rules for writing college essays

Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

College admissions essays are an important part of your college application and gives you the chance to show colleges and universities your character and experiences. This guide will give you tips to write an effective college essay.

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Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

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• How to structure an essay: Templates and tips

How to Structure an Essay | Tips & Templates

Published on September 18, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction , a body , and a conclusion . But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body.

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Table of contents

The basics of essay structure, chronological structure, compare-and-contrast structure, problems-methods-solutions structure, signposting to clarify your structure, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay structure.

There are two main things to keep in mind when working on your essay structure: making sure to include the right information in each part, and deciding how you’ll organize the information within the body.

Parts of an essay

The three parts that make up all essays are described in the table below.

Order of information

You’ll also have to consider how to present information within the body. There are a few general principles that can guide you here.

The first is that your argument should move from the simplest claim to the most complex . The body of a good argumentative essay often begins with simple and widely accepted claims, and then moves towards more complex and contentious ones.

For example, you might begin by describing a generally accepted philosophical concept, and then apply it to a new topic. The grounding in the general concept will allow the reader to understand your unique application of it.

The second principle is that background information should appear towards the beginning of your essay . General background is presented in the introduction. If you have additional background to present, this information will usually come at the start of the body.

The third principle is that everything in your essay should be relevant to the thesis . Ask yourself whether each piece of information advances your argument or provides necessary background. And make sure that the text clearly expresses each piece of information’s relevance.

The sections below present several organizational templates for essays: the chronological approach, the compare-and-contrast approach, and the problems-methods-solutions approach.

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The chronological approach (sometimes called the cause-and-effect approach) is probably the simplest way to structure an essay. It just means discussing events in the order in which they occurred, discussing how they are related (i.e. the cause and effect involved) as you go.

A chronological approach can be useful when your essay is about a series of events. Don’t rule out other approaches, though—even when the chronological approach is the obvious one, you might be able to bring out more with a different structure.

Explore the tabs below to see a general template and a specific example outline from an essay on the invention of the printing press.

• Thesis statement
• Discussion of event/period
• Consequences
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement
• Claim that the printing press marks the end of the Middle Ages
• Background on the low levels of literacy before the printing press
• Thesis statement: The invention of the printing press increased circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation
• High levels of illiteracy in medieval Europe
• Literacy and thus knowledge and education were mainly the domain of religious and political elites
• Consequence: this discouraged political and religious change
• Invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg
• Implications of the new technology for book production
• Consequence: Rapid spread of the technology and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible
• Trend for translating the Bible into vernacular languages during the years following the printing press’s invention
• Luther’s own translation of the Bible during the Reformation
• Consequence: The large-scale effects the Reformation would have on religion and politics
• Summarize the history described
• Stress the significance of the printing press to the events of this period

Essays with two or more main subjects are often structured around comparing and contrasting . For example, a literary analysis essay might compare two different texts, and an argumentative essay might compare the strengths of different arguments.

There are two main ways of structuring a compare-and-contrast essay: the alternating method, and the block method.

Alternating

In the alternating method, each paragraph compares your subjects in terms of a specific point of comparison. These points of comparison are therefore what defines each paragraph.

The tabs below show a general template for this structure, and a specific example for an essay comparing and contrasting distance learning with traditional classroom learning.

• Synthesis of arguments
• Topical relevance of distance learning in lockdown
• Increasing prevalence of distance learning over the last decade
• Thesis statement: While distance learning has certain advantages, it introduces multiple new accessibility issues that must be addressed for it to be as effective as classroom learning
• Classroom learning: Ease of identifying difficulties and privately discussing them
• Distance learning: Difficulty of noticing and unobtrusively helping
• Classroom learning: Difficulties accessing the classroom (disability, distance travelled from home)
• Distance learning: Difficulties with online work (lack of tech literacy, unreliable connection, distractions)
• Classroom learning: Tends to encourage personal engagement among students and with teacher, more relaxed social environment
• Distance learning: Greater ability to reach out to teacher privately
• Sum up, emphasize that distance learning introduces more difficulties than it solves
• Stress the importance of addressing issues with distance learning as it becomes increasingly common
• Distance learning may prove to be the future, but it still has a long way to go

In the block method, each subject is covered all in one go, potentially across multiple paragraphs. For example, you might write two paragraphs about your first subject and then two about your second subject, making comparisons back to the first.

The tabs again show a general template, followed by another essay on distance learning, this time with the body structured in blocks.

• Point 1 (compare)
• Point 2 (compare)
• Point 3 (compare)
• Point 4 (compare)
• Advantages: Flexibility, accessibility
• Disadvantages: Discomfort, challenges for those with poor internet or tech literacy
• Advantages: Potential for teacher to discuss issues with a student in a separate private call
• Disadvantages: Difficulty of identifying struggling students and aiding them unobtrusively, lack of personal interaction among students
• Advantages: More accessible to those with low tech literacy, equality of all sharing one learning environment
• Disadvantages: Students must live close enough to attend, commutes may vary, classrooms not always accessible for disabled students
• Advantages: Ease of picking up on signs a student is struggling, more personal interaction among students
• Disadvantages: May be harder for students to approach teacher privately in person to raise issues

An essay that concerns a specific problem (practical or theoretical) may be structured according to the problems-methods-solutions approach.

This is just what it sounds like: You define the problem, characterize a method or theory that may solve it, and finally analyze the problem, using this method or theory to arrive at a solution. If the problem is theoretical, the solution might be the analysis you present in the essay itself; otherwise, you might just present a proposed solution.

The tabs below show a template for this structure and an example outline for an essay about the problem of fake news.

• Introduce the problem
• Provide background
• Describe your approach to solving it
• Define the problem precisely
• Describe why it’s important
• Indicate previous approaches to the problem
• Present your new approach, and why it’s better
• Apply the new method or theory to the problem
• Indicate the solution you arrive at by doing so
• Assess (potential or actual) effectiveness of solution
• Describe the implications
• Problem: The growth of “fake news” online
• Prevalence of polarized/conspiracy-focused news sources online
• Thesis statement: Rather than attempting to stamp out online fake news through social media moderation, an effective approach to combating it must work with educational institutions to improve media literacy
• Definition: Deliberate disinformation designed to spread virally online
• Popularization of the term, growth of the phenomenon
• Previous approaches: Labeling and moderation on social media platforms
• Critique: This approach feeds conspiracies; the real solution is to improve media literacy so users can better identify fake news
• Greater emphasis should be placed on media literacy education in schools
• This allows people to assess news sources independently, rather than just being told which ones to trust
• This is a long-term solution but could be highly effective
• It would require significant organization and investment, but would equip people to judge news sources more effectively
• Rather than trying to contain the spread of fake news, we must teach the next generation not to fall for it

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Signposting means guiding the reader through your essay with language that describes or hints at the structure of what follows.  It can help you clarify your structure for yourself as well as helping your reader follow your ideas.

The essay overview

In longer essays whose body is split into multiple named sections, the introduction often ends with an overview of the rest of the essay. This gives a brief description of the main idea or argument of each section.

The overview allows the reader to immediately understand what will be covered in the essay and in what order. Though it describes what  comes later in the text, it is generally written in the present tense . The following example is from a literary analysis essay on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

Transitions

Transition words and phrases are used throughout all good essays to link together different ideas. They help guide the reader through your text, and an essay that uses them effectively will be much easier to follow.

Various different relationships can be expressed by transition words, as shown in this example.

Because Hitler failed to respond to the British ultimatum, France and the UK declared war on Germany. Although it was an outcome the Allies had hoped to avoid, they were prepared to back up their ultimatum in order to combat the existential threat posed by the Third Reich.

Transition sentences may be included to transition between different paragraphs or sections of an essay. A good transition sentence moves the reader on to the next topic while indicating how it relates to the previous one.

… Distance learning, then, seems to improve accessibility in some ways while representing a step backwards in others.

However , considering the issue of personal interaction among students presents a different picture.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

• Choosing Essay Topic
• Write a College Essay
• Write a Diversity Essay
• College Essay Format & Structure
• Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

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The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

An essay isn’t just a loose collection of facts and ideas. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument (summarized in your thesis statement ) that every part of the essay relates to.

The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point.

Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:

• The alternating method, where you compare your subjects side by side according to one specific aspect at a time.
• The block method, where you cover each subject separately in its entirety.

It’s also possible to combine both methods, for example by writing a full paragraph on each of your topics and then a final paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

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12 Strategies to Writing the Perfect College Essay

College admission committees sift through thousands of college essays each year. Here’s how to make yours stand out.

Pamela Reynolds

When it comes to deciding who they will admit into their programs, colleges consider many criteria, including high school grades, extracurricular activities, and ACT and SAT scores. But in recent years, more colleges are no longer considering test scores.

Instead, many (including Harvard through 2026) are opting for “test-blind” admission policies that give more weight to other elements in a college application. This policy change is seen as fairer to students who don’t have the means or access to testing, or who suffer from test anxiety.

So, what does this mean for you?

Simply that your college essay, traditionally a requirement of any college application, is more important than ever.

A college essay is your unique opportunity to introduce yourself to admissions committees who must comb through thousands of applications each year. It is your chance to stand out as someone worthy of a seat in that classroom.

A well-written and thoughtful essay—reflecting who you are and what you believe—can go a long way to separating your application from the slew of forgettable ones that admissions officers read. Indeed, officers may rely on them even more now that many colleges are not considering test scores.

Below we’ll discuss a few strategies you can use to help your essay stand out from the pack. We’ll touch on how to start your essay, what you should write for your college essay, and elements that make for a great college essay.

Be Authentic

More than any other consideration, you should choose a topic or point of view that is consistent with who you truly are.

Readers can sense when writers are inauthentic.

Inauthenticity could mean the use of overly flowery language that no one would ever use in conversation, or it could mean choosing an inconsequential topic that reveals very little about who you are.

Use your own voice, sense of humor, and a natural way of speaking.

Whatever subject you choose, make sure it’s something that’s genuinely important to you and not a subject you’ve chosen just to impress. You can write about a specific experience, hobby, or personality quirk that illustrates your strengths, but also feel free to write about your weaknesses.

Honesty about traits, situations, or a childhood background that you are working to improve may resonate with the reader more strongly than a glib victory speech.

Grab the Reader From the Start

You’ll be competing with so many other applicants for an admission officer’s attention.

Therefore, start your essay with an opening sentence or paragraph that immediately seizes the imagination. This might be a bold statement, a thoughtful quote, a question you pose, or a descriptive scene.

Starting your essay in a powerful way with a clear thesis statement can often help you along in the writing process. If your task is to tell a good story, a bold beginning can be a natural prelude to getting there, serving as a roadmap, engaging the reader from the start, and presenting the purpose of your writing.

Focus on Deeper Themes

Some essay writers think they will impress committees by loading an essay with facts, figures, and descriptions of activities, like wins in sports or descriptions of volunteer work. But that’s not the point.

College admissions officers are interested in learning more about who you are as a person and what makes you tick.

They want to know what has brought you to this stage in life. They want to read about realizations you may have come to through adversity as well as your successes, not just about how many games you won while on the soccer team or how many people you served at a soup kitchen.

Let the reader know how winning the soccer game helped you develop as a person, friend, family member, or leader. Make a connection with your soup kitchen volunteerism and how it may have inspired your educational journey and future aspirations. What did you discover about yourself?

Show Don’t Tell

As you expand on whatever theme you’ve decided to explore in your essay, remember to show, don’t tell.

The most engaging writing “shows” by setting scenes and providing anecdotes, rather than just providing a list of accomplishments and activities.

Reciting a list of activities is also boring. An admissions officer will want to know about the arc of your emotional journey too.

Try Doing Something Different

If you want your essay to stand out, think about approaching your subject from an entirely new perspective. While many students might choose to write about their wins, for instance, what if you wrote an essay about what you learned from all your losses?

If you are an especially talented writer, you might play with the element of surprise by crafting an essay that leaves the response to a question to the very last sentence.

You may want to stay away from well-worn themes entirely, like a sports-related obstacle or success, volunteer stories, immigration stories, moving, a summary of personal achievements or overcoming obstacles.

However, such themes are popular for a reason. They represent the totality of most people’s lives coming out of high school. Therefore, it may be less important to stay away from these topics than to take a fresh approach.

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Write With the Reader in Mind

Writing for the reader means building a clear and logical argument in which one thought flows naturally from another.

Use transitions between paragraphs.

Think about any information you may have left out that the reader may need to know. Are there ideas you have included that do not help illustrate your theme?

Be sure you can answer questions such as: Does what you have written make sense? Is the essay organized? Does the opening grab the reader? Is there a strong ending? Have you given enough background information? Is it wordy?

Write Several Drafts

Set your essay aside for a few days and come back to it after you’ve had some time to forget what you’ve written. Often, you’ll discover you have a whole new perspective that enhances your ability to make revisions.

Start writing months before your essay is due to give yourself enough time to write multiple drafts. A good time to start could be as early as the summer before your senior year when homework and extracurricular activities take up less time.

Read It Aloud

Writer’s tip : Reading your essay aloud can instantly uncover passages that sound clumsy, long-winded, or false.

Don’t Repeat

If you’ve mentioned an activity, story, or anecdote in some other part of your application, don’t repeat it again in your essay.

Your essay should tell college admissions officers something new. Whatever you write in your essay should be in philosophical alignment with the rest of your application.

Also, be sure you’ve answered whatever question or prompt may have been posed to you at the outset.

Ask Others to Read Your Essay

Be sure the people you ask to read your essay represent different demographic groups—a teacher, a parent, even a younger sister or brother.

Ask each reader what they took from the essay and listen closely to what they have to say. If anyone expresses confusion, revise until the confusion is cleared up.

Pay Attention to Form

Although there are often no strict word limits for college essays, most essays are shorter rather than longer. Common App, which students can use to submit to multiple colleges, suggests that essays stay at about 650 words.

“While we won’t as a rule stop reading after 650 words, we cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention for as long as you’d hoped it would,” the Common App website states.

In reviewing other technical aspects of your essay, be sure that the font is readable, that the margins are properly spaced, that any dialogue is set off properly, and that there is enough spacing at the top. Your essay should look clean and inviting to readers.

End Your Essay With a “Kicker”

In journalism, a kicker is the last punchy line, paragraph, or section that brings everything together.

It provides a lasting impression that leaves the reader satisfied and impressed by the points you have artfully woven throughout your piece.

So, here’s our kicker: Be concise and coherent, engage in honest self-reflection, and include vivid details and anecdotes that deftly illustrate your point.

While writing a fantastic essay may not guarantee you get selected, it can tip the balance in your favor if admissions officers are considering a candidate with a similar GPA and background.

Write, revise, revise again, and good luck!

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10 Guidelines for Highly Readable College Essays

You’ve probably had this happen to you — after reading for a long time, the lines start to blur together, and you look at the words on the page, but they don’t register in your brain. 

Admissions officers deal with this daily, as they have to scan through thousands of applications each cycle. The volume of applications makes it all the more important to write an essay that’s highly readable, both in terms of physical readability, and how engaging your story is. 

In this post, we’ll share our top 10 tips for writing a college essay that will make admissions officers pay attention.

How to Write a Readable College Essay

1. start your essay with an engaging introduction..

Do you sometimes close out of a video or article because the introduction was boring? With so many things vying for our attention in the modern world, it’s important for introductions to grab our attention right away. This is equally true for college essays.

You want the first lines of your essay to make us want to read more. Some ways to do that are using dialogue, or starting your essay in media res , in the middle of action. 

Here’s an example of an essay introduction that uses dialogue and the technique of in media res .

“1…2…3…4 pirouettes! New record!” My friends cheered as I landed my turns. Pleased with my progress, I gazed down at my worn-out pointe shoes. The sweltering blisters, numbing ice-baths, and draining late-night practices did not seem so bad after all. Next goal: five turns.

And here’s an example of an essay that begins in media res :

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the garb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire. 

You’ll see that with these introductions, we’re plunged into the writer’s world, and we get to observe the moment as it’s happening. This makes it easier to relate to the writer, and also makes us wonder what happens next in the story.

2. Break up long paragraphs.

No one wants to read a huge block of text, and this can be another deterrent from paying attention to your essay. The ideal paragraph length is 3-5 sentences, or 50-100 words. This allows you to separate your ideas and to include natural breaks in your writing. 

For example, let’s take a look again at the previous excerpt from a student’s essay on starting a fire. The introduction would’ve been easier to read with a new paragraph beginning with the “As a child” line. This line is a fitting place to separate paragraphs, as it goes from the present moment to a description of the writer’s childhood.

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the garb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears.

As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire.

As you read your draft, go through and see if there are any places you could naturally begin a new paragraph, especially if your paragraphs are long. On the flip side, do make sure that not every paragraph is super short. While having one or two standalone lines is fine for dramatic effect, it can look gimmicky to have too many, and it will also diminish their impact.

3. Include dialogue in your anecdotes to bring readers into the moment. 

Dialogue is a powerful tool not only at the beginning of your essay, but also throughout. You can and should use it any time you want to draw attention to what specifically was said, or to bring your essay to a specific moment. 

Using dialogue tends to be much more engaging than summarizing what was said in your own words. Take this excerpt as an example:

No dialogue: My brother told me that I ruined his life. After months of quiet anger, my brother finally confronted me. To my shame, I had been appallingly ignorant of his pain.

With dialogue: “You ruined my life!” After months of quiet anger, my brother finally confronted me. To my shame, I had been appallingly ignorant of his pain.

Between the two excerpts, the first feels more like a summary of events than a real glimpse into the writer’s life. Adding dialogue takes the reader to the specific moment that the brother actually uttered those words. 

Of course, dialogue should also be used judiciously, as dialogue can’t always reveal important details like your thoughts during a conversation, what the setting was like, or how you felt. Too much of anything is never a good thing, even if it’s a useful writing technique. (Of course, you could make your essay primarily dialogue if you write it in the form of a script for a movie, but that’s a whole other story).

4. Show, don’t tell. 

You may also know this technique as “indirect characterization” from your English class. If you want to describe a personality trait or event, highlight it through your actions, thoughts, and feelings instead of explicitly stating it. Otherwise, your essay will just read like a report of your experiences, which is boring. 

Here’s an example: say you want to say that someone is arrogant. 

If you were “telling” or “directly characterizing” them, you’d write: Bill is arrogant.

If you were “showing” or “indirectly characterizing,” you’d write: Bill swaggered into the meeting late, with his perpetual sly grin. He shooed the presenter away and shut off the projector. “Hey my dudes, I have a killer idea you just won’t believe. It’s my greatest idea yet, and it’s gonna change the world.” Accustomed to Bill’s exaggerated claims, those in attendance gave each other knowing looks.

While the second version is longer, it gives us a better understanding of Bill’s personality, and it’s much easier to relate to the situation. Simply stating that someone is X or Y trait, or summarizing how something happened, is much less illustrative. As you’re writing, think about ways you can use anecdotes to convey what you want, as these are more engaging.

5. Use impeccable grammar and spelling.

This should go without saying, especially since college admissions officers also use your essay to gauge your writing skills. If your essay has several misspelled words or uses improper grammar, it could make an otherwise engaging essay unreadable.

Use spell check, take the time to proofread carefully, and ask others to give you feedback. And before you submit, print your essay out and read it aloud with a pen in your hand. You’d be surprised at the typos you catch. After you read a document over and over, you start to fill in the words that should be there, and can easily miss a mistake.

6. Vary the length of your sentences.

The best essays flow almost rhythmically. If you use too many short sentences, your essay will feel choppy. If all your sentences are long, readers may get lost or bored. 

You don’t have to alternate short or long sentences in a robotic pattern, but try to naturally incorporate varied sentence length. Similar to the tip about paragraph length, break up any sections with many long sentences by creating new, shorter sentences out of the originals. To do this effectively, choose points where the writing shifts, whether that’s in terms of ideas, time periods, or the subject.

7. Make sure that your essay is logically consistent throughout.

It’s important that different parts of your essay don’t contradict each other. For example, if you describe yourself as shy in one section, don’t paint yourself as outgoing later on, unless it’s clear there was a period of change or personal growth. 

This point is especially important if you’re writing a more academic essay, like the fourth Common App prompt . This prompt asks you to describe a problem you’d like to solve, its personal significance, and potential solutions. Say you want to write your essay on food waste, and your argument is that most of the waste is happening at the production/corporate level, and is due to improper distribution. In this case, don’t write your entire essay on ways individuals can reduce their food waste.

8. Be consistent with your use of slang, acronyms, etc.

Similarly, your language should be as consistent as possible. For example if you use an acronym to describe an organization, you might spell it out the first time with the acronym in parentheses, i.e. “National Honor Society (NHS),” but use the acronym the rest of the time. 

Or, if you use slang like “gonna” in your dialogue, keep using it in the rest of the dialogue, unless the person speaking actually has a more formal tone (which you should make clear). Of course, keep in mind that you probably shouldn’t be using slang like “gonna” in parts of your essay that aren’t dialogue. 

You can, however, use contractions, and they can be a great way to not only lower your character count, but also make your essay feel more conversational. Just be sure to stay consistent with them as well.

9. Avoid excessive repetition of words and phrases.

If you find yourself using the same word over and over again in your essay, consider using synonyms, or rephrasing the sentence. An exception, of course, would be repetition for emphasis. In that case, it should be clear that the repetition is intentional. Otherwise, using the same words and phrases can come off as lazy, and your writing can seem unpolished.

10. Make sure that your verb tenses are consistent. 

Use the same tense throughout your essay, or make sure that there are clear lines of demarcation where you shift tenses. There are few reasons to need to shift tenses, but the most common one is incorporating flashbacks into your essay, or changing time periods. In that case, it would make sense to use present tense for the most recent time period, and past tense for the less recent one.

