Common Errors in Research Paper

Too Conversational

The negatives in the 1920s were brutal and going into the Great Depression did not make it easier.

...as welfare, medicaid, and medicare assist the nation by helping the poor and elderly get back on their feet.

The people today need to be like the people back then.

It is commonly known that men and women were appointed different roles throughout history by various cultures that tended to stick

 The beginning of the movement for women suffrage began in the early 19th century, while women were still rubbed the wrong way because of the restrictions that were placed upon them, and essentially, held them back.

The amount of weapons the two countries collected was enough to kill 99% of the world’s population, easily.

Repetitive Topic Sentences

Hitler used propaganda, force, and political skill to rise to power. To maintain power Hitler used propaganda, force, and political skill .

The Vietnamese flag looks very similar to the Chinese Flag.The Vietnamese flag is similar to the Chinese flag.

The American victory consisted of not only British defeats in the Revolutionary War, but they won because of the events in the French and Indian War, and the acts passed by Parliament on the colonists. The French and Indian War, The Acts and taxes imposed on the colonists, and The Revolutionary War are important subjects, that without them, there would be no United States of America.

Hyperbole, inaccurate or vague hook/topic/summary sentence

Only fifteen men in total have been impeached by the U.S. Senate, making President Clinton’s impeachment such an immense event in our nation’s history.

Girls think more about suicide,as in they are usually more depressed and they are more doubtful when it just comes to ending their lives. Most girls cut themselves or overdose to attempt suicide,

Nelson Mandela had begun to change the world when he started to study law and work with the A.N.C.

There was chaos everywhere as thousands of people were killed and many Americans were protesting to end the war.

The American victory consisted of not only British defeats in the Revolutionary War, but they won because of the events in the French and Indian War, and the acts passed by Parliament on the colonists. The French and Indian War, The Acts and taxes imposed on the colonists, and The Revolutionary War are important subjects, that without them, there would be no United States of America.

Normandy created a gigantic turning point in World War II

 Innocence has created a giant issue for the death penalty that people need to fix.

Sounds good, but really not

Their jobs and money. The lives of Americans differed by their socioeconomic status, race, and gender. The Depression impacted all three socio-economic classes, wealthy, middle, and low, differently.

Vague phases

Mandela to help pick up the slack and motivate people, a countless number of people lost faith and gave up.

Verb tense shift

Nelson Mandela was in the A.N.C. for most of his time fighting the apartheid. In 1943 Nelson Mandela helps to form a youth league for the A.N.C.

Vary sentence lengths (combine sentences)

Nelson Mandela was sickened by apartheid and was inspired to help fight it. Mandela joined the African National Congress (or A.N.C. for short) in 1942 at the age of 24. Nelson Mandela was in the A.N.C. for most of his time fighting the apartheid. In 1943 Nelson Mandela helped to form a youth league for the A.N.C.

Citation Errors

 (Fridell [#54])    = SHOULD BE -à (Fridell 54).

 . (“Should the Death Penalty”)  = SHOULD BE -à  (“Should the Death Penalty”).

Make sure you have at least 1 citation per paragraph

Make sure you do not repeat the same citation back to back in a paragraph

Be sure that:

           

            Thesis is in introduction

           

            Every paragraph has a topic sentence that is clear and relates to thesis

            Every sentence in every paragraph relates to topic sentence

Some Helpful Tips for Removing Linking Verbs

LINKING VERB TIPS:

"What do we mean by linking verbs? Linking verbs join two different items in the sentence and tie them together. 

Besides be, look for the words am, are, is,was, were, been, and being.  Other words can also be linking verbs: words like become, get, feel, and seem. For example: “She became a little girl. She got depressed. She felt sad. She seemed unable to go on.”

Why get rid of these words? Because (1) the verb is the most powerful word in your sentence, and (2) these verbs add nothing, nada, zippo, zilch, zero meaning to the sentence. A linking verb merely connects other words of the sentence together, foisting on them all of the responsibility that the verb itself ought to take" (King, J. Timothy, 2011).

FOUR HELPFUL TIPS FOR YOU:

1. Be sure you actually need to get rid of it. In some sentences, linking verbs can serve as helping verbs, which help another verb by adding to its meaning, or even as full verbs on their own. For example, “The earth is rumbling,” showing the action as it is happening rather than simply as a fact (“The earth rumbles.”).

2. Change predicate adjectives to verbs. Look at what’s in the sentence’s predicate. If it’s an adjective, see if you can change it into a verb. So for example, the infamous, “She was sad.” Change this into: “[Something] (The play "Romeo and Juliet", for example) saddened her.” You may need to make up the “something,” or combine this clause with another sentence in order to make it work.

3. Change the predicate noun to a verb. If the sentence’s predicate contains a noun, you may be able to convert it to a verb as well. For instance: “There was an investigation into the cause of the accident.” Change to: “The Los Angeles Police Department investigated the cause of the accident.” You should also look for passive-voice verbs that say nothing in themselves, foisting the action of the sentence onto the subject. So: “The transmission of the data was accomplished by the system.” Instead, try: “The system transmitted the data.”

4. Turn it into an attribute or an appositive. Try merging the “to be” verb and attaching the predicate to some part of another sentence. 

Here’s an "attribute" example: “The sports car raced down the highway. It was arrest-me red.” Try making the color an attribute of the car: “The arrest-me-red sports car raced down the highway.” 

Another example with an appositive: “The sky was a sheet of drab grey, and grey sheets of rain poured down.” Try something like: “The sky, a sheet of drab grey, poured down grey sheets of rain.”

LINK TO SOURCE: By J. Timothy King, 2011: http://bethestory.com/2011/03/07/7-ways-to-eradicate-the-copulative