Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Essay Guidelines

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1 Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Essay Guidelines

2 Guidelines for APA Formatted Essays Table of Contents Table of Contents A Word about Plagiarism Required Essays for 10 th, 11/12 th, & 12 th Graders General Guidelines for APA Formatted Essays Setting the Default Font Style and Size Setting the Running Head and Page Numbers Setting the Proper Margins and Line Spacing Title Page Formatting Instructions Abstract Page Formatting Instructions Citing References within the Essay Creating a Reference Page Sample Essay Title Page Sample Essay Abstract Page Sample Essay Sample Essay Reference Page Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 1

3 Essay Guidelines A Word About Plagiarism We have received an alarming number of essays that have been copied either in large part or entirely from Internet sources. On two occasions we received the same exact essays from three related students, with just the names and student numbers changed on the title page. Also, many have submitted the same essays for both their 10 th grade and senior projects. (You are copying a paper that has been previously graded.) This is a form of cheating known as plagiarism. All of these students had to write entirely new essays on subjects other than the original ones before they were allowed to graduate. Most students get a little anxious when they learn they have to write an essay, and many turn to friends, fellow students, and online sources for ideas on what to write about. Selecting a topic is really the easiest part of writing an essay. The hard part is making it your own. What do we mean by making it your own? Simply this: What you write in your essay must be your original work, not something you copied from someone else s paper, a book, a magazine, or a website, and definitely not something you purchased from an online paper vendor. Nor can you use someone else s work and change the words around and call it your own. All of these are forms of plagiarism which is dishonest and unethical. There are severe consequences for those who get caught. In the real world, students get expelled from colleges, workers get fired from their jobs, and people get sued for using someone else s work and calling it their own. How do you write a paper without using someone else s work? Well, you don t. But you give credit where credit is due. You tell your reader where you got your information by citing the source within your essay and listing it on your reference page. You never copy material word-forword unless you put quotation marks around it and state clearly where the quoted material came from. You must gather information from your sources and put it into your own words by summarizing what you have read, not by changing someone else s words around or leaving out words or phrases. It really is possible to put most ideas down on paper without using the exact words that someone else used! For example, suppose your source, Endangered Species, a book by Ted Hanson published in 2010, said Armstrong and Haney were able to conduct a field study utilizing funds from a grant given by the U.S. Geological Survey. If you want to include this information in your essay, you could say The U.S. Geological Survey gave Armstrong and Haney a grant, which they used to conduct a field study of the endangered frog (Hanson, 2010). Doing this you have neither copied nor paraphrased the original work, and you have given credit to the source of your information. You shouldn t write your entire essay by simply rewording other people s work. Be careful to summarize the information you have gathered and make the essay truly your own work of art. Remember, if you can find it on the internet, so can the person grading your paper! -Pearblossom Staff Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 2

