importance of microsoft word essay

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Write great papers

Write great papers with microsoft word.

You may already use Microsoft Word to write papers, but you can also use for many other tasks, such as collecting research, co-writing with other students, recording notes on-the-fly, and even building a better bibliography!

Explore new ways to use Microsoft Word below.

Getting started

Let’s get started by opening Microsoft Word and choosing a template to create a new document. You can either:

Select Blank document to create a document from scratch.

Select a structured template.

Select Take a tour for Word tips.

Next, let’s look at creating and formatting copy. You can do so by clicking onto the page and beginning to type your content. The status bar at the bottom of the document shows your current page number and how many words you've typed, in case you’re trying to stay maintain a specific word count.

To format text and change how it looks, select the text and select an option on the Home tab: Bold, Italic, Bullets, Numbering , etc.

To add pictures, shapes, or other media, simply navigate to the Insert tab, then select any of the options to add media to your document.

Word automatically saves your content as you work, so you don’t have to stress about losing your progress if you forget to press  Save .

Here are some of the advanced tools you can try out while using Microsoft Word.

Type with your voice

Have you ever wanted to speak, not write, your ideas? Believe it or not, there’s a button for that! All you have to do is navigate to the Home tab, select the Dictate button, and start talking to “type” with your voice. You’ll know Dictate is listening when the red recording icon appears.

Tips for using Dictate

Speak clearly and conversationally.

Add punctuation by pausing or saying the name of the punctuation mark.

If you make a mistake, all you have to do is go back and re-type your text.

Finding and citing sources

Get a head start on collecting sources and ideas for a big paper by searching key words in  Researcher in the References tab of your document.

Researcher uses Bing to search the web and deliver high-quality research sources to the side of your page. Search for people, places, or ideas and then sort by journal articles and websites. Add a source to your page by selecting the plus sign.

As you write, Researcher saves a record of your searches. Just select My Research to see the complete list.

Keep track of all your sources by using Word's built-in bibliography maker. Simply navigate to the References tab.

First, choose the style you want your citations to be in. In this example, we’ve selected APA style.

Select Insert Citation and Add New Source .

In the next window, choose what kind of work you’re citing—an article, book, etc.—and fill in the required details. Then select  OK to cite your source.

Keep writing. At the ends of sentences that need sources, select Insert Citation to keep adding new sources, or pick one you already entered from the list.

As you write, Word will keep track of all the citations you’ve entered. When you’re finished, select Bibliography and choose a format style. Your bibliography will appear at the end of your paper, just like that.

Make things look nice

Make your report or project look extra professional in the Design tab! Browse different themes, colors, fonts, and borders to create work you're proud of!

Illustrate a concept with a chart or a model by navigating to the  Insert tab and choosing  SmartArt . In this example, we chose Cycle and filled in text from the writing process to make a simple graphic. Choose other graphic types to represent hierarchies, flow charts, and more.

To insert a 3D model, select  Insert > 3D Models to choose from a library of illustrated dioramas from different course subjects and 3D shapes.

Invite someone to write with you

If you’re working on a group project, you can work on a document at the same time without emailing the file back and forth. Select Share at the top of your page and create a link you can send to other students.

Now, everybody can open the same file and work together.

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The basics of using Microsoft Word for academic Purposes

As a student, you are constantly confronted with challenges that require you to be organized, efficient, and productive. From managing your coursework and assignments to preparing for exams and presentations, there is no shortage of duties that demand your time and attention. This is where Microsoft Word comes in.

Microsoft Word is an effective word-processing tool that can help you streamline your workflow and increase your productivity. With its broad selection of features and capabilities, Microsoft Word allows you to create professional-looking documents with ease. Whether you want to write an essay, create a report, or design a presentation, Microsoft Word has the tools and tricks you need to get the job done rapidly and effectively.

One of the key advantages of learning Microsoft Word is that it helps you organize your thoughts and ideas. With its built-in outlining and formatting tools, Microsoft Word allows you to shape and present your information. This makes it less difficult for you to plan and write your documents and ensures that your work is well-organized and easy to read.

Another gain of learning Microsoft Word is that it enables you to work collaboratively with different students. With Microsoft Word , you can easily share your documents with your classmates and instructors, and work together on team projects. This not solely saves you time and effort but also enables you to learn from each other and benefit from different perspectives.

In addition to its organizational and collaborative features, Microsoft Word additionally offers a wide range of formatting and graph tools that can help you create professional-looking documents. With Microsoft Word’s time-saving features , you can add images, tables, and other visuals to your documents, and customize their layout and appearance to meet your needs. This allows you to enhance the impact and appeal of your work, and impress your instructors and peers.

In short, learning Microsoft Word is a valuable investment for every student. Whether you are a freshman or a graduate, Microsoft Word can help you become extra organized, efficient, and productive, and enable you to achieve your academic and professional goals. So why not give it a shot and see the distinction it can make in your life?

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Tips for Using Microsoft Word to Write Essays

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The purpose of this article is to provide some guidance for undergraduates—particularly for first-year students—who aren’t familiar with the different functions of Microsoft Word that they can use for writing their essays at uni. Knowing these shortcuts and tips will make your formatting neater and your overall presentation more professional, and save you time!

Indentation

Indent paragraphs by going to the ‘Home’ tab then the ‘Paragraph’ menu (not by using the space bar or tab key). Under ‘Indentation’ select ‘First line’. It will automatically set it to 1.27 cm.

Page Breaks

Insert a page break by pressing Ctrl + Enter (or go to the ‘Insert’ tab and select ‘Page break’) rather than using the space bar to do it. Using the Enter key will often result in the new page not beginning where you want it to if any other changes are made to the document later.

Insert a footnote by going to the ‘References’ tab and then selecting ‘Insert Footnote’. Doing it any other way will result in footnotes that aren’t linked or formatted correctly.

Set Language

Go to the ‘Review’ tab and then the ‘Language’ group. Select the drop-down menu under ‘Language’ and click on ‘Set Proofing Language’. Here, you can change the language that the Spelling & Grammar checker will use to ‘English (Australia)’.

This will help you to pick up some (but not all) American spellings that should be corrected to Australian when doing your spell check. It is best to set your language again at the very end by selecting all your text and then setting the language immediately before doing the spell check (because sometimes Word will ‘automatically detect’ your language and change it back to American while you are writing your essay).

For more information about using Word to proofread your document, see our articles ‘ How to Use MS Word for Proofreading ’ and ‘ Grammar & more—Understanding Your Grammar Checker Options ’.

To check your word count, highlight the text you want to check (your essay not including your bibliography or reference list), then go to ‘Review’ and click on ‘Word Count’ in the ‘Proofing’ group. Untick the box to ‘Include textboxes, footnotes and endnotes’. This way you will know your total word count, not including your references.

Don’t use any fancy formatting for headings or cover pages, especially nothing that uses a coloured font, borders or underlining. It isn’t necessary and doesn’t follow standard university formatting guidelines. For more information about standard university formatting guidelines, see our article ‘ How should I format my university essay ’.

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Writing-Related Software Tutorials

How to Use Microsoft Word (10 Core Skills for Beginners)

By Erin Wright

Do you want to learn how to use Microsoft Word quickly? This tutorial teaches ten core skills for beginners.

Table of Contents

How to Start a New Document

How to change the font, size, and color, how to change the alignment, line spacing, and indentations, how to add headings, how to change the margins, how to add images, how to add page numbers, how to add headers and footers, how to run the editor (spelling and grammar check), how to save and print your file.

Please note that this is a quick start guide. I have in-depth tutorials for most of these topics for those who would like to learn more.

Watch all the steps shown here in real time!

Explore more than 250 writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel .

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. These steps are similar in Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016.

We will cover these ten core skills in Word for Mac in a separate tutorial.

• Open Word on your computer.

When Word opens, you will be in the Home screen of the Backstage view.

• Select Blank document to start a new document. (Alternatively, select Open if you want to open an existing Word document.)

When the new document opens, you will be in the Home tab in the ribbon , and your cursor will automatically be placed towards the top, left-hand corner of the page, ready to type.

You can change the font, size, and color before or after you type text. However, if you want to change existing text, first left-click, hold, and drag with your mouse to select the text.

• Select the Home tab in the ribbon if you are not already there (see figure 2).
• Select the menu arrow to open and choose from the (A) Font , (B) Font Size , or (C) Font Color menus in the Font group.

If you selected existing text, that text will change immediately. If you haven’t selected existing text, all new text will feature the choices you just made.

Further Reading: How to Change the Font, Font Size, and Font Color in Microsoft Word

Like the font choices shown above, you can change the alignment, line spacing, and indentations before or after you type text. However, if you want to change existing text, first left-click, hold, and drag with your mouse to select the text.

• Select the Home tab, if you are not already there (see figure 2).
• Select the Align Left , Center , Align Right , or Justify button to position the text on the page.

• Select the Line and Paragraph Spacing menu arrow and then choose a spacing option from the drop-down menu.

• Select the Decrease Indent or Increase Indent buttons to adjust the indent as necessary.

Further Reading: How to Adjust Line Spacing in Microsoft Word and Three Ways to Indent Paragraphs in Microsoft Word

You can turn existing text into a heading or choose a heading level before typing the heading text.

• Select the Home tab if you are not already there (see figure 2).
• Select a heading level from the Styles group.

• If the heading level you want isn’t visible, select the More button.

• Select a heading level from the menu that appears over the Styles group.

Further Reading: How to Create and Customize Headings in Microsoft Word

You can change the page margins for your entire Word document at once.

• Select the Layout tab in the ribbon.

• Select the Margins button and then select an option from the drop-down menu.

Further Reading: How to Adjust the Page Margins in Microsoft Word

• Place your cursor where you want to insert the image.
• Select the Insert tab in the ribbon, select the Pictures button, and then select the location of the image:
• This Device lets you choose an image stored on your computer or network server.
• Stock Images lets you choose stock images, icons, cutout people, stickers, and illustrations. The full stock image library is only available to users signed into Word for Microsoft 365.
• Online Pictures lets you search for images through Bing, Microsoft’s search engine.

For this tutorial, we will insert an image stored on the device.

• (For “This Device” option only) Locate and select the image in the Insert Picture dialog box and then select the Insert button.

Your image should now appear in your Word document.

• (Optional) Select one of the resizing handles and then drag the image to a new size.

• (Optional) Select the Layout Options button and then choose how the image is positioned with the surrounding text:

A. In Line with Text

E. Top and Bottom

F. Behind Text

G. In Front of Text

The effect of each option will depend on the size of your image and the density of your text. So, you may need to experiment with several options to find the one most suited to your content.

Further Reading: How to Insert and Modify Images in Microsoft Word

• Select the Insert tab in the ribbon (see figure 13).
• Select the Page Number button and then select a location from the drop-down menu, followed by a design from the submenu.
• Select the Close button to close the Header and Footer tab. (This tab only appears when the Header and Footers areas are active.)

Further Reading: How to Add Page Numbers in Microsoft Word

• Select the Header or Footer button and then select a design from the drop-down menu.

• Type your text into the placeholders.

• Select the Close button to close the Header and Footer tab (see figure 18).

Further Reading: How to Insert Headers and Footers in Microsoft Word

In Word for Microsoft 365, the spelling and grammar check is called the Editor. Your spelling and grammar options will depend on which version of Word you are using. Therefore, your interface may look different than the images shown below.

• Select the Review tab in the ribbon and then select the Editor button. (Older versions of Word will have a Check Document button, instead.)

