
analysis sharper in each:

Unrevised
You can see Aristotle’s point in the final two sections of Politics.

Revised
Aristotle’s point in the final two sections of Politics is that knowing the various kinds of government
encourages genuine political action.

Unrevised
When Hopkins imagines the “Holy Ghost over the bent / World” (13-14), you can picture it perfectly in
your head.

Revised
When Hopkins imagines the “Holy Ghost over the bent / World” (13-14), the poem paints an apocalyptic
picture of a simultaneously loving and threatening God for the reader.

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(III.C) Literary Present Tense

When we write about texts we are always, in a sense, writing about the present. Though any
text under consideration was written in the past (even if it was written 15 seconds ago), the act
of interpreting it is happening in the present. The text is communicating to its readers in the
present moment.

These ways of referring to texts have been handed down to academic writers and readers as
conventions. In order to comply with those conventions, we use the present tense to discuss
both what is happening in the “now” of the text and what is happening during the acts of
interpretation and analysis. When we are discussing the “past” or “future” within or relative to
the world of the text, we make our choices about verb tense accordingly.

Katyal proceeds in the latter half of her Times op-ed to explain why conspiracy to commit a crime is a
greater offense. She provides evidence from the Anglo-American legal tradition. [present tense]

Five hundred years ago, in Renaissance England, that legal tradition was first articulated by humanist
thinkers. [past tense]

Here’s a longer example from Paul Petrie’s Introduction to William Dean Howells’s An
Imperative Duty:

…This scientifically authorized deterioration of African Americans’ legal Here Petrie uses
the past tense to
status culminated in the US Supreme Court’s infamous acceptance of the discuss the
novella’s
historical
“separate but equal” doctrine of racial segregation in public life in Plessy v. context.

Ferguson (1896) that would stand until the middle of the twentieth

century….

Howells’s novel of interracial marriage participates

unmistakably in this ongoing national pseudoscientific dialogue. The Here Petrie is

discussing what
the text is
novel’s opening chapters appropriate the language and concerns of the “doing” in the
moment when it
contemporary sciences of race primarily through their center of is being read, so
he uses the
present tense.
consciousness, Dr. Edward Olney, a trained physician recently returned to

the United States after long absence in Europe.

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(III.D) “This”: Fixing Vague Pronoun Reference

Pronouns always refer to something else. As such, they help create connections between
clauses and sentences. “He” or “she” refers to a gendered character or speaker you’ve been
discussing. “It” continues a point about a subject at stake. “This” links your coming thought to a
previous thought.

Vague pronoun reference, however, occurs when we don’t know to which “this,” “it,” “he,”
“she,” or “they” refers.

Fix vague pronoun references, especially when beginning a sentence or clause with “this.”
Often, you can fix personal pronouns by naming to whom “he” or “she” refers. But “this” is a
special case because it’s such a useful linking word. Unless it’s followed by a clarifying noun
(e.g., “this event,” “this habit,” “this idea”), the word “this” gestures vaguely in the direction of
things the writer has already mentioned in previous sentences but leaves readers to guess what
specific things are being referenced.

So here’s the rule of thumb: always add a specific, accurate noun immediately after the
pronoun “this” to designate what the “this” is to which you mean to refer. For example:

Unrevised
This suggests that the novelist’s thinking about race “science” was unsettled.

What, precisely, is the “this” that makes this suggestion? Readers are left to guess what idea or
event (or etc.) in the previous sentences the writer means to reference.

Revised
This pattern of self-contradiction in the narrator’s comments on race suggests that the novelist’s thinking
about race “science” was unsettled.

By adding the thing to which “this” refers (the narrator’s “pattern of self-contradiction”), the
writer tells readers exactly what earlier content in the essay this new sentence is referring to.

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(III.E) Cutting Fluff

“Fluff” includes any unnecessary sentences, clauses, or adjectival or adverbial phrases in your
prose. Your goal as a college-level writer is not to be wordy. Your goal is to be clear, precise,
and expressive in your writing so that every sentence counts within the body of the paper as a
whole. Any sentence that isn’t necessary, cut.

Here are some common examples of fluff to avoid:

1. Dawn of time statements

Cut all sentences that state what has or has not been the case for a vague, exaggerated, or
clichéd period of time: “Since the dawn of time,” “For centuries,” “In modern society,” “In the
digital age,” “Ever since women were liberated,” etc.

2. Webster’s Dictionary says …

Your reader does not need you to refer to Webster’s, Collins, or Dictionary.com to define basic
words or concepts. Refer to a dictionary in the body of your paper only if a word’s meaning,
usage, or etymology is historically contested or problematic (and use the Oxford English
Dictionary or American Heritage Dictionary).

3. Redundant words or phrases

Eliminate needless repetition of words within a single sentence or adjacent sentences.

Unrevised
In George Orwell’s essay “On Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell writes ….

Revised
In his essay “On Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell writes ….

4. Repetitive beginnings of sentences or paragraphs

Vary the beginnings of subsequent sentences and paragraphs.

Unrevised
Brooks argues that the Republican party needs to embrace centrism. Brooks believes that centrism is key to
American democracy and reasoned debate.

Revised
Brooks argues that the Republican party needs to embrace centrism. Centrism, he reasons, has long been
key to American democracy and reasoned debate.

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5. There is, there are, it is ….

As much as possible, avoid beginning sentences with “There is,” “There are,” “It is….” Such “to
be” verbs describe general states of being, rather than the specific subjects, actions, and ideas
that constitute good prose and interesting sentences.

Unrevised
There is a point in her essay where the author argues that we should re-think Title IX.

Revised
The author argues, ultimately, that we should re-think Title IX.

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(III.F) Titling Your Paper

Students often ignore the titles of their papers until the last minute, leaving them time only to
produce a vague or general heading for their paper. But titles are an important part of a
polished paper. Rather than seeing them as announcing the topic of your paper, see your titles
as the beginning of your argument. They should not only draw your reader in but help your
reader see what original contribution your thesis will be making to the topic at hand. Here are
some strategies:

1. Keep it specific

A specific title is better than a general title because it clues your reader into the original idea
you are bringing to the “conversation” around your topic. Rather than,

Unrevised
“Immigration Debate in the U.S.”

