ENVS101
Writing Guidelines
Effective writing:
Great ideas are worth very little unless
they are effectively presented.� In an expository essay, the first paragraph
should clearly and concisely establish a theme or thesis.� Each subsequent paragraph
should support this thesis. Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence
and text within this paragraph should support that sentence.� Assertions and
opinions must be explained and, where appropriate, supported with evidence.�
The essay should end with a concluding paragraph that draws together ideas and
follows logically from arguments presented in the essay.� Although letters and
reports may differ in style, the rules of effective writing are similar to
those that apply to an essay.�
Write clearly and directly.� Contemporary
writing favors the use of the active rather than passive voice; it is
preferable to write �I [or we] recommend that�.� Rather than �It is recommended
that��.� Be certain that it is clear who is being represented in an argument.�
If you write, �We need to consider�� be certain that it is absolutely clear to
the reader who is being included in this �we� (i.e., you and your group
members, citizens of the U.S. or citizens of the world).
Simple and concise writing
tends to be more effective than complex writing.� Avoid use of hyperbolic terms
such as �horrifying�, �incredible�, etc.
Citing the ideas of others:
Your writing should be informed by the
readings that you have done for this class.� I expect you to discuss these
ideas and to cite the authors whose ideas you are discussing.� Neglecting to
cite ideas or quoted text that come from other sources is a violation of
academic ethics and of the Oberlin honor code.� Unless the particular wording
that a reference uses is important, it is preferable to paraphrase text and
then cite the idea rather than to extensively quote text.�
Preferred: Nations
are increasingly fighting over fresh water (Masteny and Cincotta, 2005). �
Less good: Masteny
and Cincotta (2005) tell us that, �History shows us that nations pick fights
over fresh water�.�
Citation format:
A fundamental tenant of academic writing is
that you need to provide sufficient information in a citation that someone else
could easily find the cited work. �I give you two choices for citation format
for ENVS101.� You can cite in footnotes or you can use in-text citations and
then include a literature cited section.�
Footnotes: Use MSWord�s footnote feature. Place the curser at the
end of the sentence (before the period) in which you are citing an idea.� From
the �Insert� menu, choose �Reference� and then choose �Footnote�.� The default
settings of �bottom of the page� and �numbered� are appropriate, press the �Insert�
button.� Within the footnote window use the reference format described below.�
I use the footnote format for the case studies � these provide a reasonable
example.
In-text citations: In this case you place the author�s names and date of
publication in the text.� You can either include the last names of the authors
in the sentence and then include the year of publication in parentheses, or you
can include the authors� names in parentheses together with the year of
publication.� If a work has two authors, include both last names.� If a work
has more than two authors include the first and write �et al.� after the
first author�s last name (this is the abbreviation for et alii, which means
�and others� in Latin).�
Here are some examples of various options
for correctly citing authors work:�
>The German chemist Liebig was one of the
first to point out the connection between the loss of soil fertility on farms
and the sewage problem in cities (Foster & Magdoff, 1998)
>The German chemist Liebig was one of the
first to point out the connection between the loss of soil fertility on farms
and the sewage problem in cities.
>Thermodynamics provides a critical
context for understanding environmental problems (Ehrlich et al.., 1996).
>Ehrlich et al. (1996) argue that
thermodynamics provides a critical context for understanding environmental
problems.
>Ehrlich et al. (1996) write that, �The
essence of the accounting is embodied in two concepts known as the first and
second laws of thermodynamics�.
Whether you use footnotes or in-text
citations you need to include a complete reference to the cited work in either the
footnote or in a literature cited section at the end of the paper.�� In the
case of footnotes, you will have a separate footnote entry associated with each
use of a reference.� In the case of a literature cited section, list the
references alphabetically by the first author�s last name.� A literature cited
section includes every author cited and only those that are actually cited in
the text of the paper (don�t include reference information for papers that you
do not directly cite).� Copy the format used in the example literature cited
section immediately below (author, date, title, pages, journal or book, volume,
publisher information).� Note carefully how authors� initials and edited books
are formatted.�
Literature Cited:
>Ehrlich, P. R., A. H. Ehrlich and J. P.
Holdren. 1996. Availability, entropy, and the laws of thermodynamics. Pages
69-74 in H. E. Daly and K. N. Townsend, eds. Valuing the earth: Economics,
ecology and ethics. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
>Foster, J. B. and F. Magdoff. 1998.
Liebig, Marx, and the depletion of soil fertility: Relevance for today's
agriculture. Monthly Review 50:32-45.
>Wilson, E. O. 1992. Resolution (Chapter
14). Pages 311-342 in The diversity of life. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Grammar:
Please make an extra effort to use grammar and
punctuation appropriately.� For example, semicolons should only be used in two
situations.� First, they are used to link independent clauses.� You know you
are using a semicolon correctly in this situation if you can replace it with a
period and end up with two complete sentences.� Second, semicolons can be used
to punctuate a list of elements in which one or more of these elements contains
an internal comma.� In this case, semicolons are used in place of commas.�
Random use and abuse of the semicolon will be dealt with harshly in this course.
Writing assistance:
Everyone can improve their writing skills.� At Oberlin you are fortunate to
have a �Rhetoric and composition program� which is dedicated to helping
students to improve their writing skills (http://www.oberlin.edu/rhetoric/info_students/campus.html).�
Check out their web site for availability of trained peer tutors who can help
you out with assignments in ENVS101.� In addition, the Writing Center (http://www.oberlin.edu/ptp/writing_center/),
located in the Mudd Academic Commons, offers peer tutors with drop-in hours who
can offer help in all stages of the writing process.