• Select the corrections or refinements category you want to review in the Editor pane.

• If Word finds a possible error, select a recommendation or select Ignore Once or Ignore All .

Word will automatically move to the next issue within the category.

• Select a new category or select the closing X to close the Editor.

What Is the Difference between the Editor Button and the Spelling and Grammar Button?

You may notice a Spelling and Grammar button next to the Editor button in the Review tab. This button provides a quick way to check only spelling or spelling and grammar without checking the additional refinements reviewed by the Editor.

Further Reading: How to Use the Editor in Word for Microsoft 365

I recommend saving your file before printing just in case there is a disruption during the printing process.

• Select the File tab in the ribbon.

• Select the Save tab in the Backstage view.

• Select the location where you want to save the File.

• Type a name in the File Name text box and then select the Save button.

• Once you have saved your document to a specific location, you can then select the Save icon if you make changes to the document later.

• To print, reselect the File tab (see figure 26) and then select the Print tab in the Backstage view.

• Ensure the correct printer is selected and turned on, enter the number of copies into the text box, and then select the Print button.

From there, follow any additional dialog boxes provided by your printer.

Updated November 26, 2023

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What is Microsoft Word: Everything You Need to Know

Microsoft Word is an element of Microsoft Office which helps with the creation, editing, and formatting of documents. It includes facilities for spell and grammar checking, as well as text formatting. Read this blog and explore What is Microsoft Word, its features, functionalities, and significance in today's landscape.

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Are you ready to unlock the secrets of one of the most ubiquitous tools in the digital landscape? What is Microsoft Word, you ask? It's more than just a word processor – it's a gateway to a world of creativity, efficiency, and seamless document management. 

According to Statista , as of February 2024, over a million companies worldwide are utilising Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365). The United States leads with 34% of customers, followed by the United Kingdom at 8%. Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands each contribute 3%. If you haven't started using this software, worry no more. Read this blog and explore What is Microsoft Word, its features, functionalities, and significance in today's landscape.

Table of Contents  

1) What is Microsoft Word 

2) What are the features of Microsoft Word? 

3) Microsoft Word use cases 

4) How to use Microsoft Word effectively? 

5) Conclusion 

What is Microsoft Word?

Microsoft Word is an element of Microsoft Office which helps with the creation, editing, and formatting of documents. It includes facilities for spell and grammar checking, as well as text formatting. You can also include photos, tables, and charts in your documents. It's popular for letters, reports, and resumes.

Word allows many people to work on a document together, keeping track of changes. It provides templates to make document creation easier. It is commonly utilised by users, organisations, and schools because of its ease of use and multiple useful features.

What are the features of Microsoft Word?  

a) User-friendly interface: Microsoft Word has an easy-to-use layout, making it simple to find tools and options. You can quickly access important functions through the menu.

b) Formatting: Word's formatting is powerful, allowing you to change fonts, sizes, colours, and other features to make the documents stand out.

c) Templates: Word also includes ready-made templates for many kinds of documents, saving your time and giving the work a professional look from beginning to end.

d) Graphics and media integration: Users can effortlessly insert images, shapes, charts, and other media elements into their documents. This feature is beneficial for adding visual appeal and enhancing the overall presentation. 

e) Collaboration and sharing: Microsoft Word allows for seamless collaboration among users. Multiple people can work on the same document simultaneously. This makes it ideal for team projects and group editing. MS Word also supports real-time co-authoring. 

f) Review and Commenting: The Track Changes and Comment features enable easy reviewing and editing of documents. Users can leave comments and suggestions, allowing for effective communication and revision. 

g) Spelling and Grammar Checks: Microsoft Word has a tool to check spelling and grammar. It helps users find and fix mistakes in their documents, ensuring they look polished and error-free.

h) Page layout and design: Users can adjust how their pages look by changing margins, orientation, and adding headers and footers. This helps create documents that look professional and consistent.

i) Table of Contents and Navigation: MS Word allows users to create a table of contents for lengthy documents. They can use headings to navigate easily through the content. This feature enhances document organisation and accessibility. 

In today's fast-paced digital world, electronic signatures are vital. But figuring out How to Sign in Microsoft Word can be tricky.

j) Mail Merge: This helpful tool lets users customise multiple documents, like letters and labels, with individual details for each recipient, saving time.

k) AutoCorrect and AutoText: Word automatically fixes spelling mistakes and creates shortcuts for commonly used phrases, making writing smoother and faster for users.

l) Word Count and Statistics: MS Word provides a word count tool that helps users track the length of their documents. Additionally, it offers statistics on reading time and sentence count. 

m) Language translation: Microsoft Word includes language translation features, allowing users to translate their documents into different languages. 

n) Compatibility and cloud integration: Microsoft Word allows you to save your documents in a range of formats, ensuring that they can be opened on other devices. It also connects to cloud-based storage providers, allowing you to access documents from anywhere with an internet connection.

Unlock the full potential of Microsoft Word! Learn how to sign in Microsoft Word and get started with our quick and easy guide. Click here to begin!

o) Storage: You can keep your documents stored safely, so you can access them whenever you need.

p) Object Linking and Embedding (OLE): OLE is a technology that facilitates the exchange of information between software programs regarding various types of objects. These objects can range from graphs and equations to video clips, audio clips, images, and more.

q) Page Break: Easily define where pages end for printing, ensuring smooth transitions between sections.

r) Search and Replace: Quickly find and swap specific words throughout your document using find and replace in Microsoft Word .

s) Thesaurus: Enhance your writing by substituting words with synonyms, enriching your language and avoiding repetition.

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Microsoft Word use cases  

As a versatile word processing software, Microsoft Word finds applications across various domains and serves diverse user needs. Let’s explore some of the common use cases where Microsoft Word excels: 

a) Document creation and editing: Microsoft Word is mainly used to make and change various types of documents. It's helpful for tasks like writing essays, letters, or reports, offering an easy way to write, review, and improve written content.

b) Academic assignments: For students and educators, Microsoft Word is an essential tool for academic assignments, research papers, and presentations. Its formatting options, headers, footers, and referencing tools help organise and professionally present academic work. 

c) Business reports and correspondence: In the corporate world, Microsoft Word is commonly used for craft business reports, memos, proposals, and other official documents. Its collaboration features to enable seamless teamwork and real-time editing among colleagues. 

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d) Resume and CV creation: Job seekers rely on Microsoft Word to create eye-catching and well-structured resumes and curriculum vitae (CV). The software's templates and formatting options help applicants present their qualifications effectively. 

e) Creative writing and publishing: Writers and authors use Microsoft Word to craft novels, short stories, poems, and other creative pieces. The ability to organise content, use various fonts, and add images fosters creativity and enhances the overall writing experience. 

f) Collaborative work: Microsoft Word's collaboration features enable multiple users to work on the same document. This use case is particularly beneficial for group projects, brainstorming sessions, and remote collaboration. 

g) Creating newsletters and news articles: Journalists and media professionals use Microsoft Word to compose newsletters and news articles. MS Word’s spell checker and grammar tools ensure accuracy and professionalism. 

h) Editing and reviewing: Microsoft Word is often used to proofread and editing content. The "Track Changes" feature allows editors and reviewers to suggest edits, making the revision process more efficient. 

i) Legal documentation: In law, Microsoft Word is used to write legal documents like contracts and court papers, ensuring accuracy and professionalism in the legal process. 

j) Transcription and dictation: Microsoft Word can turn what you say into written text, making it easier to type up spoken words.

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How to use Microsoft Word effectively?  

a) Opening Microsoft Word: Launch Microsoft Word from your desktop or Start Menu. Alternatively, access it through the Microsoft Office suite. 

b) Creating a new document: Click “Blank Document” to start a new project or choose from available templates for various document types. 

c) Typing and editing text: Begin typing your content in the document. Use basic editing commands like copy, cut, and paste for content manipulation. 

d) Formatting text: Highlight the text to apply formatting options such as font style, size, colour, and alignment using the formatting toolbar. 

e) Inserting images and media: Click on "Insert" to add images, shapes, charts, and other media to enhance your document. 

Unlock Microsoft Word’s full potential! Explore essential Microsoft Word tools to boost your productivity. Click here to master them now!

f) Page Layout and Design: Adjust page layout using the "Page Layout" tab. Set margins and orientation, and add headers or footers.

g) Saving documents:  Save your work often by clicking "File" then "Save." Name your file and choose where to save it. 

h) Collaboration and sharing: Collaborate by clicking “Share” to work on the same document with others in real-time.

i) Reviewing and editing: Use the "Review" tab to make changes, leave comments, and check for mistakes.

j) Printing documents: Print your document by clicking "File" then "Print" to see a preview and print it.

With practice, you can become proficient in using this versatile word-processing software for various personal and professional projects.

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Conclusion 

Microsoft Word stands as an epitome of innovation, seamlessly blending creativity with efficiency. Through its versatile features and user-friendly interface, it has redefined how we interact with textual content. So, next time you ask, "What is Microsoft Word," remember, it's not just a tool; it's a transformative experience.

Elevate your Word proficiency with our Microsoft Word Course now!

Frequently Asked Questions

To open Microsoft Word, find its icon on the Start menu or taskbar and click it. You can also search for "Word" in the search bar and click the app.

Microsoft Word provides essential formatting tools, collaboration features, templates, and seamless integration for efficient document creation in diverse environments. Also, it simplifies document management tasks, ensuring compatibility across platforms and enabling seamless sharing and editing among collaborators.

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Tips for Formatting an Essay in Microsoft Word: Fonts and More

• Brian D. Taylor
• Categories : Help with writing assignments paragraphs, essays, outlines & more
• Tags : Homework help & study guides

Why is Formatting Important?

Formatting refers to the arrangement of text on a document. There are many ways to format different types of documents. The focus of this guide will be formatting for essays.

In general, you will want your documents to look neat and professional. Special attention to formatting will ensure that your essays make a great first impression. In fact, some teachers will mark your paper down if you do not format correctly, or follow specific guidelines the teacher has requested (such as double spacing.)

Typography is a term that was first used when referring to how letters were chosen and set for printing on a press. In today’s age of word processors, it now refers to font selection and formatting. Pay careful attention to how you use typography in your essay. Font selection is of key importance. When you are writing an essay for a school assignment, you should make sure your font looks neat and professional. Remember, your essay will have to be read at some point, so you should make sure it can be read easily.

Fonts to Choose

Serif fonts assist with readability. A serif font has little lines on the end of the character. The lines help the eye move from letter to letter more easily. Some examples of standard serif fonts in Microsoft Word are Times New Roman, Courier New, and Book Antiqua. You should use a serif font for the majority of your essay. Be careful, though. Some serif fonts, still would not be acceptable. For instance, serif font styles such as Goudy Stout or Engravers MT would not look professional as the text of your essay because they are big and bulky. Choose carefully.

Sans serif fonts do not have the little lines at the end of the letters. Some examples of sans serif fonts are Arial, Calibri, and Comic Sans. Usually, sans serif fonts work well in short sections of text such as headings or titles. It is best not to use a sans serif font as the bulk of your essay. Furthermore, while I suggested Comic Sans as an example for a sans serif font, its use is typically frowned upon as it does not present a professional quality.

Another aspect of typography is the size of your font. Fonts are measured in points. A one point font is 1/72 of an inch. A 72 point font would measure one inch. Normally, you should choose 10 to 12 point font for all parts of your essay. Font sizes smaller than ten points become difficult to see and read. Font sizes larger than twelve point are difficult to read as well, and they make your teacher think that you’re just trying to use more space.

