Common Grammatical Issues

Corrections that need to be made before final copies of the Lit. Crit.

papers are submitted.

Titles Everything that you write should have a title. The title should reflect whatever topic

is being written about. For instance, if you are writing you paper about The Color Purple, an acceptable title may be something like:

Acceptable:Acceptable: The Color of Oppression: An examination of Female Roles in The Color Purple.

However, simply naming the topic of the paper is unacceptable

Unacceptable:Unacceptable: Lit. Crit Paper: The Color Purple

Also, your own title should not be underlined, italicized or written in bold. It should simply be in Times New Roman font size 12 (the same as the rest of your paper) center below the heading, prior to the start of the text.

Finally, please remember that, according to MLA format, any time a title is cited within your paper, you must italicize or underline it if it is the name of a novel, play, or publication. It the title is in reference to an article, short story, or poem, it is surrounded by quotation marks.

Example (title format)

Lord of the Flies is complicated and often praised novel that many critics tend to see as a commentary of social values in the contemporary world. While this is true, complicated and deeper meanings exist through the analysis of individual characters of the novel. The characters in the novel provide a framework from which the theories of social values emerge. This becomes even more apparent when the theories of Jacques Lacan are matched with the symbolic character of Jack Merridew in Golding’s novel.

Lord of the Flies follows a group of young English schoolboys who are evacuated from England in the midst of a world war. Through some unforeseen misfortune, their plane crashes on an uninhabited island where the boys are left to fend for themselves, free of any adult supervision. As time passes on the island, the boys create their own society and struggle for survival. Although

The Importance of the Chief in Golding’s Lord of the Flies

Correctly formatted title

Heading/Header Heading – a four-line description required by MLA

format placed on the top right-hand side of the first page only. This IS NOT a header. It is typed at the beginning of the paper and only appears once. It should contain the following information (in order) Name Instructor Name Class Name Date (day month year)

Heading - ExampleMike Calvello Dr. Rodney MaderEng. 5017 May 2004

The Importance of the “Chief” in Golding’s Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies is complicated and often praised novel that many critics tend to see as a commentary of social values in the contemporary world. While this is true, complicated and deeper meanings exist through the analysis of individual characters of the novel. The characters in the novel provide a framework from which the theories of social values emerge. This becomes even more apparent when the theories of Jacques Lacan are matched with the symbolic character of Jack Merridew in Golding’s novel.

Lord of the Flies follows a group of young English schoolboys who are evacuated from England in the midst of a world war. Through some unforeseen misfortune, their plane crashes on an uninhabited island where the boys are left to fend for themselves, free of any adult supervision. As time passes on the island, the boys create their own society and struggle for survival. Although the boys are eventually rescued, it is not before they descend into the savagery and murder amongst themselves on the island in a struggle for power in their own makeshift society.

Correctly formatted heading

Header The header for your paper should appear in

the top right corner of each page. It should consist of the author’s last name

(i.e. – your last name) and the page number corresponding with the header.

Header - example

Calvello 1

Mike Calvello Dr. Rodney MaderEng. 5017 May 2004

The Importance of the “Chief” in Golding’s Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies is complicated and often praised novel that many critics tend to see as a commentary of social values in the contemporary world. While this is true, complicated and deeper meanings exist through the analysis of individual characters of the novel. The characters in the novel provide a framework from which the theories of social values emerge. This becomes even more apparent when the theories of Jacques Lacan are matched with the symbolic character of Jack Merridew in Golding’s novel.

Lord of the Flies follows a group of young English schoolboys who are evacuated from England in the midst of a world war. Through some unforeseen misfortune, their plane crashes on an uninhabited island where the boys are left to fend for themselves, free of any adult supervision. As time passes on the island, the boys create their own society and struggle for survival. Although the boys are eventually rescued, it is not before they descend into the savagery and murder amongst themselves on the island in a struggle for power in their own makeshift society.

Correctly formatted header

In-text Citations Your Literary Criticism Paper is required to have 8 quotes (or quoted material) in

order to support your thesis. You are required to have:

4 quotes from the novel 4 quotes from critical sources*

*Note that these should be at least two separate articles

In order to give credit where credit is due, the information taken from outside sources must be cited correctly.

