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Academic Writing: Questions and Answers
~ ~ ~ Q: I'm concern that my writing skills will not be satisfactory considering the academic writing guidelines that Columbia adheres to. I hold a bachelor's and master's from accredited schools, but both degrees are in ministry, and the emphasis was on practical ministry and not academic standards of writing. Would you have any suggestions as I am considering enrolling for a doctoral degree with CES? A: Two things . . . first, we have a class that will help you get up and running with the writing requirements. You can take the class for credit or you can take it as an audit. Second, our faculty members work with students to help them improve as they go. So, you do not have to have perfect writing skills to do our program; the goal is to see improvement in your writing skills as you progress through your program. We know that all of our talk about good writing can be off putting, but it is a goal, not a prerequisite. ~ ~ ~ Q: Just wondering why we do not italicize Ibid.? In most books I read I find it Italicized. However, there are some books that don't. A: Typically, when the word ibid. is used in a sentence (like it is here), it has two key features, (1) the period after it even though it is not at the end of the sentence, and (2) it is in italics. However, when ibid. is used in the actual footnote, it is not in italics, though it still has the period after it. Why do we do it that way? It is the Chicago style that CES follows (also the Turabian style—a modified form of Chicago—does it that way). In the most recent edition of Turabian (7th edition, 2007), on page 157, it says, "In notes, ibid. should be capitalized but not italicized." Obviously, the capitalization refers only to the "i" in ibid. ~ ~ ~ Q: On my recent term paper, you indicated that I should change the line, “Christians must try and grow . . .” to “Christians must try to grow . . .” Why should it be “try to” and not “try and”? A: I already wrote a Coffee Talk on this very topic. Click here for the answer: Anguished English: Try And . . . Be Sure And . . . ~ ~ ~ Q: In college I was told not to place a comma before the coordinating conjunction in a series of three or more items. Example: “Bob took his backpack, lunch and sunglasses with him.” Yet, CES says that the comma is required after the conjunction. Which is it? A: CES follows academic style. Thus, in a series of three or more items, there is always a comma before the coordinating conjunction. Thus, it should be “Bob took his backpack, lunch, and sunglasses with him.” ~ ~ ~ Q: I’ve heard conflicting reports about ending sentences in a preposition. What’s the rule? A: I covered this topic in a Coffee Talk, click here for the answer: Prepositions ~ ~ ~ Q: Which of these two below is correct? I see punctuation done each way from time to time.
A: Here's the rule. If the words in the parenthesis is a complete sentence, independent from the other sentences, then the punctuation is inside. In your two examples above, the first one is correct. Here's a sample of one that would be outside:
~ ~ ~ Q: I sometimes see the word "literally" in writing when the topic is not really literal. Is there a right and wrong use of this term "literal" or "literally"? A: Good one. Also covered in a Coffee Talk, click here for the answer: Literally ~ ~ ~ Q: Is this sentence incorrect? “There are times in each person’s life when they feel that they are an outcast.” A: The first sentence is wrong, in a couple of ways. The antecedent (each person’s) and pronoun (they) do not agree in number. Also, note that it goes from singular (each person) to plural (they) back to singular (an outcast). Your second and third sentences are correct. ~ ~ ~ |
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