Here’s an example of an essay that does a good job shifting tenses:

Night had robbed the academy of its daytime colors, yet there was comfort in the dim lights that cast shadows of our advances against the bare studio walls. Silhouettes of roundhouse kicks, spin crescent kicks, uppercuts and the occasional butterfly kick danced while we sparred. She approached me, eyes narrowed with the trace of a smirk challenging me. “Ready spar!” Her arm began an upward trajectory targeting my shoulder, a common first move. I sidestepped — only to almost collide with another flying fist. Pivoting my right foot, I snapped my left leg, aiming my heel at her midsection. The center judge raised one finger. 

There was no time to celebrate, not in the traditional sense at least. Master Pollard gave a brief command greeted with a unanimous “Yes, sir” and the thud of 20 hands dropping-down-and-giving-him-30, while the “winners” celebrated their victory with laps as usual. 

Three years ago, seven-thirty in the evening meant I was a warrior. It meant standing up straighter, pushing a little harder, “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am”, celebrating birthdays by breaking boards, never pointing your toes, and familiarity. Three years later, seven-thirty in the morning meant I was nervous. 

The room is uncomfortably large. The sprung floor soaks up the checkerboard of sunlight piercing through the colonial windows. The mirrored walls further illuminate the studio and I feel the light scrutinizing my sorry attempts at a pas de bourrée, while capturing the organic fluidity of the dancers around me. “Chassé en croix, grand battement, pique, pirouette.” I follow the graceful limbs of the woman in front of me, her legs floating ribbons, as she executes what seems to be a perfect ronds de jambes. Each movement remains a negotiation. With admirable patience, Ms. Tan casts me a sympathetic glance.   

There is no time to wallow in the misery that is my right foot. Taekwondo calls for dorsiflexion; pointed toes are synonymous with broken toes. My thoughts drag me into a flashback of the usual response to this painful mistake: “You might as well grab a tutu and head to the ballet studio next door.” Well, here I am Master Pollard, unfortunately still following your orders to never point my toes, but no longer feeling the satisfaction that comes with being a third degree black belt with 5 years of experience quite literally under her belt. It’s like being a white belt again — just in a leotard and ballet slippers. 

But the appetite for new beginnings that brought me here doesn’t falter. It is only reinforced by the classical rendition of “Dancing Queen” that floods the room and the ghost of familiarity that reassures me that this new beginning does not and will not erase the past. After years spent at the top, it’s hard to start over. But surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become. In Taekwondo, we started each class reciting the tenets: honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet. 

The thing about change is that it eventually stops making things so different. After nine different schools, four different countries, three different continents, fluency in Tamil, Norwegian, and English, there are more blurred lines than there are clear fragments. My life has not been a tactfully executed, gold medal-worthy Taekwondo form with each movement defined, nor has it been a series of frappés performed by a prima ballerina with each extension identical and precise, but thankfully it has been like the dynamics of a spinning back kick, fluid, and like my chances of landing a pirouette, unpredictable.

The shift of tenses in this essay is very clear, and it marks a transition from seven years ago to the present day.

Final Thoughts

The readability of your essay is just as important as the content. If your essay is hard to read, it’s unlikely that admissions officers will pay attention. Follow these tips to present your essay in the best possible light, and to make it as engaging as possible. With that, we wish you the best of luck on your essays!

For more inspiration and advice on your college essays, check out these posts:

How to Format and Structure Your College Essay

11 Cliché College Essay Topics + How to Fix Them

How to Use Literary Devices to Enhance Your Essay

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

13 Rules for Writing Good Essays

To write a good essay, you have to make your message clear..

Posted March 7, 2018 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

To write a good university essay you have to make your message clear. This means organizing your key points, supporting them with a series of evidence-based arguments, and wrapping it all up at the end so the reader knows what they've learned. To do this well, you need to take the reader's perspective. If you can see what might trip them up as they read your work, then you can avoid pitfalls that will confuse or bore them. Here are some tips to help you avoid the easy pitfalls. Once understood, these rules can be broken. But if you're unclear on how to approach your writing, these tips can help.

1. Your opening paragraph should clearly describe what you are going to discuss in the essay. These three things are vital: What’s the thesis (or problem), why is it important, and how are you going to address it? If you have each of those items in your opening paragraph your reader will know what they are reading, why they are reading it, and what they can expect to get out of it.

2. Organize the essay so that it covers a set list of subtopics that each support your main thesis. If it's a long essay, you should break it up into sections with headings that focus on specific subtopics. Introduce these topics in the opening paragraph of the essay (see 1 above). Overall, you want to organize information so it is easy to understand and remember.

3. Start paragraphs with opening sentences that explain what the paragraph is going to say. Then write sentences that follow one from the other and are easy to read. Avoid paragraphs that are too long, that read like lists, or that have no main thesis. Summarize complex paragraphs with concise sentences that explain what the paragraph said.

4. Create transitions between paragraphs so that one paragraph follows from the next. You are trying to make it all easy to understand for your reader. The more organized your writing, the more clearly you will understand and communicate your own ideas.

5. Make your sentences work. Avoid long sentences. When in doubt, break long sentences into smaller sentences. Avoid sentences that are repetitive and don't provide new information. Throw away weak and empty sentences ("Angioplasty is an important procedure." "Emotions are a central element in people's lives."). Sentences also need to be crystal clear. You can check for clarity by making sure they read well. Read them out loud to yourself or have someone else read them out loud to you.

6. Explain novel terms (jargon) when you introduce them . Don’t assume your reader knows what terms mean. Avoid jargon except where it communicates key concepts. Imagine the reader knows less about the topic than you do.

7. In science writing, you can use synonyms for key concepts only when you are first explaining them. After that, use the same word every time to refer to the idea. For example, you might want to write, 'affect,' and then 'emotions,' and then 'feelings.' If you use different words every time you refer to an idea, your reader will get confused. Define a term and then use it consistently.

8. Be careful when you use words like ‘this’ or ‘that’ or ‘their’ or ‘those’ or 'these' or 'they.' These words are often not as tightly connected to what they reference as you think. Check every one of them and see if you can rewrite it more clearly. When you use *these* words carelessly, your reader will need to think more to understand what you are referring to. *That* will break the flow and make it harder to understand what you're actually try to say. *They* (the readers) won't know who you're referring to. By simply stating what you are referring to specifically, you make your writing clear. It is better to be repetitive than unclear.

9. Use concrete information. Concrete information is powerful, is appealing, it is easier to understand, and it sticks in people's memory . Concrete information includes things like examples, statistics, quotes, facts, and other details. The more sentences that go by without communicating new concrete information or ideas that develop your thesis, the more likely your reader is to get bored .

10. If you have an interesting idea, check to see if someone else has already had it. If they have, cite them. Chances are someone has at least hinted at your clever insight, and you can use them as a springboard to say something even more interesting. This will demonstrate scholarship and an understanding of the broader context.

11. Make sure everything is relevant. Don’t include random facts that are not relevant. Don't include extra words that you don't need ("actually," "very," "in many ways," "the fact that"). Don't include paragraphs that have lots of cool facts if they aren't related to your central thesis. These slow down your reader and confuse them because they expect to hear content that is related to your theme. After you write a first draft (where you are just trying to get ideas down on paper), see what you can cut out to focus your argument on what matters.

12. The very best essays provide their own critique. End with something like this before the final summary: Provide criticism of your key point (appropriately referenced). Then provide criticism of the criticizer that you referenced (with another reference). If you can do this well, then in most instances you will have demonstrated thorough understanding of the issues. After this, provide your conclusion.

13. In the conclusion, take a position, make a prediction, or propose some future actions (an experiment, an implication, a new question to be addressed, etc). Summarize your thesis and the evidence you’ve provided in a concise way without being wishy-washy.

You might also be interested in my top 10 job interview tips or top 10 science-based study skills.

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Thomas T. Hills, Ph.D. , is a professor of psychology at University of Warwick.

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H 1 . Introduction

This handbook is a brief yet comprehensive reference for you to consult as you write papers and other assignments for a college course. You can refer to it as you draft paragraphs and polish sentences for clarity, conciseness, and point of view. You can read it to learn how to identify and revise common sentence errors and confused words. You can use it to help you edit your writing and fine-tune your use of verbs, pronouns, punctuation, and mechanics. And you can have it open as you integrate and cite quotations as well as other source material in your papers in MLA or APA style.

Designed as a reference tool, the handbook is organized to help you get answers to your questions. You do not need to read the entire handbook to get helpful information from it. For example, if your instructor has noted that you need to work on comma splices, you can refer to Sentence Errors , before you turn in a final draft of your writing. If you know you frequently misuse commas, refer to Punctuation , and check your sentences against the advice there. And if you, like many writers, can’t remember which punctuation marks go inside and outside quotation marks, refer to Quotations . Becoming familiar with the handbook and the various topics will allow you to use it efficiently.

H 2 . Paragraphs and Transitions

Paragraphs help readers make their way through prose writing by presenting it in manageable chunks. Transitions link sentences and paragraphs so that readers can clearly understand how the points you are making relate to one another. (See Editing Focus: Paragraph and Transitions for a related discussion of paragraphs and transitions. See Evaluation: Transitions for a related discussion of transitions in multimodal compositions.)

Effective Paragraphs

Paragraphs are guides for readers. Each new paragraph signals either a new idea, further development of an existing idea, or a new direction. An effective paragraph has a main point supported by evidence, is organized in a sensible way, and is neither too short nor too long. When a paragraph is too short, it often lacks enough evidence and examples to back up your claims. When a paragraph is too long, readers can lose the point you are making.

Developing a Main Point

A paragraph is easier to write and easier to read when it centers on a main point. The main point of the paragraph is usually expressed in a topic sentence . The topic sentence frequently comes at the start of the paragraph, but not always. No matter the position, however, the other sentences in the paragraph support the main point.

Supporting Evidence and Analysis

All the sentences that develop the paragraph should support or expand on the main point given in the topic sentence. Depending on the type of writing you are doing, support may include evidence from sources—such as facts, statistics, and expert opinions—as well as examples from your own experience. Paragraphs also may include an analysis of your evidence written in your own words. The analysis explains the significance of the evidence to the reader and reinforces the main point of the paragraph.

In the following example, the topic sentence is underlined. The supporting evidence discussed through cause-and-effect reasoning comes in the next three sentences. The paragraph concludes with two sentences of analysis in the writer’s own words.

underline Millions of retired Americans rely on Social Security benefits to make ends meet after they turn 65. end underline According to the Social Security Administration, about 46 million retired workers receive benefits, a number that reflects about 90 percent of retired people. Although experts disagree on the exact numbers, somewhere between 12 percent and 40 percent of retirees count on social security for all of their income, making these benefits especially important (Konish). These benefits become more important as people age. According to Eisenberg, people who reach the age of 85 become more financially vulnerable because their health care and long-term care costs increase at the same time their savings have been drawn down. It should therefore come as no surprise that people worry about changes to the program. Social Security keeps millions of retired Americans out of poverty.

Opening Paragraphs

Readers pay attention to the opening of a piece of writing, so make it work for you. After starting with a descriptive title, write an opening paragraph that grabs readers’ attention and alerts them to what’s coming. A strong opening paragraph provides the first clues about your subject and your stance. In academic writing, whether argumentative, interpretative, or informative, the introduction often ends with a clear thesis statement , a declarative sentence that states the topic, the angle you are taking, and the aspects of the topic the rest of the paper will support.

Depending on the type of writing you’re doing, you can open in a variety of ways.

• Open with a conflict or an action. If you’re writing about conflict, a good opening may be to spell out what the conflict is. This way of opening captures attention by creating a kind of suspense: Will the conflict be resolved? How will it be resolved?
• Open with a specific detail, statistic, or quotation. Specific information shows that you know a lot about your subject and piques readers’ curiosity. The more dramatic your information, the more it will draw in readers, as long as what you provide is credible.
• Open with an anecdote. Readers enjoy stories. Particularly for reflective or personal narrative writing, beginning with a story sets the scene and draws in readers. You may also begin the anecdote with dialogue or reflection.

The following introduction opens with an anecdote and ends with the thesis statement, which is underlined.

Betty stood outside the salon, wondering how to get in. It was June of 2020, and the door was locked. A sign posted on the door provided a phone number for her to call to be let in, but at 81, Betty had lived her life without a cell phone. Betty’s day-to-day life had been hard during the pandemic, but she had planned for this haircut and was looking forward to it: she had a mask on and hand sanitizer in her car. Now she couldn’t get in the door, and she was discouraged. In that moment, Betty realized how much Americans’ dependence on cell phones had grown in the months she and millions of others had been forced to stay at home. underline Betty and thousands of other senior citizens who could not afford cell phones or did not have the technological skills and support they needed were being left behind in a society that was increasingly reliant on technology end underline .

Closing Paragraphs

The conclusion is your final chance to make the point of your writing stick in readers’ minds by reinforcing what they have read. Depending on the purpose for your writing and your audience, you can summarize your main points and restate your thesis, draw a logical conclusion, speculate about the issues you have raised, or recommend a course of action, as shown in the following conclusion:

Although many senior citizens purchased and learned new technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant number of older people like Betty were unable to buy and/or learn the technology they needed to keep them connected to the people and services they needed. As society becomes increasingly dependent on technology, social service agencies, religious institutions, medical providers, senior centers, and other organizations that serve the elderly need to be equipped to help them access and become proficient in the technologies essential to their daily lives.

Transitions

Transitional words and phrases show the connections or relationships between sentences and paragraphs and help your writing flow smoothly from one idea to the next.

A paragraph flows when ideas are organized logically and sentences move smoothly from one to the next. Transitional words and phrases help your writing flow by signaling to readers what’s coming in the next sentence. In the paragraph below, the topic sentence and transitional words and phrases are underlined.

underline Some companies court the public by mentioning environmental problems and pointing out that they do not contribute to these problems. end underline underline For example end underline , the natural gas industry often presents natural gas as a good alternative to coal. underline However end underline , according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the drilling and extraction of natural gas from wells and transporting it through pipelines leaks methane, a major cause of global warming (“Environmental Impacts”). underline Yet end underline leaks are rarely mentioned by the industry. By taking credit for problems they don’t cause and being silent on the ones they do, companies present a favorable environmental image that often obscures the truth.

Transitional Words and Phrases

Following are some transitional words and phrases and their functions in paragraphs. Use this list when drafting or revising to help guide readers through your writing. (See Editing Focus: Paragraphs and Transitions for another discussion on transitions.)

H 3 . Clear and Effective Sentences

This section will help you write strong sentences that convey your meaning clearly and concisely. See Editing Focus: Sentence Structure for a related discussion and practice on effective sentences.

The most emphatic place in a sentence is the end. To achieve the strongest emphasis, end with the idea you want readers to remember. Place introductory, less important, or contextual information earlier in the sentence. Consider the differences in these two sentences.

Less Emphatic Angel underline needs to start now end underline if he wants to have an impact on his sister’s life. More Emphatic If Angel wants to have an impact on his sister’s life, he underline needs to start now end underline .

Concrete Nouns

General nouns name broad classes or categories of things ( man, dog, city ); concrete nouns refer to particular things ( Michael, collie, Chicago ). Concrete nouns provide a more vivid and lively reading experience because they create stronger images that activate readers’ senses. The examples below show how concrete nouns, combined with specific details, can make writing more engaging.

All General Nouns Approaching the library, I see underline people end underline and underline dogs end underline milling about underline outside end underline , but no subjects to write about. I’m tired from my underline walk end underline and go inside. Revised with Concrete Nouns Approaching underline Brandon Library end underline , I see underline skateboarders end underline and underline bikers end underline weaving through underline students end underline who talk in underline clusters end underline on the underline library steps end underline . A friendly underline collie end underline waits for its owner to return. Subjects to write about? Nothing strikes me as especially interesting. Besides, my heart is still pounding from the walk up the hill. I wipe my sweaty underline forehead end underline and go inside.

Active Voice

Active voice refers to the way a writer uses verbs in a sentence. Verbs have two “voices”: active and passive. In the active voice , the subject of the sentence acts—the subject performs the action of the verb. In the passive voice , the subject receives the action, and the object actually becomes the subject. Although some passive sentences are necessary and clear, a paper full of passive-voice constructions lacks vitality and becomes wordy.

Active-voice verbs make something happen. By using active verbs wherever possible, you will create stronger, clearer, and more concise sentences.

Passive Voice On the post-training survey, the anti-harassment tutorial underline was rated end underline highly informative underline by end underline employees. Revised in Active Voice On the post-training survey, underline employees end underline underline rated end underline the anti-harassment tutorial highly informative.

Conciseness

Concise writing considers the importance of every word. Editing sentences for emphasis, concrete nouns, and active voice will help you write clearly and precisely, as will the following strategies. To be concise, eliminate wasted words and filler— not ideas, information, description, or details that will interest readers or help them follow your thoughts. (For more on conciseness, see Editing Focus: Sentence Structure .)

Use Action Verbs

Using action verbs is one of the most direct ways to cut unneeded words. Whenever you find a phrase like the ones below, consider substituting an action verb.

Cut Unnecessary Words and Phrases

Eliminate words and phrases that do not add meaning. Consider the following sentences, which say essentially the same thing.

Wordy In almost every situation that I can think of, with few exceptions, it will make good sense for you to look for as many places as possible to cut out needless, redundant, and repetitive words and phrases from the papers, reports, paragraphs, and sentences you write for college assignments. (49 words) Concise Whenever possible, cut needless words and phrases from your college writing. (11 words)

The wordy sentence is full of early-draft language in three chunks. The first chunk comes at the beginning of the sentence. Notice how In almost every situation that I can think of, with few exceptions, it will make good sense for you to look for as many places as possible is reduced to Whenever possible in the concise sentence.

The second chunk of the wordy sentence is needless, redundant, and repetitive. The concise version reduces those four words to needless because the words have the same meaning. The third chunk of the wordy sentence comes at the end. Notice how papers, reports, paragraphs, and sentences you write for college assignments is reduced to your college writing. The meaning, although expanded to all writing, remains the same.

The following phrases are common fillers that add nothing to meaning. They should be avoided.

• a person by the name of
• for all intents and purposes
• in a manner of speaking
• more or less

Some common filler phrases have single-word alternatives, which are preferable.

Avoid there is/there are and it is

Starting a sentence with there is, there are, or it is can be useful to draw attention to a change in direction. However, starting a sentence with one of these phrases often forces you into a wordy construction. Wordiness means the presence of verbal filler; it does not mean the number of words, the amount of description, or the length of a composition. (For more on these constructions, see Editing Focus: Sentence Structure .)

Wordy underline There is often uncertainty about whether or not employees end underline are required to turn on their cameras during online meetings, and underline there are end underline some employees underline who end underline don’t. However, underline it is the expectation of employers end underline that cameras underline be end underline turned on. Concise underline Employees are often uncertain whether they end underline must turn on their cameras during online meetings, and underline some don’t end underline . However, underline employers expect end underline cameras to be turned on.

Parallelism

Within a sentence, parallelism —the repetition of a word or grammatical construction— creates symmetry and balance, makes an idea easier to remember, and sounds pleasing to the ear. In the first example below, the parallelism is established by the repetition of the phrase beginning with who . In the second example, the parallelism is created by the underlined nouns.

Unparallel After 25 years, the battle over the reintroduction of wolves continues between environmental activists, underline who support it end underline , and underline hunters and people who own cattle ranches and are opposed end underline . Parallel After 25 years, the battle over the reintroduction of wolves continues between environmental activists, underline who support it end underline , and cattle ranchers and hunters, underline who oppose it end underline . Unparallel Exercises that improve core strength include underline crunches end underline , underline leg lifts end underline , and underline when you do push-ups and planks end underline . Parallel Exercises that improve core strength include underline crunches end underline , underline leg lifts end underline , underline push-ups end underline , and underline planks end underline .

Varying the length and structure of sentences makes your writing more interesting to read.

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence has one idea expressed in a single main clause (also known as an independent clause). A main clause contains a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence. A simple sentence can be short or long, as shown in the examples below. The phrases in the long sentence add information, but the sentence remains a simple sentence nonetheless because it has only one clause.

The underline coronavirus end underline double underline spread end double underline around in the world in 2020. School-age underline children end underline and college underline students end underline double underline were pushed end double underline into virtual learning environments in March 2020, with schools closing for unspecified lengths of time.

Compound Sentences

A compound sentence contains two or more main clauses that are equally important to the meaning of the sentence. (A main clause contains a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence.) You can create compound sentences in the following ways:

Compound Sentence Using a Coordinating Conjunction

Create a compound sentence by using a coordinating conjunction — for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so (fanboys)— to join main clauses . To remember the coordinating conjunctions, use the mnemonic device fanboys.

underline Restaurants end underline and small underline retailers end underline double underline experienced end double underline steep drops in revenue during the pandemic, and underline many end underline double underline were forced end double underline to close. underline Restaurants end underline and small underline retailers end underline double underline experienced end double underline steep drops in revenue during the pandemic, yet underline many end underline double underline survived end double underline the downturn.

Compound Sentence Using a Semicolon

A semicolon can join two main clauses that are closely related in meaning. When using a semicolon, you must have a complete sentence before and after it.

underline Restaurants end underline and small underline retailers end underline double underline experienced end double underline steep drops in revenue during the pandemic ; underline many end underline double underline were forced end double underline to close.

Compound Sentence Using a Semicolon and Transitional Word or Phrase

A transitional words or phrases such as however, in fact, meanwhile, therefore, consequently, as a result, instead, or furthermore indicates the relation of two or more equally important ideas in the main clauses.

underline Restaurants end underline and small underline retailers end underline double underline experienced end double underline steep drops in revenue during the pandemic ; however , underline many end underline double underline survived end double underline the downturn.

