The MEAL Plan for Better Paragraphs

Today's topic: Want better papers? Follow the MEAL plan.

If you want better papers, you have to start with better paragraphs.  The MEAL plan is a tried and tested method for achieving this.  It provides a formula for focused, well-developed, logically organized paragraphs. 

MEAL stands for the four crucial elements of a paragraph:

Main idea

Evidence

Analysis

Link

Main idea: This is the paragraph’s central idea, the main idea/point you’re trying to communicate.  Express the main idea in a topic sentence (usually the first sentence in the paragraph, though this isn't a hard and fast rule--some authors prefer to lead up to the topic sentence). You should limit yourself to one main idea per paragraph. When you try to do too much in a single paragraph, things tend to get muddled.  

Evidence: This is the support for your main idea.  This can come in the form of statistics, quotes and paraphrases from your sources, expert opinion, anything that provides reliable support for your point. The evidence you choose for the paragraph should clearly relate back to the main idea and help you develop it. 

Analysis: This is where you explain your evidence and make sure your reader sees how it is connected to the main idea (essentially, you need to make sure it’s clear that the evidence you provided does in fact show what you think it shows).  What does the evidence mean?  Why/how is it important?  Why does it matter?

Link: This is where you double check that the link between the information and analysis you have shared in the paragraph and your main idea is clear. You may or may not have to include a specific sentence to do this; the "link" step is about making sure that the connection between each sentence in the paragraph and the main idea is obvious to the reader.   

Let's look at a sample paragraph that follows the MEAL plan (example from a Walden University Writing Center PowerPoint presentation about paragraphs--by writing instructor Amy Lindquist):

Instructional scaffolding is one strategy for increasing student understanding and learning. Johnson’s (2010) study in a composition classroom revealed that students whose teacher used scaffolding strategies scored an average of five percentage points higher on their final essays than their peers in a lecture-based classroom. This significant difference in scores suggests that scaffolding enables students not only to understand a concept, but also to apply that concept in their own work. Teachers, therefore, should employ scaffolding strategies to help foster independence and confidence in their students.

Now let's break it down into the MEAL plan components.  I'll put the Main idea in bold, the Evidence in italics, underline the Analysis, and leave the Link in regular type.

Instructional scaffolding is one strategy for increasing student understanding and learning. Johnson’s (2010) study in a composition classroom revealed that students whose teacher used scaffolding strategies scored an average of five percentage points higher on their final essays than their peers in a lecture-based classroom. This significant difference in scores suggests that scaffolding enables students not only to understand a concept, but also to apply that concept in their own work. Teachers, therefore, should employ scaffolding strategies to help foster independence and confidence in their students.

Notice that this paragraph follows the two golden rules of paragraph development: it's coherent and it's unified, meaning it has a clear main idea and every sentence in the paragraph works toward developing that idea. There is nothing in the paragraph that does not relate back to the main idea.  When you write your next paper, try the MEAL plan.  I think you'll be pleased at the results.  

Click on this link to learn more about the MEAL plan from the Duke University writing studio (and to see another example): https://twp.duke.edu/uploads/assets/meal_plan.pdf

I hope you've found this week's tip helpful.  Happy scribbling!

Today's topic

The past-perfect verb tense: nope, not a typo.

Today's post was inspired by something that happened at one of my recent presentations.  Someone saw the phrase "had had" on one of my PowerPoint slides and mistakenly assumed it was a typo--that I'd repeated the word unintentionally. But it was not a typo.  It was an example of the past perfect, a frequently misunderstood and misused verb tense.  

In my presentation, I was describing a 1994 study conducted by several leading experts on critical thinking.  These authors found that many college professors had never received training on how to facilitate better critical thinking skills in their students.  As I pointed out on my slide, one of their findings was that "few faculty had had in-depth exposure to research on the topic of critical thinking."

Why did I say "had had" instead of "had?"  This is where the past perfect tense comes in.  

