When writing about events in a novel, you must first make the decision whether to use the present or past tense. Generally speaking, either is acceptable, but once you make the choice, you need to be consistent.

Although it is often necessary to recount some of the plot to make your point, your paper should not be solely a plot summary. I know what happens in the book, and I assume you do, too. After recounting the relevant part of the plot, make an analytical statement about that passage; show me you have thought about the book.

As a rule, you should only quote when either the original author said what he/she said so well that you could simply not say it better OR you are quoting a passage from fiction to convey the tone of the story. Quotations should be introduced by you; do not insert someone else's words in your essay as if they are merely a continuation of your own words. See the handout on Plagiarism for examples of correct paraphrasing.

Every complete thought needs a subject and a verb. This may seem straight forward, but you might be surprised at the number of incomplete sentences I read every semester; usually the writer begins constructing a complex sentence, and then forgets to finish it. Here are some real examples, with names removed to protect the guilty:

5. Single spacing and indenting

When you quote something which is more than one sentence long, the quote should be single- spaced and indented from the rest of the text. Also, in this form, there is no need for quotation marks around the quote. A footnote or similar citation, however, IS necessary (see handout on plagiarism for examples of format).

6. Contractions

Unless you are directly quoting another text, avoid using contractions such as don't, won't can't, isn't, and its. Instead, use do not, will not, cannot, is not, etc.

7. Second Person

Avoid using the second person pronoun you. In its place, use the pronoun one. (Examples below cover both contractions and the second person pronoun.)

You may have heard of them, but do you know what they are? A "dangling participle" is a participle [a nominal form of a verb, often in -ing form] that lacks clear connection with the word it modifies. In other words, your sentence seems to change subject midstream. Here are some examples of dangling participles:

Do yourself and me a favor. Use a spell-checker if you are writing on a computer. Technology has made poor spelling inexcusable. "I didn't know how to use the spell checker" or "I didn't have time" are not valid excuses; it takes two or three key strokes and about 30 seconds.

Your title should reflect the content of your paper. It does not need to be fancy. However, do not title your paper with the title of the work on which you are writing. For example, if your name is John Smith and you are writing on War and Peace, do not title your paper "War and Peace" by John Smith. War and Peace was written by Tolstoy, not you. If you are feeling particularly unimaginative, title the paper "On War and Peace," or something like that, but avoid stealing other authors' titles.