1) Get immediately to the question(s).  For these short papers, DO NOT write Introductions or Conclusions.  Get right into the question.

2) Write well.  Style counts!  Make sure you follow standard writing guidelines, including, but not limited to, the following:

Do not put blank lines between paragraphs.

Do not put anything more than your name and the assignment number on the paper.

Do not use contractions.  i.e. “don’t” = do not,  “can’t” = cannot, etc. etc.

Do not end a sentence in a preposition.

PROOFREAD!!!  Spell Check is NOT good enough.

Avoid sentence fragments and avoid run-on sentences.

Write good, strong paragraphs.  A paragraph contains 3-7 sentences about the first sentence in the paragraph, which is called the topic sentence.  Do not write gigantic paragraphs.

3) Use, and cite, the textbook.  The assignments are there for a reason – use them!  I use a standard citation format as mentioned in the syllabus: (Author, page number).  So therefore, if your citation is from Perry on page 54, the citation goes like this:  (Perry, 54).  FAILING TO CITE IS PLAGIARISM – THIS IS YOUR WARNING, THERE WILL BE NO OTHER.

4)  All assignments use double-space, Times New Roman, 12 point font with standard margins.  Please do not mess with these settings to make your paper appear longer (or shorter) than it is.