As we all know, we use the plain old past tense when we simply want to refer to something that happened in the past.  For example:

• The burglars escaped.
• We had that computer for six years.
• Jen visited Seattle in 2010.
• Jack never saw the ocean.
• Natalie felt conflicted about leaving Chicago.
• I liked the movie.

The past perfect tense goes a step further.  We use it when we want to refer to something that happened in the past, before another action that also happened in the past.  We form the past perfect when we combine the word "had" with another verb.  For example:

• By the time the police arrived, the burglars had escaped.
• We had had that computer for six years before it crashed.
• Jen had visited Seattle once in 2010 before she moved there in 2014.
• At the time of his death in 2004, Jack had never seen the ocean.
• As you can see, sometimes we have to interrupt the "had + verb" combination with an adverb, like "always," "never," "previously," "just," etc.  This is still past perfect tense. 
• Natalie felt conflicted about leaving Chicago, as she had lived there her whole life.  
• I only liked the movie because I had read the book.

As you can see in the examples above, we use the past perfect when we want to refer to two events that occurred in the past, one of which occurred before the other. 

So let's get back to my PowerPoint slide, and the typo that wasn't a typo.  Why did I say "few faculty had had in-depth exposure to research on the topic of critical thinking"?  Because I was referring to a study from 1994.  The study occurred in the past, and the professors' lack of exposure to critical thinking research occurred prior to the study. 

So that's the past perfect tense.  I hope you've found this week's post helpful.  Happy scribbling!

Boring Adverbs

Today's topic: Spicing up your writing by eliminating boring adverbs

First, let me apologize for my two week "tip of the week" hiatus.  As many of you know, I have been holed up working on a huge project the past few weeks, and I haven't had time to do much else.  My apologies if you missed me.  

Okay, quick refresher: What's an adverb?  The simple explanation is that an adverb is a word that describes another word (often a verb, but sometimes an adjective or even another adverb). They tend to end in "ly," but not always (for example, "very" is an adverb).  Here are a few examples (there are MANY more):

Very
Extremely
Completely
Really
Loudly
Truly
Definitely
Softly
Slowly
Quickly
Totally
Possibly
Happily

Examples of adverbs modifying verbs: 
He walked slowly to the door.
"Give me my car keys," she said furiously.

Examples of adverbs modifying adjectives:
Really interesting
Extremely important

Examples of adverbs modifying other adverbs:
I read quite slowly.
She spoke very convincingly.

There is nothing grammatically wrong with using adverbs, but there are a couple of style issues they present.  First, writers often choose an adverb + adjective or adverb + verb combo in place of a stronger, more descriptive adjective/verb (resulting in dull, wordy writing).  In addition, adverbs often serve as filler words that don't add much (if any) meaning to the sentence. 

Here are some examples where we can replace the adverb + adjective combo with a stronger, more descriptive adjective:

Instead of "very interesting," say "fascinating."
Instead of "extremely important," say "crucial" or "vital" or "essential." 
Instead of "completely finished," just say "finished." 
Instead of "really funny," say "hilarious."
Instead of "very useful," say "indispensable" or "invaluable."

Here are some examples where the meaning won't change if we cut out the adverb (making it unnecessary):

Instead of "very unique," say "unique" (the word "unique" means "one of a kind," so something can't be "very" unique).
Instead of "She might possibly be there," say "She might be there."  ("Might" already means "possibly.")
Instead of "He smiled happily," say "He smiled."

To be clear, I'm not saying you should cut all adverbs from your writing.  I'm just saying they are often either unnecessary or boring, wordier alternatives to a crisper, more interesting word.  I do think you should abolish the words "very," "really," "truly," "definitely," and "extremely"--these are pretty useless.  The next time you proofread one of your papers, keep an eye out for adverbs.  When you find one, ask yourself whether you could cut it without damaging the sentence, OR if you could find a more interesting word to use in its place.  It's a simple way to prune your writing and make it more vivid.

