Avoiding most common mistakes!
Hello class!
Here are my suggestions for your final projects, based on the most common mistakes from the homework assignments.
Take some time in order to go through them all. Your final projects will benefit immensely.
Most of the mistakes are related to the citations. Take a look:
1. Title should be typed in lower-case unless it is a name, or a proper noun, or geographical location. Only first letter of a title is in upper-case as well as a first letter of a subtitle (remember after the colon?) Example: The wonderful colors of the Universe: Blue, red, green.
2. Italics should be used for titles of books, journals, newspapers, websites, etc. On the other hand, a title of an article within the periodical publication should not be emphasized as Italics.
3. Names of authors should be in following format: last name, comma, first initial, period, second initial (if available), period. For example: Brown, A.M. Do NOT alphabetize the author's list; follow the names' sequence that you see in your source (a book, and article, etc.)
4. Punctuation is necessary! Commas, periods, colons – omitting any of them will be considered as a mistake and points will be taken from your final project.
5. Citing multiple authors: one to six authors - list all. If there are more than six authors, you should list first six authors, and then add et.al. I put it in bold here intentionally. We don’t use bold typeface. Example: Brown, A.M., Red, N.K., Green, Y.O., Yellow, T.H., Purple, G.J., White, E.B., et.al.
One more suggestion for annotations. Keep in mind that it should be a critical annotation. You should not only present your source, but also prove your choice. Remember about including all main components (author(s), intended audience, date, accuracy, language style, bias, etc.) and mention how it relates to your thesis statement.
Remember: you can always e-mail me or stop at my office for help!
Good luck!