Writing Tips & Conventions
Dos and Don’ts - Quotes or Italics?
Dos and Don’ts
— Don’t directly address your audience, and avoid commenting on your own writing.
— You can use contractions, but avoid slang.
— Avoid big words when small words will do.
— Use italics and exclamations marks for emphasis, but not too often. (See below for when to use italics).
— Avoid long quotes. If you use a long quote, make sure to explain the key elements in it.
— Offset quotes of more than two lines. Indent, single space, and omit quotation marks.
— Integrate shorter quotes into your sentence structure. The use of short quotes (as opposed to long quotes) is the most efficient and readable way to prove your point. Short quotations by nature integrate tightly into the contours of your argument and thinking; readers don’t have to go from your point, to a long quote where they have to make the link to your point, and then back to your point. Using short quotes, you make your point and prove it immediately, thus allowing readers to get connections more quickly and to move on to your next point.
— Don’t use point form in English essays. Essays must be in sentences and paragraphs. You can of course use point form in labeling a chart, photo, etc.
— Don’t worry about repeating a term or word. Often it confuses your reader if you switch terms. In analytical writing (as opposed to creative writing), content is more important than style. For this reason, using a thesaurus is often counter-productive.
— Write in a direct and formal manner. This doesn’t mean, however, that you have to be dry or boring. Spice up your writing with well-chosen words and phrases. For take-home papers, add photos, pictures, or coloured graphs and charts to liven up the presentation of your ideas.
— Write simply and directly, avoiding jargon. If you’re a very good writer you can write in a slightly more creative manner. If the instructor can’t understand your creative moments then you’re probably not communicating in an academically effective manner. Consult the instructor before trying a style that’s unconventional.
— Generally, you don’t need to write, I think or I believe. In everyday speech we often make it clear that what we’re saying is coming from our point of view: we often start sentences with I think or I believe. In undergrad writing, however, it’s a convention to leave this out. An exception to this rule is if your stand is partial, strong, or extreme. For instance, if you believe that everyone should be vegan, you shouldn’t write, “Given that everyone should not eat cheese …” Here, the point of view is strong and probably not shared by most of your readers. In this case, you should write, “According to vegans,…” or “Personally, I have been a vegan for ten years and believe that …”
— Avoid choppy sentences. They are not good. No one likes reading them. They sound too blunt. It's Ok to use one. But don't use two. (Get the picture?). Link complete thoughts with conjunctions and subordination. Also, try to vary your sentence length.
— It’s often easier to use they than he or she; avoid he/she or s/he.
— He/she/they. While it’s accepted to use the singular they, this can also cause confusion. I suggest using it only when necessary. Sometimes you can simply repeat the name of the person you’re referring to. Instead of writing “The president of the club was happy. They told the members…” I would suggest, “The president of the club was happy. The president told the members…”
— Use / to show the end of a poetry line, as in “across the water / With his galleons and guns.”
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Quotes or Italics?
Because there’s no coherent use of italics or quote marks on the Net, students often think they’re interchangeable or unnecessary. Thinking this way can have negative effects on your mark, since academic writing requires the use of established academic format.
Put the following in single quotes: quotes-within-quotes, an uncommon use of a word or phrase, ironic or doubtful statements, inexact quotations, approximations, and idioms which might otherwise cause confusion. The following are correct: She told him, “You mispronounced ‘to be or not to be,’ but you acted very well.” She wasn’t exactly what communists call a ‘fellow traveller.’ I suspect he is ‘around the bend.’
Put the following in double quotes: direct quotations, short texts, articles, chapters, short poems, lyrics, short stories, and TV episodes. The following are correct: He said, “the poor need to pay more tax because they are all lazy.” The short story “Under the Volcano” was expanded into the novel Under the Volcano, which was made into the 1984 film Under the Volcano. The song “Paranoid Android” is from the 1997 Radiohead album OK Computer.
Put the following in italics (or underline if writing): long texts, movies, documentaries, journals, books, novels, TV shows, long poems, and novellas. The following are correct: Bowling for Columbine is a film about gun violence. The episode “My Maserati Does 185” from Entourage is very funny.
— Use italics to highlight a word or oppose it to another — as in the following: assertiveness is different from aggression.
— Note that when you have a groups of words in italics, you then put into normal font what you would otherwise put in italics. This way the item still stands out. For instance, He watched Aladdin and got the idea that perhaps he might fly off the roof on a magic carpet.