4 Required Essays for 10 th, 11/12 th and 12 th Graders Each essay is to be 1000 to 1500 words, double spaced, typed using 12 pitch font in Times New Roman. Adhere strictly to the APA Format and Style. See General Guideline for APA Formatted Essays in Pearblossom Academy s Essay Guidelines No. Required Subject Area Description 1 P.E. Essay Essay on some aspect of physical education, nutrition, or a health topic. Essays on the rules of a sport are NOT ALLOWED. 2 English Essays Two essays demonstrating Personal Writing (unit 1), Descriptive Writing (unit 3), Narrative Writing (unit 4), Expository Writing (unit 5), Persuasive Writing (unit 6), or a Research Paper (unit 7). Units are found in Writer s Choice: Grammar and Composition. 2 Science Essays Two essays one that is a biography of a famous scientist or medical person and one that discusses a scientific discovery and its current use. 1 History Essay Essay on some aspect of history or social studies. Grade Project Grading Criteria A Well written project that demonstrates knowledge and understanding of topics from the unit and addresses all components listed in the directions. Project refers to additional information researched and provides relevant classroom and pedagogical application. Meets or surpasses minimum requirements for length, follows required APA Format and Style, and contains no spelling or grammatical errors. Writing is clear with smooth transitions; includes introductory and concluding paragraphs. Accurate citation of sources if necessary. B Well written essay that addresses the majority of requirements in the APA Format and Style with few errors in grammar and spelling. Project reflects a solid understanding of unit objectives and refers to the concepts/strategies from the unit. Project may be lacking introduction or concluding paragraphs Incorrect citation of sources when applicable and incorrect APA Format and Style. C Incomplete work to minimal references to unit material. Some errors in grammar and spelling. Unclear/ambiguous writing, lack of transitions from one idea to the next, project may not include introduction or concluding paragraphs. Incorrect citation of sources when applicable and incorrect APA Format and Style. D Incomplete work with errors in grammar and spelling Incorrectly formatted submission (see APA Format and Style) with minimal references to unit material Understanding of the unit objectives is not demonstrated with the project Lack of transitions and unclear writing No citation of sources. F < 60 Project does not meet length requirement Plagiarized work (Definitions and information copied from websites or other sources without quotation marks and proper citation). Project was previously submitted and graded by Pearblossom. Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 3

5 Essay Guideline General Guideline for APA Formatted Essays 1. These essays will comprise 33% (one-third) of your 2 nd semester Writer s Choice grade. We suggest completing an essay every month. Each essay must be your original work and not have been previously graded by Pearblossom. 2. The main body of the essay, NOT including the title page, abstract page, or reference page, must be a minimum of 1000 words. Each essay should be no longer than 1500 words. Essays are double-spaced. Please, no novels! 3. All essays must include a Title page, an Abstract page and a Reference page. Essays submitted without a Title page, an Abstract page, and a Reference page will not be graded and will be returned as incomplete. 4. Essays must be done in 12 pitch font, no larger, no smaller. APA requires the use of Times New Roman font. See page 5, Setting the Default Font Style and Size. If APA format is not strictly adhered to, the highest grade earned is limited to a C. 5. Your Title page should have the words Running head: (including the colon) followed by a shortened version of YOUR TITLE IN ALL CAPITALS at the top left of the page, then the page number 1 in the upper right corner at the 1 margins (top and right). All of the pages of your essay must have a running head and a page number at the top. See instructions on pages 6-7, Setting Up the Running Head and Page Numbers in MS Word The words Running head: should only be on the title page of your essay, not on the rest of the pages. See Sample Title Page on page 9 for an example. 6. Margins must be 1 inch (1 ) on all four sides, no larger, no smaller. Text must be aligned to the left margin (except for the indented first line of a new paragraph). DO NOT CENTER every line on the page. DO NOT right-align (justify). Just let the text flow on the right side. Essays must be double spaced; however, DO NOT double-double space between paragraphs. See page 8, Setting the Proper Margins and Line Spacing. 7. Abstract pages should be only one paragraph long. This paragraph is not indented ½ inch. See sample on page The title of your essay must be at the top of the first page of the body of your essay. This may seem redundant, but that is how it is done. (See example on page 11.) 9. The first line of each new paragraph must be indented ½ inch, except on the Abstract page. 10. CITE YOUR REFERENCES! If you use a source, you must cite it in your essay, not just list it on your reference page. Failure to do this will result in an automatic grade of D. See page 11, Citing References Within the Body of Your Essay. Please keep in mind that essays are only allowed to have 19% or less of unoriginal text (quoted material), even if the information is properly referenced. 11. The reference page is titled References, not Bibliography, Notes, Footnotes, or Sources. References should be in alphabetical order by author s last name (if known) or by the title of the article (if the author is unknown). Do NOT number your references. See pages 13-16, Creating a Reference Page for general guidelines on creating a Reference page. See Sample Essay starting on page DO NOT COPY AND PASTE ANY MATERIAL OR SIMPLY PARAPHRASE. THIS IS PLAGIARISM THIS WILL RESULT IN AN AUTOMATIC F, AND YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO WRITE ANOTHER ESSAY. See A Word About Plagiarism on page 2 of this booklet. Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 4

