How to prepare an assignment

How to prepare an assignment

Organization

1. Organize your major points in logical order. 

2. Every paper must begin with a summary introduction that tells the reader briefly what the paper's main points are. 

3. A summary conclusion is also useful, to remind the reader of the main points that have been argued, particularly in longer papers. 

4. Alert your reader along the way to your main points as you are making them.  

5. Try to stick to just one point in each paragraph. Don't start in on a totally new point in the middle of a paragraph. 

6 Be concise, avoiding digressions, filler, repetition, and redundancy.  Anything that does not contribute towards the argument, or the reader’s understanding of it, dilutes the effectiveness of an essay.

7. Avoid long quotations.  It is usually better to paraphrase others' arguments in your own words than reproduce them at length.

Format and Grammar

1. Avoid convoluted, run-on, pretentious sentences that are hard to understand and could be written much more straightforwardly. 

2. Use correct grammar and spelling. This is not an old-fashioned, pedantic requirement.

3. Use a simple format.  All papers should be typed, double-spaced, paginated (i.e., use page numbers), and be printed with normal type-fonts and margins.

4. Use standard citation formats.In OUM case, its APA.

Revise Your Paper

Re-read and revise your writing. To improve your writing you will want to read it critically, like most people and your professor will. But it is hard to read your own writing objectively, and writers are naturally very attached to words they’ve just put on the page. Taking a break will help you to get a clearer perspective on your own ideas and prose, to read your own draft as critically as if someone else had written it.

Try to finish a first draft at least a few days before the paper is due. After taking a break from it, review the guidelines in this memorandum (the editorial check-list below might be useful), and re-read your draft from beginning to end, marking passages that need to be moved, removed, or improved.

Posted By HAMDAN MOHD SALLEH

September 28 2014