Writing Guidelines for SP3312

Dr. Christopher Conway

Department of Modern Languages

University Texas Arlington

I will deduct points if your writing contains the following errors:

Basic, easy to remember accent marks, such as words ending in -ión (please note that words ending in -iones --the plural form-- do not have accents.) There is no excuse for not knowing about this elementary accent rule. To learn how to put accents in your papers with PC or MAC keyboards, visit the following website:

http://www.starr.net/is/type/kbh.html

I will deduct points if your writing contains the following errors:

Basic, easy to remember accent marks, such as:

Pronouns: él (for he, a person); éste or ésta and their plural forms (these are pronouns, not articles)

Verbs in imperfect that end in -ía: Quería, Comía, etc. That e-ah pronunciation is unmistakable. Not putting the accent on the “I” is an error you should not be making at this point. It’s too easy.

I will deduct points if your writing contains the following errors:

More basic, accent marks, such as:Verbs in preterite or past tense, in first or third person (yo or

él/ella/Ud.) in which emphasis or stress of word is on last syllable, and the word ends in n, s, or a vowel, accent is needed on last vowel. For example:

Ayer comí, trabajé, estudié y visité la tienda.

Ayer ella comió, trabajó, estudió y visitó…

If it’s past tense, I or he/she or you formal, accent on last vowel.

This is not a grammar class

But elementary errors in agreement are not acceptable. You know enough to know how to use a dictionary and determine singular vs. plural, masculine vs. feminine. Articles and verbs need to match up to what they are describing or their agents.

El libro, not la libro. Ellos comieron not ellos comimos. Etc.

This is not a grammar class

But you have dictionaries. Use them to make sure that your spelling is correct.

Miscellaneous but important

Titles of books, stories, poems, essays in Spanish are only capitalized on the first letter of the first word, not every first letter of every word.

Not: Mi Trabajo Sobre México

Yes: Mi trabajo sobre México

Miscellaneous but important

Nationalities are not capitalized, nor adjectives based on nations.

Not: Él es Mexicano. Los libros Mexicanos.

Yes: Él es mexicano. Los libros mexicanos.

Formatting your work for emailing to me

I can only accept work in Microsoft Word (.doc documents)

Title of file must have following format:

Name/assignment/assignment number.doc

For example:

Conwaytarea1.doc

Conwayproyectofinal.doc

Never Plagiarize

Never plagiarize from another person’s work or from the internet. If I suspect dishonesty, I will report you to the University. Unlike other professors at UTA, I am aggressive and proactive about reporting students to the university so that disciplinary measures can be taken against them and records kept about their infractions. I don’t strike deals with students. I report them immediately. So don’t cheat and don’t test me on this.

Getting Help

There’s nothing wrong with getting help as long as your helper is not doing the work for you and as long as you learn from the process. You must learn from your helper or else you will do poorly on your exam, where helpers are not allowed and basic errors will be penalized. Learn when you can before you get tested.

Understand

That poor performance in SPAN 1-4 may result in problems in this class.

That not following instructions carefully on your writing assignments can lead to trouble

That it’s up to you to really learn what is on this slide show because it will help you in this class and other classes. Do it!