Hints for Beginning Your Essay

Read the essay prompt carefully to be certain you understand the question being posed, the problem being outlined, or the analysis being requested. Don't begin your literature search until you're sure you know that which you seek. Ask for clarification from Dr. Hall or from your peers. Collaboration at this stage is good.

You will be able to find ample detailed information for the essays posed in HORT 315 by doing a comprehensive Internet search. You are free to use other sources, however.

Narrow your search topic using the hints of the particular search engine you're using. If you search for "tomatoes" and your topic is really "tomato diseases" you will obtain millions of unrelated links. At the search stage, I recommend that collaboration cease. Part of the learning experience of the essay assignments is to help you learn how to "dig out" information from the Web.

Scan the links or hits from the search engine to select ones most appropriate to your topic. Evaulate their sources using the hints from our module on evaluating the credibility of information on the Web.

Cite the work appropriately in your essay. Refer to the guidelines in our module for an acceptable style.

University administration has advised faculty to monitor for academic dishonesty diligently and aggressively. The issue that will be confronted most commonly in the course of writing essays is plagiarism. Plagiarism occurs most frequently when one uses anothers work verbatim (word for word), but in technical terms, plagiarism also occurs when an individual "adopts" another's ideas, passing them on for his or her own. (Plagiarism is "Failing to credit sources used in a work product in an attempt to pass off the work as one's own; Attempting to receive credit for work performed by another, including papers obtained in whole or in part from individuals or other sources.) (taken from TAMU Library's resource on academic dishonesty)

The ability to "copy and paste" sentences and paragraphs from a Web browser into one's word processor facilitates plagiarism. The power of search engines to find the source of sentences and paragraphs anywhere on the Web facilitates apprehending plagiarism. Please cite other's work properly.

Organize your thoughts before you begin to write. You may not need to formalize your organization by writing an outline, but you should at least have an "outline in your head" as you write.

Proofread. Proofread. Proofread. Modern day spell and grammar checkers help catch common typos, but they don't catch all errors of syntax.

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