Some notes from the practice Exit Exam:

  • There were some excellent, perfectly grammatical topic sentences with interesting and varied verbs. Thank you!!!
  • In general, throughout your paragraphs, I saw some thoughtful consideration about verb choices – good, varied, specific verbs. This shows that you are thinking about what you write, even in a pressured situation. This is exactly what you need to be doing.
  • The poorly placed comma and apostrophe epidemics are subsiding, but some of you are still putting them in the wrong places. It’s your responsibility to figure out what you’re doing wrong (by studying, by asking me, by going to the Loft, by whatever means you choose).
  • DO NOT USE “YOU” IN ACADEMIC WRITING. Don’t use it in your summary. Don’t use it in your response. Stop. Using. You.
  • Margins?!?! Why don’t you have right margins?
  • I’m noticing a lot of strange uses of “on.” For example: “notified on” “explains on” “discusses on”. I’m not sure where this is coming from but this is not correct. First, “on” and “about” are not synonyms. Second, a verb like “explains” will usually be followed by “that” and “discusses” is often followed by the object being discussed.
  • NO: Users should be notified on privacy rules.
  • YES: Users should be notified about privacy rules.
  • NO: Cohen explains on the lack of rules regarding online privacy.
  • YES: Cohen explains the lack of rules regarding on line privacy. OR Cohen explains that there is a lack of rules regarding online privacy.
  • NO: Cohen discusses on the situation of online privacy.
  • YES: Cohen discusses (this situation of) online privacy.
  • The only time you ever use an author’s first name is the first time you introduce that person. Every time you talk about the author from that point, you should only use the last name. If you are uncertain as to whether an author is a male or female, you should read any contextual information (head notes, bio, etc.). If there is no contextual information, you have full permission to ask me!
  • Make sure you understand the difference between “there” and “their” and “they’re”.
  • Summary: include the author. You are reporting what the author says. You want to write sentences like:
  • “Cohen states that Facebook is…” rather than “Facebook is…”
  • “The author argues that social networking sites should…” rather than “Social networking sites should…”
  • Why? Well, the first options are clearly reporting – summarizing what someone else said. The second options look like you’re writing your own opinion about what Facebook is or what social networking sites should do. This is not summarizing.
  • Make it clear when you begin your response. The topic sentence should restate the author’s argument. The first or second sentence should state whether or not you agree. Don’t wait until the middle or end of your response to introduce “I”. It’s your response and that needs to be clear to the reader right off. If the reader is unclear as to whether you are continuing your summary or starting your response, that is not good!
  • Definitely include “I”, at least once in the beginning, in the response. Otherwise it sounds like you’re writing more summary or writing some kind of analysis.
  • Vocab: “At last” is not a synonym for “Finally” “In sum” or “In conclusion.”