Comments generated from reading Speak essays (2005):

See the best of your peers below. Go to their sites and read their work. Learn from their examples.

 º      We never underline our own titles (unless the work has been published somewhere other than our web sites); also, any underlined text on the web is taken to be a hyperlink by readers, so it’s best to use italics for all titles.

 º      Never, never, never separate two sentences with a comma. You have to be able to recognize a complete sentence first. If you put two sentences together with a comma, it’s called a comma splice and it’s a bad error. Fix comma splices in these ways:

o       Jim bought bread at the store. He wanted to make sandwiches for lunch. (period and capital letter)

o       Jim bought bread at the store because he wanted to make sandwiches for lunch. (change one sentence to a dependent clause)

o       Jim bought bread at the store, for he wanted to make sandwiches for lunch. (use a comma with a coordinating conjunction: and, but, so, for, and nor)

o       Jim bought bread at the store; he wanted to make sandwiches for lunch. (use a semi colon only when there is a cause/effect relationship, a parallel structure, or when the two sentences have a strong connection in idea)

 º      You’re is not the same as your. Know them. Also their, there, they’re.

 º      Paragraphs need topic sentences. Each sentence in the paragraph should belong to that topic.

 º      When we cite a passage from a novel, we put the page number in parentheses behind our sentence. The period goes after the parentheses. See your skills and style handbook for how to do this.

 º      Your audience has read this book, probably. You can write as if he/she has.

 º      Use of semi colons. In general, only use a semi colon ( ; ) between two complete sentences (see above).

 º      It should go without saying that sentences should be sentences. No sentence fragments. (See? That was an example).

 º      Weave, don’t plop! Use quotations/textual support from the book with a purpose. You can’t just put them into your paragraph and let them stand alone. You need to introduce them, give them context and of course, ALWAYS explain their purpose.

º      Use third person. It’s an authoritative voice (means that third person makes you sound like an authority). Don’t use “I” or “you.”

Exemplars:

Great introductions:

º      Carly H.

º      Tasha S.

Excellent development (MEAL

º      Natalie K.

º      Tasha S.

º     Sam H.

Great use of quotations:

º      Jackie P.

Great conclusions:

º      David Y.

º     Natalie K.