Revised
“Anti-Immigrant Stigma in Arizona Politics”

2. Cluster Key Terms

Think about the key terms of your essay, and group or cluster them into a persuasive idea in
your title. Rather than,

Unrevised
“Problems in King Lear”

Revised
“Fatherhood, Rule, and the Missing Mother in King Lear”

3. Use the Colon to Show the Conversation

Authors of papers often use a colon in their titles to show a relationship between ideas and the
larger conversation at stake:

“Between the World and Them: The Black Lives Matter Movement in Baldwin and Coates”

“Joking Our Way to Adulthood: The Everyday Rhetoric of David Foster Wallace’s Kenyon
Commencement Speech”

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IV. Sentence Mechanics and Grammar

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(IV.A) Writing Complete Sentences (1):

Sentence Fragments, Run-ons, and Comma Splices

Many people think that writing grammatically correct sentences is a kind of mystery. They feel
unsure how to recognize a complete sentence and how to avoid writing sentence fragments.
They may feel confused about commas or about punctuation in general. The temptation, as a
result, is to treat good writing as a set of arcane, punitive rules—an unknowable set of
principles that are just around the corner, out to get you.

Rather than focusing on how to avoid bad sentences, it is more helpful to focus on how to write
good sentences. Better yet, it makes sense to think about strong sentences—sentences that do
something, make strong claims, and show a command of the grammatical building blocks
necessary to make those claims persuasively.

These building blocks can be learned. The trick is to remember some basic principles of
sentence writing, to practice them, and then to build toward more sophisticated sentences.
Avoid seeing these principles as mysteries. See them as a basic framework for expressing your
most interesting thoughts and ideas.

1. Complete Sentences

A complete sentence must have a subject and a verb:

Jane laughed.
[subject] [verb]

I thought long and hard about the matter.

[subject] [verb]

It can have other things too, but it needs an identifiable subject doing a complete action:
Jane laughed at the clown in the circus while eating a hot dog.
[subject] [verb]

When I got home from the appointment, I thought long and hard about the matter of my health.
[subject] [verb]

2. Fixing Sentence Fragments

A sentence without an identifiable subject and verb is an incomplete sentence, or sentence

fragment.
Will do.
This has an action but no subject. Who will do? “That”? “He”?

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The one with the brown coat.

This has a subject but no verb. What about the “one”? What is “the one with the brown coat” doing?

This idea at the heart of the article.

This also has a subject but no verb. What about “this idea”?

People write sentence fragments for common reasons. Again, it’s not a mystery! Usually, they
have separated out as a fragment part of a larger, complete sentence.
Unrevised
Although he came home.

This is a dependent clause without a main, or independent, clause. A “dependent clause” relies
on an independent clause to make sense. Here’s a complete sentence using the above
fragment.
Revised
Although he came home, he went back out.
[subject] [verb]

“He went back out” is a complete sentence. It can stand on its own. “Although he came home”
is an unfinished thought without it. Sentences that begin with words like Although, While,
Because, Unless, Since, After, When, If, and Even though will produce sentence fragments
unless they are attached to a complete action. Examples:
Unrevised
While I was outside.

Revised
While I was outside, I mowed the lawn.

Unrevised
Even though the sign said “Stop.”

Revised
He went anyway, even though the sign said “Stop.”

Another common source of incomplete sentences is “garbled sentences,” or sentences that

have missing or jumbled words. These you should be able to avoid with proof-reading.
Incorrect
I the article is wrong.
The sentence is missing a verb (“I think,” “I believe,” etc.).
Berry’s claims that would not work.
The writer confuses the possessive “Berry’s claims” with a sentence about what “Berry claims….”

3. Compound Sentences

Once you know how to write complete sentences, you can start building longer sentences, such as
compound sentences.

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A compound sentence joins two complete sentences together with a comma plus the words and, but,
yet, so, for, or nor. The latter are called “coordinating concjunctions,” or connecting words.

Jane laughed, and I cried.

[subject] [verb] [subject] [verb]

Jane laughed at the movie while we waited, but I cried from hunger.
[subject] [verb] [subject] [verb]

A compound sentence must have a complete clause—with subject and verb—on both sides of the
comma.

Unrevised
Jane laughed, and cried.
[subject] [verb] [verb]

Here, Jane is doing both the laughing and crying. Either add a subject to the second clause (e.g.,
“she cried”) or drop the comma (e.g., “Jane laughed and cried.”)

Why write compound sentences at all? Compound sentences are a step toward stronger
sentences because they convey a relationship between two ideas or statements. Note how
“but” conveys a very different relationship than “and.”
Jane laughed, and I cried.
The two events happened together.

Jane laughed, but I cried.

The writer means to draw attention to the disconnect between these two events.

Berry argues that we need to think about the role of education in our sense of “place,” and he gives a
minimal defintion of what he means by education.
The writer is listing what Berry says in his article.

Berry argues that we need to think about the role of education in our sense of “place,” but he gives only a
minimal definition of what he means by education.
The writer is turning the screws on Berry. The “but” conveys that Berry’s minimal definition is a
problem.

4. Fixing Comma Splices

One of the most common errors of student writing is comma splices – two parts of a compound
sentence “spliced” together with a comma and no coordinating conjunction (and, yet, but, so,
for…).
Unrevised
Jane laughed, I cried.

I went to the store, I bought a watermelon.

Derrick Rose is the best basketball player, he plays to win.

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These comma splices are run-on sentences. They have multiple complete thoughts, or clauses,
tacked together without appropriate stops or connecting words.

To fix a comma splice, you can (a) add a connecting word, or (b) add a period or harder
punctuation, like a semi-colon.
Revised
Jane laughed, but I cried.
or
Jane laughed. I cried.
or
Jane laughed; I cried.

