WHAT I WANT:
I want you to take that broad topic that I give you and narrow down the focus from that broad
topic to something about that topic in which you would like to write about. If you do not
narrow the focus from my broad topic, you lose 20 points off your earned grade (I can easily tell
this if the broad topic word appears in almost every sentence). If you write something that has
nothing to do with the broad topic I have given, it will be a zero (though I will ask you to explain
how it connects and if you can convince me that you did what I asked, I will rescind the zero).
This will be in MLA 8 style format with headers, page headers, and a title. If it is not in MLA 8,
you earn a zero.
PAGE HEADERS: student last name and the numeral of the page (Upper right hand corner of
every page)
For every missing page header, you lose 5 points. If the page header is in the wrong location,
you lose 4 points. If you lack your last name, but have the numeral of the page, you lose 3
points. If you include something in your page header that is not asked for (like your first name,
your first initial, or the word Page), you lose 2 points (unless your last name is Page, which so
far I have only had one student with that last name, then you do not lose any points). If you
have your last name, but did not put the page number, you lose 1 point. 

HEADERS: your full name, instructor’s full name, class name, date in European style (Only on
page one, on the left side/align, and starting one line space below the line that your first page
header is on).
If you do not have a full and correct header, you will lose points based on which parts you lack
or if it is in the wrong location of your paper. The MLA 8 template is under the announcements
tab.
Missing your name in your header is an automatic zero (I treat your compositions as if they
were physically in my hands. If you do not have your name where it is supposed to be in the
header, then I do not know whose composition it is, even if your name is on the canvas page or
part of your name is somewhere else on the composition).
If you miss any other element of a header (The instructors name, the class name, or the date),
you lose 5 points for each element you lack.
If your header is not where it is supposed to be, you lose 5 points.
If your header is out of order, you lose 5 points for every part out of order.
If you put an element in your header that is not asked for (like saying Journal Entry 1, the title of
your journal, or some other random thing), you lose 5 points).
If the spacing of the header is not double spaced (even if the composition is), you lose 5 points.
If your date in the header is not in European style, you lose 3 points (day month year with no
comma in the date). Ex. 23 August 2021 with no comma. 

TITLE (only on page one, center aligned, and one line below where the header stops)
NEVER have your title be either what it is you are doing or just the broad topic that I give you!!!
If your title is just the broad topic that I give (Water, Fear, Winter, etc.), you lose 5 points.
If your title is just what you are doing (Journal Entry 1, Example Essay, etc.), you lose 10 points.
If your title is both the broad topic that I give you and what you are doing (Journal Entry 1:
Water, Example Essay: Wear Seatbelts, etc.), you lose 15 points.
If you do not have a title, you lose 20 points.
Your title is the first bit of creativity your audience gets from you. If you give a boring title, your
audience will expect a boring read, and they will find it.
Do not all cap, underline, bold, or do anything different to your title that you would not do in
your composition. Any of the above will result in a loss of 10 points.
If you italicize or put quote marks around your full title, you will lose 10 points. If you italicize or
put quote marks around part of your title, but under MLA rules it is supposed to be how you
put it, you will not lose any points. If it is randomly done, you lose 5 points (You are supposed to
italicize the names of larger media titles, such as book titles, movie titles, or album titles. You
are supposed to put quote marks around smaller media titles, such as poem or short story
titles, movie chapter titles, or song titles. These rules apply for all parts of your paper). This will
probably only be something you will deal with in the essay where you are using movies;
however, you still need to have a creative title that does not just have the title of the movie. Ex.
Morally Casual Attitudes in The Great Gatsby