6 Essay Guidelines ***The following instructions for setting the font, running head, page numbers, margins, and line spacing are for Microsoft Word 2010 only. However, you can use whatever word processor you have. You are not required to have Microsoft Word to complete your essays. For more information on using Google Docs or Word Online to complete your essays see page 23.*** Setting the Default Font Style and Size 1) In the task bar, select the Home tab. 2) In the Font group, click on the drop menu arrow next to the font name. If you are already in Times New Roman, skip this step and go to step 4. 3) Scroll down the drop down menu and click on Times New Roman. 4) Next to the font style button is the font size button. Click on the down arrow and scroll down and click on 12. 5) In MS Word 2010, you will find a small box with an arrow in it in the lower right corner of the Font group. Click on this tiny box. A menu box will pop up. You can actually set the default font and size using this option, skipping steps 1-4. On the lower left corner is the Set As Default button. Click on this button. Another box will pop up asking if you want to make this the default font for This document only? or for All documents based on the Normal template? If you are doing several essays, and don t want to re-set the font style and size every time, select All documents based on the Normal template? Then click OK. This will now be the default font style and size for either this essay or any essay or paper written on this particular computer when using the Normal template. You can always change it to a different default font/size later. If you don t want to set Times New Roman 12 pitch as your default font style and size on all documents, then click on This document only? Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 5

7 Essay Guidelines Setting the Running Head and Page Numbers For a step-by-step video tutorial on this subject, see YouTube video entitled APA Style 6 Header in MS Word 2010 (by wr0ver). If you follow these steps exactly you will achieve the correct header and page numbers needed and will not need to constantly adjust your pages. 1) Open Word It will automatically open a new document. If you are already in Word 2010, simply open a new document. 2) Click on Page Layout 3) Click on Breaks 4) Select Next Page (under Section Breaks) to insert a section break that starts a new section on the next page. You will now have two blank pages of your document displayed. 5) Place the cursor on an area of the header on the first page (at the top) and double-click (you will have to scroll up to get to this area); this puts you in the Header area on the first page. If you have done this correctly, a dashed line will appear with the words Header Section 1. Header Header Section 1 6) Under the Header & Footer tab at the top of the task bar, click on Different First Page. The note on your document will now say: First Page Header Section 1. 7) Go to the left side of the task bar and click on Header 8) Drop down to Blank (Three Columns) and select it Footer 9) To insert the page number, click on the far right bracket that says [Type text]. 10) Go back to the task bar and click on Page Number (third icon on the right), choose Current Position, then select Plain Number. The number 1 will appear in the top right corner of page one. 11) Next, go to the middle bracket that says [Type text], click on it and strike the delete key on your keyboard to erase it, since it is not needed. 12) Next, click on the left side bracket that says [Type text] and type the words Running head: Then type the title of your essay IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS after the colon. Abbreviate your title if it is longer than 50 characters and spaces. Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 6

8 Essay Guidelines 13) Scroll down to the second page header area, which is located at the top of the second page, and click on it once. 14) Click the Header button on the task bar, then select Blank (Three Columns) 15) Select the far right bracket that says [Type text], go back to the task bar and click on Page Numbers, Current Position, and Plain. You should see the number 2 in the top right corner of your second page. 16) Click on the middle bracket [Type text] and strike the delete key on your keyboard to erase it. 17) Click on the far left bracket [Type text] and type in your title IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, this time without the words Running head. All of your pages after this will have your capitalized running head title and the correct page number. 18) LAST BUT NOT LEAST! Go to the task bar and click on the far right most button that says Close Header and Footer. It is a big red box with an X in it, but it is not the one at the upper right corner of your screen (that will prompt with Save, Don t Save, or Cancel ). That X will close your document and you don t want to do that! You are now ready to begin writing your essay! Reference: wr0ver. (2010). APA Style 6 Header in MS Word YouTube video. Retrieved March 28, ( Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 7

