高分写作必备规则
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Version 2 Rules for Good Writing
Rule 1 – Run the Spell Checker a. MS Word has built-in spelling and grammar checker. It automatically underlines misspelled words in red and grammar mistakes in green or blue. Fix those mistakes before handing in your paper. b. When in doubt about how to use a word, look it up in a dictionary or look for alternative words in a thesaurus.
Rule 2 – Pay Attention to Details a. Proofread your paper before handing it in. b. Remove the extra spaces between words; make sure you didn’t leave out any words; all words are used correctly; there are no unnecessary words in your paper, etc. c. Make sure you typed the word that you thought you did because the Spell Checker will not catch all mistakes, especially if the word is not misspelled, but it can still be a wrong word.
Rule 3 – Formatting a. Use 10pt. or 11pt. type for the body of your paper and 14 pt. type for the title. Use black type and a conservative type font, such Times Roman, Arial or Tahoma. Do not use bold or italic type fonts, except as emphasis for a book title, movie title, etc. b. Use a white page with no background color or other distractions, such as embedded pictures (news articles are an exception), icons, etc. c. Double-space the text lines and set a standard margin of .75 to 1 inch on the top, bottom and both sides.
Rule 4 – Use American English a. Use American English (AE) consistently throughout your paper. Be aware of words that are spelled differently in British English (BE), such as colour vs. color, favourite vs. favorite, travelling vs. traveling, etc. (Refer to British English versus American English handout.) b. Be aware of the differences in the use of prepositions, such as in AE: on the weekend; BE: at the weekend. c. Be aware of punctuation differences, such as in AE, a period and comma always goes inside quotation marks, whereas; in BE it depends on the sentence structure. (Refer to the handout on using punctuation with quotes.)
Rule 5 – Punctuation a. DO NOT insert a space before any punctuation mark, including a period, comma, exclamation mark, question mark, semi-colon, etc. b. DO insert a space after all punctuation marks. c. DO NOT overuse punctuation, such as using two or more exclamation marks (e.g., Stop!!!), unnecessary quotation marks for emphasis, or an unnecessary comma. d. Always put a comma or period inside quotation marks unless the quotes enclose a single letter or number, for example, “A” or “1”. Version 2 e. Do not forget to use a comma where necessary or a period at the end of a sentence. f. Do not use a comma before “because.” g. Do not use unnecessary commas.
Rule 6 – A Missing word of any kind, too wordy or wrong word a. Missing word – A necessary word is missing which is causing an incoherent sentence.
b. Unnecessary word – An unnecessary word could be deleted to make the sentence tighter, or several words could be replaced by one or two better words.
c. Better word – A better word could be used to precisely convey your thoughts d. Wrong word – A wrong word is used and the sentence doesn’t make sense. Select a different word.
Rule 7 – Capitalization a. Proper nouns – Capitalize all proper nouns (names), such as Internet, I, English, China, your name, street names, school names, etc. b. Titles – All major words in a title, such as the title of your essay, should be capitalized. For example, Rules for Good Writing. c. Acronyms – Capitalize acronyms, such as TV or TEM4.
Rule 8 – Pronoun problem a. I vs. me: Do not use “I” when it should be “me” and vice versa. b. Missing or wrong pronoun: I, you, he, she, him, her, me, we, it, they and them. c. Reflexive pronouns: myself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, ourselves, yourself, yourselves- should be used only when they refer back to another word in the sentence.
Rule 9 – Transitional Words or Phrases a. Transitional words or phrases should be followed by a comma. b. Do not over use transitional words or phrases such as, furthermore, in addition, in the meantime, therefore, consequently, etc. c. Do not begin a sentence with Because, While, And or But unless you know when it is appropriate to use these words and how to use them correctly. (Refer to the handout on transitional words or phrases.)
Rule 10 – Articles a. Most nouns are preceded by an article (the, a or an). Use “the” if it is a definite noun and “a” or “an” if it is an indefinite noun. b. Missing article – An article is missing before a noun. c. Unnecessary article – Used an article where one is not needed. d. Wrong article – Used the wrong article which does not agree with the noun that follows. (Refer to the handout on article usage.)