Complex Sentences

A complex sentence contains one main clause (a clause that contains a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence) and one or more subordinate clauses (also known as dependent clauses). Subordinate clauses begin with a subordinating word or phrase such as although, because, even if, when, whenever, since, as though, whether, as long as, until, or while. The main clause expresses the main idea of the sentence, and the subordinate clause expresses the less important idea. Like a main clause, a subordinate clause has a subject and verb; however, unlike a main clause, it cannot stand alone as a sentence. A subordinate clause punctuated as a sentence is a type of sentence fragment. The subordinate clauses in the following sentences are underlined.

underline Although the federal government provided financial assistance end underline , the money came too late for many businesses. underline When schools and universities shut down in March of 2020 end underline , students had to learn at home, underline a situation that proved challenging for many households end underline .

Compound-Complex Sentences

A compound-complex sentence contains two or more main clauses (clauses that contain subjects and predicates and can stand alone as sentences) and one or more subordinate clauses (clauses that begin with a subordinating word such as although, because, even if, when, whenever, since, as though, whether, as long as, until, and while ). A compound-complex sentence is an effective structure to use when you want to express three or more ideas in a single sentence. The example sentence has two main clauses (double underline) and three subordinate clauses (single underline).

underline When school districts reopened end underline , double underline parents had to decide end double underline underline whether they wanted their children to attend classes in person end underline , double underline and they had to be ready for classes to move online end double underline underline if there were outbreaks of the coronavirus in their community. end underline

H 4 . Sentence Errors

These four common sentence errors can make your writing hard to read: fragments, comma splices, run-on sentences, and mixed constructions.

Sentence Fragments

A sentence fragment is a group of words that lacks a subject, a verb, or both, or it is a subordinate clause (a clause that begins with a subordinating word such as although, because, since, and so on) punctuated as though it were a sentence by itself. Although most are grammatical errors, sentence fragments can be used judiciously in conventional writing so long as the purpose is clear to readers and the fragment is clearly intended.

Unintentional Sentence Fragments

Often a sentence fragment follows a complete sentence and expands on it, as illustrated in the examples below (fragments are underlined). You can correct most fragment errors by attaching the fragment to the sentence to which it belongs or by rewriting the fragment as a complete sentence.

Sentence Fragment People think that they will be happy if they are well off. underline That money will make everything better. end underline Revised by Attaching the Fragment to a Complete Sentence People think that they will be happy if they are well off underline and end underline that money will make everything better. Sentence Fragment Psychologist David Myers explains how students have increasingly chosen to attend college to make more money. Thus underline further explaining his point of people’s desire to use money to gain happiness. end underline Revised by Attaching the Fragment to a Complete Sentence Psychologist David Myers explains how students have increasingly chosen to attend college to make more money, underline thus further explaining his point of people’s desire to use money to gain happiness. end underline Sentence Fragment Although income grew, people’s happiness did not. underline With rich people reporting that even though they had plenty of money, their happiness had not changed much. end underline Revised by Adding a Verb Although income grew, people’s happiness did not. underline Rich people reported end underline that even though they had plenty of money, their happiness had not changed much. Sentence Fragment For many people, increased income is being spent on the things that people are unable to pay less for. underline Things like taxes, childcare, transportation, and housing. end underline Revised by Adding a Subject and a Verb For many people, increased income is being spent on things that people are unable to pay less for. underline These include end underline taxes, childcare, transportation, and housing.

Intentional Sentence Fragments

Intentional sentence fragments force quick reading, inviting readers to stitch meaning to together. Intentional fragments are most common in creative writing and advertising.

The rabbit darted out of the shadows. underline A flash of movement. end underline The dog lunged and strained at the leash.

Comma Splices

A comma splice is a common error that occurs when two complete sentences are joined by a comma. You can correct a comma splice by adding a coordinating conjunction ( for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so), adding a period and creating two sentences, adding a coordinating conjunction and creating a compound sentence, or subordinating one clause and creating a complex sentence.

Comma Splice The author sheds light on the financial sacrifice many mothers make , they take care of their children without compensation and often lose professional status. Revised with a Coordinating Conjunction The author sheds light on the financial sacrifice many mothers make, underline for end underline they take care of their children without compensation and often lose professional status.

Comma Splice Many college students see their education as the way to become wealthy , some are sacrificing happiness to pursue high-paying careers. Revised with a Period Many college students see their education as the way to become wealthy . S ome are sacrificing happiness to pursue high-paying careers.

Comma Splice Psychologist David Myers conducted multiple surveys asking people about their attitudes about money , the results revealed that people felt they needed more regardless of how much they had. Revised with a Semicolon Psychologist David Myers conducted multiple surveys asking people about their attitudes about money ; the results revealed that people felt they needed more regardless of how much they had.

Comma Splice Love cannot be paid for , it is a gift that parents give because they love their children. Revised with a Semicolon and Transitional Word or Phrase Love cannot be paid for ; underline indeed end underline , it is a gift that parents give because they love their children.

Comma Splice Students are choosing majors to enable them to earn more money , they are under the misconception that earning money guarantees happiness. Revised with a Subordinate Clause Students are choosing majors to enable them to earn more money underline because end underline they are under the misconception that earning money guarantees happiness.

Run-on Sentences

In a run-on sentence , two or more complete sentences are not separated by any punctuation. Like comma splices, most run-on sentences can be revised in one or more of the following ways: adding a coordinating conjunction ( for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so ), adding a period and creating two sentences, separating the sentences with a semicolon, separating the sentences with a semicolon and transitional word or phrase (such as on the other hand, however, consequently, and so on), or turning the less important sentence into a subordinate clause starting with a subordinating word such as although, because, if, when, since , and so on.

Run-on Sentence The DNR eventually designated the area as crucial habitat the protection came too late to save the nesting birds. Revised with a Comma and a Coordinating Conjunction The DNR eventually designated the area as crucial habitat , underline but end underline the protection came too late to save the nesting birds. Run-on Sentence Most people realize that being wealthy won’t just happen many college students choose a major that will ensure they make money. Revised with a Period Most people realize that being wealthy won’t just happen . Many college students choose a major that will ensure they make money. Run-on Sentence Parents do not expect any financial reward they care for their children out of love and responsibility. Revised with a Semicolon Parents do not expect any financial reward ; they care for their children out of love and responsibility. Run-on Sentence The average American family’s expenses have risen faster than incomes they have saved less than prior generations. Revised with a Semicolon and Transitional Word or Phrase The average American family’s expenses have risen faster than incomes ; underline as a result end underline , they have saved less than prior generations. Run-on Sentence College students have the opportunity to choose any major they tend to choose those that offer immediate opportunities to earn money when they graduate. Revised with a Subordinate Clause underline Although end underline college students have the opportunity to choose any major underline , end underline they tend to choose those that offer immediate opportunities to earn money when they graduate.

Mixed Sentence Constructions

A mixed sentence contains parts that do not fit together because of grammar or meaning. In the following example, the writer needs to revise either the second part to fit with the first part or the first part to fit with the second. (See Editing Focus: Mixed Sentence Constructions for more on mixed sentence constructions.)

Mixed Sentence underline By starting my general studies classes last semester end underline underline gave me the opportunity to take classes in my major this fall end underline . Second Part Revised By starting my general studies classes last spring, underline I had end underline the opportunity to take classes in my major this fall. First Part Revised underline Starting end underline my general studies classes last spring gave me the opportunity to take classes in my major this fall.

Just because . . . doesn’t mean Constructions. Just because . . . doesn’t mean constructions are common in speech but should be avoided in writing.

Just because underline Just because end underline I want to be a doctor underline doesn’t mean end underline I will get into medical school. Revised Simply wanting to be a doctor doesn’t guarantee admission to medical school. Revised Although I want to be a doctor, I will need to work hard to get into medical school.

H 5 . Words and Language

The English language is rich and always evolving, offering you many ways and words to express yourself in writing and speech.

Language Varieties

English is not one language but many, made up of regional and social dialects. In addition, groups speak using specialized language among themselves that can be difficult for outsiders to understand. As a writer, be aware of the audience for your writing. Use language that your readers will understand directly or from context.

English dialects are distinctive versions of the language used in geographical regions and/or by particular social or ethnic groups. Standard American English, the English spoken by newscasters, is one such dialect, as are African American Vernacular English, Creole, Appalachian English, and others. English dialects have many features in common, but each has particulars of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. (For an in-depth discussion of dialects and academic writing, see Spotlight on … Variations of English .)

Groups of people with similar skills and interests often develop slang that allows them to express ideas quickly and vividly. Slang also signals knowledge about a particular topic, such as meme culture, music, sports, and more. Slang is generally considered too casual for most academic writing, but it may be appropriate for personal essays. In your papers, be aware of your purpose and audience when choosing to use slang. Avoid using slang that your readers are unlikely to understand.

Technical Expressions

Experts in many professional fields use specialized and technical expressions that allow them to communicate efficiently and clearly with each other. Such language is often incomprehensible for nonexperts and should be avoided in writing for general readers. (For tips on writing about a technical topic for an audience of nonspecialists, see Spotlight on … Discipline-Specific and Technical Language .)

Biased Language

Biased words and expressions exclude or demean people on the basis of gender, sex, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, social class, or physical or mental traits.

Biased Language Based on Sex and Gender

English includes words and expressions that are considered biased based on sex and gender, such as mankind, businessman, chairman, fireman, and so on. These are commonly replaced by gender-neutral words such as humanity, businessperson, chair or chairperson, and firefighter. (See Spotlight on … Bias in Language and Research for more on language bias.)

In addition, the English pronoun he has traditionally been used as the gender-neutral pronoun. For example, the construction A underline doctor end underline should have a caring attitude toward underline his end underline patients was once common but is now widely viewed as gender biased because many doctors are not men. For a discussion of the pronoun he used as the gender-neutral pronoun, see Pronouns .

Labels and Stereotypes

Be sensitive to labels and stereotypes that may insult a group of people you are writing about. Avoid labels that don’t put people first, such as cancer victim and wheelchair-bound. Don’t make assumptions about entire groups of people that promote stereotypes, such as teenagers are rebellious, elderly people don’t hear well, conservatives are rich, or women are more emotional than men . (See Spotlight on … Bias in Language and Research for more on language bias.)

Exact Words

As a general rule, use plain, direct words in your writing. Avoid reaching for a word that sounds fancy or impressive, especially if you are unsure about the meaning. If you use a word that is only vaguely familiar to you, look it up in a dictionary to ensure you are using it correctly. (You can type the word and “def” to get a definition.) Doing so has the added benefit of building your vocabulary.

Words Commonly Confused

The words in the following list are commonly confused or misused by writers. As you write, consult this list or use a reliable online tool, such as Merriam-Webster , to check the meanings and usage of words you’re unsure of. Keep a list of words that cause you trouble as you become aware of them. Then, after you draft a document, do a search for the words on your list. (For a discussion of homonyms, homographs, and homophones, see Editing Focus: Words Often Confused .)

H 6 . Point of View

Point of view refers to the vantage point from which a story, event, report, or other written work is told. The point of view in which you write depends on the genre in which you are writing. For example, you will likely use first person in personal narrative writing. For most academic writing, you’ll use third person. (See Editing Focus: Characterization and Point of View for a related discussion of point of view in narrative writing.)

First Person

In the first-person point of view, the writer or narrator ( I, we ) is present in the writing. First person is commonly used in personal writing genres, such as literacy narratives, memoirs, and profiles, as well as in fiction.

After midnight—my paper started, my exam studied for—I leave the library and head back to my apartment. In the dark, I listen closely when I hear footsteps behind me, and I step to the edge of the sidewalk to let a man pass. At my door, I fumble for my key, open the door, turn on the light, and step inside. I am safe, ready to eat, read a bit, and return to my paper.

Second Person

Second-person point of view is used occasionally when an outsider ( you ) becomes part of a story. It should not be confused with a writer or speaker using “you” when directly addressing an audience ( you ). Nor should it be confused with giving instructions ( drive forward, add one cup of brown sugar, close the door ) or with its similar use in textbooks such as this one. However, second person is not considered appropriate in most academic writing.

Writers often slip into second person when they intend to write in third person. In the example below, the writer starts in third person and shifts by accident to second person. To check your sentences for second person, search your documents for you , and revise as needed.

Shift from Third Person to Second Person The federal government should raise the minimum wage because it has the responsibility to ensure underline people end underline earn a wage underline you end underline can live on. The current minimum wage, $7.25 per hour, is not enough to pay underline rent end underline , let alone support a family. Many people cannot lift themselves out of poverty. A higher minimum wage can help you. Revised The federal government should raise the minimum wage because it has the responsibility to ensure underline workers end underline earn a wage underline they end underline can live on. The current minimum wage, $7.25 per hour, is not enough to pay underline a single person’s end underline rent, let alone support a family. Many people cannot lift themselves out of poverty. A higher minimum wage can help them.

Third Person

The third-person point of view ( he, she, it, they ) is customary for fiction and for academic writing, such as research papers, reports, visual and textual analysis papers, argumentative essays, and the like. Third-person point of view emphasizes the information instead of the writer.

The hikers and other passive trail users argue that mountain bikes should not be allowed on narrow trails traditionally traveled by foot and horse. underline They end underline point out that the bikes’ wide, treaded tires cause erosion, that the bikers’ high speeds startle hikers and horses, and that underline their end underline presence on trails disrupts the tranquility that hikers and bird watchers seek.

H 7 . Verbs

In a sentence, a verb expresses an action, an occurrence, or a state of being.

Subject-Verb Agreement

In many sentences, making the verb agree with the subject is straightforward: underline I end underline underline run end underline every day. My underline sister end underline underline runs end underline every other day. Sometimes our underline brother end underline underline joins end underline us, and underline all end underline of us underline run end underline together. However, subject-verb agreement gets tricky in the following circumstances. (See Editing Focus: Subject-Verb Agreement for more on subject-verb agreement.)

Agreement with Compound Subjects

Two or more subjects joined by and take a plural verb in most sentences:

underline Yoga and meditation end underline double underline are end double underline effective activities for relieving stress.

However, when the parts of the subject form a single idea or unit, the verb is singular:

underline Macaroni and cheese end underline double underline is end double underline my favorite meal.

When compound subjects are joined by or or nor, the verb agrees with the word closest to it:

Either your aunts or your underline mother end underline double underline remembers end double underline where your great-grandmother’s grave is located. Neither the image nor the underline words end underline double underline convey end double underline the message of the advertisement clearly.

Agreement When Words Come between Subject and Verb

The verb must agree with the subject even when words and phrases come between them:

The underline cost end underline of the flights double underline is end double underline prohibitive. A underline box end underline of invitations with stamps and return addresses double underline was end double underline on the desk.

Agreement When the Verb Comes Before the Subject

The verb must agree with the subject, even when it comes before the subject:

double underline Are end double underline underline James and Tamara end underline at the front of the line? There double underline were end double underline three underline people end underline ahead of us in line. Under the table double underline are end double underline a underline newspaper end underline and a underline magazine end underline .

Agreement with Everyone and Other Indefinite Pronouns

An indefinite pronoun is general; it does not refer to a specific person, place, or thing. Most indefinite pronouns take a singular verb, but not all. Those that take a singular verb include anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everything, nobody, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone, and something .

underline Everyone end underline in the class double underline has prepared end double underline a research proposal. underline Nobody end underline among the accused suspects double underline admits end double underline to the crime.

The following indefinite pronouns take a plural verb: both, few many, others, and several.

underline Several end underline of the students in the class double underline have proposed end double underline researching hurricanes. underline Both end underline of the suspects double underline deny end double underline committing the crime.

Several indefinite pronouns take a singular or plural verb depending on whether the word they refer to is singular or plural. These include all, any, enough, more, most, neither, none, and some.

underline Most end underline of the class double underline has proposed end double underline researching a topic related to climate change. ( Most refers to class. ) underline Most end underline of the students in the class double underline have proposed end double underline researching a topic related to climate change. ( Most refers to students. ) underline Neither end underline the students underline nor end underline the teachers double underline have proposed end double underline a field trip. ( Neither/nor refers to students and teachers .)

Agreement with Collective Nouns

Collective nouns such as audience, band, class, crowd, family, group, or team can take a singular or a plural verb depending on the context. When the group acts as a single unit, which is the most common construction, use a singular verb:

The underline band end underline double underline rehearses end double underline every day.

When the group acts individually, use a plural verb, or to avoid confusion, add the word members and use a plural verb.

The underline jury end underline double underline do not agree end double underline on a verdict. The underline jury end underline members double underline do not agree end double underline on a verdict.

Agreement with Words Such as News and Statistics

Some nouns that end in -s , such as athletics, economics, measles, news, physics, politics, and statistics seem plural but are usually regarded as singular in meaning. In most situations, these words take a singular verb:

Day after day, the underline news end underline double underline was end double underline bad. underline Statistics end underline double underline fulfills end double underline a math requirement for many college majors.

When a word like economics, politics, or statistics refers to a specific situation, use a plural verb:

The underline economics end underline of the situation double underline are end double underline hard to comprehend.

Agreement with Titles and Words Used as Words

Whether singular or plural in form, titles and words used as words take singular verbs:

Directed by Spike Lee, underline Da 5 Bloods end underline double underline centers end double underline around four veterans returning to Vietnam to find the remains of their squad leader and the fortune they hid together. underline Children end underline double underline is end double underline the plural form of child .

Tense expresses the time of a verb’s action—the past, present, or future. Tense comes naturally in speech, but it can be tricky to control in writing. The following guidelines will help you choose the appropriate tense for your writing and use it consistently. (See Editing Focus: Verb Tense Consistency for a related discussion of consistent verb tense.)

Verb Tense in Narrative Writing

Personal experience stories, such as literacy narratives, memoirs, personal essays, or profiles, can be written in either the past or the present tense. Although the most natural way to tell a story about a past experience is to write in the past tense, the present tense can draw readers into the story and give the illusion that the experience is happening as they are reading it. In the following examples, the writer describes driving with her Native American grandfather to a tribal conference. Notice the difference between the past and present tense.

Narrative Writing Using Past Tense I double underline sat end double underline silently next to Grandfather and double underline watched end double underline him slowly tear the thin white paper from the tip of the cigarette. He double underline gathered end double underline the tobacco in one hand and double underline drove end double underline the van with the other. I double underline memorized end double underline his every move as he double underline went end double underline through the motions of the prayer, which double underline ended end double underline when he double underline blew end double underline the tobacco out the window and into the wind. Narrative Writing Using Present Tense I double underline sit end double underline silently next to Grandfather and double underline watch end double underline him slowly tear the thin white paper from the tip of the cigarette. He double underline gathers end double underline the tobacco in one hand and double underline drives end double underline the van with the other. I double underline memorize end double underline his every move as he double underline goes end double underline through the motions of the prayer, which double underline ends end double underline when he double underline blows end double underline the tobacco out the window and into the wind.

Verb Tense in Academic Writing

Academic disciplines differ in their tense preferences for signal phrases used in formal essays and reports to introduce and discuss evidence. A signal phrase is a verb that tells readers the words or ideas that follow come from another source. Signal phrases include words such as argues, asserts, claims, comments, denies, discusses, implies, proposes, says, shows, states, and suggests. (For more discussion and a more extensive list of signal phrases, see Editing Focus: Integrating Sources and Quotations .)

If you are writing for a course in English, a foreign language, or a related discipline and using MLA documentation style, you generally will use the present tense or the present perfect tense in signal phrases.

Present Tense The film critic Manohla Dargis double underline claims end double underline that . . . Present Perfect Tense The film critic Manohla Dargis double underline has claimed end double underline that . . .

When you are analyzing a work of literature, common practice is to use the literary present tense in discussing both the work of the author and the action that occurs in the work:

Being cool double underline is end double underline key to the lives of the speakers in “We Real Cool,” a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks. Brooks double underline uses end double underline short lines and stanzas in which speakers double underline list end double underline what it means to be cool: dropping out of school, staying out late, playing pool, drinking, carousing, and so on. Being cool double underline unites end double underline the speakers, and they double underline celebrate end double underline their lifestyle, even as they double underline acknowledge end double underline in the final line of the poem that their coolness double underline may cause end double underline them to die young.

(For more on literary present tense, see Editing Focus: Literary Works Live in the Present .)

If you are writing for a course in history, art history, philosophy, religion, or a related discipline in the humanities, you generally will use the present tense or the present perfect tense in signal phrases.

Present Tense The historian Eduardo Galeano double underline argues end double underline that . . . Present Perfect Tense The historian Eduardo Galeano double underline has argued end double underline that . . .

On the other hand, if you are writing for a course in the social sciences, such as psychology, political science, or economics; a course in the natural sciences, such as biology, chemistry, or physics; or a technical field such as engineering, you will generally use past tense or present perfect tense for most signal phrases.

Past Tense The study double underline found end double underline that individuals who identify as transgender . . . (past tense) Present Perfect Tense: Several recent studies double underline have found end double underline that individuals who identify as transgender . . .

Verb Tense Consistency

Whichever tense you choose, be consistent throughout a piece of writing. You may need to shift tenses to indicate actual changes in time, but the governing tense should remain constant. (See Editing Focus: Verb Tense Consistency for a related discussion of consistent verb tense.)

Inconsistent Blinking back tears, I double underline clutched end double underline my two-year-old son to my chest, double underline kiss end double underline his forehead, and double underline will gather end double underline my things. It double underline is end double underline 2003, and I double underline was end double underline headed to active duty in Iraq with the National Guard. I double underline hug end double underline my spouse, my mom, my dad, my brothers, and my grandma. Then I double underline turn end double underline and double underline climbed end double underline on the bus that double underline takes end double underline me to a future that, in all honesty, double underline was end double underline terrifying to me. Consistent Blinking back tears, I double underline clutched end double underline my two-year-old son to my chest, double underline kissed end double underline his forehead, and double underline gathered end double underline my things. It double underline was end double underline 2003, and I double underline was end double underline headed to active duty in Iraq with the National Guard. I double underline hugged end double underline my spouse, my mom, my dad, my brothers, and my grandma. Then I double underline turned end double underline and double underline climbed end double underline on the bus that double underline would take end double underline me to a future that, in all honesty, double underline was end double underline terrifying to me.