Bolding & Italicizing

At times, you may need to use bold, italics, or underlining. Bold is best used only in the title of your essay, if at all. Italics and underlining are typically used when you need to emphasize text or if you are referring to a title of another work.

To format your fonts in Microsoft Word, first select the text you wish to format. From there, you have a few options. You can format directly with the formatting toolbar which, by default, appears at the top of the window. You can also use the Format Font Window, which will give you more options. To get there, right click with the mouse and choose “Font” from the menu that appears. The Format Font Window looks like the image to the left (click on the image for a larger view). The selected text will appear in the preview pane. As you format the text, you can see how your text will look in the preview pane. When you have completed formatting your text, click OK to return to your document.

Spacing refers to the amount of space between lines of text. Typically, teachers ask for double spaced text for most assignments. The extra space between each line gives them room for comments and corrections. The extra space also makes the text easier to read. Always double check your teacher’s spacing policy, though. Sometimes a teacher will require a certain page total for your writing, while expecting single spaced lines. Double spacing will cut the length of your essay in half which will cause you to lose points. Always be sure to double check what the teacher wants.

Typically, headings are single spaced. There’s not much reason to have extra space between lines of your heading, so do not use it unless you’ve been directed otherwise. If you are using a quote of four lines or larger, it requires special formatting. Typically, this should be single spaced, as well.

You can also space at the paragraph level. This type of spacing appears before or after a paragraph.

To control spacing in Microsoft Word, select the text, then right click. Choose “Paragraph.” This will open the Format Paragraph Window. It should look like the image to the left (click on the image for a larger view). In the Spacing section, you’ll see two fields: one for Before and one for After. These allow you to space paragraphs apart, either before the paragraph or after. The spacing is measured in points, similar to fonts.

To the right, you can space at the line level. To double space your essay, choose Double from the drop down menu. Similarly, choose Single to single space. There are some other choices for more precise line spacing, but typically double and single will do for most school essays.

Indentation

Indentation refers to spacing from the left or right of the page. For most of the paragraphs in your essay, you will need to indent the first line. A good standard is a .5" first line indent. The tab key is usually set to tab over .5", but it is good practice to use the Format Paragraph Window to ensure that your indentations are correct.

To set a .5" first line indent for all paragraphs, select your text, then right click. Choose “Paragraph.” This will bring up the Format Paragraph Window. In the Indentation section, choose First Line from the drop down menu labeled Special. This will activate a first line indent for your text. Now choose the measurement for the indent. Again, .5" is a good standard to follow.

There are other times when you may need to pay attention to indentation. Let’s say you have a research paper that requires a bibliography or works cited page. The hanging indent option can come in handy and many works cited entries require one. A hanging indent is like the opposite of a first line indent; it indents everything but the first line. You set up a hanging indent in the same way you do a first line indent, only choose Hanging from the drop down menu in the Format Paragraph Window.

Finally, if you are quoting material of four or more lines, you will need to separate the text from the rest of the paragraph and indent both sides. To do this, go to the Format Paragraph Window. Choose the text to be indented and choose the measurement of indent for both left and right sides. Usually, you will want 1" on each side of quoted material. A sample image is attached to show how this should appear on the page.

Working with Images

Sometimes, a teacher will allow the use of images in an essay. Be sure to check with the teacher before adding images as some teachers frown upon their use. Even if the images are allowed, be sure to use them wisely and sparingly. Typically, less is more when it comes to using pictures in essay writing. Teachers want you to create pictures with your words instead!

To insert an image you can copy and paste it into the document, or you can use the insert image function. Once the image is placed into the document, it can be formatted. Begin with the layout of the photo. Right click the image and choose Format Picture. Click on the Layout tab at the top of the window. Here you have several options. In line with Text will cause your image to act as text. This option may cause your text to behave in unexpected ways. This option will almost always create large gaps of space in your essay and is best avoided. The Square or Tight options will cause the text to wrap around your image, thus eliminating the problem of the gaps. One of these two options is best.

Next, you will need to choose the alignment of the image. This appears near the bottom of the Layout tab. Choose which side of the page you wish the image to appear and click OK to see your results. If you change your mind about the alignment of the image, you can now click and drag the image to where you would like it. Since you’ve chosen the Square or Tight text alignment option, the text will simply wrap around the image wherever you place it. Be sure that when placing the image, the text remains in a neat and professional arrangement.

Good luck on your essay! If you have any additional Microsoft Word tips to share post them in the comments.

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Teaching with Microsoft Word

Word provides a writing instructor with a wide range of ways to integrate word processing into the classroom. We have included a list of some of the most popular options here, but this list is certainly not exhaustive.

Option 1: Developing Close Reading Skills

Students can work individually or in groups, responding to guided questions about readings, or they can use the formatting and highlighting features of Word to visually ‘mark-up’ a passage. By taking a passage out of context, students can be forced to look much closer at the rhetorical “clues” provided in the text.

Sample Exercise: Close-Reading Textual Fragments

(Cindy Landwehr)

• Read the fragment of the story I’ve given you at least three times and very carefully. Don’t worry that it seems “out of context”—it is, and this may help you notice details that you wouldn’t notice if you were just reading for plot.
• Identify all the details or collections details that seem significant, troubling, important, or intriguing to you. These could be images, objects, specific words or phrases, ideas, relations. Mark on the paper as much as you want to—go ahead and underline words and make notes in the margins.
• Now, type out a list of the actual phrases or sentences that you have identified, and one by one reflect on what interests you about the details you have chosen. What is enlightening or puzzling or interesting about them? What do they reveal about the character(s) involved—judging from the passage that you are interpreting, how would you describe each character’s state of mind, personality, characteristics, and relationship with the other character(s)? What seems to be happening—plot-wise—in the story at this point?
• You will have the rest of the class period to compose your response. When you are finished, make sure to read over for things you may want to change or make clearer or add to, and of course proofread for typos and mechanical errors. You will be printing this out at the end.

INTEGRATED OPTION:  Including the passage in the file would allow students to mark up the passage on-line, eliminating the need for retyping phrases.

Option 2: Using Microsoft’s “Insert Picture” Feature to Stimulate Discussion and Teach Verbal/Visual Literacy

Using Word’s “Insert Picture” function is an excellent means to encourage close reading as well as to distinguish variations in student initial responses to literary texts is the interpretive pairing of graphic with verbal imagery.

SAMPLE EXERCISE: JUDGING BOOKS BY THEIR COVERS?

(Laurie George)

In the following example, a simple Google “Image” search for photographs used by Jon Krakauer in his book  Into the Wild  produced the following self-portrait of the book’s protagonist, Christopher McCandless, a photograph that Krakauer reprinted as the first image (notably graphic, not verbal) inside the book’s cover.

One of his last acts was to take a picture of himself, standing near a bus under the high Alaska sky, one hand holding his final note toward the camera lens, the other raised in a brave, beatific farewell. His face is horribly emaciated, almost skeletal. But if he pitied himself in those first difficult hours—because he was so young, because he was alone, because his body had betrayed him and his will had let him down--it’s not apparent from the photograph. He is smiling in the picture, and there is no mistaking the look in his eyes. Chris McCandless was at peace, serene as a monk gone to God.

(Krakauer, Into the Wild, 1996)

Downloading the image into a Word file and then pairing it with some of Krakauer’s verbal descriptions of the starving McCandless provide excellent pedagogical means of teaching assorted critical approaches to literature—that is, an instructor can pose questions to students that reveal biographical, cultural, and/or formalist reader predispositions toward the interpretation of literature, questions such as these:

Why did Krakauer decide to include this picture (rather than the one of McCandless waving at the camera) and how does it complement/contrast with the verbal description he fashions when characterizing McCandless in the final stages of the young man’s life, starving to death in the wilderness that he had so idealized?

Does the photographic self-depiction of McCandless mesh with Krakauer’s imagined verbal depiction of the young man’s final days, thoughts, and emotions? What matters about any variance in the two depictions—is one less “true” than the other? What does any difference reveal about Krakauer’s so-called journalistic objectivity?

Such questions provide an excellent means to start a discussion of any text, as students can be asked to “read” the photo in relation to any number of philosophical/theoretical approaches (Naturalism, Realism, or Romanticism, for examples) and contrast these ideals with the verbal textual representations before writing about them.

Undertaking these interpretive exercises in class, students are introduced to core concepts of visual literacy and reader-response theory and must address core questions:

Do these graphic depictions enrich readers’ (difficult) pleasure by accompanying verbal text, or simply entertain and reproduce cultural stereotypes?

Do graphic additions rob readers’ imaginations, which might otherwise conjure revelatory images of an altogether different kind?

Option 3: Using Microsoft's Comment Tool to Annotate Texts

As much literature can be found online (Amazon.com publishes lengthy excerpts of even the most recent novels in online advertisements), an excellent means of teaching students to read closely and annotate thoughtfully (not just circle and underline) is to copy and paste a portion of any text (poetry, prose, whatever) into a Microsoft Word read-only document, have students make personal copies of the document in class, annotate the excerpt, and then project students’ annotated texts for discussions of the text, either in the computer classroom or in the seminar room via the laptop.

Sample Exercise: Annotating Text with Microsoft Word

Note: The collaborative nature and in-class locale of this exercise is important, as students can easily and readily access databases from the English Library Web page ( http://www.lib.washington.edu /subject/English/) to provide biographical, etymological, and socio-historical glosses to a variety of terms and allusions in the text. All enrich class discussion and broaden students’ horizons about critical approaches to literary interpretation.

On Thursday we’ll be spending the first half hour of class annotating an excerpt of “The Lottery,” using various databases available to us via the UW Library—specifically, Literature Resource Center (to find biographical information about Jackson), Oxford Reference Online, and English Language Dictionaries.

The goal is not to find critical articles that provide a story interpretation for you, but for you yourself to build an interpretation of Jackson’s story by stopping at any word, phrase, or allusion that she chooses to include. Do this remembering that Jackson started with a blank page and was fastidious about the words she used to craft characterizations, setting, mood, conflict, etc.—always remember that she had choices, that she had designs on you as a reader to think and feel a certain way about the cast of characters and how things play out during the course of the plot. Words are her essential means of gaining your attention, especially through language connotations, denotations, and allusions.

When you find a word, also use the thesaurus feature in Word (in the Tool bar above, select Tools > Language > Thesaurus) to consider how Jackson might have chosen other words that would have attracted/distracted your attention to different character attributes and themes.

So in the first half hour tomorrow, I will have you comb the first part of this text, its exposition, highlighting words and phrases in which to insert your annotations, your commentary.

So in the first half hour tomorrow, I will have you comb the first part of this text, its exposition, highlighting words and phrases in which to insert your annotations, your commentary.  To do this:

Highlight the word or phrase in Jackson’s story that you are researching

Find the Tool Bar at the top of the page and left click on Insert

Drop the cursor down to Comment, selecting it

Keyboard your comment into the pop-up box that appears, briefly noting the information you researched and why you find it useful 

Option 4: Using Audio to Facilitate Textual Annotation

(Definition and sample assignment, Laurie George)

Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars.

Gustave Flaubert

Although instructors think most readily of using DVD clips in classrooms, not as frequently do we consider audio without the visual—any number of sites online feature audio clips of poetry, short stories, speeches, and novels read by the authors:

In the following exercise, students are asked in the computer classroom to listen to a writer’s oral rendition of their text as the students read the written rendition onscreen, and then respond in writing to their audiovisual reading of authorial voice.

