First, a few rules about the papers:

PAPER EXPECTATIONS

Professor Kevin den Dulk

GROUND RULES

First, some basic rules about papers:

· Papers are generally graded on a conventional A-F letter grade scale unless otherwise noted; assignments lose a FULL letter grade for each calendar day late.

· Unless otherwise noted, papers MUST be stapled, double-spaced in a standard font size (e.g. Times New Roman 12 point), and formatted with margins no less than one inch from the edge of the page. I do NOT read papers past the maximum page limit.

· I do NOT except email submissions of papers unless a student has given me compelling reasons and I have given permission at least two days before the assignment is due.

HOW I EVALUATE PAPERS

I evaluate each assignment based on whether you respond to the questions posed and do so with the following:

· CLARITY: you’ve taken a forthright position so that I don’t have to guess at your views, and grammatical mistakes haven’t marred the presentation of your ideas.

· COHERENCE: you’ve linked together the major elements of your position into a consistent whole.

· COGENCY: you’ve given plausible reasons/evidence for your position and provided a defense against major objections.

· CREATIVITY: you haven’t simply regurgitated what’s been said in class or the readings, but have shown me that you’ve thought independently about the course material.

ELEMENTS OF STYLE

Every writer has his or her own style, but there are some basic principles that any writer should follow. In assessing the clarity and coherency of student writing, I take into consideration how well students adhere to those principles. I highlight just a few of these rules here (adapted from my colleague Professor Tom Keck at Syracuse University).

· ORGANIZATION: Papers should have a clear outline or design.

· TONE: Write in a natural way, but in language that is appropriate to academic work. Conversational or colloquial language may come off as a lack of seriousness.

· VOICE: Wherever possible, use active voice (e.g., “I will always cherish my first visit to the Kirkhof Center”) rather than passive voice (e.g., “My first visit to the Kirkhof Center will always be cherished by me”).

· LEAN WRITING: Use specific, concrete, and concise (i.e., not wordy) language. Avoid the use of long quotes. When you use a quotation longer than three lines, block quote (double indent and single space the quotation) and do not place quotation makes around the block.

· PROOFREAD: Revise and rewrite. (Suggestion: Read your paper aloud before you submit it.)

For a more complete set of “rules” for composition and usage, please consult Strunk and White, Elements of Style.

CITATION

Academic dishonesty is a serious ethical problem on college campuses, and plagiarism – the failure to give credit to others for their words or ideas – is particularly tempting in college writing. If you have questions about what plagiarism is, talk to me, visit this website at Indiana University, or consult GVSU’s Student Code (http://www.gvsu.edu/students/student-code.pdf), Article II, Sect. 223.

To avoid plagiarism, be sure to give credit to sources of ideas or words. The only exception is when that information is “common knowledge,” that is, information that is commonly known by or accessible to your audience (e.g., famous historical dates). Writers give credit to their sources primarily through proper bibliographic documentation. There are many different styles of bibliographic documentation. You may use whatever style you wish, provided your references are (1) sufficient for me to find the source and (2) you are consistent in your use of the style.

Here are links to information on some popular bibliographic styles:

· MLA Style

· APA Style

· Chicago Style

Go here for a helpful documentation tool from a local college: Citation Generator