Irregular Verbs

Most verbs are regular and form the past tense and past participle forms by adding -d or -ed.

• I bake/I baked/I have baked
• She discovers/she discovered/she has discovered
• They shovel/they shoveled/they have shoveled

Some verbs, however, are irregular and form the past tense and participle in another way. Below are a few of the approximately 200 irregular verbs in English. For a comprehensive list of irregular verbs, see this list .

• begin/began/begun
• bring/brought/brought
• buy/bought/bought
• do/did/done
• drive/drove/driven
• fall/fell/fallen
• go/went/gone
• have/had/had
• is/was/been
• lead/led/led
• hide/hid/hidden
• ring/rang/rung
• run/ran/run
• see/saw/seen
• sing/sang/sung
• sit/sat/sat
• shake/shook/shaken
• speak/spoke/spoken
• take/took/taken
• wear/wore/worn
• write/wrote/written

Verbs have three moods: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive. Mood can be said to indicate a speaker’s attitude or intention.

Indicative Mood

Use the indicative mood to state a fact or an opinion or to ask a question:

Thousands of women currently double underline serve end double underline in the military. I double underline think end double underline college tuition double underline is end double underline expensive. The weather double underline was end double underline awful for much of the winter but double underline will improve end double underline soon. double underline Have end double underline you double underline submitted end double underline your request for time off?

Imperative Mood

Use the imperative mood to give instructions and commands. The subject, you , is often implied but not stated:

double underline (You) Use end double underline the online form to request time off. double underline (You) Submit end double underline your request for time off by Friday. double underline You must submit end double underline your request on time.

Subjunctive Mood

Use the subjunctive mood to express wishes, suggestions, or requirements or to state hypothetical or unlikely conditions:

The rules state that every member double underline be end double underline present for the vote. I wish you double underline were end double underline here to see the exhibition. The governing board could be more effective if all members double underline were end double underline active. Students who failed the class would have passed double underline had end double underline they double underline completed end double underline all assignments.

H 8 . Pronouns

A Pronouns is a word used in place of a noun. Some pronouns are I, you, he, she, we, they, who, and everyone . The noun a pronoun replaces or refers to is its antecedent . (See Editing Focus: Pronouns for a related discussion of pronouns.)

Pronoun Reference

A pronoun should refer to a clear and specific antecedent.

Clear Antecedent All nine underline members end underline of the school board voted in favor of changing the district’s mascot. underline They end underline explained their reasoning during the meeting. ( They refers clearly to members. ) Unclear Antecedent In Smith’s essay, underline she end underline explains why many American families have less money saved and more debt than families in the 1970s. Revised In underline her end underline essay, underline Smith end underline explains why many American families have less money saved and more debt than families in the 1970s.

Problems with pronoun reference occur in the following situations:

Vague this, that, which, or it . The pronouns this, that, which, and it should not refer to words expressing an idea, an event, or a situation.

Vague Reference The school board voted to change the district’s mascot without holding special meetings with the public. underline This end underline made some community members angry. ( Are community members angry about the vote or about the lack of special meetings? ) Revised The school board voted to change the district’s mascot without holding special meetings with the public. underline Their decision to avoid public discussion before the vote end underline made some community members angry.

Indefinite it, they, or you . The pronouns it, they, and you should have a definite antecedent in a sentence.

Indefinite it Crittenden explains that mothers are taken for granted and disrespected, even though our society calls underline it end underline the most important job in the world. Revised Crittenden explains that mothers are taken for granted and disrespected, even though our society calls underline motherhood end underline the most important job in the world. Indefinite they Japan has considerable wealth compared to Ireland, but underline they end underline have a low subjective well-being index. Revised Japan has considerable wealth compared to Ireland, but underline Japanese citizens end underline have a low subjective well-being index. Indefinite you The federal government should raise the minimum wage to ensure underline you end underline earn a wage underline you end underline can live on. Revised The federal government should raise the minimum wage to ensure underline workers end underline earn a wage underline they end underline can live on.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

In many sentences, making a pronoun agree with its antecedent is straightforward: My underline neighbors end underline gave me the keys to underline their end underline apartment. However, pronoun-antecedent agreement gets tricky in the following circumstances.

Agreement with Generic Nouns and Indefinite Pronouns

Generic nouns refer to a type of person or job someone performs, such as athlete, child, scientist, doctor, or hairdresser. Indefinite pronouns include words such as anyone, each, everyone, everything, many, most, and none.

All generic nouns and most indefinite pronouns are singular in meaning. Traditionally, these words took the singular pronouns he/him/his because English does not have a gender-neutral third-person pronoun that refers to people: Everyone has his own opinion or A doctor needs to show that he cares about his patients.

More recently, writers have been replacing he/him/his or his/her with they/them/their when the person’s gender is unknown or unimportant or when the person has indicated a preference for non-gendered pronouns:

Everyone has underline their end underline own opinion. A doctor needs to show that underline they end underline care about underline their end underline patients.

These plural pronouns are increasingly accepted and intentionally used by writers, teachers, and editors. Many prominent publications and style guides indicate that the plural pronoun should replace binary or singular ones in most cases. If using a plural pronoun does not fit the situation (such as in a paragraph where the pronoun they is also used several times to indicate a group), try rewriting the sentence in either of these ways:

Remove the pronoun. Everyone has underline an end underline opinion. Make the antecedent plural. underline People end underline have their own opinions. underline Doctors end underline need to show that they care about their patients.

Collective nouns such as audience, band, class, crowd, family, group, or team can take a singular or plural pronoun depending on the context. When the group acts as a single unit, which is the most common construction, use a singular pronoun. When the group members act individually, use a plural pronoun. If using the plural sounds awkward, add the word members so that the plural is clear.

The band went through underline its end underline complete playlist. The band loaded underline their end underline instruments on the bus. The band underline members end underline loaded underline their end underline instruments on the bus.

Pronoun Case

Pronouns have three cases: subjective, objective, and possessive. Pronouns change case according to their function in a sentence.

Subjective case pronouns function as subjects: I, we, you, he/she/it, they, who/whoever :

Antonio and underline I end underline share an apartment downtown in a neighborhood underline we end underline like.

Objective case pronouns function as objects: me, us, you, him/her/it, them, whom/whomever :

The manager gave underline us end underline a tour of the building.

Possessive case pronouns show ownership: my/mine, our/ours, your/yours, his/her/hers/its, their/theirs, whose :

underline Our end underline friends live in the building too.

Pronoun case gets tricky in the circumstances explained below.

Case in Compound Structures

Compound subjects use subjective case pronouns. Compound objects use objective case pronouns.

Subjective Case underline Antonio end underline and underline I end underline have occasional disagreements about the dishes. Objective Case Occasional disagreements about the dishes come up between underline Antonio end underline and underline me end underline .

Case After than or as

In a comparison, the case of the pronoun indicates which words have been left out:

Antonio cares more about having a clean kitchen than underline I end underline [do]. Sometimes I think Antonio cares more about a clean kitchen than [he cares about] underline me end underline .

Who or Whom

Use the subjective case who in place of a subject—whether it is the subject of the sentence or the subject of a clause:

underline Who end underline is going to the concert? (subject of sentence) Give the tickets to underline whoever end underline can use them. (subject of clause) She is the person underline who end underline is best qualified for the job. (subject of clause) She is the person underline who end underline I think is best qualified for the job. (subject of clause; the intervening words “I think” don’t change the subject or verb of the clause)

Use the objective case whom in place of an object, whether it is the object of a verb, preposition, or clause:

I don’t know underline whom end underline to ask. (object of verb) To underline whom end underline should I give the extra concert tickets? (object of preposition) Give the tickets to underline whomever end underline you choose. (object of clause)

We or us with a Noun

Use we with a subject. Use us with an object.

underline We end underline citizens must vote in order to make our voices heard. (subject) Legislators need to hear from underline us end underline citizens. (object)

Case Before or After an Infinitive

Use the objective case before and after an infinitive (the to form of a verb: to run, to walk, to eat ):

The agent asked Antonio and underline me end underline to write a review. We agreed to give underline him end underline a positive review.

Case Before a Gerund

Generally, use the possessive case of a pronoun before a gerund (the -ing form of a verb used as a noun: gentle underline snoring end underline , elegant underline dining end underline ):

He grew tired of underline their end underline partying late into the night. The rental agreement depends on underline your end underline approving the lease terms.

H 9 . Punctuation

This section covers the major marks of punctuation: commas, apostrophes, semicolons, colons, periods, question marks, exclamation points, dashes, and parentheses. (For using brackets and ellipses, see Quotations .)

Commas alert readers to brief pauses within sentences.

Commas with Main Clauses

Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction ( for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so) joining main clauses:

Businesses in the metropolitan area are growing underline , and end underline unemployment is down. Many job seekers use online sites like Indeed.com underline , but end underline a few still send traditional cover letters and résumés through the mail. A solution must be determined soon underline , or end underline the problem will continue.

Commas with Introductory Information

Use a comma after an introductory element at the start of a sentence:

underline After class is over , end underline we should get lunch and review our notes. underline Shuffling his feet nervously , end underline he waited for the train. underline However end underline , the circumstances have not changed.

Commas with Nonessential and Essential Information

(See Editing Focus: Commas with Nonessential and Essential Information for a related discussion of commas.)

Nonessential information refers to information that is usually not necessary to the basic meaning of a sentence. Nonessential information is set off by commas. In the following sentence, the word original tells readers which labs no longer meet the needs of the teachers and students. The underlined information adds information but does not change the meaning of the sentence and thus is nonessential to the basic meaning:

The original technical education labs underline , which were installed 50 years ago , end underline no longer meet the needs of the teachers and students.

Essential information , on the other hand, is necessary to the meaning of the sentence. In following example, the word original is no longer part of the sentence; the underlined words convey necessary information about the labs:

The technical education labs underline that were installed 50 years end underline ago no longer meet the needs of the teachers and students.

You can test whether information is nonessential by removing the information. If the meaning of the sentence is unchanged, the information is nonessential. If the meaning becomes too general or changes, the information is essential. In the sentence above, only the labs installed 50 years ago, as opposed to other labs, no longer meet the needs of teachers and students. Note, also, the use of which with nonessential information and that with essential information.

Commas Around Nonessential Information

Place commas around information that is not essential to the meaning of a sentence:

The entire technology department underline , which consists of nine teachers and five staff members , end underline has contributed to a report on the needed updates to the technical education labs. The technology department chair underline , who teaches welding , end underline wrote the final report. Updates to the labs will begin in June underline , when school is not in session end underline .

No Commas Around Essential Information

Do not place commas around essential information:

According to the technical education teachers, the labs need equipment underline that students are likely to encounter in the workplace end underline . Faculty underline who teach auto mechanics end underline have requested updates to their lab. The teachers are concerned about the labs underline because students are not learning the skills they need end underline . The amount of lab space underline that needs to be updated end underline is substantial. The department has consulted the industry expert underline Stacy James end underline .

Serial (Oxford or Harvard) Commas

For clarity, use a comma between items in a series:

He studied all the notes , emails , memos , and reports related to the data breach.

Be aware, however, that certain style manuals, such as the AP Stylebook, do not use the serial comma, also called the Oxford or Harvard comma.

Commas with Numbers, Dates, Titles with Names, and Addresses

The sign gave the city’s population as 122 , 887. Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison died on August 5 , 2019. Diana Wong , M.D. , is a practicing obstetrician. The mailing address for the Smithsonian Institution is 600 Maryland Avenue SW , Washington , D.C. , 20002.

Common Comma Errors

Misplaced commas can make sentences choppy and obscure the intended meaning.

No Comma after a Subject or a Verb

Anyone who was still at the party underline , end underline left when the band stopped playing. The party ended underline , end underline after the band stopped playing.

No Comma after a Conjunction Connecting Parts of a Compound Subject, Verb, or Object

Some musicians in the band underline , end underline and many of the guests danced until midnight. (compound subject) The band stopped after two hours underline , end underline and took a well-deserved break. (compound verb) Guests enjoyed the music underline , end underline and the dancing. (compound object)

No Comma after a Series

The band played 80s rock underline , end underline punk , and new wave , all night long.

No Comma before an Indirect Quotation

Online reviews say underline , end underline that the band is the best in the area.

Apostrophes

An apostrophe has two functions. It indicates possession, and it forms contractions.

Apostrophes to Show Possession

Use an apostrophe and -s to indicate possession with a singular noun or an indefinite pronoun:

underline Jack ’ s end underline brother is my underline sister ’ s end underline coworker. In their family, underline everyone ’ s end underline favorite dessert is ice cream.

If the ’s in a singular noun is pronounced, add apostrophe -s :

The underline business ’ s end underline inconsistent hours caused customers to go elsewhere. Los underline Angeles ’ s end underline airport, LAX, is one of the busiest in the United States.

If the ’s is not pronounced in a singular noun, some writers choose to add an apostrophe alone; however, MLA, APA, and Chicago use the apostrophe and s in these cases:

David underline Myers ’ end underline book, The Pursuit of Happiness , was published in 1992. David underline Myers ’s end underline book, The Pursuit of Happiness , was published in 1992.

When the noun is plural and ends in -s , place the apostrophe after the final -s :

American underline households ’ end underline incomes have grown since the 1970s because more women have entered the workforce. These underline families ’ end underline expenses have risen too.

When the noun is plural and does not end in -s, add an apostrophe and -s:

Social underline media ’ s end underline effect on contemporary life cannot be underestimated. During the pandemic, parents’ stress grew as they helped with their underline children ’ s end underline schooling.

Apostrophes to Form Contractions

Contractions are common in speech and in informal writing. Use an apostrophe in contractions:

When I say I underline can ’ t end underline , I mean I underline won ’ t end underline . underline It ’ s end underline the best option under the circumstances. “ underline You ’ re end underline the best friend anyone can have,” Mikayla said. underline They ’ re end underline driving to their favorite hangout spot.

Common Apostrophe Errors

Apostrophes are not used to form plural nouns, singular verbs, or personal or relative pronouns.

Not in Plural Nouns

How many hotel underline rooms end underline [not room’s ] should be reserved for the wedding? The Lewises and the Riveras [not Lewis’s and Rivera’s or Lewis’ and Riveras’ ] have confirmed their reservations.

Not with Verbs Ending in -s

Nikki underline runs end underline [not run’s ] every day. Jamal underline walks end underline [not walk’s ] to work.

Not with Possessive Personal Pronouns or Relative Pronouns

The book is underline yours end underline [not your’s ]. The dog was barking and wagging underline its end underline [not it’s ] tail. underline Whose end underline [not who’s ] apartment is this?

Other Punctuation

The semicolon joins main clauses (a clause that contains a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence). A semicolon is also used to separate items in a series that contain commas.

Use a semicolon to join main clauses that are closely related in meaning and that are not joined by a coordinating conjunction ( for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so ).

Originally built in 1928, the school had been remodeled multiple times underline ; end underline the result was an architectural mashup.

Use a semicolon to join main clauses that are connected by a transitional word or phrase such as for example, however, therefore, indeed, or after all :

The governor has proposed increased funding to K-12 public schools underline ; however, end underline the legislature must approve the budget.

Use a semicolon between items in a series that contain internal commas:

The candidates for the award are Michael, who won the essay competition ; Sasha, the top debater; and Giselle, who directed several student productions.

A colon introduces lists, summaries, and quotations. A colon also separates titles from subtitles.

A colon can introduce a list:

Successful athletes have the following qualities underline : physical ability, mental toughness, commitment, and optimism end underline .

A colon can also introduce a summary or an explanation, which may or may not be a main clause (a clause that contains a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence):

The team had one goal left before the end of the season underline : to win the state championship end underline .

Book titles often include a subtitle. A colon separates the subtitle from the title:

Forcing the Spring : Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality

End Punctuation

A sentence ends with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point.

A period ends declarative (statement) and imperative (command) sentences:

The administration canceled classes . Do not attempt to drive to school this morning .

A question mark ends a direct question and indicates uncertainty in dates:

Where is Times Square ? She asked, “What time is it ? ”

An exclamation point ends an emphatic or emotional sentence:

“What a mess ! ” she blurted out. “Stop ! That hurts ! ” he shouted.

Dashes and Parentheses

Dashes and parentheses enclose nonessential information in a sentence.

Use a dash or dashes to set off nonessential information, to indicate a contrast or a pause, or to mark a change of direction.

We did not notice the rain at first — it began so softly — but soon we were soaked. Nothing is as exciting as seeing a snowy owl in a winter farm field — except maybe seeing two snowy owls.

Use parentheses to enclose nonessential information such as explanations, asides, examples, and dates.

He graduated with high honors ( magna cum laude ) and found a job immediately. The city of Madison ( home of the University of Wisconsin ) is the state capital of Wisconsin.

H 10 . Mechanics

Capital letters.

Use capital letters in the following situations.

• Capitalize the first word of a sentence: The weather is rainy today.
• Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives: Monday, New Orleans, Mexico, Florida, Halloween, United States Constitution, Department of Education, University of Texas, Native American, Islam, Italian, Freudian.
• Capitalize titles that precede a person’s name: Dr. Atul Gawande, Senator Tammy Baldwin. [But: Atul Gawande, a doctor; Tammy Baldwin, a senator]

Many online resources, such as this one , list words that should be capitalized. You can also consult a dictionary, such as Merriam-Webster , to determine whether to capitalize a word.

Titles of Works

Titles of books, articles, stories, plays, poems, films, and other works are handled differently depending on the documentation style you are using. The guidelines here follow MLA style.

Capitalization in Titles and Subtitles

Capitalize the first and last words in a title and subtitle and other important words. Do not capitalize articles ( a, an, the ), coordinating conjunctions ( for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so ), or prepositions ( above, with, of, in, through, beyond, under ) unless they are the first or last words in the title or subtitle.

• Forcing the Spring: Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality (book)
• Judas and the Black Messiah (film)
• “American Military Performance in Vietnam: Background and Analysis” (article)

Italics for Titles of Long Works

Use italics for long works that are published, produced, or released separately from other works. These include books, long poems, plays, movies, videos, published speeches, periodicals (newspapers, magazines, and academic and professional journals), websites, long musical works, works of visual art, computer software, TV or radio programs and series, and pamphlets.

• Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food (book)
• The New Yorker (periodical)
• The Los Angeles Times (newspaper)
• American Idiot (album)
• Parasite (film)
• Saturday Night Live (TV program)

Quotation Marks for Titles of Shorter Works

Put quotation marks around the titles and subtitles of individual shorter works or those that are published or released within larger works. These include articles in periodicals (newspapers, magazines, and academic and professional journals), pages or works on a website, short stories, short poems, essays, songs, episodes of TV or radio programs and series, book chapters, and unpublished speeches.

• “Living with a Visionary” (article in a magazine)
• “A World of Fields and Fences” (work on a website)
• “New York Day Women” (short story)
• “Corson’s Inlet” (short poem)
• “Return from ISIS” (TV episode)

H 11 . Quotations

A quotation reproduces the exact written or spoken words of a person or an author, which may include a group. (See Editing Focus: Quotations for a related discussion of direct quotations and Editing Focus: Integrating Sources and Quotations for help with integrating quotations from sources.)

Quotations from Written or Spoken Sources

Put quotation marks around quotations from a written or spoken source.

Quoting a Source

When quoting the words of a source, introduce quoted material with a signal phrase so that readers know the source and purpose of the quotation. Place the quotation inside double quotation marks. When using parenthetical citations, note that the sentence period comes after the parentheses. If you include the author’s name in your signal phrase, give only the page number in parentheses (first example). If you do not give the author’s name in your signal phrase, give the name in parentheses (second example):

In Walden , Thoreau sets forth one individual’s antidote against the “ lives of quiet desperation ” led by the working class in mid-nineteenth-century America (5).

Walden sets forth one individual’s antidote against the “ lives of quiet desperation ” led by the working class in mid-nineteenth-century America (Thoreau 5).

Abraham Lincoln wrote “ that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth ” in his Gettysburg Address.

Quoting or Writing Dialogue

When quoting or writing dialogue between speakers, including characters in a fictional work, place their words in double quotation marks, and start a new paragraph for each speaker:

“ It’s good to see you—I guess, ” Brayden said, as Christopher walked up to the door. “ I thought you were gone for good. ” “ I missed you too much, ” Christopher said, looking down at his feet.

Single and Double Quotation Marks

Put single quotation marks around a quotation within a quotation, using double quotation marks around the full quotation:

Kennedy writes that after a year of teambuilding work, including improvements in communication, evaluation, and small-group quarterly meetings, morale among staff members “ improved from ‘ average ’ to ‘ excellent ’ ” (17).

Long Quotations

Introduce a long quotation (four typed lines in MLA style; 40 or more words in APA style) with a signal phrase that names the author and ends with a colon. Indent this entire block quotation one-half inch. If you quote more than one paragraph, indent the first line of each subsequent paragraph one-half inch. Do not use quotation marks. Note that the sentence period comes before the parenthetical citation:

In her memoir, Twenty Years at Hull-House , reformer Jane Addams recounts vivid stories of child labor:

public domain text The visits we made in the neighborhood constantly discovered women sewing upon sweatshop work, and often they were assisted by incredibly small children. I remember a little girl of four who pulled out basting threads hour after hour, sitting on a stool at the feet of her Bohemian mother, a little bunch of human misery. For even for that there was no legal redress, for the only child labor law in Illinois, with any provision for enforcement, had been secured by the coal miners’ unions, and was confined to the children employed in the mines. (199) end public domain text

Poetry Quotations

When you quote one, two, or three lines from a poem, use the following format, putting quotation marks around the line or group of lines and separating the lines with a slash:

The 17th-century writer Aphra Behn (1640–1689) wrote humorous poems about love and heartbreak, including “Love’s Power,” which opens with “ Love when he Shoots abroad his Darts / Regards not where they light ” (1-2).

