Writing advice for Dr. G's Students

1. Follow instructions to a "T"
2. Avoid plagiarism [Click here for a link to the SJSU link about Academic Integrity.]
3. A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask him- or herself the following questions (Orwell, 1946):
1. What am I trying to say?
2. What words will express it?
3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
5. Could I put it more shortly?
6. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?
7. Rules that one can rely on when instinct fails:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never us a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
4. How to insert references in the text without quoting work -- see OWL APA Guide and embedded examples. References cited in the text should be listed in full form at the back of the paper using APA format.