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Hi all,
I had a chance to proof read some papers and I’ve gathered a few common mistakes:
1.     It is preferred not to use pronouns. Example:
a.     At the end of “Red as Blood” we learn that the original “Snow White” fairytale is a lie told by Bianca and her prince.
b.     At the end of “Red as Blood” the reader finds out that the original version of “Snow White” is a lie told by Bianca and her prince.
2.     Do not use sentences that suggest that you might be wrong:
a.     It may be possible that Caspar Grattan is Joel Hetman Sr.
b.     It is suggested in the text that Caspar Grattan is Joel Hetman Sr. “Enter relevant quote here”
c.     Although not clearly stated, it is hinted that Caspar Grattan is Joel Hetman Sr. “Enter relevant quote here”.
3.     Paragraphs should be 5-8 sentences long and should have a concise beginning, middle and end. The following paragraph should be directly related to the previous one.
4.     You may write a sentence that discloses your intentions in writing the paper: “In this text, I will demonstrate how historical and theoretical definitions of fairytales do not necessarily go hand in hand”. However, you do that once. Don’t declare your intentions over and over again: “soon I will explain”. The paper is not about what you are about to say, but rather about what you are saying right now.
5.     Secondary sources not assigned by Prof. Gomel are only good when you know how to use them. If you won’t use them correctly, they will have the opposite effect. There’s definitely no need to use secondary sources which were not assigned by Prof. Gomel/Hadas.  

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Another thing you should notice (this applies to students who are not English native speakers).

In many cases, we tend to automatically translate phrases, sentences from Hebrew/Arabic/Russian/(enter mother tongue here) into English.

One of the most common mistakes are sentences such as:

In his article, "Genres in Discourse" Todorov explains.....

The word "his" here is unnecessary. Sometimes, the word "article" is unnecessary as well.

A good example would be:

In "Genres in Discourse" Todorov explains... (a good sentence if the article has been previously introduced).

In the article "Genres in Discourse" Todorov explain (this is a good sentence if you are just now introducing the article)

I hope this is clear and helpful. I would be more than happy to hear what you have to say and help you with any questions.

Shiran

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And another thing....

It is absolutely crucial that you don't make any spelling mistakes in author names.

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What if I write "Tzvetan Todorov, in his article "Genres in Discourse" explains ..." ?

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I don't understand what you mean by that questions.

the words "in his article" in this sentence are grammatically incorrect and are a direct translation from Hebrew.

A correct form of the sentence should be: In "Genres in Discourse" Tzvetan Todorov explains...