9 Essay Guidelines Setting the Proper Margins and Line Spacing To set the proper one-inch (1 ) margins and the line spacing for your essay, follow these simple instructions: 1) Select the Home tab, go to the Paragraph group, and click on the first button in the second row that shows the lines lined up to the left (a pop-up will say Align Text Left ). This will set your text to align with the left margin. 2) To set the margins, select the Page Layout tab, click on Margins, and then click on the sample called Normal that shows 1 on all four sides. Your margins will now be set at the 1 mark. Be aware that your running head will not be one inch from the top of the paper, even with the margins set at 1 inch. That is okay. In Word 2010, set the proper double spacing by doing the following: 1) Click on the Home tab, then go to the Paragraph group, click on the button with the lines and the two tiny arrows one going up, the other down ( the line spacing button). You will have to do this twice: the first time, select 2.0 for line spacing; the second time, select remove space after the paragraph. This will prevent you from having too big of a gap between paragraphs. ***Don t forget to indent one Tab on the first line of each new paragraph. The default tab distance is ½ inch. *** Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 8

10 Running head: THE TITLE OF YOUR ESSAY 1 The Running head (title only) should be in ALL CAPITALS and no longer than 50 characters. The RUNNING HEAD can be a shortened version of your title, especially if your title is longer than 50 characters and spaces. Title Case means that the first letter of each word is capitalized except for words that are three characters or less, such as of, and, & the. Align to the center of the page, along with the other information you see here. Page numbers will start with 1 on this page. The Title of Your Essay The words Running head: must appear on the title page only. Your Name Your Student ID Number Type of Essay (English, Science, History or PE) Name of Your School Date of Your Essay [A word about titles: Create an appropriate title for your essay that is really descriptive or focuses on the topic you have chosen to write about. For example, World War II is a poor title, because it is too general. Be more specific about what part of World War II that you have written about, such as The U.S. Strategy in World War II, The Decisive Conclusion to WWII, or Hitler s Rise to Power Prior to WWII. ] (Title Page Formatting Instructions) Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Essay Guidelines 9

11 THE TITLE OF YOUR ESSAY title is already less than 50 characters. 2 This is your running head The RUNNING HEAD on the second page (and all subsequent pages) will only be the shortened version of your title (unless your Abstract Your pages should be numbering themselves automatically by now. Start your abstract at the left margin. Do not indent this paragraph. Your abstract should be only one paragraph. It will describe what your essay is about, any essential information you would 1 margin Text should align to the left margin. like to let your reader know about, any questions you will answer in your essay, and a brief summary or conclusion of your essay. Do not go into great detail here. Make sure you use 1 margins on this page. Don t worry if the page looks too short. It is supposed to be short, about 150 to 250 words (every 5 spaces = one word, so about 20 words per line). That will come out to between 8 and 13 lines of text. It will look approximately like this paragraph, only maybe a little bit longer. 1 margin Do NOT right-align or justify text to the right margin. The Abstract is the one place where you will not indent ½ inch at the beginning of the paragraph. To left-align your text, in the Home tab, in the Paragraph section, click on the button on the Align Left button or press Ctrl+L. LEFT ALIGN BUTTON SOURCE: Microsoft Word Help 2013 (Online Help) (Abstract Page Formatting Instructions) Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Essay Guidelines 10

