Common Mistakes
Is it okay to use the first or second person?
No. In formal research papers, avoid using the pronouns I, we, you, your, me, my and phrases such as:
“You would think that...”
“In my opinion...”
“I didn’t realize that...”
“I feel that...”
“You might be surprised to know that . . .”
Can I refer to my paper while I am writing it?
No. This is not necessary and redundant.
Avoid uses phrases such as:
“This paper will consider the three following works...”
“In this paragraph, the reader will learn that...”
DO I USE the present tense OR past tense?
Use past tense to talk about the biographical facts concerning an author or the publication of a literary work. Use the present tense to write about what happens in the literary work itself.
Example:
A Confederacy of Dunces was published posthumously more than 11 years after John Kennedy Toole committed suicide. The book traces Ignatius J. Reilly’s search for employment in New Orleans.
When should I use italics?
The MLA Handbook recommends using italics with specific titles or when emphasizing specific works within the body of the paper.
MLA FORMATTING AND STYLE ERRORS:
● Make sure that your parenthetical citations and Works Cited citations are in the correct format.
● Make sure that your margins, page numbers, headers, title format, font choice, font size, paper, and spacing are correct. Double-space everything but do not include extra space between any paragraphs or citations.
● Remember to prove your thesis. Do not get bogged down in so much summary you forget to analyze the connections between ideas. Provide just enough summary that the reader knows the main points. Focus on developing your main point.
Grammar and Punctuation Errors:
● Never use an apostrophe to create a plural.
Example:
heroes is the plural, hero’s is the singular possessive. Double-check for errors such as: "city's" for "cities," "dog's" for "dogs," and "TV's" for "TVs" haven't been committed. Remember, apostrophes indicate possession or contraction. They are never used for pluralizing nouns.
● Avoid using contractions
Example:
“it’s” is the contraction of “it is.” If the possessive form of "it" is required, "its" is the proper form. This is easy to remember since no possessive pronouns take the apostrophe: his, hers, theirs, yours, ours, its.
● Check to make sure you don’t use the homonym of the intended word.
Example:
there/they’re/their. If you avoid using the first and second one in your paper, you narrow your chances of making these errors. “There” is too vague in a research paper, and “they’re” is a contraction, which is too informal. All you have to worry about is the possessive “their.” Also watch out for the nasty to/too/two. Spell checkers do not catch this mistake!
● “A lot” is always two words.
However, they are two words that can be eliminated from your writing a lot of the time.
● Words, phrases, or symbols to eliminate:
○ Starting sentences with “there” and “it”
○ The intensifiers “very,” “too, “really” or “extremely”
○ “I think,” “I believe,” “In my opinion”
○ Abbreviation
○ Contractions
○ etc.
○ &
○ +
● Comma Splices
Do not link two independent clauses together with a comma.
Wrong:
Jung believes that there is a collective unconscious, Campbell writes about the monomyth.
Correction:
Jung believes that there is a “collective unconscious”; Campbell writes about the monomyth.
● Do not insert a comma between an independent clause and a subordinate clause at the end of the sentence.
Wrong:
He believes that images had universal connections, because all cultures share a “collective unconscious.”
Correction:
He believes that images had universal connections because all cultures share a “collective unconscious.”
● Remember, to put commas and periods before the quotation mark, not after it.
● If parenthetical citation is added to the sentence, the period goes after the documentation.
Example:
He believes that images had universal connections because all cultures share a “collective unconscious” (Jung 4).
● Sentence Fragments
Make sure your sentences are complete (subject and predicate). Fragments often happen when you try to introduce examples or elaborations without linking the idea to the previous sentence.
Wrong:
Many works of literature have heroic journeys. For example, the Harry Potter series.
Correction:
Many works of literature have heroic journeys, for example, the Harry Potter series.
● Academic English
Double check for inappropriate use of first or second person pronouns (i.e., "I," "Me," "Mine," "We," "Us," "Ours," "You" and "Yours") and slang language (e.g., "kids" when the word "children" is meant).