Most common essay mistakes

College Essays
1

<p>Let’s make a list of the most common essay mistakes to help those who are working on editing their essays. I’m not talking about common misspellings (where the proper spelling is replaced by a nonexistent word), which are usually caught by MS Word, but mistakes in usage, punctuation, structure, and anything else you’ve seen frequently. And please, if you have nothing useful to contribute, just don’t say anything at all. I’ll start:</p>

<li>“They” is generally not accepted as a singular gender-neutral third-person pronoun. That is, if you are referring to a general human with unknown gender, it is not advisable to use “they” to describe him/her. The most correct form would be using “he or she” and “his or her,” but this can become cumbersome very quickly, so the best solution is to choose either “he” or “she” and stick with it through the essay, or work around it with alternatives like “someone,” “anyone,” or “a person.”
Note: using “he” as a pronoun in this case is sometimes considered sexist. </li>
</ol>

<p>Example:
Incorrect
“If a person owns a dog, they should take care of their animal.”
Correct
“If a person owns a dog, he or she should take care of his or her animal.”
Better
“A dog owner must take care of the animal.”</p>

2

<p>About pronouns, I don't think that using "he" or "she" is necessarily sexist. I always use the pronoun "he" for someone of undetermined gender. The following would be sexist:</p>

<p>"I think that a doctor should treat HIS nurse with kindness. SHE is important, too." </p>

<p>As long as you keep it consistently the same and don't reveal sexist biases, I don't think it's too risky.</p>

3

<p>I think people tend to use their own gender in the place of unknown genders. Guys say "he" and girls say "she". That has been my experience, at least.</p>

4

<p>Agreed. That is what I would suggest. It gets tiresome to write out "he and she" all the time, so I always use "he." </p>

<p>2) Don't use "hopefully" or "thankfully" to mean "I hope" and "fortunately."</p>

5

<p>^^any reason?</p>

6

<p>Because the other ones are more correct.</p>

7

<p>is it ok to write about something that happened around 6 or 7 years ago?</p>

8

<p>Juliushark, can you please start your own thread instead of intruding on this one with your off-topic questions? </p>

<p>And to answer the question, yes, you can.</p>

<p>As for "hopefully" and "thankfully," Baelor is correct, though this (mis)usage is so common that I doubt it would really count against you.</p>

9

<p>^Yes. I considered putting not to end clauses with prepositions, but I decided against it because of increased tolerance for it. </p>

<p>Uh... Let's see:</p>

<p>3) Big words. I haven't actually written my essays yet, but I have read a lot of them. Big words are bad if they don't appear natural. Many I read were incorrect based on context, and it was awful. It makes you look pretentious and pedantic. The goal is precision: To find the word that best conveys what you want to say. This may be a big word. But it does not have to be.</p>

10

<p>olgita: sorry olgita, it's a bad habit of mine</p>

11

<p>I'm a girl and I typically use 'he.' When referring to people who are probably female I use she. So if I were talking about a nurse or secretary I would use she and her. I never use "him or her" or "he or she".. it's awfully bullky and no professional writer would ever do that. Have you ever read a book that uses the phrase "he or she"? I bet not. Political correctness is pretty absurd when people are accused of sexism just for calling nurses her and presidents he.</p>

<p>Anyway, I think the biggest essay mistake is writing a boring essay. The second biggest mistake is not being creative.. but I guess that's the same thing.</p>