Forbidden!

Do not write the following things:

• Underline, boldface, italicize, or put in quotation marks your paper titles

• "I feel" unless you want to emphasize the act of feeling.  Think, believe, understand, know; but as a general rule, do not feel.

• "Quote" as a noun; say "quotation"

• Contractions

• The word "like" followed by a clause (subject and verb); say "as if" or "as though"

• The same phrase at the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next

• "Other people," "people," "different people," "various people," "some people," "most people," "society"

• Plural pronouns with singular referents (e.g., one or somebody or anybody or a person talks about their background)

• "The individual in today's society"

• "That" when you refer to people (say "who" or "whom")

• "Story" to refer to a nonfiction essay (that is like calling a symphony a "song")

• Wordiness: "Just because...doesn't mean that...."

• "...and stuff like that"

• "...or whatever"

• Split infinitives (e.g., "to truly identify")

• "This" without a noun following it or twice in close succession

• "If he would have begun [incorrect tense; use the pluperfect: had begun] differently he would have seen [correct tense] it can be a good thing."

• "Me and her," "Me and him," "Her and I" + a verb

• "Being that [something is the case]...."

• "Throughout time..."

• Do not start a sentence with "Not only that but...."

• Do not put a colon after a form of "to be" or the word "include."

• Do not write in second person ("you").

Get straight on the following things:  http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

• There vs. they're vs. their

• Your vs. you're

• Maybe vs. may be

• Affect vs. effect (each is a noun and a verb)

• Accept vs. except

• A part vs. apart

• Its vs. it's

• Suit vs. suite

• Lead vs. led

• Definitely vs. defiantly

• Chock-full, not chock full or chocked full

• Closed-minded, not close-minded

• All right, not alright

• Granted vs. granite

• Fragments

• Run-ons

• Comma splices

• How to do a Works Cited list

• How to do titles of short prose works:  "The Allegory of the Cave," "Self-Reliance"

• How do to long texts:  Hamlet, Paradise Lost, Moby Dick

• Present tense when referring to texts

• You must staple your papers!  A stapler is required equipment for this class!

• You must submit your papers to turnitin.com.