AP Seminar

IRR – Informative Essay

IWA – Argumentative Essay

Try paraphrasing instead. If you do use quotes, it should be for short phrases (1-3 words).

Avoid: Source A stated that "plop quotes are bad. Paraphrasing shows your understanding." This shows that plop quotes are bad and how paraphrasing is better.

Wnat do to: According to Source A, research papers should not have plop quotes because they are not appropriate at this level of writing. Paraphrasing quotes shows your understanding of the content and makes your writing more fluent.

Most of the content should be your synthesis of the sources.

• Evaluate the information in your own words

• Analyze how X furthers your claim

• Draw conclusions

• Connect it with other sources

• Check Spelling and Grammar. Use tools like Grammarly

• Avoid Rhetorical Questions

• Avoid Contractions (Example: ain't, isn't)

• Avoid Exclamation Points

• Accurate Formatting (keep it consistent)

Always provide strong credibility to authors the first time they are used in the body paragraphs.

Avoid: Elysia Clemens, a professor, reports that...

What to do: Elysia Clemens, professor of applied psychology and counselor education at the University of Northern Colorado, and her colleagues report...

• Ensure correct citation page name: "Works Cited" for MLA and "References" or "Bibliography" for APA

• Use tools such as Owl Perdue to check your in-text citations and citation page formatting are correct.

Your AP Graders will not know what every acronym means.

Avoid: A FAO report finds that...

What to do: A Food and Agricultural Organization report finds that...

However, if an acronym is used multiple times, reference it the first time: A Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) finds that...

Later: FAO's finds that...