12 Essay Guideline Citing References Within the Essay Please be advised that this is NOT an exhaustive list of all the ways to cite your sources. For detailed information on all possible ways to cite sources, see or for more details. Citations are what you put in the body of your essay to let your reader know where you got the information that you just wrote about. For example, if you are doing an essay on the Hawaiian Islands and you used a source to gather some of your information (which you will, since you are probably not an expert on Hawaii) you would put the author s name and the year of publication in parentheses in your essay immediately after the information. Do this as often as necessary to give credit to the original author. (See plagiarism.org for information on why you must do this.) You would then write the full reference information on your reference page (see How to Create a Reference Page). Here are some basic guidelines for citing references within your essay: 1) Do not number your citations. If available, give the author s last name and the year of publication. Put these in parentheses, like this:...the islands are made largely of volcanic rock. (Patterson, 2008). **Please notice that you will put a period at the end of the sentence, then after the citation there is also a period.** or Patterson (2008) wrote in The Hawaiian Islands that the islands are made largely of volcanic rock. 2) If there are two or more authors for the same source, use an ampersand (&) between the last two names: (Patterson & Smith, 2008). or (Patterson, Smith & Crockett, 2008). However, if you mention the authors in the narrative, use the word and, not the ampersand: Patterson and Smith (2008) state that the islands... or Patterson, Smith and Crockett (2008) state that the islands... Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 11

13 Essay Guideline If you refer to the same authors and same source again, you can just list the first author s name and then write et al. and the date: Patterson et al. (2008) concluded by saying... 3) If there are two or more sources you are citing, use a semicolon to separate them. (Patterson, 2008; Klein, 2009; Hansford, 2005). 4) If the author is unknown, or there is no author, simply list the first two or three words of the title and the date: ( Life on Hawaii, 2010). If there is no year of publication listed (as is often the case with internet sources) write n.d. in parentheses: ( Volcanic Activity in Hawaii, n.d.). or (Mitts, n.d.). **Please remember that there must be a period after the citation when it s at the end of the sentence: The islands are made largely of volcanic rock. (Patterson, 2008). ***For quotations with 40 words or more: Indent ½ inch on the left and right margins (see sample essay for example). To do this: Highlight the quotation, left-click, select paragraph, set the indentation to.5 on the left and right, then hit ok. *** For detailed instructions on citations and references, please see Purdue University s Online Writing Lab (OWL) at under APA Formatting and Style Guide, or Google APA Style. See also: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition) (ISBN 13: ; ISBN 10: ) Mastering APA Style: Instructor's Resource Guide (ISBN: ) Mastering APA Style: Student's Workbook and Training Guide (ISBN: X) Presenting Your Findings: A Practical Guide for Creating Tables (ISBN: X) Displaying Your Findings: A Practical Guide for Creating Figures, Posters, and Presentations (ISBN: X) From other publishers: Writing With Style: APA Style Made Easy (ISBN: X) SOURCE: Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) Retrieved March 2013 from ( Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 12

14 Essay Guidelines Creating a Reference Page There are some basic concepts you need to keep in mind when creating your reference page utilizing APA formatting. See some samples on the next page. Remember, your reference page should still have the running head and page number at the top. Then the word References centered at the top of the page. Be careful NOT to center the rest of the lines on the page, and to use hanging indentation (Rule #2). The references will be double-spaced, just like the essay. 1. List your reference in alphabetical order by the first author s last name. Do not number your references. 2. Indent the second and all subsequent lines of each reference by ½ inch (one Tab). This is called a hanging indentation. To do this, you will have to hit Enter when you get to the right margin, then hit Tab and begin typing the second (and subsequent) lines. Change any unwanted capitals to lower case as needed (after you have typed the first word of the second, third, and fourth lines). 3. If you know the author s name (or multiple authors names), list them as they are given on the book, article, or web site. The first author is the primary author. Regardless of the spelling, the authors should be listed in order exactly as they are given in the information about the book or article, up to seven authors. If there are more than seven authors, list the first six, then use ellipses ( ) and list the last author s name. 4. For multiple articles by the same author, or authors listed in the same order, list the entries in chronological order, from earliest to most recent (i.e before 1987). 5. List the author s last name first, then first initial and second initial (if given). Put commas between first and subsequent authors, except for the last author. Use an ampersand (&) then list his or her name. If there are only two authors, do not use a comma, just insert an ampersand (&) and list the second author s information. 6. The year of publication comes next. Years are listed in parentheses with a period after the last parenthesis. i.e., (1984). 7. Then put the full title of the book or journal article. Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper names. Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals. Do not italicize, underline, or Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 13

