Some do's & don'ts - An |ncomp|ete sty|e gu|de to wr|nng eecnve h|m

rev|ews and wr|uen essays.

1: Don't use the hrst person!

l.e. '! #$%&' #$(#) ! *+,%+-+ #$(#) !& ./ 01%&%0&) !2 /03 (4' .+5'

lnsLead of:

'My rev|ew |s of V|ncenzo Nata||'s 2009 h|m, !"#$%&.'

Conslder:

'1h|s rev|ew exam|nes V|ncenzo Nata||'s 2009 h|m, !"#$%&.'

lnsLead of:

'Ior my research I have |ooked at '$()*+,-& /01$&2 by k|m Newman, 3)& 4,1$5
6-07&78&-( 60+",7$07 by 8od|e norrace and 90: 30 3;-7 < =,8007 >72$5& ?;* by
Seth 8rund|e.'

Conslder:

'kesearch sources |nc|ude '$()*+,-& /01$&2 by k|m Newman, 3)& 4,1$5
6-07&78&-( 60+",7$07 by 8od|e norrace and 90: 30 3;-7 < =,8007 >72$5& ?;* by
Seth 8rund|e...'

Ckay - consLrucung senLences uslng Lhe Lhlrd person mlghL feel a llule unnaLural
or sLrange aL rsL, buL you'll soon geL used Lo lL. 1he reason for &0# wrlung ln Lhe
rsL person (! #$%&' eLc.), even Lhough lL feels enurely lnLuluve Lo do so, ls slmple.
lf you are welghlng up an ldea or dlscusslng dlerenL lnLerpreLauons, you wlll
qulckly sound Lo your reader as lf you're experlenclng a muluple personallLy
dlsorder!

e.g. 'I th|nk Dav|d Cronenberg's 1986 remake of 3)& @#A |s a story about nIV]
A|ds. nowever, aher read|ng the fo||ow|ng observanon made by cr|nc, k|chard
Luck B CD&-%&$1&5 ,2 , E#+ ,80;* *)& <>4! %-$2$2 ,* *)& F+& 0G $*2 -&#&,2&H
6-07&78&-( $2 *00 $7*&##$(&7* , E#++,I&- *0 ,##0: )$2 "$%*;-& *0 8&%0+& ,
1&)$%#& G0- 0*)&- "&0"#&J2 "0#$F%2KL (Luck, 2007) - I'm th|nk|ng now that maybe
3)& @#A |s not about nIV aher a||. es, I now th|nk Cronenberg's body-horror
c|ass|c |s a h|m about our fear of decay more genera||y. nowever, aher
read|ng.' (and so on).

use Lhe followlng converslon Lable Lo help you weed ouL Lhe rsL person from
your academlc wrlung.
2: Don't narrate! (wrlung as lf you're Lhlnklng ouL-loud or Lelllng your reader a
bedume sLory).

e.g. 'My essay]rev|ew |s on !"#$%&. I was th|nk|ng about |ook|ng for some
research |n books, but I cou|dn't hnd any good ones, so I started |ook|ng on the
|nternet, and I found some good quotes wh|ch I'|| be us|ng |n my essay because I
want to show how I've researched my essay us|ng the |nternet..'

?awn! ?our LuLor ls glvlng up Lhe wlll Lo llve. !usL geL on wlLh lL! 8e speclc
always - lL's noL a dlary enLry. WPlCP publlshed sources are you uslng? Clve Lhe
uLle and Lhe auLhor. uon'L Lell your reader abouL conLenL you're nC1 uslng, or
abouL lnformauon you CCuLun'1 nd. uCn'1 Lalk abouL how 'hard' lL's been Lo
nd relevanL lnformauon. ?our reader doesn'L care!


3: When you |ntroduce a h|m, tv programme, book, game or pa|nnng etc. |n an
ass|gnment 206 #$+ 764# 8.+) g|ve both the author]producer]or|g|nator]d|rector
and re|ease]pub||sh|ng]pa|nted date. 9:+6 #$(#) ;34# #$+ 8#,+ %4 7&+<

e.g. 'Dav|d Lynch's 3)& M#&"),7* /,7 (1980) exp|ores what |t means to be
human' noL [usL '3)& M#&"),7* /,7 exp|ores what |t means to be human'.


4: A|ways g|ve h|m nt|es]book nt|es etc. the|r r|ghuu| cap|ta| |euers and =0 %#
+-+6/ 8.+ /03 >6%#+ #$+.?

e.g. C3)& M#&"),7* /,7L noL C3)& &#&"),7* /,7L, or C*)& M#&"),7* +,7L, or C*)&
&#&"),7* +,7L.

S: 1he hrst nme you |ntroduce a d|rector]pracnnoner]spec|hc |nd|v|dua|, g|ve
the|r fu|| name, aher that 34+ 436&(.+ 0&,/?

e.g. 'Dav|d Lynch's 3)& M#&"),7* /,7 (1980) exp|ores what |t means to be
human. Lynch's use of b|ack and wh|te c|nematography and evocanve
soundscape contr|bute to the h|m's express|on|snc sty|e...'

lf you conunue Lo use Lhe person's Chrlsuan name, lL presumes a famlllarlLy you
do noL have wlLh Lhem:

'Dav|d Lynch's 3)& M#&"),7* /,7 (1980) exp|ores what |t means to be human.
Dav|d's use of b|ack and wh|te photography and evocanve soundscape
contr|bute to the h|m's express|on|snc sty|e.'

