8 Common Mistakes Students Make on the Essay

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Homophones - You know, “their”, “they’re”, and “there”. You shouldn't be using these interchangeably. Don't make this mistake in your formal essays.

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Basic Spelling - Pay close attention to your spelling. Once homophone mistakes are eliminated, there should only be obvious spelling errors to catch.

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Sentence Fragments - There are a variety of sentences that, without another sentence prefacing them, couldn’t stand alone. Eliminate these phrases, or group them in with other sentences.

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Using First-Person Narrative - A formal essay shouldn’t point to the writer or the reader. Rather, it should point to a hypothetical situation – a world separate altogether from ours.

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Bad Spacing - If your paper should be double-spaced, make it double-spaced. If your paper should be single-spaced, make it single-spaced.

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Missing Topic Sentence / Transitions - Noticing these issues will come from reading your paper out loud. What’s wrong with your sentence structure? What transitions are you missing?

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Flawed Punctuation - Never use exclamation points in a formal essay. Unless, of course, you’re sharing a quote. Also, try not to spend too much time asking questions of the reader.

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Unclear Points - If there’s anything in your essay that appears unclear, assume that it’s going to seem even more unclear to a reader who isn’t inside your head. Make everything as clear and concise as possible.

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