I went to the store, where I bought a watermelon.

or
I went to the store. I bought a watermelon.

Derrick Rose is the best basketball player; he plays to win.

or
Because he plays to win, Derrick Rose is the best basketball player.

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(IV.B) Writing Complete Sentences (2):

From Compound to Complex
In academic writing, sentences rarely, if ever, occur on their own. They are always a part of a
conversation—a conversation between the ideas that your own writing advances, the evidence
of other written work you discuss, and the line of thought tying them together into a whole.
Strong sentences show that line of thought running through each paragraph of an essay by
conveying a relationship between ideas. There are several ways to build sentences that
demonstrate such relationships:

1. From Simple to Compound Sentences

Simple, declarative sentences can be clear and grammatically correct while leaving the reader
unclear about what a writer is trying to convey.

Smith’s book argues that we need to explore new approaches to education. Teachers are an important asset
in the future of America. Students are falling more and more behind today. We need a technological
innovation in the classroom.

These sentences are intelligible but hard to follow. Why? First, the reader cannot tell which
sentences refer to information in Smith’s book, and which do not. Second, the reader cannot
tell the relationship between the ideas provided: if teachers, for example, are an important
asset, why are students failing?

One way to convey a relationship between ideas is to tie separate sentences into compound
sentences—sentences that tie two independent clauses together with and, but, yet, for, or so.

Teachers are an important asset in the future of America, yet students are falling more and more behind
today.

Students are falling more and more behind today, so we need a technological innovation in the classroom.

Note how the addition of “yet” or “so” radically changes the implied meaning. The ideas are no
longer simply adjacent, sitting beside each other like people on a bench. They are now doing
things to each other. “But” and “yet” push against each other, showing contrasts or antitheses.
“So” pushes something forward, showing an idea that results from another one.

Note: Be careful to avoid the common error of treating transition words as conjunctions:
however, nevertheless, on the contrary, etc. are not connecting words in a compound
sentence.

2. From Compound to Complex Sentences

Compound sentences can only do so much. Separate sentences can only line up or push against
each other for so long before the reader feels like he or she is reading a series of back and forth

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statements. We often need more complex ways to convey the relationship between ideas and
sentences. For example:

Smith’s book argues that we need to explore new approaches to education. Even though teachers are an
important asset in the future of America, students are also falling more and more behind today. Because
of this decline, improving the quality of our teachers is not enough. According to Smith, we need a
technological innovation in the classroom.

The sentences highlighted in bold help create what we call “complex” sentences. A “complex”
sentence does not mean a confusing sentence. Rather, it means a sentence that shows a more
complex relationship between ideas than simply sticking independent thoughts together in a
compound sentence. A complex sentence shows how one or more ideas depend on another
idea. Thus, a complex sentence contains what we call dependent, or subordinate, clauses.

You can usually spot complex sentences because they contain clauses that begin with words
like the following—what we call “subordinating” terms:

While Whereas During

Although According to As a result of
Even though After By
Because Before If … then …

Left on their own, sentences that begin with words like these can produce sentence fragments:

Unrevised
While I agree with Johnson.
Even though she has no idea what she is talking about.

Once these “dependents” are hitched to independent clauses, however, they can combine to
form stronger, more interesting thoughts:

Revised
While I agree with Johnson, his theory of childhood education is only partly accurate.
Even though she has no idea what she is talking about, Beatrice makes a valid point
about healthcare.
Because of the team’s inadequate offensive line, Dickinson looks like a weak
quarterback.
As a result of our long struggle to improve its research, the program is now thriving.
After careful consideration of all the evidence above, Johnson’s article concludes with a
call to arms.

These sentences are interesting because they imply ideas that do not merely sit next to or push
against one another. They show complex relationships between ideas: ideas that draw
distinctions (“While,” “Even though,” “Although”), ideas that result from other ones (“As a
result of,” “Because,” “If…then…”), ideas that are chronological (“After,” “Before,” “During,”),
and ideas that attribute responsibility (“According to”).

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(IV.C) Avoiding Mixed Sentence Constructions

One of the most common sentence errors students make is what is loosely called a “mixed
construction”: a sentence that begins with one grammatical construction and switches to
another, without thinking, partway through.

In most cases, mixed constructions arise from incorrectly trying to use words in a prepositional
or introductory phrase as the subject of the sentence. Prepositional phrases can be spotted
with words like “By,” “In,” “Because,” “On,” etc. But because a prepositional phrase always
introduces or modifies some other noun elsewhere in the sentence, it cannot serve itself as the
noun or subject of the sentence. It’s setting up the subject of the sentence.

Here’s an example of a common mixed construction:

Unrevised
In Toni Morrison’s Paradise explores the ways that women’s lives intersect.

In this sentence, the writer has “mixed” or blurred together two sentence constructions—an
introductory clause and an indpendent clause. Because “Toni Morrison’s Paradise” occurs in a
prepositional phrase (“In Toni Morrison’s Paradise...”), none of the words in that phrase can serve
as the subject of the sentence; they are introducing an independent thought to follow. Therefore,
the verb “explores” has no subject: there is no noun in this sentence to “do” the exploring.

How can you correct a mixed construction? Easily—by distinguishing the prepositional phrase
from the noun, or by getting rid of the preposition. For example:

Revised
In her novel Paradise, Toni Morrison explores the ways that women’s lives intersect.

In this sentence, “Toni Morrison” is the subject and “explores” is the verb: “Toni Morrison
explores.”

Revised
In Toni Morrison’s Paradise, the author explores the ways that women’s lives intersect.

In this sentence, “author” is the subject and “explores” is the verb: “The author explores.”

Revised
Toni Morrison’s Paradise explores the ways that women’s lives intersect.

In this sentence, “Paradise” is the subject and “explores” is the verb: “Paradise explores.”

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(IV.D) Commas, Colons, and Semicolons

Many of us were taught to put commas where a reader would naturally pause or take a breath.
According to that logic, semicolons would indicate places where a reader would stop breathing
for a moment, and colons would signal that it’s time to call 911.