(lL's llke, yeah, me and uavld go >(/ back - we're old drlnklng buddles.)


6: Avo|d vagueness!

e.g. 'In the past' (when exacLly?), 'In the o|den days' (when exacLly?), '8ack
then' (back when?), 'peop|e d|d th|s a |ot' (how much?) - 'peop|e d|d th|s a |ot |n
the past, but now peop|e don't do |t as much' (whlch people dld whaL, Lo whaL
degree, and when, and now [meanlng when? 8lghL now? 1hls cenLury? 1hls
decade? 1hls mlnuLe?] whlch people are dolng whaL and by how much less Lhan
before?).

vagueness ls a consequence of a research 'bllndspoL' or 'lazy reporung'. lf lL's
gemng vague, you obvlously don'L know enough abouL your sub[ecL yeL!


7: Avo|d genera||zanons!

e.g. 'A|| women th|nk th|s.'

unless you have done a recenL survey of 'all women' Lhls sLaLemenL cannoL be
proven, lf lL cannoL be proven lL ls a generallzauon and has no place ln an
LvluLnCL based dlscusslon.

8: Avo|d super|anves and sycophancy! (Don't gush!)

e.g. Ne|| Iordan's 3)& 60+",7A 0G N0#1&2 (1984) |s a br||||ant h|m.

Cr In Ir|tz Lang's /&*-0"0#$2 (1927), the set des|gns are [ust amaz|ng.

(Pere 'br||||ant' and 'amaz|ng' are enurely 'conLenL free' - l.e. Lhey don'L Lell your
reader anyLhlng. ?our [ob ls Lo unpack whaL you .+(& by 'brllllanL' and unpack
whaL you mean by 'amazlng'.

e.g. 'Ne|| Iordan's 3)& 60+",7A 0G N0#1&2 (1984) |mpresses |n |ts use of dream-
|og|c by wh|ch |t ||nks |ts separate stor|es' or 'In Ir|tz Lang's /&*-0"0#$2 (1927), the
set des|gns are monumenta| and |mpos|ng'.

9: A|ways put your h|m nt|es]book nt|es etc. |n |ta||cs to d|snngu|sh them from the
rest of text.

noL 'In Ir|tz Lang's Metropo||s (1927), the set des|gns are monumenta| and
|mpos|ng', buL 'In Ir|tz Lang's /&*-0"0#$2 (1927), the set des|gns are monumenta|
and |mpos|ng.'

10: A|ways put your quotanons between '' or "" and $*,#$%$2& them.

e.g. O3)$2 $2 , P;0*,F07QO


11: Unpack your quotes ]demonstrate your know|edge]dehne your terms!

Some sLudenLs use quoLes ln Lhelr asslgnmenLs buL leL Lhem 'hang around' - llke especlally lnvlLed dlnner
guesLs who end up wlLh noLhlng Lo conLrlbuLe Lo Lhe conversauon.

Conslder Lhls sLaLemenL:

'As k|m Newman observes, C!"#$%& 2),-&2 6-07&78&-(L2 G,2%$7,F07 :$*) 805A )0--0-LK

Ckay - buL Cronenberg who? 8ody horror whaL?' And newman's polnL ls? And Lhe polnL of you chooslng
Lhls quoLe and uslng lL ln Lhls conLexL ls...?

Conslder lnsLead:

'As k|m Newman observes, C!"#$%& 2),-&2 6-07&78&-(L2 G,2%$7,F07 :$*) 805A )0--0-L (Newman
1989:76). nere, Newman refers to Canad|an d|rector, Dav|d Cronenberg, whose ear|y h|ms - !)$1&-2
(197S), R,8$5 (1977) and 3)& @#A (1986) among others - are preoccup|ed w|th themes of bod||y
d|s|ntegranon and |nfecnon. Cf h|s 1979 h|m, 3)& =-005 (1979), Dav|d I. Schow noted, C6-07&78&-(
*;-72 0;- "-$1,*& *&--0-2 0G *)& S&2) $7*0 )0--$5H 1$2%&-,# +,7$G&2*,F072L. (Schow 1986:102) !"#$%&'s
dep|cnon of unstab|e and evo|v|ng esh exp|o|ts s|m||ar anx|enes regard|ng the body's capac|ty to
shock and surpr|se.'

?ou musL unpack Lhe quoLe lnLo lLs lmporLanL elemenLs, dene Lhem where necessary and Lhereby
demonsLraLe your knowledge of Lhe concepLs encompassed. 1hen you apply Lhe conLenL Lo your own
dlscusslon ln a proacuve way: l.e. you use Lhe quoLe Lo enrlch, advance and corroboraLe your argumenL.
CuoLes have no lnherenL value of Lhelr own - Lhey only become slgnlcanL when Lhey're used Lo
lllumlnaLe your sub[ecL furLher.

And hna||y.

A very baslc blL of advlce: |f you're not read|ng |nteresnng stu, you're not go|ng
to wr|te |nteresnng stu! ?ou'll only geL ouL whaL you're pumng ln - so, lf you're
noL dolng Lhe research, lf you're noL readlng around Lhe sub[ecL and engaglng ln
lndependenL sLudy, and lf you're leavlng lL Lo Lhe nlghL before Lo wrlLe your wrluen
asslgnmenLs WlLL be average, generlc and may fa|| to sansfy the assessment
cr|ter|a.