The Rules of Essays Before Dr. Kevin will read your essay.

1. No contractions.

2. Write only the four sentence types:

• Simple (one independent clause):

  We drove from Connecticut to Tennessee in one day.

• Compound (more than one independent clause):

  We were exhausted, but we arrived in time for my father's birthday party.

• Complex (one independent clause and at least one dependent clause):

  Although he is now 79 years old, he still claims to be 65.

• Compound-complex (more than one independent clause and at least one dependent clause):

  After it was all over, my dad claimed he knew we were planning something, but we think he was really surprised.

3. No exclamation points!

4. Try transition words or conjunctive adverbs at the beginning of a paragraph.