The Kenshiy Aku will soon be herebut your father is resolved to defy the shogun and escape (Koike

16).

USE CORRECT PUNCTUATION Use quotations marks, parentheses, periods, and commas correctly.

The Kenshiy Aku will soon be herebut your father is resolved to [] escape (Koike 16).

CONDENSE Use ellipses and brackets to omit sections of text.

Ogami plans to defy the shogun and escape (Koike 16).

INCORPORATE QUOTATIONS Textual quotations should be condensed and built into your sentences.

Ogami knows the Kenshiy Aku will soon arrive, so he plans to flee, thus defying the shogun (Koike 16).

CITE PARAPHRASES All textual references not only quotations need to be properly cited.

Ogami describes to his son his plans for the future:

To avenge the Ogami clan and clear the name of the Kaishakunin executioner, I abandon the way of the samurai, and travel the path to hell, a living demon meifumad! Listen well, Daigoro! There is no other way to avenge ourselves on the assassins of the Yagyu clan (Koike 17).

USE BLOCK QUOTATIONS Use correct indentation and punctuation when quoting more than three lines of text.

Lone Wolf and Cub illustrations by Goseki Kojima

ESSAY TITLE Do not underline, bold, or italicize your title. Simply use initial caps and center. INDENTATION Indent the first line of every paragraph.

Walking the Assassins Road In his epic graphic novel series Lone Wolf and Cub, author Kazuo Koike contends that all individuals possess the free will to choose their own fate, even if that fate appears to be predestined.

TITLES Italicize titles of texts published as single entities books, plays, epic poems, albums, etc. Use quotation marks for titles of texts published as part of a whole songs, poems, articles, etc.

DOUBLE SPACE
PRESENT TENSE When writing about film or literature, avoid past tense and write in present tense.

Ogami Itt, the shoguns executioner, is framed for a crime he did not commit. Instead of accepting unfair punishment for these false accusations, he chooses to abandon the way of the samurai and become an assassin traveling the path to hell (Koike 19). Unfortunately, Ogamis wife has been murdered, and he must decide
QUOTATIONS Properly cite and incorporate all quotations. (See back.)

CAPITALIZE Capitalize titles and character names.

what to do with Daigor, his only son. Ogami cannot leave Daigor behind to be executed by a stranger, so he gives Daigor a choice. He
CONTRACTIONS Avoid all contractions, except in direct quotations.

places on the floor a sword and a ball. If Daigor picks the sword, he
will join his father on the assassins road (Koike 19). If Daigor picks the ball, Ogami will behead him so Daigor can join his mother in Yomi, the land of spirits (Koike 19). Koike contends that even though there is clearly no good choice here, there is a choice
AUTHORS LAST NAME Use last names when referring to authors or famous figures.

nonetheless. Even when the choice is between a rock and a hard place - or between a sword and a ball free will still exists. Instead of bemoaning ones tough luck, Koike might say, one should take solace

THIRD PERSON Write in third person he, she, him, her, they, etc. Avoid writing in first person I, me, we, us, etc. and second person you, your, yours, etc.

SPELLING Spell all words correctly, even foreign or unusual words.

in the fact that one does ultimately have a choice, even if that choice is to become a living demon of meifumad two hundred years ago in feudal Japan (Koike 17).

NUMBERS Spell out numbers two words or fewer.

Lone Wolf and Cub illustrations by Goseki Kojima