15 Essay Guidelines put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections. 8. When listing the page number, use a single p and a period (p.) then the page number. For a series of pages, use two p s and a period (pp.) then the numbers with a dash between them (i.e. pp ). 9. For books, after the title of the book, list the location where it was published (city, comma, and state use the 2-letter state designation), followed by a colon, then the name of the publishing company. For more details, see and search for APA Formatting and Style Guide. Or check out for the American Psychological Association s guide to using APA format and style. Also has an awesome guideline. SAMPLES: BOOK, one author: Baum, L. F. (1900). The wonderful wizard of Oz. Chicago, IL: George M. Hill Company. [Oz is capitalized, because it is a proper noun.] BOOK, two authors. Patterson, J. & Paetro, M. (2006). 4 th of July (Women s murder club #4). Harrisonburg, VA: Vision More than two and up to six authors: Use commas between authors and an ampersand (&) for the last author. Harrison, P., Adams, C., Littleton, K., Dewey, J. H., Jackson, P. & Merck, H. (2004). How to win at chess. San Francisco, CA: Dewberry Press. BOOK, more than seven authors: [Use ellipses after the sixth author, then list the last author] Sanders, J. S., Collins, B. K., Summerfield, K. L., Hanover, J., Kleinfeld, M., Caruthers, R. J.,... Henderson, C. A. (1990). Multiple personalities. Chicago, IL: Hanover Press. Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 14

16 Essay Guidelines ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number (issue number), page or pages. ORGANIZATION AS AUTHOR: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. (2013). An end to domestic violence (April 2013). Retrieved May 28, 2013 from magazines/?contentlanguagefilter=en&pubfilter=&yearfilter=2013 American Cancer Society. (2013). What causes cancer. Retrieved on May 28, 2013 from TWO OR MORE WORKS BY SAME AUTHOR: [List by author s name, then year (earliest year first)] Smith, J. (1993). Title of book. City, State: Publisher. Smith, J. (1997). Title of book. City, State: Publisher. TWO OR MORE WORKS BY SAME AUTHOR, SAME YEAR: Organize alphabetically by the title of the book, then designate each one by the letters a, b, c, etc. Smith, J. (1993a). Apples and oranges. Stamford, CT: Vineyard Press. Smith, J. (1993b). How to cook with wine. Sonoma, CA: Vineyard Press. BOOK BY AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR: Merriam-Webster s Collegiate Dictionary (10 th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. Articles in Periodicals: Name of the journal and the volume number are italicized. All of the words in the journal name are capitalized. Author, A., Author, B. (Year). Title of the article. Title Of The Periodical, volume number (issue number [if available]), page number or page range. Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 15

17 Essay Guidelines Article in a magazine: Author, D. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Name of Magazine, volume number (page range). Article found in an online magazine (with known author): McElhiney, B. (2013). The west's best camping: Guide to RV trailers. Sunset. Retrieved May 12, 2013 from Article found in an online magazine (without known author): Find your ideal cycling weight: 7 sneaky ways cycling takes off pounds. Bicycling. Retrieved May 13, 2013 from Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 16

18 Running head: THE TITLE OF YOUR ESSAY 1 The Title of Your Essay Should be in Title Case and Centered Here Your name goes here Your student number goes here (for PPS students) Type of essay (English, History, PE, etc.) Pearblossom Private School Date of your essay Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Essay Guidelines 17

