Easy Hints on how to Write a Work Cited Page for an Essay
When you write an essay for a high school or college class, you will need to include a works cited page. This is the page that shows your reader where you found the information that you used to support your thesis statement. Most persuasive, informative, and expository essays require a works cited page. Depending on the class that you are writing the essay for, you will need to use one of the many different types of citation styles like MLA, APA, or Chicago Style. Here are a few hints to make writing a works cited page easy:
- sources so you can build a works cited page. You will still need to know what type of formatting style you are using so you can use the best app. You will also need to know how to recognize the parts of the source, like the title, author, date of publication, and publishing source. There are some apps that will let you insert the URL into a box and the app will fill in as many of the citation pieces as it can distinguish.
- Alphabetize the sources. All works cited pages are organized alphabetically by the first work in the source. In most cases, that word is an author’s last name, but with the wide variety of online sources available, titles can often the be first in the source.
- Use a sample to check your work. Because online apps are only as good as the people who programmed them, you should always check your work. If you can find a sample of a works cited page in your assigned formatting style, you can use it to double check your page before you submit it for a grade. Having a sample allows you to see the way the sources are indented, what font and size to use, and how they look on the page in regards to punctuation.
- Only include the sources you used in your paper. Students often make the mistake of adding too many sources to their works cited page. This only confuses the reader, which is usually the instructor, who will be looking for the way the sources were used in the paper. If your instructor cannot find them, you will lose points