Advice On The Presentation Of English Coursework

Advice on the presentation of English Coursework The easier your essay is to read, the better; and any distraction caused by unusual or awkwardly sized type is worth avoiding. Choose one fairly plain easy-to-read fount (e.g. Times New Roman) and one easily legible size (ideally 12-point), and stick to these throughout (apart from any headings, which you may wish to set in larger type and/or in capitals). Set the spacing between lines so that it is easy on the eye, and leaves room for a marker to insert comments: one-and-a-half spacing is ideal. Make sure too that there are reasonable margins all round your text when it is printed out on A4 paper, so that the marker has space for comments. Be sure to number the pages, ideally at the foot of each page. Remember that you must never put your name on any work that will contribute to the assessment of your modules, as the marker is not supposed to know who you are. On the other hand, when you write formative work for your tutor that does not contribute to your mark for the course, you should always include your name so that your tutor knows who to give it back to. A good precaution on any kind of written work is to include your student number in the header: this is a good insurance against loss and confusion. You should also get into the habit of saving your work regularly in a secure format (for example on your own memory stick), so that computer failure cannot deny you access to it. You need to do this both while you are working on a project, and once it is complete: the Department requires you to keep such a copy in case of any accident to the original. Don't use bold or italic type for emphasis in formal writing, and don't rely on exclamation marks: you should be able to convey the way you want your sentence to be read by the words, rhythms and syntax that you use. Italics (conventionally represented in handwriting by underlining, which is something to remember in exams) should be used to distinguish the titles of books, plays, long poems and periodicals (the titles of articles and smaller poems that form part of a book or periodical should be left in roman and distinguished by single inverted commas). Paragraphs are a crucial element in the structure of formal academic work, so it is vital to indicate clearly where they begin and end. This is done by indenting the first line of each paragraph by five spaces. You may if you wish also leave a line space between paragraphs, particularly when you are moving on to a different section of a long piece of work like a dissertation; but even if you do this you still need to indent. In certain situations only indentation can show whether or not a new paragraph is beginning, for example where a sentence begins at the top of a new page, or after a long quotation. Formal academic writing requires you to write out in full 'do not', 'cannot', ' it is', etc. (Not 'don't', 'can't', 'it's'.) This marks a difference of register between formal academic style and the more relaxed tone of a document like this advice on presentation.

Proof-reading Careful proof-reading is vital when presenting written work. Many people find that they cannot proof-read very efficiently on screen; and many also find that they cannot focus properly on their printout immediately after finishing work on it. Therefore the best plan is to print your work out at least a day before you need to give it in, and sleep on it before you try to read it again. Placing a ruler under each line as you read is one way to make yourself focus closely: another is to read the work slowly aloud. You will need to check that the spelling, grammar, syntax and punctuation are all correct (a word-processor's spell checker cannot necessarily do this to the standard you require, and may have some prejudices about correct usage that neither you nor your markers necessarily share). In particular, check that every sentence is complete and properly structured. You will also need to check that the referencing is properly done (using the EDACS referencing guide). At the larger structural level, you will also need to check that each paragraph is clearly distinguished from those before and after it, and that each develops a distinct idea that helps to move your argument forward. Think of each paragraph as a step in your argument, with the step structure shown visually by your indentation of the opening lines. At this stage, mark every correction neatly on your hard copy. Ideally, you will then go back to the word-processor and make a new hard copy to give in. If you cannot do this, it will still be better to give in a copy corrected neatly by hand than to give in the uncorrected version. Many pieces of assessed work lose marks because they have large numbers of simple errors: by getting into the habit of reading your proofs carefully and in good time you can make sure this never happens to you.