I hope you've found today's tip helpful.

More Grammar Myths

Today's topic: MORE Grammar Misconceptions

We all fall victim to grammar myths sometimes.  Here is a list of some of the common ones.    Thanks to Mignon Fogerty, the Internet's "Grammar Girl," for pointing out # 2 (all the words and examples in this post are my own, I just got the idea for #2 from Ms. Fogerty).

*Misconception #1:  "You and I"/"Johnny and I" is always correct--never say "You and me"/"Johnny and me." 

Nope!  Whether to use "I" or "me" depends entirely on the sentence.  Here's a quick, easy trick to ensure that you will never use the wrong personal pronoun again:  Eliminate the other person from the sentence.  Which pronoun is correct now, I or me?  Example:

There's a great portrait of my husband and I/me on the living room wall. 

Let's employ our sneaky new trick, and take the husband out of the sentence (sorry, dear!): 

There's a great portrait of ___ on the living room wall. 

Would it make sense to say "There's a great portrait of I on the living room wall"?  Of course not!  So the correct pronoun in this sentence is "me."  "There's a great portrait of my husband and me on the living room wall."

*Misconception #2:  Run-on sentences are sentences that are too long (or a sentence has to be long in order to be a run-on sentence). 

Nope!  This is one reason (I suspect) why many grammarians now refer to these as "fused" sentences; the term "run-on" creates the erroneous impression that a run-on sentence must "run on."  In truth, run-on sentences can be quite short. 

A run-on, or fused, sentence is one in which two or more independent clauses are linked without appropriate punctuation.  An independent clause (IC), by the way, is a phrase which includes a subject and a verb and could stand alone as a complete sentence.  Since ICs (complete sentences) can be quite short, run-on sentences can be short as well.  Examples:

I love cats, they are so cute. 
It was my turn to cook I made spaghetti. 

Note: The first of these is an example of a comma splice.  A comma splice is a run-on sentence in which the two ICs are linked with a comma.  Commas are weak punctuation; they are not strong enough to separate ICs.  You can fix run-on sentences in a number of different ways.  You can: 1.) Separate the ICs with a semicolon (see my earlier Writing Tip of the Week on semicolons for specifics), 2.) separate the ICs with a period (thereby making them into two sentences), or 3.) separate the ICs with a comma + a conjunction (and, but, or) or other appropriate word.  Which you choose depends on the sentence, of course.  In the first example above I would probably choose a semicolon, because the two ICs are closely related.  In the second example you could add a comma after the word "cook," then the word "and" or "so."  You could also separate the two ICs with a semicolon or period.  It's a style choice.

*Misconception #3: I.e. and e.g. mean the same thing.

Nope.  As I pointed out in my blog post on this topic, i.e. means "in other words," and e.g. means "for example."  You'll find more details and examples of proper usage in my original post:  http://writingtipoftheweek.blogspot.com/2013/10/ie-vs-eg.html

*Misconception #4: You should never start a sentence with a conjunction (and, but, or).

Nope!  I'm not sure why people perpetuate this myth.  People have been starting sentences with "and," "but," and "or" for hundreds of years.  As grammarian and author Patricia T. O'Conner points out in her book Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English, it "feels natural because it is natural," and what's wrong with that?  Nothing.  As long as your sentence is complete, with a subject and predicate, feel free to start it with a conjunction.

*Misconception #5: Passive voice is always wrong (or always right).

Nope.  There are situations where passive voice is correct,  and situations where active voice is correct.

If you aren't familiar with passive and active voice, here's a quick primer.  Passive voice puts the emphasis on the passive recipient of an action (someone or something having something done TO them), while active voice emphasizes the doer.  For example:

Passive voice:  The paper was written by Sarah.
Active voice:  Sarah wrote the paper.

