Hey lit, sorry if this isn't appropriate but I had a question

contractions are grammatically legal but not really formal enough for a paper

>>8219213
>grammatically legal

Don't use contractions on a college paper, *especially* not a history paper. Grammar prudery is all most history professors have.

So this is normal? I was honestly thinking of filing a grievance because I got essays failed literally only based on grammar.
Sorry is this sounds retarded I'm an chink stem major and this is pretty confusing for me.

>>8219363
this

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>>8219213
>>8219363
I spent the last year of my writing major trying to emulate the DFW-ist "academic rigor meets informal style and charm" meme (including but not limited to contractions, sentence fragmentations, and inserting myself in order to tell half-funny jokes). Either I went to a really great or a really shit college for getting away with it.

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>>8219213

>>8219213
Lesson learned. No contractions in a formal paper, no first-person reference bullshit ("it seems to me" "I would argue"), no personal anecdotes, no sweeping bullshit claims ("Since the dawn of time" "Victorians were very sexually prudish"), and always cite sources religiously in-text.

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>>8219572

>>8219598
hahahaha

>>8219213
Sounds like pretentious bullshit to me. Many highly intelligent authors, even in the field of history, use contractions. As a matter of fact, the clearest way to write is usually in a similar manner to how one would speak. Imagine that! I'd laugh my ass off if this guy is as much of a dumbass holding ridiculous opinions as I imagine him to be, too.

>>8219213

It's not considered formal

>>8219535

>I got essays failed literally only based on grammar

Was it one of those things where they say "more than two grammar mistakes per page and I fail you automatically" ?

Or was the essay pretty bad already and the grammar mistakes pushed it over the edge?

>an chink stem major

Be thou female, perchance?