Essays

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When it comes to writing essays, each teacher has different preferences, but there is a general standard that everyone goes by.

Starting off with a header. No one has ever told me exactly what needs to go in a header, but I always put my name, the date (often times just month and year), the teacher’s name, what class it is, what hour I have the class, and what type of essay it is I'm writing (example: persuasive essay).

It’s different in MLA format, though. You’d have what was listed above as their own paragraphs and in the header you would have your last name and the page number.

The quotations are different on essays. When quoting something from a book, it is often that the teacher will request that you site them in the essay with the quote. Unless the quote ends in the middle of a sentence or a question or exclamation mark, you will not use a period until after siting.

“She shakes her head and sighs in frustration” (Elkeles 3).

If you were siting and you stop in the middle of the sentence, you end the quote with ellipses.

“I never remember screaming as much as I did then…” (Elkeles 45).

Also, if you were to start in the middle of a sentence, you begin the quote with ellipses.

“… she’s wanting something more than a truce” (Elkeles 150).

If you’re taking a sentence and want the beginning and the end, but not a part in the middle, then you write out what you want, put and ellipse, and then put the rest of what you wanted.

“He tucks a loose strand of hair…behind my ear” (Elkeles 280).

The full sentence from above is, “He tucks a loose strand of hair that’s fallen in my face behind my ear” (Elkeles 280).

If you are changing a word from the chosen quote to have it make more sense for the readers, you put the changed word in brackets. [ ]

“I ignore [Colin]” (Elkeles 115).

The original sentence was, “I ignore him” (Elkeles 115).

I’ve also seen it where the original word is there, but the changed word comes after in brackets. I'm not sure if one is better than the other or is incorrect.

“I ignore him [Colin]” (Elkeles 115).

Also, when using a quote, it’s best to introduce it a bit instead of just jumping right into the quote, unless you are using it as the attention-getter. The next sentence is where you explain the quote and tie it to your topic.

As Alex instructs, “Let go of the clutch now, but don’t gun the gas.”

When using a title of a book, article, poem, or other piece of written work, either underline or italicize the title.

The book I was using for quotes was Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

If there's anything that you would like to see or have questions on, please ask.

Also, if I'm wrong on anything, please correct me.

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