Writing expectations
Resources
 Having another person critique your written work before submission is a useful strategy. Besides
utilizing your fellow students, note that the Student Academic Success Center offers free drop-in or
appointment-based assistance with any writing assignment. Take advantage!
Writing (and formatting)
 Include your name, the date and paper title at the top
 Typed (1.5-spaced), double-sided, length as specified
 All sources used to write the paper must be cited both within the text (through parenthetical
reference) and appear as a full citation in a “References” section at the end.
o The format of your references should follow The Chicago Manual of Style. See this
summary from California State University, Los Angeles for a guide.
o Additional information on The Chicago Manual of Style can be found here.
o Note that electronic and internet resources should be cited formally – see the guides
above.
o Suitable references
 Do not use lecture notes as a source. Use formal sources like your textbook and
suggested readings.
 Generally okay: books, leading periodicals, and academic journals
 Use with caution or qualification: advocacy group publications and websites
 If you are interested in reference to a work that is cited in a source you’re
reading, you need to cite the original source material from the original work.
This means, for example, that it’s generally not good practice to quote a source
like Wikipedia directly but rather look to the original source material.
o To save paper, for this class, please place the “References” directly below your final
paragraph instead of on a new page. Also, while The Chicago Manual of Style requires
double space throughout, for this class please use 1.5 spacing throughout to save paper.
 Grammar, spelling, punctuation and mechanics are important.
o To improve grammar and readability try reading your paper out loud.
o Transitions: paragraphs should flow naturally from one to the next
Content
Many of the ideas expressed below will be found in writing guides, e.g. Successful College Writing by
Kathleen McWhorter (2005) specifically chapter 18, “Writing Arguments”. Many of the ideas will
also be important for tackling the analytical writing section of the GRE.
 Style and audience
o Write for your intended reader/audience. For this course think of your reader as open but
skeptical, looking for incisive, analytically-sound arguments on requested issues. Unless
otherwise specified, you might imagine that your job is to generate an executive brief using
reasoned argument for a political leader like a state governor.
o The writing should be formal and in third person.
 Using references
o References should be used to substantiate your arguments (not as a substitute to making
your own point). Directly quote material sparingly.


o In some cases it is important to introduce the source that you are referencing to
communicate to the reader a sense of who the source is and why their work deserves
consideration. This is particularly important when using quotes from a source.
Answer all questions posed and stay on topic.
o In this course our focus will be on inquiry and analysis, not advocacy.
 The economic approach to policy analysis emphasizes objective critical thinking
versus emotional appeals or lobbying.
 The intended format and style is not a public speech (rally, graduation, etc.) or an
editorial
 Emotional appeals or grand calls to action are out of place: “The future is up to us.”
“We owe it to our children.” These objects (the future, our children) are valid
subjects but the stylistic approach is not appropriate for this class.
Focus on a thesis (central argument) and support it with analytically sound arguments and
references (as needed).
o Take a specific position in the thesis
 Set up an interesting relationship between the short list of ideas you’ll write about.
This could involve how they are categorized or divided or perhaps tensions or
synergies between them.
 Useful starting words to setup an argument include: if, since, when, because,
although, and while
o Avoid overly general and weak template writing
 “The _____ that go into ________ are (numerous, complex, multitude, etc).”
o A crutch that you can use to push yourself to make analytical arguments is to use the
following words/phrases (Gaughan, 2013):
Although
Accordingly
As
As a result
Because
But
Consequently
Despite
Even if
Even though
Furthermore
Hence
however (in the middle of a
sentence)
In addition
In particular
In spite of
Moreover
Nevertheless
Notwithstanding
Question
Rather
Reason
Regardless of
Since
So
The fact that
Therefore
Thus
While
Yet
Plagiarism
 Please review this UC Davis Student Judicial Affairs handout on avoiding plagiarism: SJA
Plagiarism handout.
References
Gaughan, Judy E. Do you have enough analysis? http://lamar.colostate.edu/~jgaughan/advice/
examples/AnalysisWords.htm (accessed January 4, 2013).
McWhorter, Kathleen. 2005. Successful College Writing, third edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.