When you quote more than three lines from a poem, set them off from your text. Indent the quotation one-half inch, and do not use quotation marks. Note that the sentence period comes before the parenthetical citation.

In the poem “The Character,” Aphra Behn (1640–1689) uses the familiar alternate rhyme scheme, also known as ABAB: Such Charms of Youth, such Ravishment Through all her Form appear’d, As if in her Creation Nature meant, She shou’d a-lone be ador’d and fear’d. (1-4)

Altering Quotations

When you alter a quotation to fit into your sentence, you must indicate the change you made.

An ellipsis [. . .] indicates that you have omitted words from a quotation. In the example below, the writer omitted words from the middle of the sentence.

In her memoir, Twenty Years at Hull-House , reformer Jane Addams explains that there were no enforceable laws against small children helping their mothers with sweatshop sewing work, and that “the only child labor law in Illinois . . . had been secured by the coal miners’ unions, and was confined to the children employed in the mines” (199).

If you omit the end of a sentence or a complete sentence, include the sentence period:

The author explains as follows: “Damage to the Broca’s area of the brain can affect a person’s ability to comprehend spoken language . . . . A person may understand speech relatively well when the sentence grammar is simple and the content familiar but may struggle when the grammar and content are more complex” (Hollar-Zwick 45).

Use brackets [ ] to indicate a change you have made to a quotation:

Abruzzi cited the study, noting that “ [ t ] he results provide hope to patients [ with muscular dystrophy ] .”

Punctuating Quotations

Place the period inside quotation marks if no source is cited:

The meteorologist said, “ Today’s weather will be sunny and mild .”

If you are citing a source in parentheses, place the quotation marks at the end of the quotation, followed by the citation and the sentence period:

In Twenty Years at Hull-House , Jane Addams recalls vivid images of child labor: “ I remember a little girl of four who pulled out basting threads hour after hour, sitting on a stool at the feet of her Bohemian mother, a little bunch of human misery ” (199) .

(See Long Quotations and Poetry Quotations above for exceptions to this rule.)

Commas go inside quotation marks:

“ Tomorrow’s weather will be cool and rainy ,” the meteorologist said.

Colons and Semicolons

Colons and semicolons go outside quotation marks:

The sign read “ Closed ”: No more films would be shown at the theater. (Note: Use a capital letter if a complete sentence follows the colon.)

Question Marks and Exclamation Points

Question marks and exclamation points go inside quotation marks if they are part of the quotation:

“ Would you like a sandwich ?” asked Adelaide.

Question marks and exclamation points go outside quotation marks if they are not part of the quotation:

“I can’t believe you haven’t read “ The Lottery ”!

H 12 . Index and Guide to Documentation

Although formal differences exist among the conventions for documenting sources, the underlying principle of all documentation systems is the same: When borrowing words, facts, or ideas from someone else, writers must indicate that the material is borrowed. They do this by providing a citation in the text of their paper that points readers to detailed publication information about the source of the material, usually at the end of the paper but sometimes in footnotes. The following examples are in MLA style:

Citation in the Text Describing Martin Luther King, Jr.’s visit to India, underline Isabel Wilkerson end underline notes that King was taken aback by the suggestion that Black Americans were the equivalent of the Dalits in the Indian caste system underline (22) end underline . Works-Cited Entry Wilkerson, Isabel. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Penguin, 2020.

Documentation Styles by Discipline

Each discipline has its own authority or authorities that provide rules about issues such as spelling of technical terms, preferred punctuation, and editing mechanics, as well as documentation style. In addition, if you write for publication in a magazine, professional journal, book, or website, the publisher will have a “house” style, which may vary in some details from the conventions listed in the authoritative guidelines for the discipline in which you are writing. Below are the sources of style manuals for various disciplines. Always check with your instructor about which style to use in a class.

Index to MLA Documentation Models

The models, listed numerically, provide examples of in-text citations and works-cited entries (MLA). The models themselves are located in Handbook Section 13 (H13).

In-Text Citation Models

• Two or more works by the same author
• Two authors
• Three or more authors
• Authors with the same last name
• Organization, government, corporation, or association as author
• Unknown author
• Work in more than one volume
• Work with no page or other reference numbers
• One-page or entire work
• Source quoted in another source (indirect quotation)

Poetry and verse plays

Fiction and prose plays

• Two or more works in the same citation
• Sacred text

Endnotes and Footnotes (MLA)

Format of the list of works cited (mla), authors and contributors (mla).

• Book: one author
• Book: two authors
• Book: three or more authors
• Book: two or more works by the same author
• Author and editor
• Author and translator
• Author and illustrator
• Work by an organization, a government, a corporation, or an association

Articles in Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers (MLA)

• Basic format for a journal article in a database
• Editorial or letter to the editor

Books and Parts of Books (MLA)

• Basic entry for a book
• Book, anthology, or collection with an editor
• Work in an anthology or chapter in an edited collection
• Two or more works in an anthology or edited collection
• Revised or later edition
• Multivolume work
• One volume of a multivolume work
• Book in a series
• Republished work
• Introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword
• Published letter
• Conference paper

Websites and Parts of Websites (MLA)

• Basic format for a short work or page on a website
• Short work or page on a website
• Entire website

Social Media (MLA)

• Basic format for a social media post
• Social media post
• Online forum post
• Online comment

Personal Communication (MLA)

• Text message
• Personal letter

Video, Audio, and Other Media Sources (MLA)

• Online video

Original work

Reproduction

Personal interview

• Video game, software, or app

Other Sources (MLA)

• Live lecture, speech, address, or reading
• Live performance
• Letter in an archive
• Dissertation

Index to APA Documentation Models

The models, listed numerically, provide examples of in-text citations and reference entries (APA). The models themselves are located in Handbook Section 14 (H14).

In-Text Citation Models (APA)

• Work with no page numbers
• Entire work
• Personal communication

Format of the References List (APA)

Authors (apa).

• Three to twenty authors

Articles in Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers (APA)

• Basic format for an article in an academic journal

Without DOI or URL

Database or print

• Published interview

Books and Parts of Books (APA)

• Print book or e-book
• Article in an edited book, anthology, or collection
• Translated or reprinted book
• Revised edition
• Report or publication by a government agency or other organization

Web Sources (APA)

• Basic format for a page or work on a website
• Page or work on a website

Social Media (APA)

Video, audio, and other media sources (apa).

• Music recording
• Painting or other visual artwork
• Map, photograph, or other visual

H 13 . MLA Documentation and Format

MLA style is the preferred form for documenting research sources in English and other humanities disciplines. The following are general features of MLA style:

• All material borrowed from sources is cited in the text of a paper by the author’s name and page number (if available).
• A works-cited list at the end of a paper provides full publication data for each source cited in the text of the paper.
• Additional explanatory information provided by the writer (but not from external sources) goes in either footnotes or endnotes. These notes are optional.

The instruction in this section follows the MLA Handbook , 8th edition (2016). For more information on MLA style, see this site . For examples of student papers in the textbook using MLA documentation style, see Section 4 in Chapters 5, 7, 9, 12, and 16.

MLA In-Text Citations

In-text citations feature author names, page numbers, and sometimes titles, depending on what information is available. The Index located in H12 provides a listing of the models that are included below.

1. One author

When you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source, include the last name of the source’s author, if known, in a signal phrase or in parentheses at the end of your sentence. Provide the page or pages on which the original material appeared. Do not include the word page or the abbreviations p. or pp. Use a hyphen [-] to indicate a number range (See Spotlight on … Citation for more on quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing sources):

Becker points out that Joe Biden’s views on same-sex marriage changed during a personal visit to a family while he was vice president (285-86). While he was vice president, Joe Biden’s views on same-sex marriage changed during a personal visit with a family (Becker 285-86).

2. Two or more works by the same author

If you cite two or more works by the same author in your paper, give the title of the specific work in your sentence or a short version of the title in parentheses:

According to Lewis Thomas in Lives of a Cell , many bacteria become dangerous only if they manufacture exotoxins (76). According to Lewis Thomas, many bacteria become dangerous only if they manufacture exotoxins ( Lives 76). Many bacteria become dangerous only if they manufacture exotoxins (Thomas, Lives 76).

See Model 18 for how to cite two works by the same author in the works-cited list.

3. Two authors

If you cite a work with two authors, include both authors’ names in a signal phrase or in parentheses:

In the preface to Half the Sky , Kristof and WuDunn explain their focus on the issues of sex trafficking and sex work, violence against women, and maternal mortality (xxi). In the preface to Half the Sky , the authors explain their focus on the issues of sex trafficking and sex work, violence against women, and maternal mortality (Kristof and WuDunn xxi).

4. Three or more authors

For works with more than two authors, give the last name of the first author followed by “et al.”:

Of the survey respondents, twenty-two percent described themselves as concerned about future job prospects (Pronkowski et al. 9).

5. Authors with the same last name

When authors of different sources have the same last name, include their initials:

Since the legalization of marijuana for recreational use, frequent use among adults has risen (J. T. Greene 21; M. Greene 30).

6. Organization, government, corporation, or association as author

When no author is given for a work published by a corporation, a government, an organization, or an association, indicate the group’s name in a signal phrase or in parentheses:

The United States Forest Service describes its mission as “sustain[ing] the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations” (8).

7. Unknown author

When the author of a work is unknown, use the work’s title in a signal phrase or a shortened version of the title in parentheses and a page number if available. Put quotation marks around article titles, and put book or journal titles in italics:

In a pointed 2020 editorial, “Don’t Let the Games Begin,” The New York Times argued that college athletic departments should support public health by canceling sports seasons until athletes and the public were vaccinated. In a pointed 2020 editorial, The New York Times argued that college athletic departments should support public health by canceling sports seasons until athletes and the public were vaccinated (“Don’t Let”).

8. Work in more than one volume

If you cite only one volume of a multivolume work, give the page number in parentheses. If you cite more than one volume of a multivolume work, give the volume number for each citation before the page number, and follow it with a colon and one space:

Hill notes that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of the Dancing Men was first published in the Strand Magazine and later in Collier’s Weekly (1: 332).

9. Work with no page or other reference numbers

When the work has no page numbers, give the author’s name in a signal phrase or in parentheses. If the source has paragraph, chapter, or section numbers, use them with the abbreviations par., ch., or sec. :

Chen reports that the number of Americans seeking help with mental health rose during the pandemic that began in 2020. (ch. 2) The number of Americans seeking help with mental health rose during the pandemic that began in 2020 (Chen, ch. 2).

For an audio or a video recording, give the start and stop times for the segment you are citing shown on the player in hours (if available), minutes, and seconds:

It is well known that maternity leave is available in countries around the world, including Norway, which popularized its policy in a comic YouTube video showing a pregnant woman on skis announcing the start of her one-year paid leave (01:48-02:07).

10. One-page work or entire work

When you cite a work that is one page long or an entire work, such as a book, website, single-page article, tweet, video, or film, you do not need to cite a page or give a reference number:

In Da 5 Bloods, director Spike Lee connects the Civil Rights movement to the war in Vietnam through the music, montages of the era, and characters’ stories.

11. Source quoted in another source (indirect quotation)

When a quotation or any information in your source is originally from another source, try to track down the original source. If you cannot find it, use the abbreviation “qtd. in”:

The group, which has researched global health including access to food, sounded the alarm about a potential “worldwide food crisis” in the early 2000s (qtd. in Sing 32).

12. Literary works

For poems, provide line numbers for reference, and include line or lines in the first reference:

In “The Character,” Aphra Behn describes a lovely young woman, starting with her eyes: “Her Eyes all sweet, and languishingly move” (line 4).

Cite verse plays using act, scene, and line numbers, separated by periods: ( Hamlet 4.4.31-39)

When citing a prose literary work available in various editions, provide additional information after the page number, such as the chapter, act, or scene number, for readers who may be consulting a different edition. Use a semicolon to separate the page number from this additional information: (331; ch. 5) or (78; act 2).

13. Two or more works in the same citation

When you cite more than one work in parentheses, use a semicolon between them:

Americans who resisted or ignored civil defense are often portrayed as heroic people who chose not to build fallout shelters or as marginalized people who could not afford them (Garrison 57; Mechling and Mechling 109).

14. Sacred text

When you cite passages from the Bible or another sacred text such as the Qur’an, give the title of the edition you are consulting the first time you refer to it. Then give the book (abbreviate the title if it is longer than four letters), chapter, and verse, separated by periods:

Several times in the New Testament of the Bible, Jesus comments on wealth, telling his disciples, “And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” ( King James Version, Matt. 19.24).

Endnotes and Footnotes

Writers use notes to offer comments, explanations, or additional information that cannot easily be integrated into the rest of a paper. Use notes to cite several sources within a single context if a series of in-text citations will detract from the readability of the text.

Text with Superscript

The standard ingredients for guacamole include avocados, lemon juice, onion, tomatoes, coriander, salt, and pepper. 1 Hurtado’s poem, however, gives this traditional dish a whole new twist.

1. For variations see Beard 314, Egerton 197, Eckhardt 92, and Kafka 26. Beard’s version, which includes olives and green peppers, is the most unusual.

A note may be placed as a footnote at the bottom of the page on which the in-text citation appears or on a separate page of endnotes at the end of the paper. This should be titled “Notes” or “Endnotes” and appear between the last page of the paper and the works-cited list. Include all sources given in notes in the works-cited list.

MLA Works Cited

Each source cited in the text of your paper refers readers to the list of works cited, a complete list of all the sources you quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. Every source cited in the text of your paper must be included in the works-cited list, and every source in the works-cited list must be cited in the text of your paper.

After the last page of the paper, start a new page with the centered title “Works Cited” at the top. Create an entry for each source using the following guidelines and examples:

• Begin each entry at the left margin, and indent subsequent lines one-half inch. (In Microsoft Word, you can also highlight the entire page when you are finished and select “Hanging” from the Special options on the Indentation section of the Paragraph menu.)
• Alphabetize the entries according to authors’ last names. If two or more authors have the same last name, alphabetize by first name or initial. Alphabetize sources with unknown authors by the first word of the title, excluding a, an, or the.
• Double-space the entire page.

Core Elements (MLA)

Each entry in the list of works cited consists of core elements:

• Author. Who is responsible for the work?
• Title. What is the work called?

Publication information. Where can the work be found so that others can consult it? Publication information includes the date of publication and any larger work, which MLA calls a “container,” in which a shorter work is published, such as a journal, magazine, newspaper, database, streaming service, and so on.

A note on access dates. Although access dates for online sources are not required, MLA acknowledges that an access date can indicate the version of a source you consulted. If you add an access date, place it at the end of the works-cited entry in this format: “Accessed 4 Apr. 2020.” Ask your instructors whether they require access dates.

Authors and Contributors for Books and Articles (MLA)

• Authors. Give the author’s last name, a comma, the author’s first name and any middle name or middle initial, and then a period. For works with more than one author, an organization as an author, or an unknown author, see the models below.
• Contributors. People who contributed to the work in addition to the author are called contributors. Refer to them by their role in a phrase such as “adapted by,” “directed by,” “edited by,” “illustrated by,” “introduction by,” “narrated by,” “performance by,” and “translated by.” (See Models 19, 20, 21, 30, and 58 for examples.)

15. Book: one author

Sotomayor, Sonia. My Beloved World. Vintage Books, 2013.

16. Book: two authors

Kristoff, Nicholas D., and Sheryl WuDunn. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.

17. Book: three or more authors

Barlow, David H., et al. Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach. 8th ed., Cengage Learning, 2017.

18. Book: two or more works by the same author

When you cite two works by the same author, use three hyphens in place of the author’s name, and alphabetize the works by title:

Trethewey, Natasha. Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir. Ecco, 2020.

---. Native Guard: Poems. Mariner Books, 2007.

19. Book author and editor

Add the editor’s name after the title:

Hemingway, Ernest. Conversations with Ernest Hemingway , edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli, UP of Mississippi, 1986.

20. Book author and translator

Add the translator’s name after the title:

Ferrante, Elena. My Brilliant Friend. Translated by Ann Goldstein, Europa Editions, 2012.

If you are citing the work of the translator, place the translator’s name in the author position:

Goldstein, Ann, translator. My Brilliant Friend. By Elena Ferrante, Europa Editions, 2012.

21. Book author and illustrator

Add the illustrator’s name after the title. If you are citing the work of the illustrator, place the illustrator’s name in the author position, as shown in the preceding example:

Fasler, Joe. Light in the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process. Illustrated by Doug McLean, Penguin Books, 2017.

22. Work by an organization, a government, a corporation, or an association

If the author and publisher are not the same, start with the author:

United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration. Healthy Living Resource Guide. Government Printing Office, 2020.

If the author and the publisher are the same, give the title of the work in place of the author, and list the organization as the publisher:

MLA Handbook. 8th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.

“This Is Who We Are.” U.S. Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Mar. 2019, www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/This-is-Who-We-Are.pdf.

23. Unknown author

If no author is given, start with the title.

“The Most Beautiful Battalion in the Army.” Grunt Magazine , 1968, pp. 12-15.

Articles, reviews, editorials, and other short works are published in journals, newspapers, and magazines. They appear in print, on databases, and on websites (though often through a paywall). As a student, you are likely to access many articles and other short research sources primarily through databases available through your library.

24. Basic format for a journal article in a database

Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal , volume number, issue number, Date of Publication, page numbers. Title of Database , DOI or URL.

• Author. Give the last name, a comma, the first name, and any middle name or initial. Do not list an author’s professional title, such as Dr . or PhD . End with a period.
• Title of the article. Give the full title and any subtitle, separating them with a colon. Capitalize all significant words in the title. Put the title of the article in quotation marks. End with a period inside the closing quotation mark.
• Title of the journal. Put the title of the journal in italics. Capitalize all significant words in the title. End the title with a comma.
• Volume and issue numbers. Use the abbreviations vol. and no. followed by the number and a comma.
• Publication date. Give the month or season and the year of publication, if available. Use the following abbreviations for months: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. Do not abbreviate May, June, or July.
• Page numbers. Give p . (singular) or pp. (plural) and the page number or numbers of the article, followed by a period.
• Title of the database. Put the database title in italics, followed by a comma.
• Location. Give a DOI if available, and end with a period. If there is no DOI, give a URL, preferably a permalink, without http://.

25. Article in an academic journal

Daddis, Gregory A. “Out of Balance: Evaluating American Strategy in Vietnam, 1968–72.” War & Society, vol. 32, no. 3, Oct. 2013, pp. 252-70. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1179/0729247313Z.00000000026.

Daddis, Gregory A. “Out of Balance: Evaluating American Strategy in Vietnam, 1968–72.” War & Society, vol. 32, no. 3, Oct. 2013, pp. 252-70.

Squires, Scot. “Do Generations Differ When It Comes to Green Values and Products?” Electronic Green Journal, no. 42, 2019, escholarship.org/uc/item/6f91213q.

The journal in the example numbers issues only, so no volume number is given.

26. Article in a weekly or biweekly magazine

To cite an article in a weekly or biweekly magazine, give the author, title of the article, title of the magazine, publication date (day, month, year), and page numbers. If you found the article through a database, add the title of the database and a DOI or URL. If you found the article online, add the URL.

Sanneh, Kelefa. “The Color of Money.” The New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2021, pp. 26-31. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=aph&AN=148411685&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Sanneh, Kelefa. “The Color of Money.” The New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2021, pp. 26-31.

Ferrer, Ada. “My Brother’s Keeper.” The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2021, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/01/my-brothers-keeper.

27. Article in a monthly or bimonthly magazine

To cite an article in a monthly or bimonthly magazine, give the author, title of the article, title of the magazine, publication month and year, and page numbers. If you found the article through a database, add the title of the database and a DOI or URL. If you found the article online, add the URL.

Sneed, Annie. “Giant Shape-Shifters.” Scientific American, Sept. 2017, pp. 20-22. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1017-20.

Sneed, Annie. “Giant Shape-Shifters.” Scientific American, Sept. 2017, pp. 20-22.

Stewart, Jamila. “A Look Inside the Black Designers of Canada Initiative.” Essence, July 2020, www.essence.com/fashion/black-designers-of-canada-digital-index/.

To cite a comment on an article, see Model 54.

28. Article in a newspaper

To cite an article in a newspaper, give the author, title of the article, title of the newspaper, publication date (day, month, year), and the page numbers. If you found the article through a database, add the title of the database and a DOI or a URL. If you found the article online, add the URL.

Krueger, Alyson. “When Mom Knows Best, on Instagram.” The New York Times, 27 Nov. 2019, pp. B1-B4. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType =aph&AN=139891108&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Krueger, Alyson. “When Mom Knows Best, on Instagram.” The New York Times, 27 Nov. 2019, pp. B1-B4.

Smith, Doug. “They’re Building Affordable Housing for the Homeless—Without Government Help.” Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2021, www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-10/theyre-building-affordable-housing-for-the-homeless-without-government-help.

29. Editorial or letter to the editor

An editorial may or may not have an author’s name attached to it. If it does, give the author’s name first. If it does not, start with the title. In both situations, add the designation Editorial or Letter to the Editor after the title.

“For Better Elections, Copy the Neighbors.” Editorial. The Wall Street Journal, 16 Feb. 2021, www.wsj.com/articles/for-better-elections-copy-the-neighbors-11613518448.

To cite a review of a book, film, television show, or other work, give the name of the reviewer and title of the review, add Review of before the title of work being reviewed, and give the name of the work’s author, director, or creator after the title.

Girish, Devika. “Refocusing the Lens on Race and Gender.” Review of Test Pattern, directed by Shatara Michelle Ford. The New York Times, 18 Feb. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/movies/test-pattern-review.html.

Use the following guidelines for books and parts of books, such as a selection from an anthology, an article in a collection, a published letter, and so on.

31. Basic entry for a book

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.