Passive voice:  Several studies were found which examined the effects of gamma rays on man-in-the-moon marigolds.
Active voice:  I found several studies which examined the effects of gamma rays on man-in-the-moon marigolds.

Passive voice:  The study was conducted at a small midwestern family practice clinic.
Active voice:  We conducted the study at a small midwestern family practice clinic.

Most of the time, active voice is clearer and more concise.  I know what you're thinking: "But I was told never to use "I" or "we" in scientific writing!"  And you are right; for decades, science writers avoided the first person in favor of passive voice constructions like "The study was conducted..." and "The following search terms were used..."  However, now many style guides (including the latest edition of the APA handbook) specifically recommend active voice, which means first person is now on the table for scientific writers.  I know some of you are going to balk at this, but don't shoot the messenger.  If you don't believe me, check the 6th edition APA style manual!

That said, sometimes passive voice works better.  Sometimes you want to put the emphasis on the recipient of the action, not on who or what did it.  For example:

"The king was assassinated."  In this case, we don't care that Joe Nobody assassinated the king.  The important thing is that the king is dead.  So the passive voice works better here.

"The lights were installed on the top and sides of the cabinet."  Again, here we want the emphasis on the recipient of the action (the lights).  We don't care that John Doe installed the lights; we care where they are.  Passive voice wins again.  Passive voice also wins when you don't know who is responsible for the action.

So.  Active voice is usually better, but passive voice is fine in certain situations.

I hope you found this post helpful.  Happy scribbling!

Professors' Writing Pet Peeves: Part II

Today's topic: Professors' Writing Pet Peeves, II

As you may recall, in the spring I devoted one of my "tips of the week" to this same topic: http://writingtipoftheweek.blogspot.com/  It's an enormous topic, though; if I got all the UK faculty together and had them list their pet writing peeves, I could probably put together a book the size of the Oxford English Dictionary.  For now, I offer you part deux in hopes of helping you polish your writing (and your grade point average).

Many thanks to the CON faculty for offering these.

1. Phrases like "this study found," "this study said," "this study stated," etc.  This was a popular one.  Remember, studies are inanimate.  They aren't alive, so they can't find or say or do anything.  The researchers and authors can, though, so say "The authors stated..." instead.

2. Using "many," "a few," "some," etc. instead of including actual data.  This one falls under the "show, don't tell" rule.  Specificity is crucial in scientific writing.  Don't tell us that many researchers found X.  Show us which ones.   

3. Confusing plural nouns with possessive nouns, a.k.a. misusing apostrophes.  Remember, apostrophes have only two uses: to create contractions (don't, can't, isn't, etc.) and to show ownership (as in Sarah's car, the cat's bowl, the university's policy).  It is incorrect to use apostrophes for simple plural nouns (as in "I love cupcakes" or "Journal editors can be harsh critics").  The only time an apostrophe is appropriate in a plural noun is when you need to indicate ownership by multiple parties.  For example, let's say Jeff just bought a new toy for his three dogs.  He might say "Check out the dogs' new toy."  Note that in this case the apostrophe goes after the s. 

It is also incorrect to use an apostrophe to indicate the plural of an acronym or abbreviation.  WRONG: APRN's.  RIGHT: APRNs.

Here is a full blog post on apostrophes:  http://writingtipoftheweek.blogspot.com/2013/05/apostrophes.html

4. Wordiness and redundancy.  Conciseness is important for both clarity and readability.  When you read your work, look for places where you can trim the language.  If the sentence would mean the same thing without a word or phrase, that word or phrase can go.  One quick tip: Avoid "ly" adverbs (extremely, totally, absolutely, actually, basically, completely, etc.) and words like "very."  These are filler words.  Use stronger verbs and adjectives instead.  For example, instead of "very important" say "crucial."  Instead of "completely finished" just say "finished."  Instead of "extremely useful" say "invaluable."