19 The abstract is the one place where you will THE TITLE OF YOUR ESSAY not indent the first line of the paragraph. 2 Abstract Do not double/double space here. This is where you will tell your reader what your essay is about. Give a general overview of the topic, then tell a few interesting facts that you will be addressing in the essay. Try to write in a way that gets your reader intrigued and wanting to read more. Try not to use sarcasm or harsh criticism in the abstract. If you have something to say that reflects your personal opinion about a controversial topic, save it for an occasional insertion into the body of your essay. Don t use words that will make the reader feel stupid, unworthy, or immoral if they have a different opinion than yours. Your goal is to persuade them to look at things from a different perspective, perhaps to enlighten them to something they never thought of before. Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Essay Guidelines 18

20 Page number should be 3 by now THE TITLE OF YOUR ESSAY 3 Indent first line of a new paragraph by hitting the Tab button one time. The Title of Your Essay Should be in Title Case and Centered Here DO NOT doubledouble space here 1 MARGIN You will indent the first line of each paragraph ½ inch by using the tab key. Set the tab key by putting your pointer on the ruler above this page and right clicking at the half-inch mark. It will leave a little L mark, indicating that it is a tab stop. When you start a new paragraph, simply hit the tab key and it will go to the half-inch tab stop. Then you can proceed to write your paragraph. If you are using Word 2010, your program may automatically insert extra space between paragraphs. To remove this, click on the spacing icon on the task bar (the one with two arrows in the Paragraph section, when you are on the Home tab) and select remove space after paragraph. The rest of this page is just going to be nonsense writing, just to fill up the space so you can see how the margins will look. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, who said, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. (Cite name, year). Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, Zyx wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, who said, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, who added, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. (Cite name, year). Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz,, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, who said, Zyx. This should take you close to your bottom one-inch margin. Or close enough. If you try to start a new paragraph, however, it will kick you onto the next page. DO NOT double-double space between paragraphs Start the next page, and all subsequent pages of the essay, by simply continuing to type. The text will continue to the next page and the running head and page numbers will appear at the 1 MARGIN top automatically (if you followed the instructions on page 6). NOTE that the margins on this page are 1 on all four sides. Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Essay Guidelines 19

21 THE TITLE OF YOUR ESSAY 4 If you are typing a paragraph near the bottom of the page and the text of the whole paragraph jumps to the next page, do the following to keep the paragraph from jumping to the next page: You can do this by highlighting the paragraph, left-click, then select paragraph, make the indentation.5 on the left and right and click ok. Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word Select the first paragraph on the page following the unwanted page break. 2. On the Format menu, click Paragraph. 3. Click the Line and Page Breaks tab. 4. Check to see whether one of the following three pagination options is selected: Page break before: Inserts a page break before a paragraph. Keep with next: Prevents a page break between the current and following paragraphs. Keep lines together: Prevents a page break within a paragraph. De-select all of these boxes and then click OK. Word 2007, Word 2010, and Word Select the first paragraph on the page following the unwanted page break. 2. On the Page Layout tab, click the Paragraph dialog box launcher in the Paragraph group. 3. Click the Line and Page Breaks tab. [Unclick the Window/Orphan Control box.] 4. Check to see whether one of the following three pagination options is selected: Page break before: Inserts a page break before a paragraph. Keep with next: Prevents a page break between the current and following paragraphs. Keep lines together: Prevents a page break within a paragraph. De-select all of these boxes and then click OK. (Microsoft Support, 2013). The rest of your essay will take up the next one to three pages. You will then include your reference page as your last page. Here is an example of what it would look like should you decide to quote more than 40 words from a source: Although it isn t easy to write about yourself, you may find that learning more about what makes you you can be one of the most satisfying aspects of personal writing. To find a topic to write about, choose a start-up technique. You may want to tap into thoughts and memories by freewriting that is, writing anything that comes to mind. (Writer s Choice Grammar and Composition, 2009). Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Essay Guidelines 20