• Author. Give the last name, a comma, the first name, and any middle name or initial. Do not list an author’s professional title, such as Dr. or PhD. End with a period.
• Title of the book. Put the book’s title in italics. Give the full title and any subtitle, separating them with a colon. Capitalize all significant words in the title, even if the book’s cover does not use conventional capitalization. End the title with a period.
• Publisher. List the publisher’s name without words such as “Inc.” or “Company.” Shorten “University Press” to “UP.” End with a comma.
• Year of publication. Provide the publication date, and end with a period.

32. Print book

Wilkerson, Isabel. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. Vintage Books, 2010.

33. E-book formatted for a specific reader device or service

Wilkerson, Isabel. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. Kindle ed., Vintage Books, 2010.

34. Book, anthology, or collection with an editor

Add the abbreviation ed. or eds. (if more than one) after the editor’s first name:

Lunsford, Andrea, ed. Reclaiming Rhetorica: Women in the Rhetorical Tradition. U of Pittsburgh P, 1995.

35. Work in an anthology or chapter in an edited collection

After the author and title of the work, give the title of the anthology or edited collection, name of the editor, publication information, and page numbers of the work:

Royster, Jacqueline Jones. “To Call a Thing by Its True Name: The Rhetoric of Ida B. Wells.” Reclaiming Rhetorica: Women in the Rhetorical Tradition, edited by Andrea Lunsford, U of Pittsburgh P, 1995, pp. 167-84.

36. Two or more works in an anthology or edited collection

When you cite two or more selections from the same anthology or edited collection, list the anthology separately under the editor’s name. In the entries for the selections you cite, include the editor’s name and the page numbers on which the selections appear:

Lipscomb, Drema R. “Sojourner Truth: A Practical Public Discourse.” Lunsford, pp. 227-46.

Royster, Jacqueline Jones. “To Call a Thing by Its True Name: The Rhetoric of Ida B. Wells.” Lunsford, pp. 167-84.

37. Revised or later edition

For a book published in an edition other than the first, give the edition number after the title:

Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style, 4th ed., Pearson, 2019.

38. Multivolume work

For a book published in more than one volume, give the total number of volumes after the title:

Klinger, Leslie S. The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. 2 vols., W. W. Norton, 2005.

39. One volume of a multivolume work

Klinger, Leslie S. The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. Vol. 2, W. W. Norton, 2005.

When each volume of a multivolume set has an individual title, list the volume’s full publication information first, followed by series information (number of volumes, dates). When separate volumes were published in different years, give inclusive dates:

Churchill, Winston S. Triumph and Tragedy. Houghton Mifflin, 1953. Vol. 6 of The Second World War. 6 vols. 1948-53.

However, if the volume you are using has its own title, you may cite the book without referring to the other volumes as if it were an independent publication.

40. Book in a series

Add the title of the series at the end of the entry:

Thaiss, Christopher. Language across the Curriculum in the Elementary Grades. WAC Clearinghouse, 2011, wac.colostate.edu/books/landmarks/thaiss/. Landmark Publications in Writing Studies.

41. Republished book

Give the original publication date after the title and the date the book was republished after the publisher:

Evans, Elizabeth E. G. The Abuse of Maternity. 1875. Arno, 1974.

42. Sacred text

Give the complete title of the version you consulted followed by the name of the editor and/or translator, the edition, the publisher, and the publication date:

The Bible. Authorized King James Version . Edited by Robert Carroll and Stephen Prickett, Oxford UP, 2008.

The Koran. Translated by N. J. Dawood, rev. ed., Penguin Books, 2015.

43. Introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword

Start with the author of the introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword, followed by a description of the work you are citing, such as “Foreword.” Give the author of the work after the title:

Offill, Jenny. Foreword. Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf, Penguin Classics, 2021, pp. vii-xiv.

44. Published letter

Roosevelt, Theodore. Letter to Upton Sinclair. 15 Mar. 1906. Theodore Roosevelt: Letters and Speeches, edited by Louis Auchincloss, 2004, pp. 310-11.

45. Conference paper

Killi, Stainer, and Andrew Morrison. “Could the Food Market Pull 3D Printing Appetites Further?” Industry 4.0—Shaping the Future of the Digital World: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sustainable & Smart Manufacturing, edited by Paulo Bartolo et al., CRC Press, 2021, pp. 197-203.

Use the following guidelines for works that are published only online and do not have an overarching publication, such as a journal, newspaper, magazine, or database.

46. Basic format for a short work or page on a website

Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Short Work.” Title of Website, Publisher, Publication Date, URL.

• Author. Give the last name, a comma, the first name, and any middle name or initial. Do not list an author’s professional title, such as Dr . or PhD. End with a period.
• Title of the short work. Put the title in quotation marks. Give the full title and any subtitle, separating them with a colon. Capitalize all significant words in the title. End with a period inside the closing quotation mark.
• Title of the website. Put the title of the website in italics. Capitalize all significant words in the title. End the title with a comma.
• Publisher. If the publisher of the website is different from the title of the website (as shown in Model 48), give it next, followed by a comma. If they are the same (as shown in Model 47), give only the title of the website.
• Publication date. Give the day, month, and year the work was posted, if available. Use the following abbreviations for months: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. Do not abbreviate May, June, and July.
• URL. Give the URL, without “http://.”

47. Short work or page on a website

Shetterly, Margot Lee. “Katherine Johnson Biography.” NASA , 24 Feb. 2020, www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography.

If the source you are citing has no author listed, start with the title. If the page has no title, give the name of the site and a descriptive label, such as “Home page” or “Blog post.”

48. Blog post

Blazich, Frank A. “The Cold Morning of the Day After.” Smithsonian Voices , Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Feb. 2021, www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-history/2021/02/05/cold-morning-day-after/.

49. Entire website

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Yale U, 2021, beinecke.library.yale.edu/.

If the website lists an editor, give the person’s name as you would an author, followed by a comma and ed.

“Coronavirus.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus.

Social media include posts made to various platforms and forums, comments made by individuals to posts, and online articles.

51. Basic format for a social media post

Author. “Text of untitled post” or “Title of post” or Descriptive label. Title of Site , Date of Post, Time of Post, URL.

• Author. Give the author’s handle and name. End with a period.
• Text, title, or description of post. Match the capitalization exactly, add quotation marks, and end with a period inside the closing quotation mark.
• Title of the social media site. Put the title of the site in italics, ending with a comma.
• Publication date and time. Give the day, month, year, and time of the post. Use the following abbreviations for months: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. Do not abbreviate May, June, and July.

52. Social media post

@Holleratcha (James Holler). “People go out and vote tomorrow!” Twitter, 2 Nov. 2020, 2:08 p.m., twitter.com/holleratcha/status/1270432672544784384.

Death Valley National Park. “What does it mean to protect something you love?” Facebook, 23 Feb. 2021, 5:01 p.m., www.facebook.com/DeathValleyNPS/posts/4108808255810092.

See Model 54 for how to cite a comment.

53. Online forum post

@Duckpond318. “Turkeys in the arboretum.” Reddit, 15 Mar. 2021, 11:22 a.m., www.reddit.com/r/Wildlife/comments/lqlbo3/turkeys_in_the_arboretum/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.

54. Online comment

AKJersey. Comment on “Can We Stop Fighting about Charter Schools?” The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/opinion/charter-schools-democrats.html#commentsContainer.

Use the following guidelines to cite email, text messages, and letters that you sent or received.

Roberts, Jeffrey. “Study results.” Received by Kenneth Berg, 21 Oct. 2020.

56. Text message

Igoe, Beverlee. Text message. Received by Alison McGrath, 2 Apr. 2020.

57. Personal letter

Atwood, Margaret. Letter to the author. 11 Mar. 2007.

Use the following guidelines to cite various media sources.

Begin with the title, followed by the director, the studio, and the year released.

Casablanca. Directed by Michael Curtiz, Warner Brothers, 1942.

You may also cite other contributors and their roles after the title (as illustrated below). If your paper is concerned with a particular person’s work on a film, such as the director, an actor, or someone else, begin with that person’s name and arrange all other information accordingly. For a film you stream, add the title of the streaming service and the URL:

Moonlight. Directed by Barry Jenkins, performances by Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, and Trevante Rhodes. A24, 2016. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/80121348?trackId=13752289&tctx=8%2C.

59. Online video

NASA. “Apollo 11 Moonwalk – Original NASA EVA Mission Video.” 20 July 1969. YouTube, 17 July 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9HdPi9Ikhk.

60. Television series or episode

The Good Place. Michael Schur, creator. NBC, 2016-20.

Streamed TV episode

“Jason Mendoza.” The Good Place, season 1, episode 4, NBC, 2016. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/80191852?trackId=13752289&tctx=%2C%2C.

61. Advertisement

XOFLUZA. Flu medication advertisement. The New Yorker, 8. Feb. 2021, pp. 5-6.

General Motors. “Will Ferrell Super Bowl Ad.” YouTube, 3 Feb. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdsPvbSpB2Y&t=24s.

62. Cartoon or comic

Davis, Jim. “Garfield.” Cartoon. Courier [Findlay, OH], 17 May 1996, p. 18.

If the source you cite appears in a local newspaper, as it does here, give the city and state in brackets after the name of the newspaper if the city is not part of the newspaper’s name.

Gauld, Tom. “Waiting for Godot to Join the Zoom Meeting.” You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, 31 Jan. 2021, myjetpack.tumblr.com/.

63. Painting or other visual artwork

Rivera, Diego. Detroit Industry Murals. 1932-33. Detroit Institute of Art.

If the city is not part of the name of the museum, add it after museum. For example, if the work you viewed was at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, you would end the entry as follows: Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Neel, Alice. Elenka. 1936. Alice Neel: People Come First, by Kelly Baum and Randall Griffey, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2021, p. 142.

Basquiat, Jean-Michel. Untitled. 1983. Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/collection/works/63997?artist_id=370&page=1&sov_referrer=artist. Accessed 24 Sept. 2020.

64. Map, chart, or diagram

Everglades National Park. National Geographic Society Maps, 2019.

“Map: Expedition of Lewis and Clark.” National Park Service, 2 Jan. 2018, nps.gov/subjects/travellewisandclark/map.htm.

65. Sound recording

Sound recordings include songs, albums, and spoken word. If you stream a sound recording or watch a performance online, add the name of the streaming service, such as Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music, after the date. If you access the recording online, add the name of the website and the URL after the date.

Prince. Purple Rain. Warner Brothers, 1984.

The Supremes. “Baby Love.” Where Did Our Love Go, Motown, 1964. Spotify.

Gorman, Amanda. “The Hill We Climb.” 20 Jan. 2021, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ055ilIiN4.

The Road to Higher Ground. Hosted by Jonathan Overby. WPR, 9 Jan. 2021.

If you listened to the radio program online, add the URL after the date.

67. Podcast

McEvers, Kelly, host. “This Is Not a Joke.” Embedded, season 9, episode 2, NPR, 7 Nov. 2019, Apple Podcasts.

If you listened to the podcast on the web, add the URL instead of the podcast service.

68. Interview

Wilkerson, Isabel. Interview. Fresh Air, NPR, 4 Aug. 2020.

Sowell, Thomas. Interview. Hoover Institution , 3 Jan. 2015, www.wsj.com/video/uncommon-knowledge-thomas-sowell-basic-economics/51837CB6-9FF2-305AE55D179A.html.

Wong, Diana. Personal interview. 12 Sept. 2020.

69. Video game, software, or app

Houser, Dan, et al., writers. Grand Theft Auto V. Rockstar Games, 2013. Xbox 360.

70. Live lecture, speech, address, or reading

Diaz, Shanna. “Your Dazzling Brain: The Symphony of Sleep.” Community Lecture Series, University of New Mexico Health Science and the City of Albuquerque, 13 Mar. 2018, Albuquerque Academy.

71. Live performance

Hamilton. By Lin-Manuel Miranda, directed by Thomas Kail, 11 Mar. 2018, CIBC Theater, Chicago.

If you watch a video of a performance online, cite it as you would cite an online video.

72. Letter in an archive

Mucklestone, Ada. Letter to Maj. Gen. Ralph J. Olson. 6 Nov. 1958. Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Alphabetical Subject File, 1950-66, 1715, Box 13.

73. Dissertation

Park, Eun Jung. Korean American Artists and the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. 2013. U of California, San Diego, PhD dissertation. ProQuest, www.proquest.com/doc-view/1425303659.

Boothby, Daniel W. The Determinants of Earnings and Occupation for Young Women. 1978. U of California, Berkeley, PhD dissertation.

74. Pamphlet

“Facts about Fallout.” Civil Defense Administration, 1961.

MLA Paper Format

Follow your instructor’s formatting guidelines or those indicated here. For sample papers with MLA format and works-cited pages, visit this site .

• Margins. Use one-inch margins on all sides.
• Spacing. Double-space throughout the paper, including the works-cited page.
• Paragraph format. Indent paragraphs one-half inch.
• Page numbers. Start numbering on the first page of your paper and continue to the end of the works-cited page. Place page numbers in the upper-right corner, and add your last name before the page number: “Coleman 3.”
• Identifying information. Put your name, your instructor’s name, the course title, and the date in the left corner of the first page of the body of the paper, not in the header. Double-space this information.
• Title. Center the title on the first page. Do not use italics, boldface, all capitals, or quotation marks. Do not add extra space below the title.
• Long quotations and quotations from poetry. See Quotations for how to cite long quotations and poetry quotations.

H 14 . APA Documentation and Format

Disciplines in the social sciences—psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, social work, and often education—use the APA name-and-date system of documentation. APA style highlights authors and dates of publication because timeliness of published material is of primary importance in these disciplines. The following are general features of APA style:

• All material borrowed from sources is cited in the text of a paper by the author’s name, date of publication, and page numbers (if available).
• A list of references at the end of a paper provides full publication data for each source cited in the text of the paper.

The instruction in this section follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition (2020). For more information on APA style, visit this site . For examples of student papers in the textbook using APA documentation style, see Section 4 in Chapters 6, 8, and 15.

In-text citations feature author names, dates of publication, and page numbers, depending on what information is available. The Index located in H12 provides a listing of the models that are included below.

75. One author

When you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source, include the last name of the source’s author, if known, in a signal phrase or in parentheses at the end of your sentence. Give the publication date after the author’s name. Provide the page or pages on which the original material appeared preceded by p. or pp. See Spotlight on … Citation .

According to Thomas (1974), many bacteria become dangerous only if they manufacture exotoxins (p. 76). Many bacteria become dangerous only if they manufacture exotoxins (Thomas, 1974, p. 76).

If you cite two or more works by the same author, published in the same year, use letters after the year to distinguish them: (Gallivan, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c).

76. Two authors

Smith and Hawkins (1990) confirmed that bacteria producing exotoxins are harmful to humans (p. 17). The study confirmed that bacteria producing exotoxins are harmful to humans (Smith & Hawkins, 1990, p. 17).

77. Three or more authors

The results indicate that alcohol use rose during the period of the study (Dominic et al., 2021, p. 16).

78. Authors with the same last name

When authors of different sources have the same last name, include their initials: Since the legalization of marijuana for recreational use, frequent use among adults has risen (J. T. Greene, 2019, p. 21; M. Greene, 2020, p. 30).

When authors of the same source have the same name, do not include their initials: (Kim & Kim, 2018, p. 47).

79. Organization, government, corporation, or association as author

When citing a well-known organization, government agency, corporation, or association, introduce an abbreviation of the name in the first reference and use it in subsequent references:

On multiple occasions, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA, 2018) reported that formal efforts to reintegrate combat veterans into civilian life were beneficial.

80. Unknown author

When the author of a work is unknown, use the work’s title in a signal phrase, or put the title in parentheses. Put quotation marks around article titles, and put book or journal titles in italics:

In a pointed editorial, The New York Times argued that college athletic departments should support public health by canceling sports seasons until athletes and the public were vaccinated (”Don’t Let the Games Begin,” 2020). In its pointed editorial, “Don’t Let the Games Begin” (2020), The New York Times argued that college athletic departments should support public health by canceling sports seasons until athletes and the public were vaccinated.

81. Two or more works in the same citation

When you cite more than one work in parentheses, put the works in the same order that they appear in your list of references, and use a semicolon between them:

Americans who resisted or ignored civil defense were later cast as heroic people who chose not to build fallout shelters or as marginalized people who could not afford them (Garrison, 2006; Mechling & Mechling, 1991).

82. Work with no page numbers

If the work you are citing has no page numbers, help readers find the quotation by providing a heading, a section name, and/or a paragraph number (using the abbreviation para. or paras. ):

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2019), research on PTSD includes gene research and brain imaging technologies (Next Steps for PTSD Research section, para. 6).

For audio or visual works, give the time stamp of the beginning of the source: (Wong, 2020, 34:16).

83. Source quoted in another source (indirect quotation)

When a quotation or any information in your source is originally from another source, try to track down the original source. If you cannot find the original, use the words “as cited in”:

The research collective, which has studied global health including access to food, sounded the alarm about a potential “worldwide food crisis” in the early 2000s (as cited in Sing, 2018, p. 32).

84. Entire work

When you cite an entire work, you do not need to give a page number. See Models 79 and 80. When you mention an entire website, link to the website directly or give the URL. You do not need to include the website in the references list:

The Department of Veterans Affairs maintains a website for PTSD, which contains resources and help for families and healthcare providers as well as veterans (https://www.ptsd.va.gov/).

85. Personal communication

Because personal communications such as emails, letters, personal interviews, and the like cannot be found by other researchers, cite them in the text only:

During our interview, Morales explained that she had quit her job to help her children with their schooling (personal communication, January 4, 2021).

APA References

Each source cited in the text of your paper refers readers to the list of references, a complete list of all the sources you quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. Every source cited in the text of your paper must be included in the references list, and every source in the references list must be cited in the text of your paper.

After the last page of your paper, start a new page with the centered, boldfaced title References at the top. Create an entry for each source using the following guidelines and examples.

• Alphabetize the entries according to authors’ last names. If two or more authors have the same last name, alphabetize by the initials of their first and middle names. Alphabetize sources with unknown authors by the first word of the title, excluding a, an, or the.

Core Elements (APA)

Each entry in the list of references consists of core elements:

• Date of publication. When was the work published?
• Publication information. Where can the work be found so that others can consult it?

Sometimes core elements are unknown or missing. In such cases, the entry in the reference list entry must be adapted:

• No author? If the source has no known author, cite it by the title. See Models 90 and 98.
• No date of publication? If the source has no publication date, write n.d . instead of the publication date. See Model 110.
• No title? If the work has no title, put a brief description in square brackets.
• No publication information? If the source is a personal communication that only you have a record of, cite the source in your text, not in the references, because it cannot be retrieved by other readers. See “Personal communication” above.

A note on retrieval dates: APA recommends adding a retrieval date for sources that are not archived or are likely to change over time, such as a developing news story. If you add a retrieval date, place it at the end of the references entry in this format: “Retrieved April 4, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com.” Ask your instructors if they require retrieval dates.

Give the author’s last name, comma, and first and middle initials if available. For works with more than one author, put a comma and an ampersand (&) before the final author’s name, even when there are two authors.

86. One author

Milanovic, B. (2016). Global inequality: A new approach for the age of globalization. Harvard UP.

87. Two authors

Kristoff, N. D., & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide. Alfred A. Knopf.

88. Three to twenty authors

Provide last names and initials for up to and including 20 authors.

Barlow, D. H., Durand, V. M., & Hofmann, S. G. (2017). Abnormal psychology: An integrative approach. Cengage Learning.

For more than 20 authors, include the first 19 authors’ names, insert an ellipsis, and then add the final author’s name.

89. Work by an organization, a government, a corporation, or an association

Works published by organizations often have the same author and publisher, which is frequently the title of a website. When the author and publisher are not the same, give the author and the title of the website:

National Institute of Mental Health. (2020). Post-traumatic stress disorder. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml.

When the author and the publisher or title of the website are the same, omit the latter:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, February 17). Variants of the virus. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/index.html.

90. Unknown author

If no author is given, start with the title:

The most beautiful battalion in the army. (1968). Grunt magazine, 12-15.

91. Two or more works by the same author

List two or more works by the same author (or the same author team listed in the same order) chronologically by year in the reference list, with the earliest first. Arrange works published in the same year alphabetically by title, placing lowercase letters after the publication dates:

Bandura, A. (1969). Principles of behavior modification. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Bandura, A. (1977a). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.

Bandura, A. (1977b). Social learning theory. Prentice Hall.

Articles, reviews, editorials, and other short works are published in journals, newspapers, and magazines, and they appear in print, on databases, and on websites (though often through a paywall). As a student, you are likely to access many articles and other short research sources primarily through databases available through your library.

92. Basic format for an article in an academic journal

Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Date of Publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume (number), Pages. DOI or URL.

• Author. Give the last name, a comma, and the initials of the first name and middle name (if available). Do not list an author’s professional title, such as Dr. or PhD. End with a period.
• Date of Publication. In parentheses, give the year of publication, a comma, and the month or season of publication. End with a period outside the closing parentheses.
• Title of the article. Give the full title and any subtitle, separating them with a colon. For articles and book chapters, do not use quotation marks or italicize the title. Capitalize only the first word of the title and the first word of a subtitle and any proper nouns.
• Title of the journal. Put the journal title in italics. Capitalize all significant words in the title. End the title with a comma.
• Volume and issue numbers. Italicize the volume number, and follow it with the issue number in parentheses (not italicized). End with a comma.
• Page numbers. Give inclusive page numbers without p. or pp . End with a period.
• DOI or URL. Provide a DOI (if available) or a URL. Include “http://,” and do not add a period at the end. The preferred format for a DOI is “https://doi.org/” followed by the number. You may encounter older formats for DOI; if so, change them to this format. If the article is online and does not have a DOI, give the URL instead.

93. Article in an academic journal

Gawande, A. A. (2017, April). It’s time to adopt electronic prescriptions for opioids. Annals of Surgery, 265 (4), 693-94. https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000002133

Squires, S. (2019). Do generations differ when it comes to green values and products? Electronic Green Journal, 42 . http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6f91213q

The online journal in the example numbers issues only, so no volume number or page numbers are given.