In fact, commas (and colons and semicolons) are not about breathing; they are tools that
communicate the logical relationships among words, phrases, and clauses within your
sentences. These three punctuation marks are meant to clarify, not resuscitate. Below are a few
of their most common uses.

1. Commas and Semicolons in Compound Sentences

Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction that joins two independent clauses. A
“coordinating conjunction” is a word that connects two things of equal importance in the
sentence. The coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, for, nor, so, and yet.

Readers are likely to find The Underground Railroad narratively dense, so the book club materials on
Oprah’s website will be very useful.

Frederick Douglass eloquently details his desire for freedom, but he does not narrate his actual escape.

In each case, the conjunction links the two statements and signals a particular logical
relationship between them; they are doing things to one another. In the first case, the
relationship is cause/effect: the materials will be useful because the narrative is so dense. In the
second, the relationship is one of contrast: if Douglass has told us about his desire for freedom,
we might expect that he would describe how he escaped from slavery; however, our
expectations are not fulfilled.

When the two independent clauses are so closely related that they seem to want to be the
same sentence, you can use a semicolon (without a coordinating conjunction) to connect them.

The narrator interjects almost nothing beyond a brief description of the train station; what we learn of
setting comes almost entirely from the girl.

Frederick Douglass eloquently details his desire for freedom; however, he does not narrate his actual
escape.

Note that however—like therefore, indeed, in fact, for example, etc.—is not a coordinating
conjunction, so it takes a semicolon in this case.

2. Commas after Introductory Elements

Use a comma after most introductory words, phrases, or clauses. These introductory elements
provide some context or set up for the main clause of the sentence. Generally, these elements

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tell when, where, why, or how the action of the sentence occurs or within what context it is to
be understood:

Since he had established himself as an accomplished slave breaker, Covey was respected by his white
neighbors despite his relative poverty.

To gain financial stability, Lily Bart must either marry or go to work. Unfortunately, she has no marketable
skills.

While swimming with Robert, Edna felt free.

Abandoned, Maggie turns to prostitution.

In each case the comma separates the information that provides context from the actual
sentence. “Covey was respected by his neighbors” is the main point the writer is trying to
convey, but the context within which that matters or makes sense for this writer is Covey’s
reputation as a slave breaker. Lily must marry or go to work, but why? She has no marketable
skills, but how does the writer want us to feel about that? When did Edna feel free? Why did
Maggie turn to prostitution?

The commas, therefore, are not where they are because those are the places where readers
take a breath. Instead, the commas help signal the logical relationships between the ideas. They
say, “here’s where the context stops and the main action begins.”

When the contextual information comes at the end of the sentence, it is not usually set off by a
comma. The connecting words signal the shift from main idea to context.

Covey was respected by his white neighbors since he had established himself as an accomplished slave
breaker.

Edna felt free while swimming with Robert.

3. Commas with Interrupting Elements

Use commas to set off words or phrases that “interrupt” the main clause. Usually, those
interruptions will provide “extra” information about some aspect of the main clause.
Sometimes they rename the subject of the sentence; sometimes they will seem almost
parenthetical. We say that information is extra because you could literally remove it and the
sentence would still make sense.

Tom Joad, home from a stint in prison, finds the family farm deserted.

Noah, the Joads’ eldest son, leaves the family just before they reach California.

Tom, who had been convicted of manslaughter, risks his own life to fight for migrant workers’ rights.

Rose of Sharon, however, will figure significantly in the novel’s conclusion.

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4. Commas and Semicolons in Lists

Use commas in lists of more than two items. Be sure to use a comma before the conjunction if
doing so is necessary for clarity!

Unrevised
It would have been easy for Tom to blame his parents, God and the boss.

The lack of a comma before and makes it sound like Tom is the love-child of God and the boss.

Revised
Edna left her husband, children, and respectable life in order to live in the pigeon house.

Here’s a famous example of how the punctuation of the list affects the logic of the sentence:

The panda eats shoots and leaves. (Good panda.)

The panda eats, shoots, and leaves. (Bad panda.)

Use semicolons in lists when one or more of the items in the list contains a comma or other
punctuation. The semicolons will help readers keep track of the items themselves.

Along with literary history per se, contemporary literary critics often draw on several fields: cultural,
political, and economic history; philosophy; cultural theory; and psychology.

5. Colons

Unlike a semicolon, a colon signals that what comes next follows directly from what came
before it. The colon says to a reader, “Here it comes!” When used to introduce an explanation,
example, quotation, or appositive (words that rename), a colon should be used only after an
independent clause. That means that you do not need a colon after such as, including, or
consists of.

With no marriage options left, Lily’s options are stark: trim hats or become Gus’s concubine.

Finally, Lily must face the same struggles as the working-class women she has shunned, such as long
hours, meager wages, and soul-deadening poverty. But her resolve is complicated by a her suspicion that
she is incapable of becoming a “worker among workers”:
Inherited tendencies had combined with early training to make her the highly specialized product
she was: an organism as helpless out of its narrow range as the sea-anemone torn from the rock.
She had been fashioned to adorn and delight; to what other end does nature round the rose-leaf and
paint the humming-bird’s breast? And was it her fault that the purely decorative mission is less
easily and harmoniously fulfilled among social beings than in the world of nature? (281)

You may notice exceptions to the “complete sentence” rule like the following:

Woman, without her man, is nothing.

Woman: without her, man is nothing.

Cows: Please close gate!

Cows, please close gate! (…because everybody knows horses can’t read)

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(IV.E) Subject-Verb Agreement

Subjects and verbs, like actors and actions, should agree. By agree we mean the number of the
subject should match or correspond with the number of the verb. Here is the basic rule:
a singular subject (she, phone, dog) takes a singular verb (writes, rings, sleeps) and
plural subjects (we, machines, animals) take a plural verb (write, rule, sleep).

Note the example in the sentence above: “subject… takes” and “subjects… take.”
Be sure not to confuse the s on the verb takes (present-tense, singular) with the s on the plural
noun subjects. Remember, it’s the number that must agree: singular subject/singular verb;
plural subject/plural verb.