Any important words in a title must be capitalized. Any words that start at title, finish a title, or
start a sub-title, must also be capitalized regardless of what kind of word it is (unless it is known
to be a word that starts with a lowercase letter, like iPhone.
Words in a title that are known to not be important words are articles (a, and, the),
Coordinating Conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) (FANBOYS), and prepositions (words
that demand a word or some words come after it (in, at, on, of, to, etc.). These words, if they
appear in your title, must be lowercase unless they are the first word of a title, the last word of
a title, or the first word after a colon in your sub-title.
THE COMPOSITION
The entire composition must be double spaced. If it is multiple spaced, you lose 20 points off of
your earned grade. If it is more than double spaced or if it is single spaced, you earn a zero.
Do not mess with the margins. After a decade of grading essays and having written essays going
all the way back to the 1990’s, I can spot an eighth of an inch extra space in a margin. Mess with
the margins, and you will lose 20 points.  
Any needless space lines will result in a loss of 5 points for every one that appears (students
love having blank space lines between their page header and header, header and title, title and
the composition, and WORST OF ALL between paragraphs within the composition) If in
removing the blank space lines you end up short of the overall journal minimum of one page,
you will lose both 5 points for every needless space line, and five points for every line you are
short of the above mentioned minimum. 

PARAGRAPHS
Each paragraph must have at least five strong, non-simple sentences (compound, complex,
and/or compound-complex). They must also have at least four full lines of text, including the
indention of the first line. No paragraph should go longer than three-quarters of a page. You
will lose a point for every fifth of a line you are under four lines or over three-quarters of a
page. If you are a full line below four lines or a full line above three-quarters of a page, you will
lose 5 points. These losses will continue as long as there is a violation (a one page paragraph
will lose you 15-20 points). These rules apply to all paragraphs, whether they be in a journal or
an essay. Having your journal be just one long paragraph will cost you 10 points (not including
the penalties for being too short overall or having a paragraph that is too long).
INDENT YOUR PARAGRAPHS!!!
There are two ways to indent paragraphs. Set it up before your write in Word, or do the easy
thing, which is to hit the tab button before you start a paragraph. Every paragraph that is not
indented will cost you 5 points on a journal (more than two paragraphs not indented on an
essay will result in a zero).
FONT
It must be in 12pt font. If it is in 11pt font, you lose 10 points off your earned grade. If it is >=13
pt. font or <=10 pt. font, you earn a zero.

It must be in a normal font style (Times New Roman, Calibri, Ariel, or Verdana). If it is in any
other font, but I can read it, you lose 20 points off of your earned grade. If it is in any other font
and I cannot read it (due to it looking too squiggly or it makes me dizzy), you earn a zero.
GRAMMAR
I do not grade journals as harshly in this area as I will in your essays (unless it is so egregious
that I cannot ignore it). Do know that if any text speak shows up in any part of any composition,
unless it plays a role in your descriptive/narrative essay, it is an automatic zero.
The MLA 8 template is under the announcements tab.
STYLE GUIDE AND FILE FORMAT
All final drafts of journals and essays MUST be turned in MLA style except for the
Argumentative Essay, which will be in APA.  You must submit final drafts to the appropriate
dropboxes on CANVAS by closing dates and times.  I will NOT reopen boxes once they have
closed.  It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that the assignments turned in to CANVAS are in
the correct and readable formats.  If I cannot open an essay, I cannot grade it.  All assignments
must be in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format (Use Microsoft Word, as you have free access to it every
semester you are here at MGCCC. You can either access that free code through the MGCCC
website or in the MGCCC Bookstore, though you must get a new code every semester).
WHAT I DO NOT WANT:
I do not want any stats, facts, figures, or anything that would need to be sourced. If anything
like this ends up on any journal and is sourced, it will earn a zero. If anything like this ends up 

on any journal and is not sourced, it is an academic integrity violation that may result in as little
as a zero on the assignment or as much as failure of the course (and possible expulsion from
MGCCC if this is a part of a pattern or if you are an extreme jerk to me while you are earning
your failure of my course). Read the Academic Integrity Statement in your syllabus.
Also, do not put any famous person quotes or have a dry boring dictionary definition in your
journals (or any compositions) as these are cheap high school writing devices. If either of these