Some background: because it is important in audio sessions to have students focused on listening rather than distracted by other considerations, students arrive at the listening session (such as the one described below) well versed in the differences between indirect and direct modes of literary address, as well as generic differences between memoirs and fiction.

Students are also well aware of the basic plot line of the selected text featured: in the case below, a 41-year-old man describes his class meetings of Alliance Francaise in Paris, a class he enrolled in willingly to learn French despite his fears that the pedagogical model would be less than collaboratively constructive. His fears are realized; his instructor proves to be extraordinarily abusive towards all the students in the class, whatever their race, gender, or ethnicity: discipline and punish is one way of encapsulating the thematic core of this David Sedaris essay.

Plot in mind, students are asked to listen to the text in the computer lab as they read the print text from the screens in front of them, and to insert comments (from the Insert column of the shortcut bar on Microsoft Word) as they read and listen. The exercise works best if the clip is replayed at least once, and better twice.

Option 5: Using Word's Readability Tool to Evaluate Texts

Microsoft Word also includes a tool for checking a text’s readability, whether that “readability” concerns a student essay, a critical essay, a wall graffiti note, a blog entry, a presidential address, a short story, a novel, etc.

This tool is therefore enormously useful for checking the stylistic profile of any professional- or lay-authored text, including the fictional styles of characters and personae penned from whatever actual or virtual source.

Sample Exercise: Examining Texts with Word's Readability Tool

Any document saved into Microsoft Word can be scanned for certain “readability statistics” by configuring Word in the following ways:

Only after a text goes through the keyed-in process of running Spell Check does this program display information about the readability of the document—but it does, finally, and this is what it displays:

The most useful features of the tool relate to a student’s editing concerns for their own writing or a student’s need to analyze the stylistic features of a professional writer. Both goals apply to the three headings of “Counts,” “Averages,” and “Readability” in the following ways:

• In a student draft, does the text include enough words—or too many—slightly fitted or stuffed into paragraphs that match the writer’s rhetorical goals for a given reading audience?
• In the professional text, does the variance of word averages indicate a kind of authorial style—for example, the minimalism of a Raymond Carver story? Alternatively, does a high count of words in a page of dialogue reveal verbosity in a certain set of characterizations?  How many paragraphs are included in this passage—if there were more or fewer, would the emotional and logical effect on the viewer be different? Would the difference add to credibility in whatever fashion?
• If a character in a fictional work is speaking a piece labeled “readable” in this manner, how reliably literate is this character?
• If the character or the author writes in extremely brief or extensively long sentences, what does the simplicity or complexity of the style reveal about the character, or the author’s style or the author’s values?
• What about the character’s or author’s passivity or activity in sentence construction? What does this stylistic attribute reveal about the character or author—is the writer hiding culpability behind passive voice? Is the author implying thematically that a character is unwilling to take agency, the passive voice indicative of that resistance?
• If conventional criteria measure this writing excerpt as “low” in the conventional reading level of “Flesch-Kinkaid” grade levels, then what does this gradation imply about the readers’ values or the evaluators’ values concerning literacy?

Option 6: Brainstorming and Freewriting

Brainstorming and freewriting often work best when they are made a regular part of the class routine. Word makes it easy to do this. Some instructors start off every day in the computer classroom with a ten-to-fifteen minute freewrite or with an electronic journal response. Alternatively, students could be given time in class to brainstorm before a paper is due. Unlike a handwritten freewrite, both the student and the instructor can share the end product. Students can print out a copy or save a copy to disk, and instructors can review the class responses from their offices.

Sample Exercise: Working Toward an Interpretative Thesis

During this class period, you will be working toward a strong, interpretive thesis based on the evidence and ideas you’ve already collected about your topic. The following steps are designed to help you get started in the thesis process; feel free to skip or alter them—whatever will help you most. Have the people near you read what you have written and advise you on it; ask questions, and offer suggestions. There’s no need to be silent. Hold the mouse over highlighted text to see instructions on how to do various tasks. Remember to SAVE OFTEN.

Review your journal entry from last night and, in the space below, type in your “proto-thesis,” or a summary of what you think you want to write about. If you need a few sentences, that’s okay; this statement is just a place to get you started. 

II. Argument Brainstorm

As we’ve discussed in class, every argument breaks down into a number of sub-arguments—a series of subordinate ideas that are the building blocks of the larger argument. In the space below, begin to think about how your topic could be broken down. Start by looking at your topic statement above and listing off all the ideas that seem related to it. Or, if that doesn’t work, try listing a series of questions that you think you would need to answer in a paper about that topic. List these ideas, sub-topics, and questions in the left-hand column of the chart. In the column to the right, list two or three pieces of evidence that might be useful in developing a paragraph about each sub-topic. Try, whenever possible, to be very specific about your evidence. Don’t worry about whether or not you will use each one of these—at this point you are just generating ideas. If you run out of space, insert more rows in the table.

III. Speculations

Now, think carefully about the lists above. Generate a series of claims related to your topic that could serve as subtopics to organize and to develop your argument. Your goal here is to construct claims; write out complete sentences, as if these were going to be the topic sentences of your paragraphs. Use the top box to brainstorm freely, and come up with as many ideas as possible. Once you generate your list, cut and paste different claims into the bottom boxes, and experiment with organizing your ideas in different ways.

IV. Thesis Statements

Now that you have worked though your ideas and listed out both your evidence and possible organizational strategies, try to come up with two or three possible thesis statements. Look carefully at the lists you have made; you may have several more thesis options that you originally thought.

V. Peer Commentary

Review the worksheet, especially sections III and IV, and then comment on the thesis statements above. Consider whether or not the thesis seems broader than the ideas expressed in the brainstorming section. Does it seem arguable? How clear is it? Does it oversimplify? Is it too complex? Be sure to write your name in the gray box above your comments.

If you want to work with these reviews at home, be sure to print a copy of this file or save a copy to disk.

Integrated Option:

Additional instructions for how to add more rows to tables, print and save can be added using the comment function. When students move the mouse to the highlighted text, these instructions appear in a comment window.

Option 7: Peer Reviews and Self Assessments

Word gives you a number of options for peer-reviews and for student self-assessment. Students can read ‘hard-copies’ of each other’s papers, then write a peer review, assessing the strengths and weakness of the argument. Or they can comment on the paper electronically, making a copy of their partner’s file and inserting comments into the document itself. Word provides a number of features to help make their inserted comments stand out. Students can use the Comment feature or the Highlight feature, described below, or simply place all their comments in bold or in capital letters.

Sample Exercise: On-Screen Peer Editing

(Laura Kuske) Today you are going to workshop your peer’s paper and provide advice on how he or she could strengthen the argument. This time, your review will focus especially on organization, evidence, and paragraph structure. You will be working in pairs and using the prompts below to guide your responses to your partner’s paper. Before you begin, you will need to follow these initial instructions.

Getting Started

Step 1: Exchange file names with your partner, and open his or her document. Double-click on the “Word” icon to open Microsoft Word. Select Open from the File menu, and choose your partner’s file from the directory list.

Step 2: Make a personal copy of your partner’s file. Since you will be making changes to the file, you want to make sure you are working from a COPY, not the original. To do this, Select Save As from the File menu, and rename the file as directed by your instructor.

Step 3: Tell the computer who you are. The person you are reviewing will want to know who said what; you need to tell the computer who you are so it can attribute your comments to you. To do this, select Options from the Tool menu. From the window that pops up, select User Information. Type in your name and initials at the prompt.

Step 4: Begin your review. To insert comments, highlight the text you are commenting on and select Comments from the Insert menu. Type in your suggestions in the window that appears at the bottom of the screen. To add end comments, simply scroll to the end of the document, click the mouse at the bottom of the text, and begin typing. Use the following questions as your guide, and be sure to save your work periodically.

The Peer Review

1. Read the paper over once, fairly quickly. Do not make any comments. You are merely trying to formulate a general impression of the argument as a whole. At the end of the paper, describe your initial response to the argument. Without referring back to the essay, see if you can summarize the main points. What does the paper seem to argue? How persuasive did you find the argument? Thinking back, can you remember the logic of the argument, or is it all a blur? Was there anything about the paper that grabbed your attention? Were there claims that you strongly disagreed with or found insufficiently supported?

2. Reread the paper slowly and carefully, and comment on the introductory paragraph. First, find the thesis, and underline it. Next, insert a comment evaluating its effectiveness; consider both the myths and purposes of a thesis that we discussed in class last week.

3. Next, take a closer look at each body paragraph, and identify two that you feel might benefit from further revision. Considering all the structural issues we discussed today, think carefully about how the paragraph is put together:

Is there a topic sentence near the beginning of the paragraph? If so, highlight it, and comment on how well it fulfils its role. Does it present a concept or a detail from the story? Does it connect to the thesis?

Does it have a clear relationship to the ideas developed in the preceding paragraph? How well does it capture the main idea of the paragraph? If there is no clear topic sentence, comment on what you think the topic of the paragraph might be.

Look at the body of the paragraph. Insert your comment(s). Consider what type and how much evidence is used; is there enough? Is there too much evidence? Are claims being developed over the course of the paragraph? Does the writer do more than merely summarize from the story? Does he or she present you with specific details from the text? Does the writer explain what the evidence proves and WHY?

4. Insert a comment at the end of the paragraph considering the paragraph’s conclusion. Does the paragraph offer one? Does its conclusion offer any new perspective on the evidence and on how it relates to or develops the ideas expressed in both the topic sentence and in the thesis? Does the conclusion seem forced or obvious? Does it seem unrelated to the evidence offered? Do you see how the conclusion can be derived from the evidence offered?

Printing Your Comments

When you and your partner have finished commenting, you can print out a copy of the paper with all the comments. From the File menu, select Print. To select this option, you must use the menu; do not use the print icon. In the window that pops up, click on Options. Make sure that there is a check-mark next to Comments in the list that appears. If the check is not there, simply click the mouse in the box to insert the check-mark. Now, click OK to return to the print menu. Click OK again to send your file to the printer.

Sample Exercise: Self-Assessment of Organization in Film Analysis

(E.L. George)

In this revision of your essay, I'd like you to assess your own draft (before a classmate moves to your workstation to respond):

1. Make a copy of your essay and name it movie#OR

2. In the copy, above the title, use 14 pt. bold faced font to state your thesis (even if it appears again in the introductory paragraph). Then number the paragraphs in boldface in the space following each paragraph (create space as you need to).

3. Reread each paragraph, and in the space you've created, type out the main claim of the paragraph (if you use topic sentences in your paragraph, you would rewrite the topic sentence).

Examine the list, and ask yourself the series of questions noted in The St. Martin's Handbook.

What organizations strategies are used? spatial? chronological? logical? [compare & contrast?]

Are they used effectively and consistently?

Do the main points clearly relate to the thesis and to one another? Are any of them irrelevant [disunifying the essay]?

Can you identify any confusing leaps from point to point?

Do you need to provide additional or stronger transitions?

Can you identify clear links [either through a logical shift of ideas or obvious transitions or repeated words ] between paragraphs and ideas? Do any others need to be added?