She writes all day long. The phone rings most of the time. The dog sleeps through it all. (singular s/v)

We write less often. The machines rule anyway. Animals sleep through it all. (plural s/v)

Paying attention to the number of the subject and verb will help prevent most errors of
agreement, but a few more complicated subject-verb relations require special attention.

1. Compound Subjects

When two nouns or pronouns form a “compound subject” (Dick and Jane, a car or a bike,
neither fish nor frogs), they still must agree with the verb, but sometimes, it gets a bit tricky.

Two or more subjects joined by and take a plural verb

Unrevised
Dick and Jane and baby Tim swims in the pond. (Swims is singular.)

Revised
Dick and Jane and baby Tim swim in the pond.

Singular subjects joined by or, nor, either…or, neither…nor take a singular verb

Unrevised
A car or a bike need care to function properly. (Need is plural.)

Revised
A car or a bike needs care to function properly.

Neither the main character nor the narrator knows the secret of the man’s mysterious origin.

2. Collective Nouns: singular for a unit, plural for the individual members

When nouns such as team, family, audience, or group refer to the whole as single unit, use a
singular verb. In the example below, the audience is regarded as one entity.

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The audience was thrilled with the violence at the end of the play.

If the collective noun refers to the individual members of a group, use the plural form of the
verb. In this example, audience refers to an action of the individual members of the group.

Many in the audience were thrilled at the bloodthirsty behavior of the protagonist as the final curtain fell.

3. Anyone, Everyone and Other Indefinite Pronouns take a singular verb

Everything agrees with everything else. Nobody knows why or how.

Indefinite pronouns such as somebody, nobody, no one, someone, everything, anything take a
singular verb, but there are a few exceptions to the general rule.

Both, few, others, many, and several always take a plural.

Others understood what he could not grasp. Several told him, but he could not comprehend.

Just to keep us on our toes, some indefinite pronouns, including most, more, some, none, any,
enough, and all follow the normal rules: they take a singular verb when referring to a singular
noun and a plural verb when they refer to a plural noun.

4. Who, That, Which… Relative Pronouns follow the number of the noun.

If the relative pronouns who, that, or which refer to a singular noun, they take a singular verb. If
they refer to a plural noun, they take a plural verb.

Students in English classes, who are always the smartest in the university, learn the art of writing well.

5. Subjects Separated from the Verb: Tricky Situations

A verb must agree with its subject even if separated by other words or a parenthetical phrase.
In the first example below, the singular noun poem is the subject not the plural word
metaphors.

A poem full of metaphors provides a rich field for literary interpretation.

An effective literary interpretation (one of the primary products in most English classes) presents one
compelling way of understanding a poem, but there is always room for another.

Even if the verb comes before the subject, the subject and verb must agree.

In this poem there are several examples of inventive metaphors and figures of speech.
Agreed.

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(IV.F) Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Elements

One of the most challenging parts of writing interesting sentences is knowing where to add
commas around things which aren’t essential to the sentence but matter to its overall meaning.

The technical term for these parts of a sentence are restrictive and non-restrictive elements:

• Restrictive elements restrict the grammar and meaning of the sentence. They have to
be there for both the sentence’s grammar and meaning to make sense.

• Non-restrictive elements are the extra stuff we add to a sentence to make it more
meaningful. They do not have to be there for the sentence to form a complete
grammatical thought, but they matter to the writer’s meaning.

Here is a brief example of the same sentence with a restrictive and a non-restrictive element:

The boy wearing a black hat walked the dog.

In this sentence, “wearing a black hat” is a restrictive element because it restricts, or is essential
to, both the grammar and sense of the sentence. The sentence is pointing out which boy
walked the dog - i.e., the one and only the one with the black hat. Compare with the following
version:

The boy, wearing a black hat, walked the dog.

Now, “wearing a black hat” is a non-restrictive element. It is added detail, extra information for
describing how the boy looked when he walked the dog. It is not essential, or does not restrict,
the grammatical sense of the sentence, but it does matter to the larger meaning writer wants
to convey.

In general, the rule is this: non-restrictive elements are enclosed with commas, restrictive
elements are not.

The following are some common examples of non-restrictive elements with correct
punctuation.

1. Introductory Phrases or Clauses

Introductory phrases or clauses in a sentence are usually enclosed with a comma as they are
non-restrictive elements that add a transition or help set up the rest of the sentence:

As a result, the book fails to give us closure.

In fact, “Frankenstein” is not the name of the monster but rather his creator, Victor Frankenstein.

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Specifically, Tolkien’s Middle Earth is divided into three regions.

2. Parenthetical Ideas
Things that are really extra to a sentence might be put in parentheses, but we often add non-
restrictive remarks, words, phrases, or ideas to our sentences even without parentheses.

It’s easiest to imagine these kinds of non-restrictive elements as asides—as the additional
information you’re nudging your reader or whispering in her ear to notice, in order to move
your point along.

He walked into the drawing room, embarrassed and ashamed, to a chorus of murmurs.

W. H. Auden, often identified as both an American and British poet, had a transatlantic reputation by
the age of thirty.

His poetic forebear in this regard might be T. S. Eliot, a native of St. Louis who spent much of his
twentieth-century career in London.

3. That vs. Which

The answer to the pesky question of when to use “that” or “which” in a sentence has to do with
restrictive and non-restrictive elements.

If the clause is a restrictive element, essential to the sentence, use “that”:

This is the famous 1649 sword that chopped off Charles I’s head.

“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?”

In both of these examples, the element following “that” restricts the grammatical sense of the
sentence: only the sword that killed Charles I is being discussed; only Helen of Troy, who
“launched” the legion of Greek ships in Homer’s Iliad, is being adored.

If the clause is a non-restrictive element, offering additional information, use “which”:

This is the famous 1649 sword that Chopped off Charles I’s head, which can now be found in the British
Museum.”

