Homeworks – You MUST do them to get a decent grade!  50% of your final grade!!!!

Minimum requirements

3 FULL pages - (from 1" margin to 1" margin)

Must have References page with at least 4 references

Two of the four references MUST be the YES side and the NO side from your assigned readings

Additional two references you can always use are: Carroll (please spell authors' names correctly!) your textbook author, if you use information from there, and Taverner the editor of Taking Sides

If you choose your own additional additional sources, they need to be from reputable scientific sources.

   Do not use dictionary definitions, popular magazines or publications, the Bible, the Koran, or other religious books.

    NEVER use Wikipedia, and learn to check the sources on ANY material off the Internet!

Only list references that ARE cited in the actual paper

Each reference must be cited correctly in APA format (see samples or APA website)

No first names or personal pronouns - always surprises me when students write, "Nora said ..." when referring to an author they are citing.  How informal! Do you know this person? No.

We also don't use first names (or personal pronouns) to avoid sexism.  It shouldn't matter whether the author is male or female so we don't need to show that, to avoid possible bias by the reader.  This is why even on the References page, the first name is only an initial.

Don’t tell me who they are and what they wrote - For example, students occasionally will write; "Chittenden, a sex educator who lives in.........and wrote......[insert.... long..... title.... of..... book.... or.... article..... here......], said..............."  I always see that as a waste of space.  A complete References listing will allow me to follow up on any source you cited if I want to know more about them.  And your listing will give me the name of their publication and often who they work for.  So it is better to simply write: "Chittenden (2004) said....."

(Carroll, 2004). ß period at the end of the citation not at end of sentence before it.

References page (that is what it is called, thus what should be typed at the top of the page [again - just look at sample!] not Works Cited or anything else!) must be in APA 5th edition style format

Must review and summarize the material assigned

BRIEF concluding paragraph at end - usually have to tell students, "more facts" from reviewed material and "less opinion."  Your work needs to show you've reviewed the assigned material.  A 3-page paper is very short so you don't have a lot of space to show you've carefully reviewed both sides of the issue!

No direct quotes - I want you to Put It in Your Own Words (P.I.Y.O.W) - Once upon a time, a professor told me that there are few things so brilliantly written that you need to quote them exactly.  The assignment is for you to learn how to read and review material and then be able to put it in your own words.  So if your page is filled with someone else's words, that shows me nothing.  I already KNOW what they have to say.

HDYK - How Do You Know? You can't just make statements without citing a source (or sources) to back them up.  For example if you wrote; "Today, most teens are frequently engaged in oral sex."  Well, how do you know that?  Have you surveyed all the teens in the U.S.?  This is a scientific paper.  Scientists don't just make claims without some evidence to back them up!  So this would be better to write: "According to Chittenden (2004), it appears teens are engaging in oral sex with more frequency, but certainly in a more casual manner than the previous generations."

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Spell-check - for pete's sake - no excuse here - it's only one click of a button today!

Proof read - but spell-check doesn't catch it all, still need to read over it (or ask someone else to!)

Read out loud - if you really read it out loud you will hear mistakes. When reading silently, we often read what we think we wrote, instead of what is really there.

Writing should not be like talking - writing is much more formal than talking

Don’t tell your audience what you’re going to do, just do it! So don’t write, "In this paper I am going to…………"  [We have a good Writing Center that can help you learn how to write on a college-level!]

Must be stapled, black ink only

Do not use FULL justification - that's when both sides of the print are even, leads to weird spacing - use LEFT justification

Squiggly line on your paper shows where I feel you are wasting space

Don’t ramble to stretch, or keep repeating yourself

1" margins - all around - I do measure! Ignore the settings in whatever word processing program you are using. Print the paper out and measure the margins with a ruler.  Learning to be precise is a good skill.  Maybe you have to set it at .87 or something to get a real 1" margin!

Don’t use slang or abbreviations - and sadly, really no humor or creativity in this type of writing (Don't worry we do plenty of fun stuff! But you also need to learn to write a serious scientific paper!)

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Basic English, folks!

There     Their     They’re

To           Too       Two

Sense     Since    Cents

Except    Accept

Learn the difference and make sure you are using the right one. This is college!

STIs or STDs not STI’s or STD’s

2 sent. ≠ ¶ - two sentences do not equal a paragraph!

Watch sentence fragments and run-on sentences

Subject/verb agreement – Students think that they………. , The student thinks that she….

updated 9/7/07