Have any important points [about the likenesses and differences of movie x on corporate life vs. movie y] been left out? (63)

Sample Exercise: Self-Assessments Using Auto-Summary

(Laura Kuske)

Paper Title:

Today, instead of reviewing a partner's paper, you are going to do an extended assessment of your own writing… with a little help from Microsoft Word. Part of the point of today's exercise is to expand our discussion of paragraph structure and argumentative logic to include transitions -- which means that we are going to begin focusing on how to clearly express the connections BETWEEN ideas and between paragraphs. In order to begin to see why transitions are important, we are going to spend the first part of class today working on creating an abstract of our arguments. Ideally, an abstract can be formed by collecting the main ideas of an argument into a single paragraph. But for an abstract to MAKE SENSE, these ideas have to be expressed in ways that make the relationships between ideas clear, while still accurately reflecting the specific content of the paragraphs. That can be quite a challenge, and the attempt can often reveal quite a bit about the places where the connections are not yet clear enough in the larger argument.

What we do today may seem a little confusing at first, because you are going to move back and forth between two Word files -- this worksheet and your own paper-- and we are going to try out a few 'advanced' Word commands. If you have problems or get lost along the way, just raise your hand and I'll help get you back on track.

1. Begin by opening the file containing your draft. Do not close this worksheet before opening your paper. You will need to have BOTH files open to do this exercise. To move between the two files, click on the Windows menu and select to file you want to look at.

2. Once your paper file is open, select AutoSummarize from the Tools menu. AutoSummary will review your paper, collect what it takes to be your main ideas, and write an abstract of your paper. From the window that appears, select the option to hide everything but the summary, and set the percentage at 10%. Click OK. Word will create an abstract of your paper. Although the rest of your paper will disappear, it is still there. You may need to delete a few extra paragraph returns to format the summary. It should appear as a single paragraph. Creating/Critiquing/Revising your Computer Generated Abstract

1. Read carefully through the summary Word created. Does it seem accurate? Does the abstract read smoothly or is it choppy, abrupt or confusing? Pretend, for a moment, that this was not computer generated, but something written by you to be submitted (for instance) on the class Web page. Critique the abstract in the space below. Would you submit this abstract as representative of your paper and your writing? Why or why not? How would you revise it? Comments:

2. Now, return to your paper, and increase the percentage of the text Word uses to create the AutoSummary to 15%. Reread the summary. Keep playing with the percentage until you have what you consider to be the best 'raw material' for an abstract of your paper. You will be editing and revising this, don't worry if you have to include extra material to get in all the ideas you want to include. Cut and paste the text from your abstract here. Percentage: Abstract:

3. You are going to revise this material in a moment, but first, take a look at exactly what parts of your paper the computer selected to create your abstract. To do this, return to your paper file and click OK to clear away the summary and return to the argument itself. Select AutoSummarize again, but this time, select the option to hightlight key points and click OK. Set the percentage control window to the same percentage you used to create your abstract. Scroll through your paper and observe what parts of your paragraphs--and how much of the paragraphs-- the computer is using. Do the computer's selections reflect the topic sentence/conclusion pattern you might expect? How much 'other' material did you have to include to get a complete outline of your argument? Did the computer skip over some of your topic sentences and conclusions? Why? Comment on the patterns you notice and reflect on what they might suggest.  Comments/Observations:

Now cut and paste the raw material above into the box below and revise it into a concise and accurate abstract for your paper. Your abstract should be no more than 12-15 sentences (approximately 1 to 2 sentences per paragraph). It should provide a reader with a quick summary of all your main points, and the ideas should 'flow' together smoothly. It should not read like a list. It should read like an overview of an argument. Revised Abstract:

When you are done, print out a copy of this page (only this page.), and a copy of your paper. You will be giving a copy of your paper and your abstract to a peer partner to review.

Option 8: Writing Workshops

Word offers a range of powerful tools to help workshop writing, especially when used in conjunction with the overhead projector. Word allows you to highlight text in different colors, track editorial changes made to a document, or move text around in order to try out a variety of organizational or stylistic strategies.

Sample Exercise: Group Highlighting

(Kimberlee Gillis-Bridges)

Students participated in the following writing workshop during the class preceding the final draft due date. The essay assignment asked students to analyze a single scene from one of three early horror films, focusing on the narrative and cinematic elements at play in the scene. Before the workshop, I created a document featuring excerpts from students’ papers as well as links to digitized video clips of the scenes. The excerpts represented the three main problems students had with their drafts: their paragraphs tended to be diffuse discussing several technical elements that served different functions; paragraphs often had little discernible connection to the thesis; and formal film terminology was absent or misused.

As they viewed the projected essay excerpts, the class analyzed weaknesses and developed strategies for revision. During the workshop, students asked to view the linked clips to confirm details or to point out cinematic elements the writer had missed. I served as recorder, using Word’s highlighting function to mark passages as directed by the students. Writers whose paragraphs we analyzed could copy their marked passages and paste them into another document; a number of writers did so during the workshop, taking notes on their peers’ comments, then saving the marked passage once the class had completed the review.

The following example demonstrates how students marked the excerpts:

Scene:  Dracula; scene in which Dracula and Van Helsing Meet

Writer’s Thesis:  The scene separates Dracula and Van Helsing from the other characters as it pits the two against one another in a struggle between evil and good.

Explanation of Highlighting:  The yellow highlighting marks a passage connected with the first part of the thesis--that technical elements of the scene separate Dracula and Van Helsing from the other characters. Although the passage suggests that a pattern of alternating close-ups distinguishes these two characters from other characters in the scene, the class thought that the idea needed further explication, perhaps in another paragraph. The green highlighting indicates an idea that the class thought detracted from the analysis in the rest of the paragraph. The blue highlighting marks a passage the class viewed as connected to the thesis. Students suggested that the writer make this passage the focus of the paragraph. They also suggested that the writer connect the editing of the close-ups and the issue of knowledge. Van Helsing's growing knowledge is conveyed through editing, and it is this knowledge that pits him against Dracula.

Sample 2: Style Imposters

(Karen Kupka)

Read through the following passages carefully, using Word’s highlighter to note the distinctive features of the writer’s style. After you think you’ve grasped the stylistic differences between the two passages, try impersonating both authors. Pretend that you are Hemingway, and rewrite the excerpt from Carter’s  The Bloody Chamber  in your own inimitable style. When you’re done with that, transform yourself into Carter and elaborate on  A Moveable Feast .

Option 9: Reverse Outlines

Word also provides a range of outlining features that allow students to take a paper and convert it into an outline. An outline can help students to see the organizational structure of their papers in a “bare bones” format. Word also allows you to easily break down a student’s paper paragraph by paragraph and create a reverse outline exercise. This type of reverse outline allows students to visualize their paper’s organization as it is—and as they want it to be.

Sample Exercise: Reverse Outline

Step 1: Read the following paper. As you finish each paragraph, type out what you think the most important idea (in other words, the thesis) of the paragraph is. What is the general claim of the paragraph? Be sure to write out the thesis in a single, grammatically correct sentence.

Despite appearances, I believe that Imogene & Marya's friendship is not the most important thing in Joyce Carol Oates's story, "Theft." No character in the story has as important a role as Marya, but her friendship with Imogene does not play the most important role in Marya's life. Therefore that friendship cannot occupy the most important part of the story. While this friendship concerned Marya a lot, she eventually discovered that other things--her work and especially her writing--played a much more important role in her life. Marya gave up her friendship with Imogene because it took up too much time, time in which she could do more important things like writing. Marya saw writing as the most important thing in her life because writing overcame the destructive effects of time, while friendship just passed the time.

THESIS OF 1st PARAGRAPH:

It's hard to say exactly why Marya wanted to be Imogene's friends, but whatever the reason was, it wasn't the most important thing in Marya's life. Marya of course didn't initiate the friendship. Imogene pursued her. Marya never planned to be Imogene's friend; it happened to her like an accident. But Marya had some curiosity towards Imogene. Before Imogene ever approached her, Marya found herself staring "at the blonde girl in her political science class" who wore "a handsome camel's hair coat" and "an engagement ring with a large square-cut diamond" (476). This attraction, however, didn't seem to have any reason, or at least any particular importance. Marya throughout the story stared at a lot of people, but doesn't end up friends with any of them, except Imogene. Again I would say the friendship depended more on Imogene than Marya.

THESIS OF 2nd PARAGRAPH:

Though her relation with Imogene confused her for a while, Marya came to realize that work held more importance for her. "It occurred to her with a chilling certitude that every moment not consciously devoted to her work was an error, a blunder" (487). Marya worried constantly whether she did enough work. This didn't mean her work at the library. If anything, she regretted the time her job took from her. What worried her was schoolwork. She wanted to work hard at it. She even enjoyed it. But fear motivated her as well. She thought nothing mattered as much as success, even her own health. She felt that only "one's personal accomplishment" (493) mattered in life. In the story two kinds of accomplishment mean the most to Marya: school and writing. As I will explain later, because of the problem time created in her life, writing proves more important than anything else.

THESIS OF 3rd PARAGRAPH:

What created this preference from writing over schoolwork was her attitude toward time. The idea of time kind of scared her. In fact, Marya got quite hung up on the idea of time. "Time is the element in which we exist...We are either borne along by it, or drowned in it" (487). Here Marya reveals her fear that time would destroy her. But she thought that time could help her as well, if she did things right & worked hard. She asked herself, "Wasn't time the precious element that would carry her along to her salvation" (481)? Marya obsessed over the destructive effects of time. Her thoughts about the photographs of the old athletes express her feelings:

Another rowing team. Hopeful young men, standing so straight and tall; their costumes slightly comical; their haircuts bizarre. An air of team spirit, hearty optimism, doom (481).

Marya thinks of doom when she sees this picture because the picture reminds her that those men eventually died. I think Marya expresses this sense of doom in other places in the story as well, like when Phyllis's mother and sister came to clean out Phyllis's room: "And then the waters close over your head.--This phrase ran through Marya's head repeatedly" (491). Marya is thinking her about the doom that overcame Phyllis: doom comes like a flood, then washes you away into oblivion. Marya's obsession over this phrase is a sign that she considered this more than just Phyllis's problem. It was a personal problem for Marya too, because the source of the problem was time itself, something Marya couldn't escape. I believe Marya believes that "doom" was another word for "time."

THESIS OF 4th PARAGRAPH:

The first problem Marya experiences with the problem of time comes from not having enough of it, so she gets rid of Imogene in order to have more time for work. I think the writing was on the wall from the very beginning of their relationship. In the coffee house with Imogene's friends, when Marya thought she "should have been elsewhere" (481), that other place was back at her room or in the library working. She always felt that "she hadn't...time for 'wasting' on people" (478). In her journal she writes the following words on the subject of friendship: "She hadn't time...she hadn't energy for something so...ephemeral" (483). This last quote points out what really bothered Marya about friendship, that it isn't permanent. Eventually she thought conversations with anyone, whether Imogene or not, wasted her time.

THESIS OF 5th PARAGRAPH:

This sense of impending doom scares Marya, but she has a game plan. Just after she thinks the thoughts about the rowing team, she decides "she really should leave...she shouldn't be here" (481), because she feels this same doom closing in on her, and feels that only through work can she escape it. And the work that could save her is writing. Without writing, she's doomed to destruction like the rowers. But if she could become a writer, she'd have an indestructible existence. We know she believes this when she says "a writer's authentic self...lay in his writing and not his life; it was the landscape of the imagination that endured, that was really real" (474). By becoming a writer she too could have an "authentic self" that "endured." People would read her books long after she'd gone. People would know her "authentic self" long after the end of her "life." So what work she puts into writing is work toward eternity, while what work she puts into friendship is, as she says of sex, "as good a way as any of passing the time" (499). But Marya doesn't want to just pass the time. Marya's quotation of Thoreau expressed her need to avoid such frivolity: "How can anyone kill time without injuring Eternity?" (487)

Step 2: Retype each thesis statement below: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) What you have here is a reverse outline of the paper. It is called "reverse" because the outline was written after the paper was written. Based on this reverse outline, evaluate the argument of the paper by answering the following questions:

Was there a clear claim for the whole paper stated in the first paragraph?