Lowther, M. A. (1977, Winter). Career change in mid-life: Its impact on education. Innovator, 8 (7), 9-11.

An older journal article you consult in print may not have a DOI. In that case, end with the page numbers.

94. Article in a magazine

For a magazine article you read on a database or online, give the DOI if the article has one; otherwise give the URL. For a magazine article you consulted in print, end the entry after the page number unless a DOI is provided.

Sneed, A. (2017, September 19). Giant shape-shifters. Scientific American, 317 (4), 20. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1017-20

Sneed, A. (2017, September 19). Giant shape-shifters. Scientific American, 317 (4), 20.

Myszkowski, S. (2018, October 10). On the trail of missing American Indian women. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/10/trail-missing-american-indian-women/571657/

95. Article in a newspaper

For a newspaper article that you read on a database or in print, end the entry after the page numbers. For a newspaper article that you read online, give the URL instead of page numbers.

Krueger, A. (2019, November 27). When mom knows best, on Instagram. The New York Times, B1-B4.

Healy, J. (2021, January 12). Tribal elders are dying from the pandemic, causing a cultural crisis for American Indians. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/us/tribal-elders-native-americans-coronavirus.html

96. Blog post

Blazich, F. A. (2021, February 5). The cold morning of the day after. Smithsonian Voices. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-history/2021/02/05/cold-morning-day-after/

97. Published interview

Beard, A. (2013, May). Life’s work: An interview with Maya Angelou. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2013/05/maya-angelou

98. Editorial or letter to the editor

An editorial may or may not have an author’s name attached to it. If it does, give the author’s name first. If it does not, start with the title. In both situations, add Editorial or Letter to the Editor in square brackets after the title.

For better elections, copy the neighbors [Editorial]. (2021, February 16). The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-better-elections-copy-the-neighbors-11613518448

To cite a review of a book, film, television show, or other work, begin with the reviewer’s last name, followed by the first and middle (if any) initials. In parentheses, add the year, followed by the title, month, and day of the review. Then in square brackets, add Review of the and the type of work being reviewed, followed by the title and the name of the author, director, or creator and their role. Then give the publication in which the review appeared, ending with a period, and the URL:

Girish, D. (2021, February 18). Refocusing the lens on race and gender [Review of the film Test Pattern, by S. M. Ford, Dir.]. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/movies/test-pattern-review.html

Use the following guidelines for books and parts of books, such as a selection from an anthology, a chapter in a collection, a published conference paper, and so on.

100. Basic entry for a book

Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Year of Publication). Title of book. Publisher.

• Author. Give the last name, a comma, and the initials of the first name and middle name (if available). Do not list an author’s professional title, such as Dr . or PhD . End with a period.
• Year of publication. In parentheses, give the year of publication, ending with a period outside the closing parentheses.
• Title of the book. Put the book’s title in italics. Give the full title and any subtitle, separating them with a colon. Capitalize only the first word of the title and the first word of a subtitle and any proper nouns.
• Publisher. Give the publisher’s name as shown on the work, omitting words such as Inc. or Company.

101. Print book or e-book

Aronson, L. (2019). Elderhood: Redefining aging, transforming medicine, reimagining life. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Use the same format for an e-book when the content is the same. If you consult a book that has a DOI, provide it after the publisher, using the format “https://doi.org/” followed by the number. (If you encounter older formats for DOI, change them to this format.) If you read a book online, give the URL.

102. Book, anthology, or collection with an editor

Schaefer, C. E., & Reid, S. E. (Eds.). (2001). Game play: Therapeutic use of childhood games (2nd ed.) . Wiley.

103. Article or chapter in an edited book, an anthology, or a collection

Burks, H. F. (2001). Using the imagine game as a projective technique. In C. E. Schaefer & S. E. Reid (Eds.), Game play: Therapeutic use of childhood games (2nd ed., pp. 39-66). Wiley.

104. Translated or reprinted book

Freud, S. (1950). The interpretation of dreams (A. A. Brill, Trans.). Modern Library. (Original work published 1900)

105. Revised edition

Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2019). The elements of style (4th ed.). Pearson.

106. One volume of a multivolume work

Waldrep, T. (Ed.). (1988). Writers on writing (Vol. 2). Random House.

107. Report or publication by a government agency or other organization

National Institute of Mental Health. (2020). Post-traumatic stress disorder. U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, National Institutes of Health.

If you consulted the publication online, include the URL after the publisher. See Model 89.

108. Conference paper

Killi, S., & Morrison, A. (2021). Could the food market pull 3D printing appetites further? In J.D. da Silva Bartolo, F. M. da Silva, S. Jaradat, & H. Bartolo (Eds.), Industry 4.0—shaping the future of the digital world: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sustainable & Smart Manufacturing (pp. 197-203). CRC Press.

Use the following guidelines for works published only online that do not have an overarching publication, such as a journal, newspaper, or magazine.

109. Basic format for a page or work on a website

Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Publication Date). Title of work. Title of website. URL.

• Author. Give the last name, a comma, and the initials of the first name and middle name (if available). Do not list an author’s professional title, such as Dr. or PhD . End with a period.
• Date of publication. In parentheses, give the year of publication and a comma, followed by the month and the day. End with a period outside the closing parentheses.
• Title of the work. Put the title of the work in italics. Give the full title and any subtitle, separating them with a colon. Capitalize only the first word of the title and the first word of a subtitle and any proper nouns.
• Title of the website. Give the title of the website and end with a period. If the author and the website title are the same, you can omit the title of the site.
• URL. Copy and paste the URL from your browser window.

110. Page or work on a website

Shetterly, M. L. (2020, February 24). Katherine Johnson biography. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (n.d.). What is PTSD? National Center for PTSD. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/what/index.asp

If the source you are citing has no author listed, start with the title. See Model 90.

Coronavirus. (2021, February 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus

When you cite a social media post as a source, use labels in square brackets to indicate the type of post and whether images were attached to it.

112. Social media post

Holler, J. [@holleratcha]. (2020, November 2). Everyone get out and vote tomorrow! [Tweet]. Twitter. http://twitter.com/holleratcha/status/1270432672544784384

Death Valley National Park. (2021, February 23). What does it mean to protect something you love? [Images attached] [Status update]. Facebook. www.facebook.com/DeathValleyNPS/posts/4108808255810092.

113. Online forum post

National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]. (2020, November 14). We’re engineers, astronaut trainers, and other specialists working to launch humans on commercial spacecraft from U.S. soil! Ask us anything about the NASA SpaceX Crew-1 mission! [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/jsx91g/were_engineers_astronaut_trainers_and_other/

When you cite nonprint sources, such as visual and multimedia sources, use labels in square brackets to indicate the type of source, such as a film, a TV episode, a song, a painting, a photograph, and so on.

When you cite a film that you saw in a theater or streamed, you do not need to specify how you watched it.

Jenkins, B. (Director). (2016). Moonlight [Film]. A24.

115. Online video

For an online video, give the name of the person or organization that uploaded it as the author:

TED. (2017, February 27). Sue Klebold: My son was a Columbine shooter. This is my story [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXlnrFpCu0c

116. Television program

Schur, M., Miner, D., Sackett, M., & Goddard, D. (Executive Producers). (2016-20). The good place [TV series]. Fremulon; 3 Arts Entertainment; Universal Television; NBC.

Mande, J. (Writer), & Benz, P. (Director). (2016, September 29). Jason Mendoza (Season 1, Episode 4) [TV series episode]. In M Schur, D. Miner, M. Sackett, & D. Goddard (Executive Producers), The good place. Fremulon; 3 Arts Entertainment; Universal Television; NBC.

117. Music recording

For an artist whose music is available only through a website, include the URL. If the artist’s music is available on multiple platforms, you do not need to specify how you accessed it.

Prince. (1984). Purple rain [Album]. Warner Brothers.

The Supremes. (1964). Baby love [Song]. On Where did our love go. Motown.

Overby, J. (Host). (2021, January 9). The road to higher ground: World music with African roots and more. WPR.

119. Podcast

McEvers, K. (Host). (2019, November 7). This is not a joke (Season 9, Episode 9) [Audio podcast episode]. In Embedded. NPR.

120. Painting or other visual artwork

For a work of visual art, give the location of the museum or gallery. If you saw the work online, add the URL after the location:

Rivera, D. (1932-33). Detroit industry murals [Painting]. Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI, United States.

Basquiat, J-M. (1983). Untitled [Painting]. Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, United States. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/63997?artist_id=370&page=1&sov_referrer=artist

121. Map, photograph, infographic, or other visual

If the work you consulted names an author, start with the author. If there is no author, start with the title and a description of the work in square brackets, such as [Map], [Photograph], [Infographic], [Diagram], or another appropriate descriptor:

Expedition of Lewis and Clark [Map]. (2018). National Park Service. http://nps.gov/subjects/travellewisandclark/map.htm

122. Video game, software, or app

Benzies, L., & Sarwar, I. (2017). Grand theft auto V [Video game]. Rockstar Games. https://www.rockstargames.com/games/V

APA Paper Format

Follow your instructor’s formatting guidelines or those indicated here. For sample papers showing APA paper format, see this site .

• Title page. Give the title of the paper in bold, centered. Then, on separate lines and not boldfaced, give your name, academic department, name of your college or university, course number and name, instructor’s name, and the due date, all centered. Repeat only the title on the first page of the text of your paper.
• Spacing. Double-space throughout the paper, including the references page.
• Headings. Give headings for the major sections of your paper, such as Method, Results or Findings, and Discussion . Put the headings in bold and center them on the page. Put the next level of headings in bold and place them flush left.
• Page numbers. Start numbering on the title page of your paper and continue to the end of the references page. Place page numbers in the upper-right corner.
• Long quotations. See Quotations for how to cite long quotations.

H 15 . Further Reading

MLA Handbook , 8th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.

MLA Handbook, 9 th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2020.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th ed., American Psychological Association, 2020.

H 16 . Works Cited

Addams, Jane. Twenty Years at Hull-House. Digital Public Library of America , 1910, dp.la/primary-source-sets/theodore-dreiser-s-sister-carrie-and-the-urbanization-of-chicago/.

Becker, Jo. Forcing the Spring: Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality. Penguin Press, 2014.

Behn, Aphra. “The Character.” The Works of Aphra Behn. Edited by Montague Summers, vol. 6, Project Gutenberg , 2014, www.gutenberg.org/files/45777/45777-h/45777-h.htm#Page_113.

Behn, Aphra. “Love’s Power.” The Works of Aphra Behn. Edited by Montague Summers, vol. 6, Project Gutenberg, 2014, www.gutenberg.org/files/45777/45777-h/45777-h.htm#Page_113.

Brooks, Gwendolyn. “We Real Cool.” Blacks , Third World Press, 1994.

Da 5 Bloods. Directed by Spike Lee. Netflix, 2020.

Eisenberg, Richard. “How to Fix Social Security for Vulnerable Americans.” Forbes , 5 July 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2018/07/05/how-to-fix-social-security-for-vulnerable-americans/.

“Environmental Impacts of Natural Gas.” Union of Concerned Scientists, 19 June 2014, www.ucsusa.org/resources/environmental-impacts-natural-gas.

Garrison, Dee. Bracing for Armageddon: Why Civil Defense Never Worked. Oxford UP, 2006.

Hollar-Zwick, Carol. Me, Hemorrhage: Recovery from a Ruptured Arteriovenous Malformation. Amazon, 2020.

The King James Bible. Project Gutenberg, 1989, www.gutenberg.org/files/10/10-h/10-h.htm#The_Gospel_According_to_Saint_Matthew.

Konish, Lorie. “Some Retirees Get by on Just Social Security. Experts Disagree on How Many.” CNBC, 10 Feb. 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/02/10/some-retirees-live-on-social-security-experts-disagree-on-how-many.html.

Mechling, Elizabeth Walker, and Jay Mechling. “The Campaign for Civil Defense and the Struggle to Naturalize the Bomb.” Western Journal of Speech Communication, vol. 55, no. 2, Spring 1991, pp. 105-33.

Myers, David. “The Funds, Friends, and Faith of Happy People.” American Psychologist , vol. 55, no. 1, Jan. 2000, pp. 56-67.

“This Is Who We Are.” U.S. Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Mar. 2019, http://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/This-is-Who-We-Are.pdf.

Thomas, Lewis. Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher. Penguin Books, 1978.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Project Gutenberg, 1995, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm.

University of Agder. “Sorry (not sorry).” YouTube , 6 Feb. 2021, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi3JQa1ynDw.

Wilkerson, Isabel. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Random House, 2020.

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, getting college essay help: important do's and don’ts.

College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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11 Rules for Essay Paragraph Structure (with Examples)

How do you structure a paragraph in an essay?

If you’re like the majority of my students, you might be getting your basic essay paragraph structure wrong and getting lower grades than you could!

In this article, I outline the 11 key steps to writing a perfect paragraph. But, this isn’t your normal ‘how to write an essay’ article. Rather, I’ll try to give you some insight into exactly what teachers look out for when they’re grading essays and figuring out what grade to give them.

You can navigate each issue below, or scroll down to read them all:

1. Paragraphs must be at least four sentences long 2. But, at most seven sentences long 3. Your paragraph must be Left-Aligned 4. You need a topic sentence 5 . Next, you need an explanation sentence 6. You need to include an example 7. You need to include citations 8. All paragraphs need to be relevant to the marking criteria 9. Only include one key idea per paragraph 10. Keep sentences short 11. Keep quotes short

Paragraph structure is one of the most important elements of getting essay writing right .

As I cover in my Ultimate Guide to Writing an Essay Plan , paragraphs are the heart and soul of your essay.

However, I find most of my students have either:

• forgotten how to write paragraphs properly,
• gotten lazy, or
• never learned it in the first place!

Paragraphs in essay writing are different from paragraphs in other written genres .

In fact, the paragraphs that you are reading now would not help your grades in an essay.

That’s because I’m writing in journalistic style, where paragraph conventions are vastly different.

For those of you coming from journalism or creative writing, you might find you need to re-learn paragraph writing if you want to write well-structured essay paragraphs to get top grades.

Below are eleven reasons your paragraphs are losing marks, and what to do about it!

Essay Paragraph Structure Rules

1. your paragraphs must be at least 4 sentences long.

In journalism and blog writing, a one-sentence paragraph is great. It’s short, to-the-point, and helps guide your reader. For essay paragraph structure, one-sentence paragraphs suck.

A one-sentence essay paragraph sends an instant signal to your teacher that you don’t have much to say on an issue.

A short paragraph signifies that you know something – but not much about it. A one-sentence paragraph lacks detail, depth and insight.

Many students come to me and ask, “what does ‘add depth’ mean?” It’s one of the most common pieces of feedback you’ll see written on the margins of your essay.

Personally, I think ‘add depth’ is bad feedback because it’s a short and vague comment. But, here’s what it means: You’ve not explained your point enough!

If you’re writing one-, two- or three-sentence essay paragraphs, you’re costing yourself marks.

Always aim for at least four sentences per paragraph in your essays.

This doesn’t mean that you should add ‘fluff’ or ‘padding’ sentences.

Make sure you don’t:

a) repeat what you said in different words, or b) write something just because you need another sentence in there.

But, you need to do some research and find something insightful to add to that two-sentence paragraph if you want to ace your essay.

Check out Points 5 and 6 for some advice on what to add to that short paragraph to add ‘depth’ to your paragraph and start moving to the top of the class.

• How to Make an Essay Longer
• How to Make an Essay Shorter

2. Your Paragraphs must not be more than 7 Sentences Long

Okay, so I just told you to aim for at least four sentences per paragraph. So, what’s the longest your paragraph should be?

Seven sentences. That’s a maximum.

So, here’s the rule:

Between four and seven sentences is the sweet spot that you need to aim for in every single paragraph.

Here’s why your paragraphs shouldn’t be longer than seven sentences:

1. It shows you can organize your thoughts. You need to show your teacher that you’ve broken up your key ideas into manageable segments of text (see point 10)

2. It makes your work easier to read.   You need your writing to be easily readable to make it easy for your teacher to give you good grades. Make your essay easy to read and you’ll get higher marks every time.

One of the most important ways you can make your work easier to read is by writing paragraphs that are less than six sentences long.

3. It prevents teacher frustration. Teachers are just like you. When they see a big block of text their eyes glaze over. They get frustrated, lost, their mind wanders … and you lose marks.

To prevent teacher frustration, you need to ensure there’s plenty of white space in your essay. It’s about showing them that the piece is clearly structured into one key idea per ‘chunk’ of text.

Often, you might find that your writing contains tautologies and other turns of phrase that can be shortened for clarity.

3. Your Paragraph must be Left-Aligned

Turn off ‘Justified’ text and: Never. Turn. It. On. Again.

Justified text is where the words are stretched out to make the paragraph look like a square. It turns the writing into a block. Don’t do it. You will lose marks, I promise you! Win the psychological game with your teacher: left-align your text.

A good essay paragraph is never ‘justified’.

I’m going to repeat this, because it’s important: to prevent your essay from looking like a big block of muddy, hard-to-read text align your text to the left margin only.

You want white space on your page – and lots of it. White space helps your reader scan through your work. It also prevents it from looking like big blocks of text.

You want your reader reading vertically as much as possible: scanning, browsing, and quickly looking through for evidence you’ve engaged with the big ideas.

The justified text doesn’t help you do that. Justified text makes your writing look like a big, lumpy block of text that your reader doesn’t want to read.

What’s wrong with Center-Aligned Text?

While I’m at it, never, ever, center-align your text either. Center-aligned text is impossible to skim-read. Your teacher wants to be able to quickly scan down the left margin to get the headline information in your paragraph.

Not many people center-align text, but it’s worth repeating: never, ever center-align your essays.

Don’t annoy your reader. Left align your text.

4. Your paragraphs must have a Topic Sentence

The first sentence of an essay paragraph is called the topic sentence. This is one of the most important sentences in the correct essay paragraph structure style.

The topic sentence should convey exactly what key idea you’re going to cover in your paragraph.

Too often, students don’t let their reader know what the key idea of the paragraph is until several sentences in.

You must show what the paragraph is about in the first sentence.

You never, ever want to keep your reader in suspense. Essays are not like creative writing. Tell them straight away what the paragraph is about. In fact, if you can, do it in the first half of the first sentence .

I’ll remind you again: make it easy to grade your work. Your teacher is reading through your work trying to determine what grade to give you. They’re probably going to mark 20 assignments in one sitting. They have no interest in storytelling or creativity. They just want to know how much you know! State what the paragraph is about immediately and move on.

Suggested: Best Words to Start a Paragraph

Ideal Essay Paragraph Structure Example: Writing a Topic Sentence If your paragraph is about how climate change is endangering polar bears, say it immediately : “Climate change is endangering polar bears.” should be your first sentence in your paragraph. Take a look at first sentence of each of the four paragraphs above this one. You can see from the first sentence of each paragraph that the paragraphs discuss:

When editing your work, read each paragraph and try to distil what the one key idea is in your paragraph. Ensure that this key idea is mentioned in the first sentence .

(Note: if there’s more than one key idea in the paragraph, you may have a problem. See Point 9 below .)

The topic sentence is the most important sentence for getting your essay paragraph structure right. So, get your topic sentences right and you’re on the right track to a good essay paragraph.

5. You need an Explanation Sentence

All topic sentences need a follow-up explanation. The very first point on this page was that too often students write paragraphs that are too short. To add what is called ‘depth’ to a paragraph, you can come up with two types of follow-up sentences: explanations and examples.

Let’s take explanation sentences first.

Explanation sentences give additional detail. They often provide one of the following services:

Let’s go back to our example of a paragraph on Climate change endangering polar bears. If your topic sentence is “Climate change is endangering polar bears.”, then your follow-up explanation sentence is likely to explain how, why, where, or when. You could say:

Ideal Essay Paragraph Structure Example: Writing Explanation Sentences 1. How: “The warming atmosphere is melting the polar ice caps.” 2. Why: “The polar bears’ habitats are shrinking every single year.” 3. Where: “This is happening in the Antarctic ice caps near Greenland.” 4. When: “Scientists first noticed the ice caps were shrinking in 1978.”

You don’t have to provide all four of these options each time.

But, if you’re struggling to think of what to add to your paragraph to add depth, consider one of these four options for a good quality explanation sentence.

>>>RELATED ARTICLE: SHOULD YOU USE RHETORICAL QUESTIONS IN ESSAYS ?

6. Your need to Include an Example

Examples matter! They add detail. They also help to show that you genuinely understand the issue. They show that you don’t just understand a concept in the abstract; you also understand how things work in real life.

Example sentences have the added benefit of personalising an issue. For example, after saying “Polar bears’ habitats are shrinking”, you could note specific habitats, facts and figures, or even a specific story about a bear who was impacted.

Ideal Essay Paragraph Structure Example: Writing an ‘Example’ Sentence “For example, 770,000 square miles of Arctic Sea Ice has melted in the past four decades, leading Polar Bear populations to dwindle ( National Geographic, 2018 )

In fact, one of the most effective politicians of our times – Barrack Obama – was an expert at this technique. He would often provide examples of people who got sick because they didn’t have healthcare to sell Obamacare.

What effect did this have? It showed the real-world impact of his ideas. It humanised him, and got him elected president – twice!

Be like Obama. Provide examples. Often.

7. All Paragraphs need Citations

Provide a reference to an academic source in every single body paragraph in the essay. The only two paragraphs where you don’t need a reference is the introduction and conclusion .

Let me repeat: Paragraphs need at least one reference to a quality scholarly source .

Let me go even further:

Students who get the best marks provide two references to two different academic sources in every paragraph.

Two references in a paragraph show you’ve read widely, cross-checked your sources, and given the paragraph real thought.

