There are countless anthologies and textbooks for college-level students, but few supplying actual examples modeled after the types of essays students create in early composition courses such as English 100, 101, and 102.

The goal of this project is to publish a textbook for early-level undergraduate students that: 

• Provides sample essays on various topics that they can use as models of exemplary writing

• Shows the norms of each essay genre

• Models proper formatting of in-text citations, including a works cited or reference page 

• Contributors should submit two copies of their paper--one in MLA format and one in APA format

• Demonstrates advanced vocabulary and grammar, incorporating various sentence types

• Involves topics students may encounter, focusing on reinforcing a more realistic connection with the student’s life and assigned tasks 

Structure Guidelines

One of the goals of this book will be to demonstrate strong writing fundamentals, including proper paragraph structure: 

Introductions should include:

• An engaging hook

• Background information/context

• A strong, complex thesis

Body paragraphs should contain:

• A clear topic sentence

• Description that leads into the example

• An example with an appropriate lead-in (either a paraphrase or direct quote with proper parenthetical citation)

• An analysis of the example showing how it supports the topic sentence

• A concluding sentence that ties back to the thesis, wraps up the main idea of the paragraph, and prepares the reader to move on to the next topic

Conclusions should include:

• A restatement of the thesis in a new, interesting way

• A summarization of the main points from the essay

• A reverse hook to leave the reader with something to think about

Other elements to consider include, but are not limited to:

• Use of appropriate transitional phrases. 

• Avoid “I” statements other than narrative essays & iSearch papers. 

• Avoid using “you”, “your”, “we”, “us” unless used for a specific rhetorical purpose. 

• Avoid using all-inclusive/exclusive phrasing such as “all”, “always”, “every”, “none”, “never”, etc.

Types of Essays

Contributors are invited to submit essays ranging from 5-paragraphs to five pages on any topic relevant and accessible to early-level comp. students (Research papers should range from five to eight pages). Contributors are welcome to contribute multiple essays from various categories:

• Narrative

• Definition

• Informative

• Expository

• Descriptive

• Argumentative

• Persuasive

• Informative

• Synthesis (This should provide a quick introduction stating each source included and a synopsis of who wrote the source and the main idea of the article)

• Analysis

• Literary

• Rhetorical (More about logos, pathos, ethos/SOAPSTone. Less about advanced rhetorical devices)

• Cause and Effect

• Critical

• Character

• Historical

• Evaluation--Assessing quality, effectiveness, or impact

• Analysis--Assessing structure, purpose, and deeper meaning

• Process 

• Research 

• iSearch

• Any sort of paper with a primary focus of using visual aids such as images, charts, graphs, infographics, etc. *All visuals should be original or freeuse to avoid copyright infringement. Appropriate credit should be provided.

Submission Guidelines

Submission deadline: June 8, 2025

Please send the following to ashleyjcarranza@gmail.com:

• A prompt that your essay is responding to, along with a clear statement of the essay type you are submitting

• Two papers:
• An MLA formatted document with a works cited page (Word Doc or link to Google Doc. Make sure to change sharing rights so that anyone with the link can open) and an APA formatted document with a references page

• A short contributor bio (75-100 words) 

Please ensure that you have the rights to publish your essay and that it is not featured elsewhere so as to avoid originality/plagiarism issues.

Note on editing and publishing:

I am starting this project from scratch, so there is not a timeline nor specific publisher as of yet. 

The goal is to have 3-5 examples of each essay type, which may take some time to assemble. 

As the editor, I will also be writing the pedagogical components, such as introductions for each essay type, etc.

I look forward to reviewing your submissions!

-Ashley Jae Carranza