How did the subsequent subordinate claims support the main claim? In other words, based on your reverse outline, describe how the supporting points that each paragraph brought out supported the main claim for the paper?

Do you get a sense of the progression in the subordinate claims? In other words, can you see how the supporting points follow one from the other?

Step 3: Pick out one paragraph from the paper to examine in further detail.

How has the writer signaled the transition from the previous paragraph to this one?

Evaluate the development & support of the paragraph. How did the details presented support the general claim of this paragraph?

How are the ideas within the paragraph related to each other? In other words, how has the writer tried to make the paragraph cohere, to make it flow together?

Has the writer considered possible objections to the general claim of the paragraph? How?

Option 10: Editing

Although the program has limitations, Word’s grammar and spell-check tools can assist students with the editing process. Moreover, because students can easily change their prose in Word, you can create exercises that allow them to explore a variety of options for word choice, syntax, and source integration.

Sample Exercise: Using Quotations

(Alison Tracy)

Make yourself a copy of this file called “quotex.doc” and be sure you are working in your own file. Go ahead and type your answers right into the prompts below.

The following exercise will give you some further practice in using quotations smoothly, effectively, and correctly in your own writing. Select a quote from the following passage to complete each sentence. First, read through the examples carefully.

I am not merely asserting that “We are not all alike.” Those who aren’t aware of that would not likely read this essay or anything like it. What I am saying is that generalizations from within are every bit as fragmenting as scrutiny from without. From my boyhood I have read and heard all manner of statistical facts and figures about black people. Really, they’ve told me very little about who I am, let alone who we are. We’re too big for that, and as individuals too complex. I’m not so sure we should ever find ourselves in the position of saying this general thing or that general thing about black people, expecting our words to discover the essence of our “true self-consciousness,” for when we do, we will be doing no more than talking about black people, talking around them, never quite getting it right, never pinning us down, never quite turning sound into substance, and never—much like the way sharks course around caged divers—ever able to sink our teeth into flesh. Reginald McKnight, p. 180

Try to use the quotes in several different ways throughout the exercise:

a) Use a signal phrase followed by a comma:

McKnight says,

McKnight claims,

b) Use your own  complete sentence, then a colon, followed by the quotation  (which must also be a complete sentence.) Notice that I’ve also left out a brief phrase by inserting the ellipses.

McKnight thinks that negative messages from his own black community are as bad as racist attitudes among other races: “generalizations from within are . . . as fragmenting as scrutiny from without” (180).

Work the quotation right into your own sentence  (and here I’ve used brackets to indicate a slight change in wording in his sentence):

He thinks that people who want to pin down “black people” as one thing or the other are like “sharks cours[ing] around caged divers” (180).

You need to be sure you are using the correct methods to add the quote to your sentence. Each sentence can be complete several ways; be sure that whatever way you choose, you use the correct signals and punctuation. You may add words or alter the prompt slightly.

1. McKnight doesn’t want us to think that he is just restating a cliché; he claims,

2. McKnight wants to show that statements made by other black people can be just as harmful as those made by white people:

3. He claims that all of the “facts and figures” he has heard don’t do much to explain his culture to him

4. McKnight wants us to see “black people” not just as a group, but

5. Trying to pin down “blackness” to a certain set of qualities doesn’t do justice to the complicated natures of black individuals

6. McKnight uses the image of sharks biting to explain how vicious people can be about each other

7. He doesn’t think words can ever explain our true selves

8. He doesn’t want us to continue the mistakes of the past

Option 11: Grading

Students can use Word to develop and modify evaluation rubrics. Creating such rubrics allows students to consider their audience’s expectations, and it gives them an active role in the grading process.

Sample Exercise: Grading Rubric

(Alison Mandaville)

Rationale:  In this exercise students use the  Insert Table  feature of Word to develop a grading rubric for essays which they will then apply to peer essays and, finally, to their own writing. Students work in groups at the computers to develop the rubric and then can either work in groups or alone to use the rubric to grade each other’s work. The nice thing about doing this on the computer is that students can then print out a copy which looks official and which all group members can read. In addition, the rubrics can be used later to project on the overhead for whole class discussion/modification. My students’ rubrics are fairly general, but you may also have students make rubrics that are very specific to a particular assignment/topic.

Spending the time making their own chart, agreeing on definitions and criteria for each score and then applying this rubric to their own work is a great way to both examine closely the elements of a good essay and begin to be able to systematically evaluate their own writing. For 104-5 students in particular, I think this exercise is useful in helpful empower students to evaluate their own work and begin to establish some control over their ability to understand and improve their grades. The group aspect reinforces all those good group skills and makes what could be a fairly dry exercise much more fun. There can be some tension around grading each other, so I retain final authority in assigning grades, but find that their grading gets more and more effective the more they do it until sometimes I have few changes to make.

The Exercise:  The easiest way to create a table in Word is to use the “Insert Table” icon on the pictorial toolbar. First place you cursor in your document where you want the table to be. Then Left click on the icon that looks like a mini-table with a blue band at the top--the one without an Excel symbol on it. Hold down the mouse as you draw the size of your chart. When your chart is the size you want, release the mouse button, and the chart will drop in where your cursor was.

Students work together (one student creates the table and types in information OR everyone makes their own after agreeing on criteria) to label the chart (terms to define on one axis and scores on the other) and define the criteria for scoring an essay. The terms you ask them to define will depend on what you’ve been working on—you may ask them only to do one or two to start, adding another criteria with each assignment.

Students work to evaluate a draft of each other’s essays based on their own rubrics.

Large group discussion following the group exercise can help fill out individual groups’ charts and pinpoint areas of fuzziness re: writing criteria.

NOTE:  Resist the impulse to create the chart for the students because first, it’s good to know how to make a chart, and second, the terms you ask them to define, and the scale you ask them to use will become much more firmly entrenched if you have them set it all up.

Option 12: Reflection

At the end of an assignment sequence, you can ask create a short reflection exercise that allows students to reflect upon both their essay and the usefulness of activities in the sequence. Students can type their responses into the document and save the file to an evaluation folder.

Sample Exercise: Reflecting on the Writing Process

1. How did the process of writing this essay help you to develop as a cinema studies thinker and writer? Did comparing and contrasting two films give you any insight into patterns and shifts in the horror genre?

2. Which elements of your first draft (thesis paragraph, use of evidence, organization, etc.) did you revise most extensively? How have those revisions made the essay stronger?

3. If you could still revise your essay, what would you revise? Why?

4. Which aspects of the writing process for this essay did you find easy? Which did you find difficult? Why?

5. Please offer a grade for each of your peer reviewers, using the following scale and explaining to what extent each reviewer's comments helped you to revise.

Plus:  An extremely useful evaluation Check:  A mostly useful evaluation Minus:  Not very useful overall (perhaps not complete)

6. How did the process of reviewing other writers' work influence your revision process?

7. Was the flexibility of the peer critiquing method (paper, Word) useful? Do you have any suggestions for organizing the peer critique process for Essay #3?

8. Did issues discussed in the conference and my comments on your paper or Web site help you to revise your work? Why or why not?

9. Which activities and homework (responses, brainstorming sheet, discussion of lecture arguments and responses, in-class clip analyses and comparison presentation, essay workshop) did you find most and least helpful in writing your first draft? Why?

10. What types of activities and homework would you like to do in preparation for our next paper, an analytical essay that incorporates research?

Useful Advanced Features

Word is a powerful program with more features than it is possible to cover in a manual of this scope. However, the following table highlights some of the features available through Word 2007that are most useful to a writing classroom. More extensive information on how to use these features can be found in the on-line Word  Help  menu and in the sample exercises in this manual that make use of these features.

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What Is the Importance of Microsoft Word?

Microsoft Word is the de facto word processor for businesses and many governments. Its file format is standard for business communication. However, many groups are turning away from it.

In the past, desktop processing software was complex. Most programs separated the content of the document from its formatting, which made creating the document a two-step process. Microsoft Word was one of the first programs to combine text processing and formatting, and its early popularity endures today.

The Microsoft Word document format is complex, and many believe that it was created to be difficult to implement in other programs. Even though Microsoft has moved to a newer file format, compatibility issues still remain. Because of this, some governments are mandating that documents be created with other file formats.

Even the business world is slowly moving away form Microsoft Word files. HTML can provide much of the same formatting that Word provides, and it makes files easier to read over the Internet. The PDF file format is becoming more popular for printed documents. While creating a PDF file is more challenging than creating a file with Microsoft Word, the file format is designed specifically for printing and gives authors more options. Despite these changes, Microsoft Word is likely to remain the most popular word processor.

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How to use researcher in microsoft word for essays and papers.

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What can you do with researcher, open researcher in microsoft word, review relevant topics and top sources, add topic items to your document.

Microsoft wants to make your research easier. With the Word Researcher tool, you can close your web browser and get sources for school essays, research papers, and similar documents in a few clicks.

The Researcher feature, powered by Bing, gives you a handy search box to find people, events, places, and concepts. The results of your search provide you with relevant topics and top sources including books, journals, websites, and images.

When you select the source you want, you can see an overview, history, location, images, and other important details. And the best part is, you never leave your Microsoft Word document.

In addition to viewing the details for your topic, you can start an outline for your paper as well as adding and citing text. Click the main subject or one of the information sections and add it directly to your document.

Here, we'll show you how to reduce the time you spend researching and speed up the creation of your paper with the Researcher tool in Microsoft Word.

At the time of writing,  Researcher is available with Word for Microsoft 365, Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac, and Word 2016. It is available to Microsoft 365 subscribers for Windows desktop clients.

To use the Researcher tool, open the "References" tab of your Word document. Click "Researcher" from the "Research" section of the ribbon.

When the pane opens on the right, type a term into the Search box and you're on your way!

You'll receive results for your search with Relevant Topics at the top and Top Sources beneath.

Relevant Topics

Some topics may only give you a couple of Relevant Topics. Click "More Topics" below that section to see additional sources.

If you click one of the Relevant Topics, you'll see a nice overview of the subject. At the end of the "Overview" section, click "Read More" for full details.

Depending on your topic, you'll then see several block sections packed with details. This structure comes in handy for starting your outline with them, which we'll describe below.

If the subject and Relevant Topic have images, you can click "See All Images" for a neat grid of photos and illustrations. Click one to open your browser and view the image online. Plus, you can add these to your document, which we'll also show you below.

Top Sources

For even more options, the "Top Sources" area offers books, journals, and websites. Select any one of those for its details.

If you choose a Relevant Topic at the top first, you can then filter your Top Sources by subtopic. Click the drop-down box for "All Topics" and pick one.

While most of the material is contained within Word, you may come across a source here and there that you must open in your browser. Click the link to open the source site in your default web browser.

Along with viewing information on your topic, you can add headings, text, and images directly to your document using Researcher.

Add Headings

On the top right of each source's section, you'll see a plus sign. Click the "+" icon to add that section as a collapsible heading for your document outline. Remember, this only adds the heading, not the text, within the section.