5. Inconsistent grammar in lists.  This one came up four times on the survey.  Lists can be tricky, especially when the sentence is long and complex.  It's important to make sure that each item in a series fits the grammar of the rest of the sentence.  For example, let's look at this sentence:

The patient must be educated about the disease, the risks and benefits of various treatment options, and actively involved in self-management.

Do you see the problem?  The sentence sets us up with the phrase "the patient must be educated about."  So we expect each item in the list that follows to be an example of something about which the patient needs education.  We're fine for the first two items--the disease and the risks/benefits of various treatment options--but then we get to the phrase "and actively involved in self-management," and now we're confused because that phrase does NOT seem to relate back to education. 

To avoid this problem, test the sentences that include lists. Pretend that each list item stands alone and follows directly after the first part of the sentence, and see if the wording fits.  Like this:

The patient must be educated about the disease.  Check.
The patient must be educated about risks and benefits of various treatment options.  Check.
The patient must be educated about actively involved in self-management.  Nope.

How could we fix this sentence?  One way is to rearrange the list items.  For example:

The patient must be actively involved in self-management and educated about the disease and the risks and benefits of various treatment options.

Another way is to turn the sentence into two sentences.  For example:

The patient must be educated about the disease and the risks and benefits of various treatment options.  He or she must also be actively involved in self-management. 

Another way is to just reword the whole thing (and in this case, we could also change the passive voice to active voice by specifying WHO is educating the patient):

The nurse must educate the patient about the disease and the risks and benefits of various treatment options.  He or she should also ensure that the patient is actively involved in self-management.

6. Incorrect punctuation--use and placement.  I can't cover something this huge in such a small space, so I encourage you to view the punctuation guides on the Purdue OWL if you are less than confident in your usage.  However, I can say that commas, semicolons, and colons seem to be the most frequently  mistreated punctuation marks.  You may want to just brush up on those.

Here's my blog post on "Mystery Punctuation," which may be of some help: http://writingtipoftheweek.blogspot.com/2013/03/mystery-punctuation.html

And my post on semicolons: http://writingtipoftheweek.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-dreaded-semicolon-pink-plastic.html

7. Saying something is common without citing any supporting evidence.  Remember, your reader can't just take your word for it.  Show support for your claims.  This one goes back to the "show, don't tell" rule from # 2.

8. Being general rather than specific.  For example, saying that something is "a major problem" without giving any specific statistics is a bad idea.

9. Saying that two  means are different when the p value is >0.05.  Okay, I confess I don't know enough about research methods or statistics to fully understand this one.  But I assume that most of you do, so avoid doing this.

10. Citing websites (especially non-authoritative ones) as references to support an argument.  I know the Internet is a convenient source of information, but here's the thing.  Many websites are unreliable and there is a ton of misinformation out there.  So when you cite a non-authoritative website to support your argument, your reader then has to go and look up that source to make sure it's reputable.  As you can imagine, that gets tiresome.

Here are some resources to help you determine the value and trustworthiness of a web source. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/553/04/ and http://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content

I hope you've found this week's post helpful.  Happy scribbling!

Professors' Writing Pet Peeves

Sweating the Small Stuff: Professors' Writing Pet Peeves

I've been teaching writing for a living since 2000, and before that I tutored fellow students at my university's writing center.  That adds up to about 16 years of teaching so far, and in that time I've developed a long list of grammatical, stylistic, and rhetorical pet peeves--my own, and those of other editors, writers, and writing teachers.  The full list of peeves would fill a War and Peace-sized volume, so for now I'm just going to focus on ten of the most bemoaned errors.  Make these mistakes, and expect some red ink on your paper.

#1: "People who" vs. "people that."  Human beings aren't objects, so "people who" is always correct (as are "students who," "patients who," and "participants who"). 

Wrong:  People that don't return their grocery carts to the corral drive me crazy.

Right:  People who don't return their grocery carts to the corral drive me crazy.

