Each writing assignment has specific goals, but there are a few general rules that apply to all writing.

1.  All of your work should be original.  You may achieve this by developing a question or thesis that requires you to analyze and synthesize information.  Original work cites sources of information or supporting analysis while maintaining an independent line of thought.  Remember that a string of arranged quotations which have been gleaned from sources is not a paper.

2.  The best writing will concern what you know.  Information you control which is not "common" knowledge springs from your experience of the world.  It matters little whether that experience derives from action, conversation, or reading.  You must have an authentic experience of any topic to write about it.

3.  The length of anything you write should be determined by your purpose in writing.  No magic number of words exists which can assure that you will express what you want to express.  Of course, the more you practice, the more progress you will make toward clear expression.  The word "practice" suggests that writing is a process involving repetition and stages of development.  You will find better improvement from redrafting two pages five times than you will from writing ten pages once.  Imposed word limits are sometimes an important feature of student writing, since limits often demand careful consideration of content.  Learning to summarize or abstract a theme is a useful tool for developing many kinds of writing.  In a university context, short essays often allow for more and better feedback on the writing process.

Technical Expectations.
 

1.  You must include draft material with the final version for each assignment as evidence of your writing process.

2.  Sparing use of non-standard English is acceptable only when necessary to convey the sense of a story or theme.

3. You are responsible for preparing your work in an acceptable style, following either the APA or MLA guides.

4. In all cases, the requirements of this guide must be followed in addition to the APA or MLA guides.

5.  All material quoted directly or paraphrased from any source must be cited with full page references.

6.  Citation rules also apply to recordings, photographs, videos, films, songs, and conversations directly integrated in your work.

7.  Any influence, idea, or theme drawn generally from a source should be cited specifically enough for the reader to locate it.

8.  Classical sources, especially published texts, should be cited by the line or numbering conventions of source.

9.  By the standards of 3-6, any general work that influences your writing requires a citation in your introduction.

10. No work should be listed in the bibliography of a paper without appearing as a citation in the paper.

11. No cited work should be missing from your bibliographic listing.

12. An annotation estimating the original date of authorship should be included in all bibliographic entries concerning ancient texts.

13. The following criteria will be used in grading all writing assignments:

 

Grade	Sources	Content	Style
A	comprehensive	superior logical development	no errors, superior citations, engaging
A-	complete with minor gaps	at least one superior key point	minimal errors of presentation
B+	balanced  basic sources	complete, well-developed points
B	good, mostly secondary		occasional errors, good citations, easily readable
B-	some key sources missed	development of at least one key idea
C+	good use of basic sources		shows effort beyond basic primary writing
C	basic sources	minimal basic development	technically complete, but still needs substantial editing
C-	minimal sources		poorly reworked from 1st draft
D	poor & incomplete sources	bad logical connections	ungrammatical or unedited 1st draft
F	work lacking in research	lacking any coherent argument	lacking stylistic presence