If you want to add a snippet of text to your document, you can do this as well. Select the text from the source by dragging your cursor through it. When you release, you'll see a small box appear with options for "Add and Cite" and "Add."

When you choose "Add and Cite," the text will pop into your document with the source cited at the end of the snippet. The citation is formatted automatically, so you can add it to a bibliography easily.

When you choose "Add," the text will still appear in your document, but without the citation.

If your topic offers images, and you click "See All Images," you have the option to add one or more of those, too. This is super convenient because you don't have to hunt them down yourself.

Click the "+" icon in the corner of the image to add it to your paper.

It will appear in your document with the source cited beneath it.

Be sure to respect copyrights when using the available images for your purpose. If you're unsure whether you can use an image, click "Learn More" above the image grid. This takes you to the Microsoft legal webpage explaining copyright and offering FAQs. You can also check our article on images with a Creative Commons License for those sources from Creative Commons.

College essays and research papers are enough work in themselves. By using Researcher in Microsoft Word, you can ease the burden of the research for your document and get a jumpstart on its contents.

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Intellectual Gyani

Top 10 Uses of MS Word in Education

posted on December 12, 2022

MS Word holds a solid position in the Teaching and Learning process, Microsoft word has now become the most commonly used software in education. as It offers many general relative advantages to teachers and students for the teaching and learning process. With the use of Microsoft Word , teachers can make the learning process very effective.

You as a student will need MS word for lots of reasons but don’t worry. I won’t spoil anything for you. You can read the importance and uses of MS Word in detail down below.

Page Contents

What is MS Word?

Microsoft Word is a  top-rated word processing application  designed for the use of businesses, workers,  educators , students, and personal use. It helps the users to View, Crate, edit, and share documents.

MS Word is used primarily  to create documents such as letters, brochures, learning activities, tests, quizzes, and students’ homework assignments. And more.

This Application is available on the major operating system, be it Windows, Mac OS, Android, or IOS.

Microsoft Word is often called  MS Word  and  Word . 

Microsoft first developed it in  1983 . MS Word is one of the office productivity applications included in the Microsoft Office suite. But it can also be purchased as a stand-alone product.

Read all about the Features and Uses of Microsoft Office in Education and Business

Importance of MS Word in Education

MS WORD is  an essential application for educational purposes . In this digital age, it is easier to take notes without using notebooks. We can create notes that include diagrams, graphs, tables, and smart art, among other things. We can organize our work in a more efficient method, and the  best thing is that  we can freely share the word file.

MS Word can assist teachers and students in developing  new and innovative learning and teaching methods . Students can use MS Word and MS Office to transmit educational materials and practice in school and university more quickly and with higher quality.

It is also helpful to higher education students to prepare their research notes on it more  efficiently and professionally . It has the exact sources and materials that are required for researching any topic.

MS Word  has a  grammar and spell check feature  that can make your files error-free documents. The research in the typed form will also be more effective than handwritten work. MS Word files are very simple to publish or print; thus, after completing a thesis or research, one can quickly and easily publish their work.

MS Word is designed to be  “Instantly Usable”  by anyone regardless of whether they have very little or no computer knowledge. In addition to this, it also has so many cool features that are easy to apply – you can  open it and start writing!

10 Uses of MS Word in Education

MS Word is one of the most popular word processing applications. Like other word processing applications, it’s capable of helping teachers to prepare lectures, papers, and notes for their students.

And allow students to write their assignments, thesis, and projects. So, it has affected Education in a good way.

Here are some of the many ways  students and teachers can use Microsoft Word to make learning more accessible and more efficient.

1. Time-Saving Tool

MS Word can be used as a teaching tool in schools, colleges by teachers and students. It helps the teachers to modify their teaching materials  instead of creating new ones . You can correct your mistakes quickly on MS Word and can adjust the file whenever you want.

2. An Aide for Teachers

A teacher can use MS Word to create orders, notices, updates, and reminders to share information with students.

3. An Aide for Students

MS Word is also a helper for students . They can study through MS Word files. They can also use it to make their presentations, assignments, notes, and many other study-related things.

4. E-Content Generation

A new trend is emerging in which pupils are given customized notes in graphic-text style. MS Word can be used to insert notes, book references, the institution’s name, the course and subject titles, graphics, and charts, and these are all examples of educational E-content. Educator-created e-content is frequently uploaded to websites where anybody can read it.

5. Tool for Preparing Question Papers for Exams

One of the uses of MS Word also includes that it can be used to prepare question papers for exams in schools and colleges.

6. Lesson Plan

Teachers can plan their lessons using MS Word. For example, lesson plans might be weekly, monthly, or annually, depending on the curriculum used in the classroom.

7. Creation of a Good Resume

If you’re seeking work and have an interview, the first question the interviewer will ask is about your resume. Thus it’s a crucial tool in your job hunt. Creating an attractive CV was not an easy task back then, but  with the help of MS Word , teachers and students can now quickly make a very attractive and appealing resume on their own.

8. Environmental-Friendly Tool 🙂

One of the essential  advantages of MS Word in Education is that it is environmentally friendly because it uses less paper.

MS Word is a paperless content production application that aids in the reduction of paper consumption for rough work. Said, teachers, and students can now utilize as many documents as they want  without worrying about  the environment or paper consumption. They don’t have to waste paper; they may delete the incorrect material with a single click.

9. Working as a Notebook

Students can use Microsoft Word as a notebook; they can write anything on it and use it as their diary.

10. Documents Can Be Saved for Future Use

Because you never know when or where a particular document will come in handy,  storing critical   files  is a must in one’s life. MS Word can help you with this problem. You can preserve a document for as long as you desire.

As a result, students and teachers can keep documents, notes, and other  educational materials . They can obtain those files and data by visiting MS Word files if they require specific files or  class notes .

11. Write essay

When it comes to writing essays, many  students choose MS Word overwriting on paper. Because rewriting and restructuring are so easy and stress-free.

12. An Effective Tool in Universities

In schools, colleges, and universities,  Microsoft Word is a valuable tool . Students are regularly given MS Word assignments, and they must write the assignment on it.  It has a positive impact on Education in every aspect .

13. Helps in Making class notes.

Class notes are a perfect vehicle to let your classmates know about the study. With  the use of MS word , students can create and edit class notes and help their classmates.

14. Sharing Notes/Notebooks made easy

Traditionally, students took  physical notebooks  of other students to complete the homework, but with MS Word, students can access others’ notebooks anytime on any device without carrying a physical hard copy.

To put it in a nutshell,  MS Word is an essential tool  for our day-to-day work if we are doing any professional job or need to take notes, for example. It is similar to what we do when we write in our notebooks.

Microsoft Word has a lot of advantages in Education . Now, teachers can make their lessons more understandable, and students can study more efficiently with the help of MS Word.  Technology has affected the lives of teachers and students in a good way and made Education easy .

FAQs about MS Word?

What is the importance of using ms word in education.

MS WORD can benefits teachers and students to create new innovative methods of learning and teaching. MS WORD is an important application for education purpose. In this digital world, it helps to make notes in spite of notebooks. We can prepares notes with diagrams, graphs, tables and smart art etc.

Why is MS Word so popular?

According to a report, 80% of users use MS word to write paper alone(not in a group- for group paper writing some prefer to use Google Doc), One of the obvious reasons behind its popularity is its simplicity and availability.

MS Word is designed to be ‘instantly usable’ by anyone. regardless of whether they have very little or no computer knowledge. Plus it has so many cool features and options that are easy to apply. Almost all Windows users install Microsoft office in their computer system. If not preloaded, It works fine with the Windows system.

What are the main feature of MS Word?

Given below are the basic functions of Microsoft Word:

• Creating text documents.
• Editing and Formatting the existing documents.
• Making a text document interactive with different features and tools.
• Graphical documents, comprising images.
• Used by Authors and Researchers.
• Detect grammatical errors in a text document.

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18 Advantages And Disadvantages Of Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is the most popular word processor on the market, and for a good reason – it has a lot of features to help you get your work done. However, like all software, it has its own set of pros and cons that you should be aware of.

In this post, I’ll highlight some advantages and disadvantages of Microsoft Word. Let’s dive in!

1. Available for All Major Operating Systems

2. lots of features, 3. versatile interface, 4. built-in search option, 5. easy proofing and spelling check, 6. support various formats, 7. easy text alignments, 8. smooth integration with other office programs, 9. add-on support, 10. compare documents, 11. mail merge, 12. easy collaboration, 13. a large number of templates, 14. mobile app, 15. password protect your documents, 16. it’s relatively expensive, 17. features can be overwhelming, 18. some performance issues on weak systems, advantages  of microsoft word.

Key benefits of using Microsoft Word are its ease of use, powerful editing tools, and compatibility with various file formats.

MS Word has been around for a long time, available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and the web. No matter your device, you can likely use MS Word. This is a huge advantage if you need to work on the go or switch devices frequently.

MS Word stands out due to its vast features. Compared to other popular word processors, it offers the most by far. This makes it perfect for power users who need professional document creation tools and all the advanced features.

The interface of MS Word is quite versatile. You can access all the features using the ribbon interface or keyboard shortcuts. This lets you find what you need quickly without digging through numerous menus.

Microsoft Word has a built-in search option that lets you research a topic quickly without leaving the software. This feature is handy if you need to look up something while working on a document. You won’t find this in most word processors.

Microsoft Word’s built-in spelling and grammar checker can save you time proofreading and help avoid embarrassing mistakes. While other word processors have similar features, Word’s checker is more accurate and thorough.

Microsoft Word can open and save files in various formats, which is very convenient. It supports DOC, DOCX, PDF, HTML, and TXT. You can open files from almost any source and share your documents in the preferred formats, without compatibility worries.

Microsoft Word lets you align text easily. Compared to other tools, Word offers more options for text alignment. You can also add various bullet points and numbered lists effortlessly. This helps in creating professional-looking documents.

Microsoft Word works seamlessly with Excel and PowerPoint. You can easily include data from Excel in your document or create a presentation from it. This integration offers a convenience usually lacking in other word processors.

Add various add-ons to Microsoft Word to extend its functionality. The Office Store offers many options for nearly any need. It’s a great way to customize and enhance the software.

Another neat feature of MS Word is comparing two documents side by side. This helps you see the differences between versions or review changes easily. Most word processors don’t offer this.

Microsoft Word includes a mail merge feature that lets you create mass mailings quickly and easily. If you need to send many letters or emails, it’s incredibly helpful. This unique feature distinguishes Word from other programs.

Although MS Word isn’t the best for collaboration, it’s still pretty effective. Share your documents and allow others to view or edit by sending them a link with proper permissions. They can open the link in their browser and start working on the document.

Microsoft Word includes a variety of built-in templates, making it convenient if you don’t want to start from scratch or need inspiration. These templates cover diverse topics and purposes such as resumes, calendars, and cover letters.

Other word processors might have templates, but Word offers an unbeatable selection in both quantity and quality.

There’s a mobile version of MS Word for both Android and iOS. It’s convenient for working on documents on the go. The app is well-designed and easy to use. Though some features are missing, it’s still effective for editing and creating documents while mobile.

MS Word stands out for letting you password-protect your documents. This feature keeps sensitive information safe from prying eyes and maintains your privacy. Few word processors offer this, making Word unique.

Disadvantages of Microsoft Word

Now that I’ve explored the great features of Microsoft Word, let’s also consider some of the software’s drawbacks.

Word comes with a high price tag. The software isn’t free, and the subscription can be costly. Many free alternatives, like Google Docs , offer great features, which can make Word less appealing for some.