#2: "Data is" vs. "data are."  The word "data" is plural, so it takes a plural verb.  

Wrong:  The data shows that...

Right:  The data show that...

#3: Misusing "I" and "me."  Many people erroneously think that "I" is always correct in a sentence where you're doing something with someone else.  If you're stuck, here's a trick to help you.  Take the other person out of the sentence, and determine whether "I" or "me" is appropriate.  For example, you wouldn't say "That photographer took a gorgeous portrait of I," so it's incorrect to say "That photographer took a gorgeous portrait of James and I."  The correct pronoun here is me:  "That photographer took a gorgeous portrait of James and me."  More examples:

Wrong:  Tia and me are going to dinner; would you like to come with us?

Right:  Tia and I are going to dinner; would you like to come with us?

(Here's our check on the example above:  "Me am going to dinner..." nope.  "I am going to dinner..." yep.)

Wrong:  I wish you and Annalise could come to the Bahamas with Sam and I.

Right:  I wish you and Annalise could come to the Bahamas with Sam and me.

(Here's our check:  "I wish you and Annalise could come to the Bahamas with I"?  Nope.  "I wish you and Annalise could come to the Bahamas with me"?  Yep.)

Pro tip:  When "me" is the correct pronoun," put the other person's name first.  "Asher and me" just sounds nicer than "me and Asher."

#4: Using "myself" in place of "I" or "me."  These words are not interchangeable.  

Wrong:  Would you like to go to the movies with Chris and myself?

Right:  Would you like to go to the movies with Chris and me?

#5: Using redundant or wordy phrases.  Here are some of the more common, more irritating examples.

The phrase "very unique."  This is redundant.  The word "unique" means "one of a kind," so something cannot be "very" unique.  Unique is as unique as it gets.  In general, be wary of words that end in "ly."  These are often just filler; they can make your writing redundant.  Choose stronger adjectives instead of shoring up boring ones with an "ly" adverb.  Examples:  Instead of "extremely important" say "crucial."  Instead of "absolutely necessary" say "essential."  Instead of "really interesting" say "fascinating."  Crack open that thesaurus, folks!

The phrase "in order to."  This one is wordy.  Off the top of my head, I can't think of an instance where you couldn't shorten "in order to" to "to" without losing meaning.

The phrase "due to the fact that."  Again, wordy.  Shorten this to "because."

The phrase "for the purpose of."  Wordy.  Shorten to "to."

The phrase "a total of."  "A total of 42 students participated in the survey" is redundant.  "Forty-two students participated in the survey" is concise.

For more on redundancy and wordiness (and how to avoid them), see my "Writing Resources" Blackboard page.

#6: Misusing semicolons.  There is a whole post devoted to these little darlings elsewhere on my "Whitney's Writing Tips" blog, so I'm just going to give a thumbnail sketch here.  There are two main points to remember about semicolons.

*First, you can think of them as interchangeable with periods.  Just as periods separate complete sentences, so do semicolons.  Use a period when you want a firm break between two complete thoughts, and use a semicolon when the two complete thoughts are closely related.  Example:

"It was so hot yesterday.  I spent most of the afternoon shopping."  These are two separate thoughts.  They aren't closely related, so I've separated them with a slightly stronger barrier, a period.

"It was so hot yesterday; I wish we had room for a pool in the back yard."  These two thoughts are closely related.  The speaker wants a pool because it's been so hot lately. Because the second thought logically follows the first, I used a slightly more transparent barrier, a semicolon.  Note that it would not be wrong to use a period here; you can always use a period to separate two complete thoughts.  Whether to use a semicolon is a style choice, and where appropriate it can help you vary your sentence length to make a paragraph flow more pleasingly.

Remember, a semicolon separates two complete sentences.  What comes before the semicolon must be able to stand alone as a full sentence, and what comes after the semicolon must be able to stand alone as a full sentence.

