Sample Writing Excerpt

Since character has such a prominent place in my plan, it is important to look at what

character means to me and how I see my strengths and weaknesses. Covey (2004) sees character

as things such as “integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry,

simplicity, modesty, and the Golden Rule” (p. 7). I see character as values and principles that

guide my everyday living. These values and principles keep me intact as a whole person and are

my highest expectations during hard and good times and when making difficult decisions.

Character, for me, was tested during my first year in college. While on a scholarship and

a complete change in the coaching staff, the environment became very hostile. Part of the

hostility was directed towards me, and I had to make a decision whether to accept abuse and

humiliation that in the long run would damage my character or have the courage to walk away.

The decision was not easy because to walk away meant that I would lose my scholarship. The

more I stayed in this environment, the more my spirit broke. I had to dig within my character and

find the courage to leave, get out of the downward spiral, learn from the situation and move on.

Once I made the decision to leave, I transferred to three different schools and fought each day

not to feel like a failure while strengthening my patience and resilience to continue with my

education and football goals. Presently, and during this period, I found that my weakness, was

my inability to control my negative thoughts, which seemed to paralyze me, sending me into

downward spirals. To further develop my character strengths, I have decided to use affirmations

as a tool to facilitate positive thoughts, lessen anxiety, and self-change (Lively, 2014).
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References

Covey, S. R. (2004). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York, NY: Free Press.

Lively, K. (2014). Affirmations: The why, what, how, and what if? Psychology Today. Retrieved

from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/smart-relationships/201403/affirmations-

the-why-what-how-and-what-if

NOTES:

When writing, you often combine your own thoughts with others as sources to affirm and to
provide evidence for your thoughts as in the excerpt above. Notice the differences in the
citations:
Covey (2004) is part of the sentence and notice that it is formatted differently than a citation that
is not part of the sentence such as (Lively, 2014).
Also notice that that there is a direct quote following Covey (2004). When a quote directly
follows a citation that is part of the sentence, indicate the paragraph number at the end of the
quote such as (p. 7). If the sentence would’ve been constructed diffeently:
Character can be defined with attributes such as “integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance,
courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty, and the Golden Rule” (Covey, 2004, p.
7).
Should someone want to look up the author you have cited, there are references provided to do
so. References are listed on a separate page or in the online environment, at the end of the
document. There should be a reference for each author or source indicated as a citation in your
document. There should be no reference listed that is not cited within your document. Again, if
there are no citations in your document, there should be not references. References are correlated
to citations. There is a different reference format for books, online sources, blogs, government
documents, 1 author, 2 authors, etc. Use the source in course announcement for correct styling
and format for citations and references.
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Below are General Rules:

In-text Citations
"In-text citations" are pointers in the paragraphs of your assignment that show which item on
your reference list is the original source for the quote, paraphrase you are using or an idea you
are expressing. Each reference listed should have a citation in your narrative.
Citations for Paraphrased Ideas
Paraphrase means to use different words to express someone else's claim/words.  
If you know the author(s) and date, then include (author, date):
...this is a paraphrased sentence or idea (Smith & Brown, 2014). 
...if the date is unknown (Smith, n. d.).
If you mention the names of the author(s) in your sentence then include (date) in parenthesis:
Smith and Brown (2014) reported that...
Direct Quotes
If you are using a direct quotation from an author's work, then include (author, date, p. page):
"this line is a direct quote so include page number" (Smith & Brown, 2014, p. 10).

For information other than these general guides refer to the sources below:
APA Style: http://www.apastyle.org/
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/