English 102 Writing Assignment Instructions

"i've written papers before, so why am i here?"

You are here because it is essential that you read and understand all of the information below before setting up and submitting any of your essays to me. If you do not follow the correct format, your papers will not be accepted (they will need to be redone and will be docked the late penalty you read about on the class Home page); if they are not saved properly, then I won't be able to open and read them (which is a problem). If papers are only 2 pages long, then they will not earn points, and so on.

So, yes, I know this is dry stuff; I also know many of you already know this material, but don't just pass it by. You may have written "a paper" before, but it may have not been in standard MLA format or followed the conventions of college writing. There is no sillier way of not succeeding in a class (and in life in general) than by just ignoring simple instructions. That's not going to happen to my students!

General Information about Essays

Save a copy

always keep copies of all of your assignments. If there is a problem with either e-mail or snail-mail, you will need that copy to re-send for credit. Give it a name that is easy to recognize and save it on your computer where you can easily locate it.

Formatting in Word

to change the left and right margins to 1" go to PAGE LAYOUT and select the "Normal" template with 1" margins all around (in earlier versions of WORD select the FILE tab then PAGE SETUP; there is a space where you can change the 1.25" margins to 1" quite easily)
double spacing your paper is done by selecting PARAGRAPH (found under the FORMAT tab in older versions); in the LINE SPACNG box select "Double"; also make sure that BEFORE and AFTER are both set to 0, or you will get extra spacing each time you hit "Enter" while typing
the header (your last name and the page number 1/2" from the top right of each page) is handled using the HEADER/FOOTER feature found under INSERT (or VIEW in older versions)

Don't have Word?

You must still save your file as either a .doc or .rtf file (most software will allow you to do this). If you send me a .od or .wps or even a .pdf file, they will be returned. Also, do not send me any zipped files, please.

The shorter (100-point) papers will generally require you to develop papers of 4-5 full typed pages in standard MLA format (see below) to adequately cover the topic. Papers less than three full pages (so NOT 2 1/2), will not be accepted, and if you are trying for a higher score (a "B" or "A"), you will need a minimum of four full pages. You'll want to use specific examples whenever possible. Feel free to draw on personal experience if it is approrpiate, but that is not enough to support your thesis. There should be lots of supporting examples (documented quotations) from the works you are analyzing. Content is most important with these essays, but I will look closely at the form of the essays as well, so you'll need to edit and proofread to eliminate as many of the spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax errors as possible to earn a high score.

NOTE: these are not just personal opinion papers.

These are, for the most part, argument essays. Even if you write a personal experience paper, you will be supporting a thesis (the central idea/point you are trying to develop/prove) with examples/evidence--that is the essence of an argument.

Be sure to reveiw the entire reading-to-writing process and the sample essays in your textbook.

MLA Essay Format

All essays must be in standard MLA (Modern Language Association) format; this is the format you should have learned in English 101. College and university academic standards require that papers written in the humanities (there is a different format for scientific papers) be submitted in this format.

For complete information on what this format looks like, you can refer to any current writer's handbook, such as Rules for Writers. I have also included a copy of a sample MLA paper with some instructions that you can look at here:

Sample MLA-8 Format Essay in Word

You can also find information on the MLA format and more general information on academic writing on the Purdue OWL site, and I have added a file on MLA Format along with a set-up video in the Files section of Canvas. IMPORTANT NOTE: if for some reason you are using different word processing software (such as Pages or Docs) you are still responsible for MLA-8 format and submitting the file as explained below. That may require you to do a Google search for "How do I set up MLA-8 document with Pages?" (or whatever); the same is true for "How do I save...?" There are loads of videos you can watch as you set up your papers.

How to Submit your Essays

Your essays will be submitted to me as attachments to e-mail. Write the paper in standard MLA format in Word, save your paper on your hard drive or on a floppy disk, and attach the file to an e-mail addressed to me. When sending assignments, YOUR E-MAIL MESSAGE should include your name, the class, and the name of the assignment which is attached (this is in addition to the heading information that you'll have on the attached essay itself). Send your e-mail to me at jrcorbally@gmail.com.

NOTE: If you do not have Microsoft WORD (Word 365 is free; check the LAHC Student Portal) on your computer, you must save your file as either a Word (.doc, .docx, .rtf) file or as .pdf file before attaching it.

DO NOT SEND FILES: through Canvas, through Google Docs, via OneDrive, etc. Those often mess up your formatting, and I often cannot access them. So just ATTACH a Word doc to your e-mail and send it to me at my JRCORBALLY@GMAIL.COM address.

Submitting the Research Paper and the Final Project

Both of these assignments will require you to first get a Proposal approved (which may take more than one attempt, so try to get the proposals in early. The Research Paper absolultely requires a Works Cited page. The Final Project is a mixture of practical design and creativity and research, and there are some options for submitting it in different formats (you'll see once you look over the assignment).

Late Work / Missing Work

Try to get all work in on time. Late essays will always be penalized. A late essay will lose 10% of the total score. NOTE: Any essay that is more than one week late will receive no credit! To avoid a late penalty (or a zero), it's a very good idea to submit work early. Always keep a copy of your work in case it gets lost or misplaced in the e-mail.

Any work that is not an essay (so quizzes, discussions, etc.) will not be accepted late. Again, try to get things in early just in case.

Extra Credit and Free Pass

The final discussion is extra credit (optional). There may be additional extra credit; if so, you will get an Announcement to that effect :)

Also, I know things come up in life. And so you get ONE FREE PASS this semester that will let you skip ONE of the 20-point discussions. If you would like to use it, you do not need to tell me; I will just note it in my grade book. There are, however, a couple of important considerations:

The FREE PASS may NOT be used on either the Reesearch Paper Proposal OR the Creative Project Proposal; those do go on our Discussion Board, and they may require revising (sometimes more than once); if you do not first get your proposals APPROVED on the Discussion Board, those papers will not be graded.
If you use the FREE PASS, you are still responsible for that week's readings and lectures; that material is necessary for your papers.

Links to ALL of the Assignments

These are all found on the Class Schedule page.

Back to...

Writing Assignments