It’s really important that these references link to academic sources, not random websites, blogs or YouTube videos. Check out our Seven Best types of Sources to Cite in Essays post to get advice on what sources to cite. Number 6 w ill surprise you!

Ideal Essay Paragraph Structure Example: In-Text Referencing in Paragraphs Usually, in-text referencing takes the format: (Author, YEAR), but check your school’s referencing formatting requirements carefully. The ‘Author’ section is the author’s last name only. Not their initials. Not their first name. Just their last name . My name is Chris Drew. First name Chris, last name Drew. If you were going to reference an academic article I wrote in 2019, you would reference it like this: (Drew, 2019).

Where do you place those two references?

Place the first reference at the end of the first half of the paragraph. Place the second reference at the end of the second half of the paragraph.

This spreads the references out and makes it look like all the points throughout the paragraph are backed up by your sources. The goal is to make it look like you’ve reference regularly when your teacher scans through your work.

Remember, teachers can look out for signposts that indicate you’ve followed academic conventions and mentioned the right key ideas.

Spreading your referencing through the paragraph helps to make it look like you’ve followed the academic convention of referencing sources regularly.

Here are some examples of how to reference twice in a paragraph:

• If your paragraph was six sentences long, you would place your first reference at the end of the third sentence and your second reference at the end of the sixth sentence.
• If your paragraph was five sentences long, I would recommend placing one at the end of the second sentence and one at the end of the fifth sentence.

You’ve just read one of the key secrets to winning top marks.

8. Every Paragraph must be relevant to the Marking Criteria

Every paragraph must win you marks. When you’re editing your work, check through the piece to see if every paragraph is relevant to the marking criteria.

For the British: In the British university system (I’m including Australia and New Zealand here – I’ve taught at universities in all three countries), you’ll usually have a ‘marking criteria’. It’s usually a list of between two and six key learning outcomes your teacher needs to use to come up with your score. Sometimes it’s called a:

• Marking criteria
• Marking rubric
• (Key) learning outcome
• Indicative content

Check your assignment guidance to see if this is present. If so, use this list of learning outcomes to guide what you write. If your paragraphs are irrelevant to these key points, delete the paragraph .

Paragraphs that don’t link to the marking criteria are pointless. They won’t win you marks.

For the Americans: If you don’t have a marking criteria / rubric / outcomes list, you’ll need to stick closely to the essay question or topic. This goes out to those of you in the North American system. North America (including USA and Canada here) is often less structured and the professor might just give you a topic to base your essay on.

If all you’ve got is the essay question / topic, go through each paragraph and make sure each paragraph is relevant to the topic.

For example, if your essay question / topic is on “The Effects of Climate Change on Polar Bears”,

• Don’t talk about anything that doesn’t have some connection to climate change and polar bears;
• Don’t talk about the environmental impact of oil spills in the Gulf of Carpentaria;
• Don’t talk about black bear habitats in British Columbia.
• Do talk about the effects of climate change on polar bears (and relevant related topics) in every single paragraph .

You may think ‘stay relevant’ is obvious advice, but at least 20% of all essays I mark go off on tangents and waste words.

Stay on topic in Every. Single. Paragraph. If you want to learn more about how to stay on topic, check out our essay planning guide .

9. Only have one Key Idea per Paragraph

One key idea for each paragraph. One key idea for each paragraph. One key idea for each paragraph.

Don’t forget!

Too often, a student starts a paragraph talking about one thing and ends it talking about something totally different. Don’t be that student.

To ensure you’re focussing on one key idea in your paragraph, make sure you know what that key idea is. It should be mentioned in your topic sentence (see Point 3 ). Every other sentence in the paragraph adds depth to that one key idea.

If you’ve got sentences in your paragraph that are not relevant to the key idea in the paragraph, they don’t fit. They belong in another paragraph.

Go through all your paragraphs when editing your work and check to see if you’ve veered away from your paragraph’s key idea. If so, you might have two or even three key ideas in the one paragraph.

You’re going to have to get those additional key ideas, rip them out, and give them paragraphs of their own.

If you have more than one key idea in a paragraph you will lose marks. I promise you that.

The paragraphs will be too hard to read, your reader will get bogged down reading rather than scanning, and you’ll have lost grades.

10. Keep Sentences Short

If a sentence is too long it gets confusing. When the sentence is confusing, your reader will stop reading your work. They will stop reading the paragraph and move to the next one. They’ll have given up on your paragraph.

Short, snappy sentences are best.

Shorter sentences are easier to read and they make more sense. Too often, students think they have to use big, long, academic words to get the best marks. Wrong. Aim for clarity in every sentence in the paragraph. Your teacher will thank you for it.

The students who get the best marks write clear, short sentences.

When editing your draft, go through your essay and see if you can shorten your longest five sentences.

(To learn more about how to write the best quality sentences, see our page on Seven ways to Write Amazing Sentences .)

11. Keep Quotes Short

Eighty percent of university teachers hate quotes. That’s not an official figure. It’s my guestimate based on my many interactions in faculty lounges. Twenty percent don’t mind them, but chances are your teacher is one of the eight out of ten who hate quotes.

Teachers tend to be turned off by quotes because it makes it look like you don’t know how to say something on your own words.

Now that I’ve warned you, here’s how to use quotes properly:

Ideal Essay Paragraph Structure Example: How To Use Quotes in University-Level Essay Paragraphs 1. Your quote should be less than one sentence long. 2. Your quote should be less than one sentence long. 3. You should never start a sentence with a quote. 4. You should never end a paragraph with a quote. 5 . You should never use more than five quotes per essay. 6. Your quote should never be longer than one line in a paragraph.

The minute your teacher sees that your quote takes up a large chunk of your paragraph, you’ll have lost marks.

Your teacher will circle the quote, write a snarky comment in the margin, and not even bother to give you points for the key idea in the paragraph.

Avoid quotes, but if you really want to use them, follow those five rules above.

I’ve also provided additional pages outlining Seven tips on how to use Quotes if you want to delve deeper into how, when and where to use quotes in essays. Be warned: quoting in essays is harder than you thought.

Follow the advice above and you’ll be well on your way to getting top marks at university.

Writing essay paragraphs that are well structured takes time and practice. Don’t be too hard on yourself and keep on trying!

Below is a summary of our 11 key mistakes for structuring essay paragraphs and tips on how to avoid them.

I’ve also provided an easy-to-share infographic below that you can share on your favorite social networking site. Please share it if this article has helped you out!

11 Biggest Essay Paragraph Structure Mistakes you’re probably Making

1.  Your paragraphs are too short 2.  Your paragraphs are too long 3.  Your paragraph alignment is ‘Justified’ 4.  Your paragraphs are missing a topic sentence 5 .  Your paragraphs are missing an explanation sentence 6.  Your paragraphs are missing an example 7.  Your paragraphs are missing references 8.  Your paragraphs are not relevant to the marking criteria 9.  You’re trying to fit too many ideas into the one paragraph 10.  Your sentences are too long 11.  Your quotes are too long

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

4 thoughts on “11 Rules for Essay Paragraph Structure (with Examples)”

Hello there. I noticed that throughout this article on Essay Writing, you keep on saying that the teacher won’t have time to go through the entire essay. Don’t you think this is a bit discouraging that with all the hard work and time put into your writing, to know that the teacher will not read through the entire paper?

Hi Clarence,

Thanks so much for your comment! I love to hear from readers on their thoughts.

Yes, I agree that it’s incredibly disheartening.

But, I also think students would appreciate hearing the truth.

Behind closed doors many / most university teachers are very open about the fact they ‘only have time to skim-read papers’. They regularly bring this up during heated faculty meetings about contract negotiations! I.e. in one university I worked at, we were allocated 45 minutes per 10,000 words – that’s just over 4 minutes per 1,000 word essay, and that’d include writing the feedback, too!

If students know the truth, they can better write their essays in a way that will get across the key points even from a ‘skim-read’.

I hope to write candidly on this website – i.e. some of this info will never be written on university blogs because universities want to hide these unfortunate truths from students.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Regards, Chris

This is wonderful and helpful, all I say is thank you very much. Because I learned a lot from this site, own by chris thank you Sir.

Thank you. This helped a lot.

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Rules For Writing An Essay In College

The majority of notable universities require students to write a biography and submit it alongside their applications. Although it seems like an assignment and will require a significant amount of hard work, it will come in handy in the long run.

Admission panels deem the high school grades and exam scores of applying students more significant while determining the acceptance or rejection of their applications.

However, lots of worthy applicants with identical grades and test scores submit their applications to these notable colleges, and are usually too many to accept.

Therefore, to pick the best applicants amongst the multitude, they use their essays alongside letters of recommendation and after-school activities.

Strengthening your essay writing skills is vital, but so is presenting yourself professionally. Find out how much does TopResume cost , and consider investing in a polished resume as you plan your career path.

Many students do not know the essay writing rules and regulations they need to follow to help them stand out from other applicants.

However, to gain an edge over other applicants, don’t sound too smart while composing such an article as that is not entirely necessary. In this review, we will discuss the basic essay writing rules required to help you gain admission to your preferred college.

The following are rules to follow while composing standard college essays:

• Begin as early as possible;
• Use proper formats for your essay;
• Choose the right essay outline;
• Write an essay that would serve as an extension of your application;
• Write according to the instructed number of words;
• Use proper illustration methods;
• Grab the attention of the marker in the first paragraph;
• Write with a joint theme if you are writing a vignette college essay;
• Write with a single focus if you are writing a narrative college essay;
• Do not rephrase.

1. Begin as Early as Possible

To ensure that your article is well written ahead of the deadline, start jotting down as early as you can. Doing this will give you an edge as you can go through it over and over again to remove or add more relevant words. Besides that, starting early would give you enough time to show it to your teachers or colleagues for further improvements.

2. Use Proper Formats for Your Essay

Based on the essay writing rules tips, ensure that the layout of your article is straightforward, as university administrators are required to work promptly.

Therefore, using fancy formats and unique letterings might put the admission officers off as they could be hard and time-wasting to read. Besides that, avoid using writing formats like italics if you are submitting your article into a textbox as it might not display in the box.

Additionally, it will be clearer for a college administrator to read your biography if its letters are 1.5 or double-spaced. Aside from that, ensure that you make use of PDF if you want to attach a file to your essay. It is not necessary to add a title, but you can include it if it will serve a significant purpose in the biography.

As you enhance your essay writing skills for college, consider adding a new language to your academic repertoire. Check out the Lingoda prices and discover a cost-effective way to become multilingual.

3. Choose the Right Essay Outline

After choosing a title, which is optional, plan your article’s trajectory before you commence writing. Such a trajectory includes the best way to start your writing, the body of the essay, and its conclusion.

Do you intend to outline your biography chronologically? Or a jam-packed way whereby you introduce a title or point, talk about something else, and return to the initial point at the end? There are several alternatives but ensure that you observe the structure of your writing before you begin.

Additionally, according to the rules for essay writing, you are meant to arrange your ideas in an outline. However, your writing does not need to be based on your outline alone, as you can add notable points as well.

Besides that, if you notice that your chosen structure isn’t good enough, you can try another idea. To end up with a proper college standard essay, it is vital to have numerous drafts of the particular article. This is because you will be able to compare the points and select the relevant ones for the original biography.

4. Write an Essay That Would Serve as An Extension of Your Application

The University administrator can discover a lot about students by going through their high school records and official assessment results. However, your biography would serve as an opportunity to convince the admission panel that you are a standout student.

While composing such an article, do not forget that you have already written a bit about yourself in your application. Therefore, write the essay to provide personal information that is not present in your application to the administrator.

Other things you can go with are several observations and experiences that might not have been significant to you during their moments of occurrence. However, while writing about such things, you are required to portray your real character to make it sound more realistic.

If you still don’t understand the grammar rules for writing an essay of this nature, we recommend that you try the following procedures:

• Write about a particular achievement you hold high regard for;
• Write about a goal you aim to achieve in ten years;
• Write about the most difficult encounter you ever had.

Looking to boost your essay writing? Why not also improve your grammar with Grammarly? Have a look at the Grammarly review to see how it can assist you in creating flawless college essays.

5. Write According to The Instructed Number of Words

You can’t put your whole life story into a 650-word college essay, so avoid adding too many points to your articles. Although, according to the rules of essay writing in college, the word count is always confined, it’s best to write precisely and persuasively.

Rather than trying to impress the reader with the entire summary of your high school life, concentrate on illustrative and relevant occurrences. We have an article about essay writing rules. You can look it up for comprehensive essay knowledge.

6. Use Proper Illustration Methods

According to the rules for writing a college essay, it must include details that would make the reader connect with the thoughts of the writer perfectly. For instance, anybody could claim to be adventurous, but only you can describe the feeling of driving a speed boat for the first time.

Writing such experiences would sound more realistic and personal to the reader and also show that you are adventurous. We have articles about the best writing services and resume mistakes . You can go through it for proper article help.

7.  Grab The Attention of The Marker In The First Paragraph

Every year, most college administrators read over 1,000 applications, and if they are not well started, they are likely to get skipped over. To make yours exceptional and follow the rules for writing a formal essay, ensure that it is written according to the essay rules of writing.

Begin your biography non-passively and in the present tense so that it draws the mind of the reader to a particular time frame and location.

Use the opening paragraph of your article to outline the body of your unique biography in the sense that it summarizes what is to come. Grab the attention of whoever is to read your article from the first paragraph to avoid it being skipped over.

8. Write With a Joint Theme for a Vignette College Essay

While writing a vignette article, do it according to the rules of writing an essay. Structure your article in a manner that you make use of a common theme in explaining various occurrences that are not similar.

For instance, you could complete it based on several occurrences where you were able to make a good omen out of a bad one. However, ensure that every experience you write connects to the theme of the article.

Fine-tuning your essay writing skills for college? Also, consider improving your language skills with Cambly. Discover the Cambly price and see how affordable it is to enhance your language proficiency.

9. Write With a Single Focus for a Narrative College Essay

Structure your writing according to rules for writing a college essay while writing a narrative college biography. Focus on a particularly relevant story that portrays several elements of your personality. While writing in this structure, the theme of your essay must be written based on a partially brief event. Explain the details of the event bit by bit.

You could mention the moment you were part of a beauty pageant in middle school, high school freshmen year, and senior high school. Each of these events can be used to illustrate an element of your character.

In this article , you can also learn how to make an outline for a narrative essay.

10. Do Not Rephrase

While writing a college application essay, you must avoid rephrasing your points. Besides that, none of your points must contradict another.

Aside from that, while structuring your college biography, don’t outline your test scores, school grades, or accolades as they are already in your applications. We have an article about online vs. in-person tutoring. You can read through to know the best help to seek to improve your skills.

Key Takeaways

Even though a college essay might seem like a difficult assignment, doing it right would serve its purpose eventually. Therefore, study the proper ways of doing it to have the edge over other college applicants.

You can also read our article about online vs in-person tutoring .

What are the rules for a college essay?

What should you avoid when writing a college essay?

Avoid the normal 5 paragraph rule you were taught in high school while writing a college essay, as the structure is entirely different. Besides that, do not write beyond the word count.

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5 Essential Rules for Writing Your College Essay

Author and College Admissions Expert

Few things intimidate high school seniors more than writing their college essays. Perhaps it's the thought of "summarizing" yourself in 650 words (an impossible task) or the vision of a grumpy, elbow-patched, pipe-smoking admissions officer reading it and wielding a big red REJECT stamp on your work (real life is not this dramatic). Whatever the reason, writing the college essay is a daunting task -- and one that requires time, care and thoughtful consideration. It pays to get started early; be willing to discard drafts that aren't working and to give yourself enough time to share your writing with people who can provide useful feedback. Remember: nothing you ever enjoyed reading was a first draft! So it makes sense that the summer before senior year is a good time to begin the process.

Here are five tips from my new book , B+ Grades, A+ College Application , to help you get your creative juices flowing, discover good ideas, and put them onto paper for a piece of writing that genuinely stands out in a sea of clichés.

1) The essay must add something to your application.

There are only so many things that an admission officer can learn about you from your high school transcript and your official test scores. While these are just numbers, you are most definitely not. The essay is your chance to show the admission committee what makes you a unique individual. While it may be tempting to write your life story, keep in mind you have already had the opportunity to detail your background and activities in your application. So what else can you write about? Some of the best essays are actually about personal observations and experiences that may have seemed insignificant at the time, but exhibit your true character. Still stumped? Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you reflect on what makes you a unique and interesting individual:

What single achievement are you most proud of? Where do you think you will be and what will you be doing ten years from now? What's the most difficult thing you've had to do in your life?

2) Don't bite off more than you can chew in 650 words.

Even the best's authors can't tell their whole life story in 650 words, so don't even try! The common application word limit may sound confining, but the key is to express an idea or story in a concise and compelling manner. Instead of overwhelming your reader with every detail of your high school experience, focus on something particular that is illustrative of a larger quality.

3) Show, don't tell.

This is an English class cliché for a reason -- good personal essays need details that make the reader feel that she is coming along on a journey with the writer. Anyone can call himself adventurous but only an individual student could describe the sounds, images, thoughts and emotions he experienced when jumping out of an airplane for the first time. These details show the reader that you are adventurous. They make the essay personal and authentic.

4) Grab your reader in your first paragraph.

Most admission officers read upwards of 1,000 applications each year, which is why it is imperative that your essay stands out among the sea of other qualified high school students. I suggest beginning your essay with active language, in the present tense that draws the reader into a specific time and place. Think of your opening paragraph as "setting the stage" for how you're going to tell the rest of your unique story. If you don't hook your reader in the first paragraph, your essay is likely to get skimmed or looked over.

5) Mark your territory.

Simply put: your essay is yours. It should contain unique and personal details that only you could know and describe. Though the importance of this rule may seem obvious, it is actually very difficult for most students who are new to writing essays about themselves. How do you know if you have successfully marked your territory? Ask yourself, "If I dropped this essay on the street and my good friend picked it up, would she be able to tell that I wrote it?" If the answer is yes, then the essay is truly written in your unique voice and there's nothing generic about it.

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Popular in the Community

From our partner, more in college.

A tutor shares 3 rules for writing college application essays, including how to use ChatGPT the right way

• Carter Osborne started a side hustle tutoring students on their college admissions essays in 2017.
• The Stanford graduate shared his recommendations for students looking to ace their personal essays.
• He said students could use ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas by inputting their experiences and prompting it to ask questions.

Stanford graduate Carter Osborne started a side hustle tutoring high school students on their college application essays in 2017. He had 50 clients last year and made $114,000 from tutoring in 2023.

He quit his day job earlier this month, which he said he could only do because of his tutoring income.

Osborne shared three tips for students writing their college application essays with Business Insider — including how to use and not use AI chatbots.

1. Students should stick to their personal stories

Osborne told BI the key to writing college essays is making it personal. "What I always encourage my students to do is go off script. Find something personal about your life that nobody else could talk about, or at least an angle on something you've done that feels different," he said.

He added he viewed his job as helping high schoolers "tell compelling, interesting stories that are personal and expressive."

2. An AI chatbot like ChatGPT can help brainstorm — but it can't write it for you

Osborne would never write his students' essays for them, he said. Instead, he suggests revisions or edits based on topics they've discussed in meetings.

"The thought has to have come from my student," he said. "My job is to help them weave those thoughts together in the most compelling way."

Related stories

If stuck, students could use an AI chatbot to help them develop an idea, Osborne said. "Tell it to pretend that it's a college admissions counselor, and ask it questions about what you should write about for your college essay," he suggested.

He said students could talk to it about their experiences and use it to help them brainstorm ideas for essay topics based on their achievements or experiences. He said they could input some personal information, values, and activities they do and prompt ChatGPT to ask them questions about themselves.

Some colleges have issued guidelines against using AI in the application process, while others have encouraged its use in brainstorming and editing their essays. Many colleges, however, have warned students against copying and pasting content from ChatGPT or other AI models.

Osborne said students should never use ChatGPT or other AI chatbots to write an essay , though, he said.

"It comes out feeling stock and flat. There's no life to it," he said. But AI can provide an outline to help students structure the first draft of their essays, he added.

After figuring out their idea, Osborne suggested students could ask ChatGPT to: "Provide an outline for a 650-word personal statement that's four or five paragraphs, and tell me what each section should be about."

3. A chatbot could also give you ideas for improving the first draft

Once students have written their first draft, if they don't have access to a tutor or an English teacher, they could ask ChatGPT what it thinks about it, he said.

They could prompt it to, "Imagine you're a college admissions counselor and react to this essay. What do you think about it? And provide several specific suggestions about how to improve it," he said.

Osborne said some of its suggestions might be bad, but some could be useful. The important thing is never to take what the AI says as a "firm recommendation" that you should follow but as ideas that you might consider, he added.

"Always bring that critical thinking to the process," he said.

Watch: Former Princeton admissions director reveals the biggest mistakes applicants make

• Main content

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Paragraphing (Length Consistency)

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The purpose of this handout is to give some basic instruction and advice regarding the creation of understandable and coherent paragraphs.

Paragraphs are units of thought with one adequately developed idea. Listed here are some rules of thumb to use when paragraphing. As your writing improves, you'll be able to break these "rules" to meet your own needs. Until then, these suggestions can be helpful.

• Put only one main idea per paragraph.
• Aim for three to five or more sentences per paragraph.
• Include on each page about two handwritten or three typed paragraphs.
• Make your paragraphs proportional to your paper. Since paragraphs do less work in short papers, have short paragraphs for short papers and longer paragraphs for longer papers.
• If you have a few very short paragraphs, think about whether they are really parts of a larger paragraph—and can be combined—or whether you can add details to support each point and thus make each into a more fully developed paragraph.

You can check on whether your paragraphs are balanced by looking at your paper.

Some balanced pages:

Paragraph Balance

Unbalanced pages with ideas not equally developed:

Unbalanced Paragraphs

Use the following graphics as a tool to organize your paper with one main idea in each box. Use as many pages and boxes as needed.

Graphics to Help with Balance and Organization