*Second, you can use semicolons to separate items in a series, IF one or more of the items has its own comma.  Examples:

"We bought azaleas, Peter's favorite; hydrangeas, which will look gorgeous in the front yard; and two new drift roses."  Note that items one and two have their own internal commas.  In cases like this, we use semicolons to avoid "commapalooza" and help clarify where each list item begins and ends.

"They invited Jacob; Gemma, Cam's sister; and Ari."  This sentence illustrates another reason why it can be useful to use semicolons in this way.  Without the semicolons around item 2 ("Gemma, Cam's sister"), it would be unclear to the reader whether Gemma IS Cam's sister, or whether the author was referring to two different people (Gemma AND Cam's sister).  Look at the difference:  "They invited Jacob, Gemma, Cam's sister, and Ari."  Confusing, right?

#7:  Sentence fragments, a.k.a. incomplete sentences.  A complete sentence must have a subject and a predicate, meaning it must tell us what is being done and who/what is doing it.  It must also express a complete thought that makes sense by itself.  

Wrong:  I always read my work aloud. And use the spell check.  (The second sentence is incomplete, because it is a predicate with no subject--it doesn't tell us who is using the spell check.)

Right:  I always read my work aloud, and use the spell check.

Also right:  I always read my work aloud.  I also make sure to use the spell check.

If it's been a while since grammar class and words like "predicate" make your brain bleed, no worries--this is yet another of the many good reasons to read your work aloud. If you do this, you'll catch those sentence fragments because they won't sound right.

#8: Misused words.  Here is a list of misused words I've covered in previous posts (see my "Whitney's Writing Tips" blog for the lowdown on these):

Its/it's

Their/they're/there

To/too

Who/whom

Your/you're

Every day/everyday

Affect/effect

That/which

And here are a few new ones:

Then vs. than: "Then" refers to time, while "than" is a comparison word.  Examples:  "We went out to dinner at Bernardi's, and then we went to see Wicked."  "I wish I'd known then what I know now."  "I think Seinfeld is a funnier show than How I Met Your Mother."  "Strawberries are a little cheaper this year than they were last year." 

Breath vs. breathe:  "Breath" is a noun, meaning the air that comes out of your nose and mouth. "Breathe" is a verb, meaning to take in and expel air.  Examples:  "I'm sorry I'm so out of breath.  I just ran up four flights of stairs."  "Take a puff of this inhaler and try to breathe normally, sir."

Altogether vs. all together:  "Altogether" means "entirely" or "as a whole," while "all together" means gathered together.  Examples:  "Altogether, I thought your paper was clear and logically organized."  "It was so nice to have the family all together at Jane's bridal shower."

Definitely vs. defiantly:  "Definitely" means "certainly."  "Defiantly" means "rebelliously" or "boldly."  Examples:  "I am definitely going to get an A in this class."  "She said she would definitely be there on Friday."  "He shook his head defiantly, refusing to budge from the doorway."  "Eighteenth century writer Mary Wollstonecraft defiantly challenged the rigid gender biases of her time."

#9:  The phrase "based off of."  The correct phrase is "based on" or "based upon."  

#10:  Carelessness.  I've saved the best (or worst!) for last.  I suspect many professors (and journal editors) would list carelessness as their biggest pet peeve.  What do I mean by carelessness?

• Not proofreading carefully
• Not using the spell check
• Making the same errors in every paper, despite instructor's feedback
• Not citing sources
• Not supporting your assertions
• Errors in the references list
• Lots of APA/AMA/etc. errors
• No purpose statement (or inaccurate purpose statement)
• A phoned-in, sloppy abstract
• A phoned-in, afterthought conclusion

I hope you've found today's post helpful.

When to Capitalize

Today's topic: When to Capitalize

When should you capitalize a job title?  The name of a theory or model?  The name of an academic program, department, or degree?   These questions can drive us crazy, and believe me, I see a LOT of capitalization confusion.  Allow me to help by tackling a few of the most common questions.