Marlowe’s play ends with Faustus’s tortured vision of Helen, which can be read as an enchanting or
disenchanting moment.

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(IV.G) Modifiers
When we “modify” something, we change it, usually to enhance or make it more to our taste.
For instance, we might know people who modify their cars by adding sound systems or by
installing hydraulics that allow the car to hop or ride very low. We could even say that the old
Burger King motto “Have it your way” was an invitation to modify your burger.

The same is true with sentences. We add words or phrases in order to clarify and elaborate on
an idea. By providing detail and description, we aim to make the sentence serve our purpose as
precisely as possible.

The general rule of thumb for modifiers is to keep related words together. When we don’t, it’s
difficult for readers to know for sure what the modifier is describing. Sometimes, the results are
hilarious, but most of the time modifier errors are just annoying.

1. Misplaced Modifiers

When there’s too much space between modifiers and the words they modify or when the
modifiers are in the wrong spot, readers can get confused.

Unrevised
Henry threw a pinecone at a squirrel desperate to assert his agency and justify his desertion.

Hmm…that’s one desperate squirrel.

Revised
Desperate to assert his agency and justify his desertion, Henry threw a pinecone at a squirrel.

Unrevised
As Vyry soon realized, sharecroppers whose crops failed often found themselves at the mercy of their
unscrupulous landlords.

Do the crops often fail or are the sharecroppers frequently at the mercy of the landlords?

Revised
As Vyry soon realized, sharecroppers whose crops failed found themselves at the mercy of their
unscrupulous landlords.

2. Disruptive Modifiers

Think of these as a subset of misplaced modifiers. These phrases or clauses cause confusion
because they take up too much space between closely related elements of a sentence and thus
make it difficult to keep track of the main point.

Gatsby, because he had grown up in small-town Minnesota and had followed a Franklinesque program of
self-improvement that ultimately encouraged social climbing over morality, was obsessed with Daisy’s
poise.
I’m exhausted by the time I get to the verb.

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3. Dangling Modifiers

Unconnected to a noun, these modifiers hang off the front or rear of a sentence. The referent
for the modifier is, at best, implied.

Unrevised
After fighting heroically, the sun shone “bright and gay in the blue, enameled sky.”

Did the sun do the fighting?

Revised
After the men fought heroically, the sun shone “bright and gay in the blue, enameled sky.”

Unrevised
Wasting away in jail for vagrancy, the Employer visited Bartleby.

So, even if it were the Employer who was jailed, it would be strange for him to be able to visit
someone, unless, of course, the person he was visiting were also in jail…

Revised
The Employer visited Bartleby, who wasting away in jail for vagrancy.

Unrevised
Waiting for the train, the hills looked “like white elephants.”

Technically, this says that the hills were waiting for the train.

Revised
Waiting for the train, the girl remarked that the hills looked “like white elephants.”

4. Word choices and sentence constructions that often lead to modifier glitches

• Limiting words like only, almost, hardly, just, scarcely, merely, simply, even. If these are
in the wrong place, the meaning of the sentence can change significantly.

• Modifying phrases that begin with who, whose, which, that, when, although, because,
and while. Put these phrases as close as possible to the words they modify.

• -ing words. Misplaced modifiers are often caused by -ing words that are too far from the
“doer” of the action.

Note: much of this section is borrowed from the Temple University Writing Center: www.temple.edu/wc

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(IV.H) Getting Apostrophes and Possessives Right

Apostrophes are primarily used to indicate ownership by a “possessive” noun or pronoun. They
are also used in contractions in place of missing or omitted letters. In general, these two rules
are pretty logical but not always.

For example, the possessive of “it” is “its” rather than “it’s” (which is the contraction for “it is”).
Don’t ask why. If you dared to in the olden days, here’s how it would go: “Why?” “‘Cuz!” “‘Cuz,
why?” “‘Cuz, I said so!” Fortunately, most occasions requiring the use of an apostrophe are
more logical.

1. Possessives
The most common use of the apostrophe is to show ownership or possession. How we do this,
though, varies depending on the situation.

• Singular Nouns
Most often, we add an apostrophe and an “s” to make a possessive singular noun.

Hawthorne’s story “The Birth-mark” suggests that human imperfection may be impossible to avoid without
potentially fatal costs.

Once her husband’s chemical concoction erases Georgiana’s “visible mark of earthly imperfection,” she
can no longer remain in this life.

• Plural Nouns
If a plural noun does not end in “s,” simply add the apostrophe and an “s.” Add only the
apostrophe if a plural noun ends in “s.”

In Hawthorne’s conception, humanity’s imperfections are a gift as well as a limitation. They are signs of
our mortality without which we would not experience earthly love and affection.

Last semester, the classes’ response to this story was surprising. Students’ opinions were divided about the
merits of aspiring toward physical perfection, even if it required surgery.

• Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns are words like “someone,” “everyone,” etc. Add an apostrophe and “s” for
indefinite pronouns.

It’s everybody’s problem when the world ends, and nobody’s going to do anything about it if you don’t
own it.

Note the slippery apostrophe here: “nobody’s” uses an apostrophe for a contraction not a possessive.

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• Joint Possession
Sometimes two or more individuals share joint possession. In this case, use the possessive for
the last noun only.

Gilbert and Gubar’s book The Madwoman in the Attic helped recuperate the contributions of women to
literary history and changed the way we teach and read the literature of the past. Its influence continues to
this day.

Note the absence of an apostrophe in the possessive “Its.” Just learn this one!

To indicate individual possession by two or more persons, use an apostrophe and “s” for each.

Gilbert’s and Gubar’s other books have also been well received by many critics and scholars.

• Compound Nouns
As with “joint possession” make only the second noun of a compound noun possessive.

The United Nations’ report described a startling array of bodily modifications in countries around the
world.

2. Contractions
Apostrophes in contractions mark omitted or missing letters. Contractions are usually used to
indicate the informal pronunciations of spoken language. They also appear in literature to
suggest local dialects or the use of non-standard English. Contractions are an informal mode of
writing and should be used with caution. But used strategically, contractions can be an effective
tool for adding emphasis and inflecting the tone of your prose.