A wide range of features can be both beneficial and overwhelming. Some users might find the software confusing due to its many options. It can be hard to locate the specific feature you need, and you could end up using unnecessary ones.

Another downside of Microsoft Word is that it can be quite resource-intensive. This means it might run slowly on older computers or those with weak specs. Using too many features at once can cause the software to lag or even crash. This can be frustrating, especially if your computer isn’t very powerful.

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Writing > Writing an Essay in MLA Format

Writing an Essay in MLA Format

Knowing how to write a Modern Language Association—or MLA—essay is an essential part of making it through school these days. Be warned, however, that daunting little tasks await around every corner—whether it’s knowing where to set your margins, how to edit a header, the right way to format a heading, and beyond!

While we can’t write your paper for you, this guide can certainly help you understand the proper MLA format for your essay. Keep reading to learn about writing an MLA-format paper with some tips for making sure it’s done right the first time.

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What is an MLA-format essay? It’s not uncommon for associations and organizations to follow a standard format and writing style. The Associated Press (AP) and University of Chicago styles are most common in professional settings. News outlets typically prefer the AP style, while businesses and creative agencies will choose the Chicago style. Academia, on the other hand, traditionally follows APA and MLA styles. APA (not the same as AP style) comes from the American Psychological Association and is used in scholarly articles. An MLA-format essay fits the established style for citing references and formatting essays established by the Modern Language Association.

Required elements of an MLA-format paper. MLA is the preferred style when writing an essay in high school and most college settings. As with other writing styles, there are specific characteristics and items an MLA-format paper needs to include to fit the bill of the style. Every MLA-format essay must include the following:

• One-inch margins
• Double-spaced text
• Easy-to-read font (typically Times New Roman) in size 12
• New paragraphs indented 0.5 inches
• Italicized media titles (books, magazines, etc.), no underlining
• Page numbers in the header 0.5 inches from the top of the page
• Oxford comma
• Center-justified title
• Headings and subheadings
• Clearly labeled and titled tables and figures
• Parenthetical citations

In addition to the listed elements above, every MLA essay must include a Works Cited. MLA format doesn’t require a title page, but it also doesn’t deem them unnecessary, so it’s up to your professor whether you’ll need one or not. One way to take the edge off the process of writing this type of essay is to use a free template or a handy built-in tool that helps you build bibliographies and more.

Tips for meeting MLA formatting guidelines. It’s said that the devil is in the details, and it’s never truer than when it comes to MLA-format essays. The following tips are areas to pay attention to when writing your essay:

• Set your margins. Your software might be set to one-inch margins, double-spaced text, and 0.5-inch indentations by default—but you can save yourself the trouble (and a headache) later in the writing process by adjusting them before you get started. Of course, one of the best parts about using a computer to write your essay is that you can always make adjustments later.
• Straighten out your headings . One area students might miss with MLA formatting is with the title, headings, and subheadings. It’s normal to want to use bold or italicized typeface on your titles and headings to make them stand out from the rest of the text. MLA style specifically calls for them to match the rest of the text without any alterations aside from title case. A centered or left-justified heading will stand out enough from the rest of your text that it needn’t any additional adjustments.
• Understand subheadings. While primary headings aren’t to receive any special formatting, subheadings will be changed to set them apart from their headings. For example, if your heading is about mammals, you might have subheadings about land and water mammals. You can further organize your water mammals subheading into types of whales and dolphins. Using subheadings helps to organize your writing and makes it easier to consume as a reader.
• Know how to cite your work. The information you’re presenting in your essay didn’t mysteriously appear from out of the ether. You need to give credit where it’s due when writing an MLA-format paper, so you’re giving credit to the original author of your sources. You can also improve your writing credibility and avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is one of the biggest academic offenses a student can commit and could lead to expulsion in some cases. Properly citing your work with parenthetical citations and quoting authors when necessary will help to keep you covered.

When it comes down to it, practice makes perfect. The more essays you write, the better you’ll become at writing and meeting the expectations of MLA style. Before you know it, MLA format will be second nature, and everything will fall into place.

Still having a hard time visualizing what an MLA essay looks like? Check out a sample paper so you can see first-hand how they’re formatted!

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Sure, you may be more focused this year on learning programming languages for specific technical roles, but that doesn’t mean you should overlook the basics. Microsoft Word is a basic foundational tool for any work environment and you owe it to yourself to know how to get the most out of Word. With Mastering Microsoft Word 365 , you’ll get a beginner-to-advanced education that will make it easier to thrive in any professional environment. It’s on sale for just $19.99 (normally $200).

This quick, one-hour course is taught by Mark Lassoff (4.4/5 instructor rating). Lassoff is the founder of LearnToProgram Media, an online education organization that has helped more than 500,000 people learn professional skills, programming, and much more over the last decade.

This course takes aim at Microsoft Word, the world’s most popular word processor, and helps you harness it to increase your productivity, efficiency and formatting skills. You’ll learn the fundamental tools in Word 365, understanding how to create documents that look beautiful and are well-structured to meet your goals and expectations. You’ll explore basic functions like saving documents, printing, creating new text, different pasting commands and shortcuts, and much more. You’ll also learn how to locate other “scraps” from the clipboard, mass replace keywords in a document, and other advanced skills that will simplify your workflow. It may sound basic, and yet it’s an absolutely fundamental skill that anybody working in a professional environment should have.

Ready to finally focus on the basics? Right now, Mastering Microsoft Word 365 is on sale for 90% off $200 at just $19.99 for a limited time.

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• Government Exam Articles

An Introduction to MS Word

One of the most widely used programs of Microsoft Office suite, MS Word is a word processor developed by Microsoft. 

An introduction to MS Word, its features and its uses, have all been discussed in detail, in this article. Also, a few sample questions based on this MS Office program have been given further below for the reference of candidates preparing for competitive exams. 

To know further about the MS Office suite and the various programs included in it, visit the linked article. 

Since MS Word is one of the most used programs of the Office Suite, some basic information regarding its creation and development has been given below:

• Charles Simonyi, a developer and Richard Brodie, a software engineer, were the two creators of MS Word
• This program was initially named “Multi-Tool Word” but later, was renamed as MS Word
• It was introduced in 1983
• Word for Windows is available standalone or as a part of MS Office suite
• MS Word for Mac was introduced by Microsoft as Word 1.0 in 1985
• The extension for any word file is “.doc or .docx.”

Moving forward, details about the features and applications of Word have been discussed. To read more about the other Computer Knowledge topics, check the links given below:

Basics of MS Word

Let us first understand some basic aspects of Microsoft Word.

What is MS Word?

Used to make professional-quality documents, letters, reports, etc., MS Word is a word processor developed by Microsoft. It has advanced features which allow you to format and edit your files and documents in the best possible way. 

Where to find MS Word on your personal computer?

Follow these simple steps to open MS Word on your personal computer:

Start → All Programs → MS Office → MS Word.

What are the uses of MS Word?

MS Word enables users to do write-ups, create documents, resumes, contracts, etc. This is one of the most commonly used programs under the Office suite. 

How to create an MS Word document?

To create an MS Word doc, follow the steps mentioned above to open Microsoft Word. Then once the program is open, click on “File” followed by “New”. This opens a new doc where something new can be created.

Since it is used by people of all age groups, in schools, in colleges and for official purposes, having proper knowledge of Microsoft Word is a must. The preview of the MS Doc file once it is opened is given below:

Also, from a competitive exam perspective, one must be well aware of this topic. To get the list of all major Government exams conducted in the country, aspirants can visit the linked article. 

For a better understanding of how MS Word works and the features that are included in it, you can refer to the video given below and analyse its functioning easily.

Features of MS Word

Now let us read more about the features and components of an MS Word doc file in detail.

The image given below shows the different elements and categories which are available in MS Word doc:

This has options like font colour, font size, font style, alignment, bullets, line spacing, etc. All the basic elements which one may need to edit their document is available under the Home option.

Tables, shapes, images, charts, graphs, header, footer, page number, etc. can all be entered in the document. They are included in the “Insert” category.

The template or the design in which you want your document to be created can be selected under the Design tab. Choosing an appropriate tab will enhance the appearance of your document.

• Page Layout

Under the Page Layout tab comes options like margins, orientation, columns, lines, indentation, spacing, etc. 

This tab is the most useful for those who are creating a thesis or writing books or lengthy documents. Options like citation, footnote, table of contents, caption, bibliography, etc. can be found under this tab.

Spell check, grammar, Thesaurus, word count, language, translation, comments, etc. can all be tracked under the review tab. This acts as an advantage for those who get their documents reviewed on MS Word.

Apart from all the above-mentioned features, the page can be set in different views and layouts, which can be added and optimised using the View tab on the Word document. Margins and scales are also available for the benefit of the users. 

When compared with MS PowerPoint , MS Word is more of reading while PPT is more of visual and graphical representation of data. 

To know more about Microsoft Windows , visit the linked article.

For Govt exam aspirants, given below are links to the other subjects which are a part of the competitive exam syllabus:

Uses of MS Word

Given below are the different fields in which MS Word is used and simplifies the work of an individual:

• In Education: It is considered as one of the simplest tools which can be used by both teachers and students. Creating notes is easier using MS Word as they can be made more interactive by adding shapes and images. It is also convenient to make assignments on MS Word and submitting them online
• In Workplace: Submitting letters, bills, creating reports, letterheads, sample documents, can all easily be done using MS Word
• Creating & Updating Resume: One of the best tools to create your resumes and is easy to edit and make changes in it as per your experience
• For Authors: Since separate options are available for bibliography, table of contents, etc., it is the best tool which can be used by authors for writing books and adjusting it as per the layout and alignment of your choice

Also, creating a Doc file and converting it into PDF is a more suitable option, so it is highly recommended. 

For competitive exam aspirants, given below are links which may help you prepare yourself for the upcoming exams:

Sample MS Word Question and Answers

Some sample questions and answers with the competitive exam perspective have been given below. Refer to these for assistance. 

Q 1. How can you open the column dialogue box?

Answer: (1) Alt+O+C

Q 2. Which is the default alignment in MS Word?

• None of the Above

Answer: (3) Left

Q 3. “Ctrl + =” is used for _________

• Change Alignment
• Superscript
• Change font to Bold
• None of the above

Answer: (2) Subscript

Q 4. A combination of which shortcut keys to use to split a table?

• Ctrl+shift+enter
• Shift+enter

Answer: (1) Ctrl+shift+enter

Furthermore, to get the best tips to ace the upcoming Government exams, candidates can check the Preparation Strategy for Competitive Exams at the linked article. 

Get the best study material and the latest exam information at BYJU’S. 

Frequently Asked Questions on Microsoft Word

Q 1. which formatting features can be added to the ms word document.

Ans. The common formatting features which are available on MS Word include:

• Font Style, Size and Colour</li
• Header and Footer
• Insert Images
• Add tables and bulleted lists
• Set a page layout
• Add Word Art

The basic feature of why people choose MS Word over any other text editor is that it makes the document more visually interactive and appealing.

Q 2. What is Microsoft Word used for??

Q 3. what are the basic functions of ms word.

Ans. Given below are the basic functions of Microsoft Word:

• Creating text documents
• Editing and Formatting the existing documents
• Making a text document interactive with different features and tools
• Graphical documents, comprising images
• Used by Authors and Researchers
• Detect grammatical errors in a text document

Q 4. What is the extension of an MS Word file?

Q 5. what are the five basic fields of application for ms word.

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