Writing for Mr. Walrath

Any paper you write for Mr. Walrath's classes will be evaluated by a rubric that outlines what is being "rated". You should read and understand the rubric before you begin writing to save yourself problems later.

Unless asked for, I do not need to see your prelimiary drafts. I can guarantee that if you turn in a first/preliminary draft as your final product, it will be noticed, and it will reflect in your grade. You need to remember that writing is a process: you pre-write and brainstorm; next you write a preliminary draft; you set that draft aside for a while before you return to it to read and edit/revise; set that draft aside for a while then return to it to read and edit/revise... until you have a product that is acceptable and meets the assignment requirements.

All papers must be word-processed. It doesn't matter if you use Word, Works, WordPerfect, WordStar, or a simple text editor... the paper must be typed/word-processed. All written work except quizzes and tests must conform to Mr. Walrath's Style Guide. Your citations (attributing others' work) may be constructed using the Style Guide, or you may use the on-line Citation Machine.

One very important note about writing and honesty: You must give credit for another's work that you use. This credit includes citing the material within the writing and providing a Works Cited reference for every piece of material, information, data, image, etc. that you do not create yourself from personal experience and knowledge! Failing to do so is called plagiarism, and is also theft. As I am evaluating work, if the writing does not "sound" like your normal writing, I will select a random phrase and web search it. I guarantee that I will find the reference. When this happens, I will schedule a conference with you and your parents; your paper will receive a zero; and you will be assigned an alternate topic to make-up the assignment!