The top four errors:
1. not fully supporting your arguments
2. plot summary instead of analysis
3. not explaining quotes
4. Not making an argument (see number two)
Here are some major errors that I saw repeated frequently throughout the entire class period.
- Avoid using parenthesis in your body. If it’s important enough to put in your paper,
then go all in, especially if it’s key to your argument. It’s also like you’re trying to
take an analytical shortcut – the parenthesis doesn’t do the work you should be
doing!
Ex. The men (singing bees) go to Janie (the pear tree) and are pollinated for love and
pleasure.
 This definitely is an interpretation, in that you are sorting through the pear tree
metaphor and interpreting the bees as the men and the pear tree as Janie. This is
very, very important and doesn’t belong in parenthesis.
Ex. #2: The horizon, the sea and the seeds are used to show triumph and hope, since they
represent the future and success of Janie’s life thus far (the horizon [rising sun], the sea
[Janie’s realization of triumph], and the seeds [growing into new plants].
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Avoid false transitions! In a paragraph all about Jody, it doesn’t make sense to
suddenly stick in a final sentence about Tea Cake. This comes across as false and
unnatural. Instead, finish your paragraph with a strong concluding sentence about
Jody and then in the first sentence of the next paragraph, link Jody to Tea Cake.
This is more logical!
 Here are some great transitions in the papers:
 “While Janie experiences love, she ultimately loses it” (moving from
love with Tea Cake to his death)
 “Following Jody Starks’ death, Janie’s oppression is lifted up, and she
soon meets Tea Cake”
 “The second paragraph casts a faint gleam of optimism over the
unbridled fatalism of its preceding paragraph”
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You must have a comma before a FANBOYS when it separates two independent
clauses. Fix the following sentences below:
Ex. Janie wonders if she will ever have that feeling of love that she wants so she later kisses a
local boy, Johnny Taylor.
Another example: Jody wants to be a powerful man and that is all he wants.
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You MUST cite all quotes! In several papers, people put in the quotes but didn’t cite
author and page number. This will cause you to fail your research paper! This is
bad, but the worst errors were from the multiple papers that put Hurston’s direct
words in the paper but didn’t put quotes around them or cite them at all. This is
plagiarism, and in college, you can be taken in front of Student Judiciary and
kicked out of school. This error will cause you to fail your research paper and will
earn you a visit with Mr. Lane, your parents, a zero for the paper, and a violation of
the Honor Code. Be sure to cite author and page number. See the example below:
Ex. “[She] wants [Janie] to have protection” so that when Nanny passes, she will die knowing
that the only person she cares about – Janie – will live peacefully and comfortably.
An Example of Plagiarism: Student Example: As long as Janie still kept feeling and
thinking for Tea Cake, he could never be dead.
Exact Quote from the Novel: “He could never be dead until she herself had finished
feeling and thinking.”
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Most common major grammatical error in all classes: PRN-AGR (pronounantecedent agreement error) . Fix the error below:
Ex. When a person acts according to their conscience, it is human nature to do it again.
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Your topic sentences must be argumentative and mini-thesis statements for
the paragraph; they cannot just be plot summary.
Plot Summary Topic Sentence: Shortly afterwards, Jody dies.
Not Argumentative Topic Sentence: The readers are introduced to the pear tree when
Janie is only sixteen years old.
Excellent Argumentative Topic Sentence with no Plot Summary: The vision of the pear
tree is Janie’s first realization of her inner self, and more than just a vision of love, it is a
catalyst for the beginning of her experiences and her search for herself.
Another Excellent Example: The first step in Janie’s journey to independence and
freedom begins with the relinquishing of Nanny’s hold on her.
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Be aware of AP (apostrophe errors) lurking in your papers!
 Example: The patriarchal society, both today and in the 1920s, forces
women, like Janie, under it’s control by silencing their voice.
 It’s = it is. Should have used “its”
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When you cite a quote, be sure to directly engage the quote and explain it.
When you do, you don’t have to recite author and page number, but you do
have to put the word or phrase in quotes. This was a major gap in many
papers. When you cite a quote, especially a long quote, you really need to
pause and analyze it. We’ll work on this further!
 Not a good example but a very common error in most papers: She realizes
that love is indiscriminate in its magnitude, “[taking] the shape from de
shore it meets” (Hurston 191). With this realization Janie becomes free of
the pressures of society and its visions of normality. But, you must pause
to analyze the quote. What realization? This is is an important simile
in the novel, comparing love to the sea. What does she mean by this
simile? So, first analyze the quote and then the realization that comes
from the quote.
 Example: Nanny expresses her fears by telling Janie, “Tain’t Logan
Killicks Ah wants you to have baby, it’s protection” (Hurston 15).
Nanny’s vision of love is “protection.” Better. The writer directly
engages key words from the quote in the explanation.
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Please stay in the present tense and avoid first and second person in your
papers. I’ve been asking for you all to do this all year, and yet in these
papers, I saw these errors made several times. In particular, several papers
were in the past tense – this is just careful editing!
- Comma Issues: Review of Comma Rules
Rule #1: Must use a comma to separate two independent clauses with a FANBOYS
linking them.
Rule #2: Must have a comma after two introductory prep phrases used in a row
Rule #3: Must have a comma after a dependent clauses that begins with a subordinating
conjunction at the start of a sentence (When I went to the store, Because I went to the
store, Since I went to the store, After I went to the store)
Rule #4: Must have a comma after an introductory word or phrase (Ultimately, Then,
Also, First)
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Avoid cliches in the papers: dig deeper, biggest flipside, a timeless tale, she is at
rock bottom, life goes on, many twists and turns
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After you put cite a quotation, the period goes at the end of the sentence after
the citation. Fix the following example:
“When she meets and begins her life with Tea Cake, “her soul crawled out from its
hiding place” and seemed to immediately brighten. (Hurston 128).
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Be careful with parallelism errors – everything should match up!
Example of the error: Janie does not leave the marriage out of respect to Nanny, and
possibly hoping that Nanny is right that marriage leads to love. (“does not leave” is not a
match for “hoping” – why suddenly switch to an –ing verb?)
Another example: Janie is forced to cover her hair, do only what Jody says, and to stay
quiet. What is missing from this example for it to be parallel?
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Be careful with misusing the semicolon – this leads to a fragment. You must
have a complete sentence on either side of the semicolon.
Fragment with Semicolon: With her former husbands, Janie was forced to hide her soul;
her real, true self in order to please the man in her life.