 

Job titles/names of jobs:

• Capitalize a job title if it immediately precedes a person's name.  Example: We asked Dean Rodriguez to attend the meeting. 

• Capitalize a job title if it immediately follows a person's name when the word "the" does NOT precede the job title. Example: Janet Gunderson, Director of Ad Sales, will lead tomorrow employee training workshop.

• When the word "the" precedes the job title, do not capitalize.  Example: Ms. Bishop, the faculty support associate, has worked here for 20 years.

• Capitalize job titles in signature lines (see my signature line at the end of this email).

• Do not capitalize a job title if you are using it descriptively.  Examples:
  

• Michael Catalano,  a nurse practitioner, will give a presentation on diabetes self management.
• Tianjiao Ling, an editor at Knopf, will be at the party on Friday.
• I think registered nurses are heroes.
  

One caveat:  The ego of an employer or colleague may sometimes require you to flout these grammatical rules.  If someone (particularly your boss or supervisor) wants you to capitalize his or her job title, go ahead and do it.  MANY people do not know these rules, and you will frequently see them broken.

Academic departments and courses:

• Capitalize the name of an academic department if it refers to a specific department at a specific college or university (same goes for names of courses--capitalize if you are referring to a specific course). Examples:
  

• University of Kentucky College of Nursing
• Nursing 234: Concepts and Theories
•  Women's Studies 204: Portrayal of Women in the Media
•  A college of nursing in Delaware offers courses in acupressure and Reiki.
  
  • Note that "college of nursing" is lowercase here, because the phrase is being used descriptively ("a" college of nursing, not the name of one specific college of nursing).
• Sarah wanted to take two psychology courses and one sociology course. 
  
• Jack chose an anthropology course, a German course, and a statistics course.
  
  • Note that "German" is capitalized because it is based on a proper noun, Germany--the same would be true for English, Spanish, French, etc.

Academic degrees: 

I should note that the rules for this differ a bit from style guide to style guide.  The following rules are based on the AP (Associated Press) style guide, which is the standard for journalistic writing (newspapers and magazines, as well as a great deal of online content).

• Capitalize the names of an academic degree when it follows a name.  Example: Tonight's keynote speaker will be Mark Janowicz, Master of Fine Arts.  Note that some style guides say to capitalize the degree if it comes before the person's name as well.  Since style guides differ, the key is to choose a method and be consistent.

• Do not capitalize the name of an academic degree if you are using it descriptively.  Examples: John got his master's degree in theology and his bachelor's in history. Amelia is studying for her doctorate in nursing. Caveat: If the degree includes a proper noun, capitalize the proper noun.  Examples:  Jana has a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in French.  Simon has a master's degree in biology and a bachelor's degree in Spanish.

• Do not capitalize the names of disciplines.  Examples: I have a passion for nursing.  My goal is to teach high school science some day.

Contrary to popular belief, do NOT capitalize:

• A theory or model (unless it contains a proper noun--in that case, capitalize only the proper noun, as in Doe's theory of blah).  This is true even if you plan to turn the name of the theory/model into an acronym.  Examples:
  

• The health belief model (HBM)... 
  
• I read a fascinating paper on social support theory last week.
• Sarai's paper is about Freud's theory of the superego.

• A therapy or technique. Example: We practice patient-centered therapy.

• A disease or disorder (unless it contains a proper name). Examples:
  

• The patient suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder. 
  
• My grandfather had Lou Gehrig's disease (note that only the proper name is capitalized, not the word "disease").

And more...

Check out this fantastic resource from the APA Style Blog.  It offers quick reference charts which cover APA guidelines on whether to capitalize a wide variety of words, including hypotheses, variables, statistical procedures and tests, and more. http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2012/02/do-i-capitalize-this-word.html

I hope you found today's post helpful.  As always, happy scribbling!