The borrowed information should appear in quotation marks:

“Krueger argues that the character of Simon is a clear representation of the novel’s connection to Christianity and Jesus Christ through his sacrifice and discovery of truth on the island as well as his connection to the apostle known as Simon Peter”

In-text citations (cont.) The quoted material should then be followed by the author’s (last)

name and the page number from which the information was taken and set within a pair of parentheses.

“Krueger argues that the character of Simon is a clear representation of the novel’s connection to Christianity and Jesus Christ through his sacrifice and discovery of truth on the island as well as his connection to the apostle known as Simon Peter” (Richele 49).

NOTE: The period ending the sentence is placed AFTER the closing parenthesis.

Also, be aware that NO COMMA IS NEEDED between the author name and associated page number.

In-text Citation (example)

“Krueger argues that the character of Simon is a clear representation of the novel’s connection to Christianity and Jesus Christ through his sacrifice and discovery of truth on the island as well as his connection to the apostle known as Simon Peter” (Richele 49).

Embedding Quotes When you use outside information in your essays,

it must be quoted using the appropriate format, as previously mentioned.

However, this is not the only stipulation; the quote must be embedded within the text in order to preserve the flow of the essay.

If a quote exists within an essay, without a transitional phrase to accompany it, it is known as a floating quotation.

Embedding Quotes - ExampleJack, now a separate entity free from his “mother” (Ralph) has moved into

the Symbolic stage of Lacan’s order. Jack immediately rejects Piggy’s presence as his (Ralph’s) partner. While to the other tribe members, Jack seems to emit malicious remarks of rage and violence; he is, in fact, swimming in jealousy. He recognizes that his former position of power, bestowed upon him by Ralph, has transformed into a vacancy, only to be filled by his “competition” – Piggy. Lacan argues, “father (and in this case, Piggy) is the definitive judicial voice on a number of topics and the most obvious competitor to the child as an object of value for the mother” (Gillette 492). Jack’s rage and his rejection of this situation clearly show his Oedipal desires for Ralph’s approval. It is almost as if Jack regrets the usurpation own his individual concept of power in an attempt to be like Ralph, which has effectively pushed him further away, laying the blame and attacks on Piggy.

Note the introductory phrase (Lacan argues,) that introduces the quote by preparing the reader for the theory prior to the quotation.

Also note that the introductory phrase is separated by a comma prior to setting off the actual quotation. Both the phrase and separating comma are imperative in correctly introducing supporting evidence into an argument.

Comma Splice Comma Splice – when two independent clauses are joined by a comma to

(incorrectly) form a complete sentence.

Ex. – Celie was involved in an abusive relationship for the majority of her life, she didn’t know any better at the time.

Because the above sentence is technically two independent clauses, it should be punctuated in one of the following ways:

It should be separated into two distinct sentences: 1) Celie was involved in an abusive relationship for the majority of her life. 2) She didn’t know any better at the time.

Or, it should be joined using a semi-colon (;): Celie was involved in an abusive relationship for the majority of her life; she didn’t know any better at

the time.

Note that comma splices should be avoided at all times.

General Writing Tips and Tricks Your paper needs to be in 12 point, Times New Roman font and double-

spaced. No exceptions. Margins, should also be one inch all around. This is a formal academic paper; therefore, it should be written from an

objective point of view using only third person. No form of first (I) or second (you) person will be considered acceptable at any time.

Contractions should not be used in formal writing. Write out any contractions that you currently have in your paper.

When you refer to actions or scenes within a novel, they should always be referred to using present tense.

When you refer to your selected work, avoid calling it a book. Instead, address it by the title, or the genre of literature it is classified under (Ex – novel, play, etc.)

Know the difference between these two words. Apparently, this is still an issue:

Woman – noun, singular - the female human being (distinguished from man). Women – noun, plural – plural of woman

Seriously people, why is this so difficult?

Woman = 1

Women – more than 1 (2 or more)

What is the problem?