DR. RAYMOND ROMBONE

Thesis-Dissertation Writing Advice
APA Documentation
Citing Sources

Now retired as an educator, Dr. Raymnond Rombone was, for 35 years, an instructor and the K-12 District Director of English Language Arts, Social Studies, Foreign Languages, ESL, Libraries, Reading, and Compensatory-ed Programs for the Carle Place Union Free School District, Long Island, New York, where he also wrote state and federal grants necessary to fund the district's compensatory programs. As author of the "Carle Place Public Schools Style Sheet for Writers of Research Papers," he regularly updated it according to APA and MLA standards and for on-line and nonstandard sources. The manual was the go-to document for the writing process in general and term papers, argumentative essays, literature essays, and other writing forms in particular. He also developed the school district's portfolio process, which documents the literacy requirement for graduation. In addition, he served in Albany on the New York State Education Department's task force to redesign the New York State Curriculum Standards and overhaul the three-hour English Regents examination; for the latter, he was instrumental in developing the format for the new "Critical Lens" essay question, for which students must develop a literature essay focusing on literary criticism.

SERVICE OFFERINGS
Expert assistance in helping you prepare your written work for excellence using state-of-the-art academic standards and practices (may require committee consent)

Documentation

• Verify your supporting quotations
• Review supporting arguments; advise on missing/weak arguments
• Provide advice on your research
• Review and revise your references/bibliography pages
• Check your facts and inferences

Organization

• Read, review, and analyze your entire manuscript
• Revise/organize your hypothesis, thesis statement, topic sentences, and supporting details
• Format your headings and subheadings
• Rewrite your introduction, conclusion (no ghostwriting)
• Revise your manuscript for clarity, cohesion, and transitions
• Revise your manuscript for orderly presentation of ideas

Content Editing

• Correct your grammar, punctuation, spelling, word use, capitalization, run-on sentences, sentence fragments
• Correct your verb usage, subject- verb agreement
• Correct your use of numbers, hyphenation, and table captions
• Ensure smoothness and economy of expression in your manuscript
• Eliminate jargon, wordiness, redundancy, colloquialisms, errors in voice, and bias language from your writing

Formatting

• Check and revise your title page, table of contents, headings, subheadings, page heads, and appendices
• Check and revise your tables, charts, and graphs

In Addition:

• Incorporate input from your advisors, university committees, university style manuals
• Provide advice on your research
• Strengthen your rhetorical style
• Provide advice and assistance on writing grants

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