HOW TO GET AN “A” ON AN ESSAY

Minimum expectations checklist for written assignments:

1. Written legibly in dark blue or black ink.
2. Equal margins.
3. Double spaced.
4. Use one side of the page only.
5. Paper not torn out, crumpled, dirty or otherwise showing a lack of care,
pride and effort.
6. Write your full name, date and class. Always write a title.
7. No two sentences begin with the same word.
8. No abbreviations, slang or contractions.
9. Check for capital letters and ending punctuation.
10. Write out numbers.
11. Be concise. Omit unnecessary words.
12. Be consistent with grammar.
13. Vary your vocabulary to make your writing more interesting.
14. No “dead words”:
a lot any contraction stuff
bad I stupid
“cause” I believe , think ´till
cool lots you, your
cuz any slang nice
good said get
15. No sentences beginning with:
“And” - use “Additionally”
“But” - use “However”
“So” - use “Furthermore”
“Well” - use nothing!

Shakespeare's 450th birthday: Now all the world is his stage

The 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth was marked by a set of Royal Mail stamps, a gala performance by the recently established Royal Shakespeare Company, a new biography by A L Rowse and a rollicking Anthony Burgess novel about his love life. Fifty years on, this seems like a modest commemoration. It was the Beatles and Disney’s Mary Poppins that were making the cultural running in 1964.

This year, by contrast, it is a racing certainty that every major news outlet in the world will have something to say about the Bard of Avon’s 450th birthday. And this is only prologue to the wall-to-wall programme of celebrations, productions, exhibitions and documentaries being planned for 2016, the quatercentenary of his death. Shakespeare has become a global icon, not merely a local heritage product whose presumed birthday conveniently coincides with St George’s Day.