This isn’t your problem ‘cuz you’re going nowhere fast in your little world.

Today’s the day to discuss this problem because we’re ready for the challenge.

Note “isn’t” is a common contraction for “is not,” but the apostrophe in “‘cuz” indicates both
missing letters and a written imitation of verbal slang. Also be careful not to confuse the
contraction “you’re” with the possessive pronoun “your.” They sound the same but mean
different things.

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Appendix A – English Department Plagiarism Policy

To plagiarize is "to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own; . . . [to] use (a
created production) without crediting the source; . . . [to] present as new and original an idea or
product derived from an existing source" (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary 870).

Academic writing is an ongoing dialogue among scholars, both professionals and students.
When you write an academic paper, you are entering into a textual conversation with other
writers who have written on the same topic. Any time that one’s writing in any way gives
readers the impression that words or ideas belonging to others are your own, you have taken
the intellectual property of those other writers. This is plagiarism.

Since academic writing is a conversation, it is both necessary and desirable to use others’ words
and ideas as you build your own original arguments on topics that others have visited before
you. But in order to use other people's ideas legitimately, while avoiding even the appearance
of having stolen their words or ideas and passed them off as your own, you must use the
conventions of quotation and documentation to make it absolutely clear where your own
words and ideas end and others' words and ideas begin.

Use quotation marks to denote direct borrowing of language from other sources and
introductory comments to indicate paraphrases of material from other sources, crediting their
author. To avoid plagiarism, you must also indicate precisely the location of your source
material, so that your reader may easily find and consult your sources.

For English papers, this task is accomplished by using parenthetical page citations in your
writing wherever you have quoted material from an outside source, following the MLA format
provided to you in this Blue Book, and by giving complete publication information about each
source in a Works Cited page at the end of your paper.

Make sure you understand the definition of plagiarism and the university's policies and
penalties regarding academic dishonesty, which are spelled out in detail in the University
Catalog and the Student Handbook, as well as the SCSU English Department Plagiarism Policy,
provided for you in this appendix. For help on recognizing plagiarism, you can also visit these
useful sites:

MLA Style Center – Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty

https://style.mla.org/plagiarism-and-academic-dishonesty/

Purdue Online Writing Lab – Is It Plagiarism?

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/avoiding_plagiarism/is_it_
plagiarism.html

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Appendix B – English@SCSU MLA Quick Tip Sheet

Feel free to detach, photocopy, and keep with you extra copies of the “quick
tip” sheet below, which distills some of the basic MLA format, citation, and
quotation punctuation rules from Section I and II of the Blue Book above.

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MLA Quick Tip Sheet | English @ SCSU • A literary work online

The following is a style sheet for your English classes at SCSU, based on the MLA When citing a short work (poem, short story, etc.) found on a web page,
(Modern Language Association) guidelines for how to cite sources in a Works include author, title of the work, title and date of book from which it was
Cited page and parenthetically in a paper. derived (if provided), title of website, a URL or Permalink, and the date you
A full explanation of the MLA guidelines for In-Text Documentation and accessed it:
Works Cited can be found online at the Purdue Online Writing Lab
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/1/) and in the MLA Wyatt, Sir Thomas. “They Flee From Me.” Luminarium,
Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 8th edition (2016). Remember that http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/theyflee.htm. Accessed 10 Nov.
other majors and disciplines at SCSU may require different style guidelines 2013.
(APA, Chicago, etc.).
Lee, Li Young. “Arise, Go Down.” The City in Which I Love You, 1990,
Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-
Works Cited poets/poems/detail/43327. Accessed 13 Dec. 2013.

Below are examples of some of the most common bibliographic citations • A scholarly article in an academic journal (in print or PDF)
used in Works Cited pages. Use this for papers and for any other When citing a scholarly article in an academic journal that you have in
assignment for which you need to cite a work (an annotated bibliography, print or a PDF copy of the printed page, include author of article, article
a paper proposal, etc.) following MLA guidelines. title, title of journal, volume and issue number, year, and page range of
Remember that these are examples. You need to be able to locate the the article:
author, title, editor(s), publication information, page numbers, and any
other relevant information on your own. Be sure also to follow the correct Randel, Fred V. “The Political Geography of Horror in Mary Shelley’s
format exactly, including punctuation, order of information, italics, Frankenstein.” ELH, vol. 70, no. 2, 2003, pp. 465-91.
hanging indent, etc. Nydam, Arlen. “Philip Sidney’s Extended Family and the Catholic
Petition of 1585.” Sidney Journal, vol. 28, no. 1, Spring 2010, pp. 53-
How to cite … 79.

• A book • A scholarly article in an academic journal (in an online database)

