Clarity–Don’t use three sentences when you can use one word to say the same thing. Use topic sentences for every paragraph. Everything in a paragraph should support the first sentence. The professor should be able to read only the topic sentences and understand the paper.

Proper Grammar and Spelling

Substance–Do you understand the topic?

Support–Did you cite authority or just make up your ideas without using quotations and cites?

Clear organization and careful documentation. Offer a clear statement of your point(s) as your thesis; place it in the traditional place–the last sentence of your introduction. Clear topic sentences should indicate how each body paragraph fits together and relates back to the thesis. Each body paragraph should be detailed and as specific as you can make it. Generalizations are not effective. Document research thoroughly using MLA or APA style, whichever is required. If you have trouble with documenting sources, consult a writing handbook or go online for help. Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) has great help in this area. Good luck!

Writing that is understood clearly and written concisely using as few words as possible. Unneccessary big words and humor are bad unless you are a really good writer and know how to use them properly. From my grad school experience: every sentence must have significant meaning and be able to stand on its own, and sometimes I can combine many individually weak sentences into a longer one with rich meaning.

The #1 thing is…. write exactly what the DIRECTIONS tell you. Proffessors have to grade 60-hundreds of papers. They want to see if you wrote what the topic was on. They look for keywords that you were suppose to have in the paper. Unless you are in a writing 101 class, you dont have to spend your time on grammer spelling…. WORD does that for you.

Correct spelling and proper grammar.