The following hardly represent all the errors, careless or otherwise, that crop up in a student's writing from exam to exam, but they are a good representative sample of the ones most frequently encountered. Give them a good once-over, do your best to remember them, and improvement should surely follow.
A.
1. Proper Names:
Incorrect Usage Correct Usage europe, asia Europe, Asia france, china France, China bismarck, leopold II Bismarck, Leopold II queen Victoria Queen Victoria Brits The British
2. Verb Tenses: (Use past tense in history essays.)
Prussia attacks France. Prussia attacked France.
The treaty is signed. The treaty was signed.
Prussia seeked victory.* Prussia sought victory.
*Be careful in forming the past tense of irregular verbs.
3. Subject/Verb Agreement: (Singular subjects require singular verb forms. Plural subjects require plural verb forms.)
China and Japan was at war. China and Japan were at war. Russia were an ally of France. Russia was an ally of France.
4. The Apostrophe* ( ' ) to denote possession.
Russias situation was grave. Russia's situation was grave.
The emperors army was defeated. The emperor's army was
defeated.
The nation mobilized it's* army. The nation mobilized its army.
5. Form Plurals properly:
countrys countries treatys treaties
6. Be Aware of Common Misspellings:If you are writing an essay at home and using a word processor, use the spell checker (and the grammar checker if possible) before printing out your work.
recieve receive (Remember the old rule: i before e except after c) develope develop foreing foreign Britian Britain where (place) were (past tense verb) deteriate deteriorate solider soldier dominate (as adj.) dominant controled controlled (Remember the rule: double the consonant before adding on a suffix that begins with a vowel)
7. Dates (my preference):
not July 4th but.................. July 4
not 23rd of June but.............. June 23
not August 2nd but................ August 2 (and certainly not the"second day of August")
B.
8. Avoid careless writing and most clichés:
At the top you had... The government was headed by... Germany stuck to her guns Germany maintained its policy... China was on its last legs China's defeat was imminent...
9. Avoid superfluous or redundant phrases such as:
"I am now going to relate the story of..."
"I forgot to mention that . ."
"Take the case of Austria, if you will..." ("if you will" is the
offender--never involve the reader in your ruminations)
10. Avoid slang or academically inappropriate language:
Don't write phrases such as "imperialism sucks" "A humungous change occurred" "The shogun was taken out" "China took a big hit" "The government was in a rut"
11. Avoid Abbreviations:
Incorrect Correct gov. the government a/c on account of d/w dealing with . . . b/c because . . . b/4 before w/ with + plus
12. Use definite articles: A, An, The before nouns.
Treaty was signed in ... The treaty was signed in... He reported to tsar He reported to the tsar
13. Be careful with homonyms (words that sound the same but have different meanings and are spelt differently)
The proposal was thrown out. The throne ofBelgium was occupied by..
They knew about the crisis. The new government was...
It was their army that lost. It was there (place) the
battle was fought.
14. Format: Remember to format properly.
-number the pages -number the question being answered as it appears on the exam paper -leave the margin (usually a 1" or so blank space at the left-hand side) blank blank -leave a line between paragraphs or indent the next line -for typed reports use a readable font, preferably 12-point
C.
15. When organizing an essay/answer in class:
Take your time and collect your thoughts before putting anything in writing.
Rushing is often the source of many errors that could have been easily avoided.
If you have time, reread the essay to catch and correct errors before you
submit it.
16. Essay organization:
-Give the essay a title.
-You may wish to spend a few moments outlining what you want to state.
-Study the question carefully and address each part of it in orderly
sequence.
-Take as much guidance as you can from the question and be sure to ask for
clarification if in doubt.
-Don't ramble off onto unrelated topics--stick with the question.
-Do not assume that you do not have to mention something because the professor
already knows it. Give background information because he wants to be sure you
also know the basic facts.
In general, your essay, irrespective of length or number of paragraphs, should have an introductory statement, a central section incorporating narrative and analysis and end with concluding remarks on the historical significance of the topic in question.
(a) Introduction :
Give a brief background to the individual and/or event; for example, the
personality, status or position of 'major players' or circumstances preceding
or leading to a particular event.
(b) Development:
This part of the answer will require narrative (detail and description of
events) as well as explanation (the reason and purpose behind events, i.e., why
things happened as they did). Be sure to separate different topics with
paragraphs that fully explore that topic. Also, begin with sentences that
clearly introduce the subject of the paragraph or serve as good transitional
sentences that will impart elegance to your writing.
(c) Conclusion:
Your conclusions, based on class lectures and reading, will generally offer the
consensus of historians on the significance of the events and personalities
under discussion.
If you need additional help with writing, consult the CUNY Write Site at http://writesite.cuny.edu . It will provide you with a variety of practice exercises and advice on grammar and style in writing.
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