General Essay Writing Guide

Format Style

Which format do I use? Depending on your major, you should use the formatting and citation style of the discipline of your major. See Purdue’s OWL webpage for help in determining the most appropriate style for you. MLA— APA— Chicago
Citation Style Comparison Chart [PDF]

Purpose

Your task in textual analysis is to explain some key point in the text. This means that you should keep these things in mind:

1. Focus on the text itself.
2. Provide quotations to let the reader see the text.
3. Provide quotations to support your claims about the text.
4. Do not go on at length about generalizations about life or people or history or personal experiences—stick to the text.
5. Be sure to focus only on related key points that exemplify the point you are discussing. In other words, do not simply discuss a series of unrelated points.

Oranization

1. Always write a coherent outline before you write your final draft.
2. Be sure that your paragraphs are focused and limited to one main topic.

Presentation

1. Always read your paper aloud to catch any obvious mistakes.
2. Look for spelling and grammar mistakes.
3. Write at least the full length of the minimum length. 8-10 pages means that you must have at least eight full pages (with appropriate font size and margin size).
4. Open with powerful and contextual statements rather than vague statements or clichés. (Avoid “Ever since the beginning of time . . .” or “Love is a wonderful thing” or “All people experience love at some time.”
5. Follow MLA style unless your discipline demands another style.

Quotations

1. Quotations should flow in and out of your own words seamlessly.
2. Periods and commas go within the closing quotations marks unless a parenthesized page reference closes the sentence.

• Foulkes claims that dreams express “profound aspects of personality.”
• Foulkes claims that dreams express “profound aspects of personality,” though others disagree.
• With parenthesized page references:
• According to some, dreams express “profound aspects of personality” (Foulkes 184), though others disagree.
• According to Foulkes’s study, dreams may express “profound aspects of personality” (184).
  (Quotation Mark Exercises)

1. 3. Do not begin or end your quotations with ellipses. Ellipses only go inside the quotations to signal omitted words.
   4. Do not enclose block quotations with quotation marks unless they are in the original. Only in this case does the period precede the parenthetical page reference.
   5. If you lead into a quotation with an independent clause, end that clause with a colon.

Non-Print Sources

“How do I cite references from movies, the internet, and lectures?” See Purdue OWL’s FAQ page for citing non-print sources: MLA ; APA ; Chicago

See also: http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/
Movies (Film & DVD) — APA ; Chicago ; MLA
Classroom Sources (lecture notes, powerpoint, handouts, etc.)
St. Rose page (class lectures); Skyline College (for class handouts); Trinity College (PowerPoint presentations);  or style-specific sites: APA • Chicago • MLA .
Electronic (Online) Sources — Purdue OWL;  APA ; Chicago ; MLA