COMMON ERRORS
FLOATING QUOTES
Warning: Don’t Drop That Quote!: A “dropped” or
“floating” quotation is plopped down in your essay with
no integration with your own words. It’s as if you’ve
copied and pasted the quotation in. To avoid this, use
smooth “TIES” between quotations and your own
writing.
FLOATING QUOTE
Knowing death was around the corner, he wanted
to make big choices in his life. “Remembering
that you are going to die is the best way I know
to avoid the trap of thinking you have something
to lose.” There was so much positive inside of
him that he didn’t want to waste a day on being
negative and sad when he could be looking for
the better things in life.
INTEGRATED QUOTE
Because he knew death was around the corner,
Jobs was fearless in his decision making. Many of
us fear the consequences of our decision, but
Jobs points out that the thought of his
impending death was the best way he knew how
to “…avoid the trap of thinking you have
something to lose” (pg. 71). There was so much
positive inside of him that he didn’t want to
waste a single day.
FLOATING QUOTE
On the way to a happy life there will be struggles
and obstacles, but along the way you will be able
to find your happiness and be able to pass
through the misfortunes that life throws at you.
“The experience is what you get, when you didn’t
get what you wanted” (Pausch). Expectations may
not have been met, but the unforeseen events
make the learning experience in life interesting.
INTEGRATED QUOTE
On the way to a happy life there will be struggles
and obstacles, but along the way you will be able
to find your happiness and be able to pass
through the misfortunes that life throws at you.
As Pausch discussed, experience comes from not
getting what you expected. Expectations may not
have been met, but the unforeseen events make
the learning experience in life interesting.
NO CITATIONS
Warning: Don’t commit plagiarism and ruin
your credibiliy, use citations! A “citation” is the
way you tell your readers that certain material in your
work came from another source. Why do we use
citations? To give credit where credit is due. To
establish your credibility as a careful scholar. To
ensure consistency within the discipline: readers
know what to expect. To give readers access to the
sources you cite.
CAN YOU SPOT THE
ERROR?
However, by enduring these hardships, he was able
to experience many thingsNothat
he found
citation.
It is a benefitted
integrated
quote,
him greatly in the years towell
come.
He specifically
but where
did it come
mentioned, “...much of what
I stumbled
into by
following my curiosity andfrom?
intuition turned out to be
priceless later on.” This story is meant to inform the
reader that at times, life may put you on a path with
many obstacles, but it is not without reward. Later
on, it will be easy to identify the value in persevering
through the hard times.
SPELLING AND
GRAMMAR ERRORS
SECOND PERSON
WHO, ME?! YEA, YOU!
Most academic papers should be written in an academic voice.
Academic voice tends to suppress the natural voice of the author
in an effort to focus the reader on the material instead of the
author's persona. Therefore, you write academic papers in third
person. If you write in first person (I, we, etc.), the reader tends
to focus on the author. If you write in second person (you), the
reader tends to focus on her/himself. I wrote this handout in
second person because I am addressing you – telling you to do
something. You want your reader to focus on the material about
which you are writing; therefore, your paper must be written in
third person (him, her, they, etc.).
WHO, ME?! YEA, YOU!
In a paper based on your opinion and personal
experience, it is acceptable to write in the first person.
However, typically, academic papers avoid first and
second person in order to remain objective. It depends
on the paper and the instructor. If you aren’t sure, ask!
Nonetheless, it is possible to write a paper in third
person and include person experience to support a point
without using “I.”
EXAMPLES
First Person: “I believe that it is very important for the
person writing the argument to have an actual opinion
about the subject matter. In my opinion, I would not
trust someone who does not have an opinion about such
a controversial matter.”
Third Person: “Writers with opinions about their
subject matter tend to present the issues more
poignantly because they appear well informed and more
involved in the subject matter.”