Readers approach an essay with a set of writing and design conventions in mind. They expect you to make a main point, to support your point with reasons and evidence, and to identify the sources you’ve drawn on in your essay. They also expect you to follow generally accepted design conventions, such as the guidelines provided by documentation systems such as MLA and APA (see Chapters 21 and 22). Your assignment will frequently provide guidance on how to format an academic essay. You can also consult your instructor if you have any questions.

As you design your essay, consider not only what your readers expect but also how you can build on those expectations to accomplish your goals as a writer. You can use design elements such as fonts, color, shading, borders, and rules to help readers anticipate and more easily follow the organization of your essay. You can use tables, charts, and figures to let your readers view, understand, and analyze the information you include in your essay. If you are distributing your essay in digital form, you can help readers access related information, such as video clips, audio clips, animations, and related data sets, via links — or you can embed these materials directly in your essay. You can read more about how these design elements can help you in these areas in the previous sections.