MLA Format
Length: 700-1000 words
Purpose
The ability to write instructions clearly and descriptively is important. From farmers to firefighters, chemists to café owners, dancers to doctors, at some point every profession will require you to tell someone else how to do something. The goal of this essay is to increase your skills in describing how to follow a process to complete a task.
Assignment
Decide what process you would like to describe. It should have several steps which need description. You can choose whatever real or imagined process you want, as long as your reader can follow the steps to complete the task. Choose something of interest to you. Examples could be:
- How to make a cake from scratch
- How to change the oil in a ’57 Chevy
- How to survive as a stowaway on an intergalactic space mission
- How to give a cat a bath without making it mad
- How to convince your little brother he was adopted.
Important Questions to Address
- Who is your reader(s) and why is this process important to him/her/them?
- What preparation does the task require?
- Does your reader need special skills or knowledge?
- What sort of equipment, ingredients, or tools will be needed? Are there substitutions or alternatives for these?
- How long will each step take? Can the order of steps or tasks be changed? What would be the consequence (good and/or bad)?
- What will the results be if the reader follows the instructions? What could go horribly wrong?
Genre
This is an academic essay. It is not a checklist, bulleted instruction guide, recipe, etc. This should be written in paragraph format with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Do not use outside research in this paper. You are describing a process, not showing us how someone else describes the process.
Evaluation
Your grade will be determined by the following criteria:
- Thesis- your essay should clearly state the goal/task the process is for
- Background-your essay should be clear about any equipment, skills, or other background needed to complete the task.
- Steps- your process should be sufficiently broken down into parts or steps your reader could follow to complete the task. Transitions between steps should be clear. The steps should include any hazards and/or alternatives.
- Organization – your essay should be in a logical order for the completion of your task. This may mean in order of steps but might include parts which could/should be done in advance. For example, if you are baking a cake you may tell your reader to melt the butter before assembling the dry ingredients, so it has time to cool.
- Introduction – you should have something in your introduction that grabs your reader’s attention/induces your reader to keep reading. It should preview what is coming, not be the first step.
- Conclusion -Your conclusion should briefly review your essay and leave your reader with something to think about. For example, this cake would go great with some homemade ice cream.
- Mechanics- your essay should include proper grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling. (FYI, I am a fan of the Oxford comma.) Avoid colloquialisms, American idioms, and slang. Take your language up a notch. Do not try to be overly academic-sounding, but do not write as if ur writing 2 ur friend irl.