22 THE TITLE OF YOUR ESSAY 5 Remember, your essay will be 1000 to 1500 words long (not including the title page, abstract page, or reference page). It will be typed using the Times New Roman font in size 12. For the purpose of demonstrating a three-page paper, this instruction page will be filled with nonsense writing until it reaches the end of three pages. BUT, don t forget to write a summary, or concluding paragraph at the end of your essay! Abcde fghijk rstuvw xyz, who said, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. (Cite name, year). Almnopq rstuvw xyz, Zyx, wvut onmlk jihg fedcba. Zyx wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde rstuvw xyz, who said, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, who added, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. (Cite name, year). Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz,, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz. Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, who said, Zyx. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, who said, Zyx, wvut jihg fedcba. (Cite name, year). Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, Zyx wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, who said, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk rstuvw xyz, who added, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. (Cite name, year). Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Lmn opq rstuvw xyz, Zyx onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz, Zyx, wvut srqp onmlk jihg fedcba. Abcde fghijk lmnopq rstuvw xyz. In conclusion, have fun. Enjoy searching for your topic and learning how to put it into your own words. It really is not that hard! And remember, soon you will graduate from High School and be on your way to a new chapter in your life. Congratulations! Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Essay Guidelines 21

23 THE TITLE OF YOUR ESSAY 6 References American Psychological Association. (2013). Publication Manual (6th ed.) Sections , pp Retrieved October 12, 2012 from Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). General format. Retrieved April 12, 2013 from Long Island University. (2013). APA citation style. Retrieved May 12, 2013 from Paiz, J. M, Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., Brizee, A., & Keck, R. (2013). In-text citations: The basics. Retrieved March 12, 2013 from Paiz, J. M, Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., Brizee, A., & Keck, R. (2013). In-Text Citations: Author/Authors. Retrieved March 12, 2013 from Paiz, J. M, Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., Brizee, A., & Keck, R. (2013). Reference List: Basic Rules. Retrieved March 12, 2013 from Paiz, J. M, Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., Brizee, A., & Keck, R. (2013). Reference List: Books. Retrieved May 13, 2013 from wr0ver. (2010). APA Style 6 Header in MS Word Retrieved March 28, 2013 from Writer s Choice Grammar and Composition. (2009). Columbus, OH: Glencoe/McGraw Hill Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Essay Guidelines 22

24 Essay Guidelines ***To upload an essay in your student portal the essay must be saved on your computer. The following instructions are on how to save a file to your computer if you used Google Docs or Word Online to complete the essay.*** Using Google Docs? You must have a Gmail account to use Google Docs. Once the essay is completed, select File. Then Download As. Choose Microsoft Word (.docx). Be sure to save the file where you will be able to find it. Using Word Online? You must have a Microsoft account to use Word Online. Once the essay is completed, select File. Then Save As. Choose Download a Copy. A dialog box will appear with a link that says click here to download a copy. Be sure to save the file where you will be able to find it. Now that your essay is saved on your computer you can upload it to Grammarly.com to check for possible improvements. Your completed essay will need to be uploaded in your student portal for grading. Pearblossom Academy, Inc. 23

25 Pearblossom Academy, Inc. Author s Check List Use this check list for each of your essays to ensure that you have correctly completed all of the steps in preparing your essay. 1. Title page is formatted correctly (page 9). 2. Abstract is formatted correctly (page 10). 3. Citations are included in the body of the essay (page 11). 4. Reference page is formatted correctly (page 13). 5. Essay is double spaced. 6. Margins are one inch (1 ) on all four sides. 7. Times New Roman font in 12-pitch throughout the essay (p. 5). 8. First line of new paragraphs is indented ½ inch (one tab stop). (p. 19). 9. Essay is 1000 to 1500 words long, not including the title, abstract, and reference pages. 10. Essay has been proof-read for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. 11. Essay has not been cut-and-pasted or otherwise plagiarized from someone else s work (see A Word About Plagiarism on page 2 of online PA Essay Guideline). 12. If sources are quoted and referenced, the quoted material may still not be more than 20% of the total essay. Even if the sources are quoted and referenced properly, there still should be no more than 20% of unoriginal text (quoted material). Upload each completed and checked essay as an MS Word (.doc or.docx) file using the Upload Essay button on the main page of your student portal.