When citing an entire book by one or more authors, include author(s), When citing a scholarly article in an academic journal that you are viewing
book title, publisher, date: as a web page in a library database (i.e., not in PDF), use the same format
as above but include a URL and the date you accessed it. If no page
Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology numbers to a print edition are listed, omit them or provide paragraph
and Less from Each Other. Basic Books, 2011. (par.) numbers:
Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic: The
Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. 2nd Heyen, William. “Sunlight.” American Poetry Review, vo. 36, no. 2, 2007,
ed., Yale UP, 2000. pp. 55-56. ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/login.
aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24224660&site=ehost-live.
• A critical edition or translation Accessed 24 Sept. 2008.
When citing an entire book by an author that has also been edited or
translated by someone else, add the editor or translator after the title: • A non-scholarly article in an online newspaper or magazine
When citing a popular newspaper or magazine article online (not found in
Donne, John. The Complete English Poems. Edited by A. J. Smith, a library database), include author, title of the article, name of the online
Penguin, 1996. publication, the date of the article, a URL or Permalink, and the date you
accessed it:
Sloterdijk, Peter. You Must Change Your Life. Translated by Wieland
Hoban, Polity Press, 2013.
Korb, Scott. “Anywhere, Nowhere, Elsewhere, Everywhere.” Slate, 10
Jan. 2014, www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/01/richard
• An essay or chapter in an edited volume
_powers_novel_orfeo_reviewed.single.html. Accessed 15 Jan. 2014.
When citing an essay or chapter contained within a book that has essays
or chapters by other writers as well, include the author of the essay or Cavett, Dick. “Booze, Revisited.” New York Times, 10 Jan. 2014,
chapter itself, the title of the essay or chapter in quotations, the book title, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/opinion/booze-revisited.html.
editor(s), publication information, and the page range of the essay or Accessed 13 Jan. 2014.
chapter. (Note that p. is for “page” and pp. for “pages”):
• Other cases not covered above
Arnold, Miah. “You Owe Me.” The Best American Essays 2012, edited by If you have a source not covered in the examples above—e.g., a print
David Brooks, Houghton Mifflin, 2012, pp. 1-5. newspaper article, an online book, a blog, a YouTube clip, etc.—consult
Hauerwas, Stanley. “Why Gays (as a Group) Are Morally Superior to the MLA Guidelines at:
Christians (as a Group).” The Hauerwas Reader, edited by John https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Berkman and Michael Cartwright, Duke UP, 2001, pp. 519-21.
Things to remember …
• A literary work (poem, short story, play, etc.) in an anthology or textbook
When citing an individual literary work in an anthology or textbook • Always compile your Works Cited in alphabetical order, author’s last name
containing multiple works, follow the same format as a work in an edited first
volume above, including the number of the edition after the title, if • Book titles take italics; articles, essays, short stories, and short poems take
necessary. quotation marks (“ “)
• If the citation is longer than one line, indent each line after the first
Borges, Jorge Luis. “The Immortal.” Collected Fictions, translated by • Page numbers are required for any essay, journal article, or work within a
Andrew Hurley, Penguin, 1998, pp. 185-93. larger work
• If there are more than two editors, use “et al.” (Latin for “and others”) after
Marlowe, Christopher. Hero and Leander. The Norton Anthology of
the first editor’s name
English Literature, 9th ed., edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al.,
• Don’t mistake authors with editors – the author is the person who wrote
Norton, 2012, pp. 510-30.
the work you’re using, the editor is the one who put it where it is

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In-Text Citation Punctuating Quotations

Following MLA guidelines, cite your sources in the body of your paper Remember that the correct use of quotations in your papers is
parenthetically. Cite all quotations and any important information, important. Punctuation and capitalization must be exact. In American
ideas, or words not your own. prose, commas and periods at the end of a quotation go inside the
Parenthetical citations typically occur at the ends of sentences or after quotation marks, outside if the quotation is followed by a parenthetical
quotations. With the exception of block quotations, the parenthetical citation.
citation always comes after quotation marks but before the period or
semi-colon. When quoting verse, mark line breaks using a back-slash ( / ).

Basic parenthetical citation Everyone has heard the saying, “He came, he saw, he conquered.”
To cite a source in your paper, include the author’s last name and page
number in the parentheses; do not use “p.” or “page”: “That thou hast her, it is not all my grief, / And yet it may be said I loved
her dearly” (lines 1-2).
e.g., (Ruhl 25)
Integrate all quotations properly, with a signal clause and proper
As one critic has argued, “Measure for Measure raises the issue of
punctuation; there should be no “dangling” quotations. To introduce a
embodied experience in the opening scenes” (Knapp 262).
quotation, you need a signal clause containing either a speaking verb with a
If you have already named the author in the preceding clause or sentence(s), comma ( , ) or no speaking verb and a colon ( : ).
simply cite the page number:
You may also use the quotation to continue your own sentence
As Jeffrey Knapp has argued, “Measure for Measure raises the issue of grammatically, using a “that” clause or a subordinate clause.
embodied experience in the opening scenes” (262).
Regardless, the quotation must make semantic and grammatical sense in the
Citing a ource quoted in another source sentence as a whole, meaning it needs to form a complete thought together
To cite an author quoted in another article, essay, or book, include the with the surrounding clause.
author’s name in your prose and credit the work in which you found it, using
“quoted in”: Incorrect
Shakespeare is confused about his gender, “Yet fear her, O thou minion of
Empson claimed that “A word may become a sort of solid entity” (quoted her pleasure!” (9).
in Frenkel 190).
After this, the poet says, “though delayed, answered must be” (11).
Citing literary works (poems, plays, etc.)
To cite poetry, give line numbers, using “line” for the first citation and the The next quote begins; “And her quietus is to render thee.” (12)
number for every subsequent citation. Use stanza numbers for larger works:
According to the speaker, “minion of her pleasure!” (9).
e.g., (line 13), (17-19), (16.78-9), etc.
Correct
Donne begins Satire 1 pleading, “Away thou changling motley humorist” Shakespeare’s gender confusion in Sonnet 120 can be seen in the next
(line 1). By the middle of the poem, however, he calls his companion “a quatrain, where the poet complains, “Yet fear her, O thou minion of her
contrite penitent / Charitably warn’d of thy sins” (49-50). pleasure!” (9).

To cite plays in dramatic verse, give act, scene, and line numbers: Shakespeare’s gender confusion in Sonnet 120 is clear in the final
quatrain: “Yet fear her, O thou minion of her pleasure!” (9).
e.g., (3.3.54-7)
The poet speaks of a boy “Who hast by waning grown” (3) but turns
To cite works of literary prose—such as novels or short stories—use the basic eventually to remark that “Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack” (5) has
defeated him.
format above, citing author and page number. When needed, include
chapters for novels: e.g., (105; ch. 12).
According to the speaker, “Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds”
(14).
Special Cases
• If there is more than one work by the same author in your Works Cited,
include an abbreviated title in the parenthetical citation: e.g., (Donne,
Pseudo-Martyr 50).
• If the author is unknown, include only the abbreviated title and page
number in the parenthetical citation.
• If you are citing a block quotation—a longer indented quotation, to be used
when you quote more than four lines of poetry—the parenthetical citation
comes after the final punctuation.

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