This document contains mandatory information about style and formatting. It gives you guidance on what we expect an LLM LAB essay to look like.

1. Submission Guidelines

Length: 8–10 pages, double-spaced (required)

Font: Times New Roman, Garamond, or Aptos

Citations: Chicago Style (in-text and bibliography) (required)

Submit by: December 3, 2025 at 11:59pm. via Canvas

2. Voice

Write clearly and honestly. Avoid performance. Do not imitate academic jargon or machine-generated style. Sound like yourself thinking with care.

2. Thesis paragraph

Notice that I did not say thesis statement, as in one sentence. You need to make clear to your reader what claim you are making, why it matters, and what you are adding to existing knowledge about the specific point of your research. This is the passage where you want to lock in the reader’s buy-in so you have to really make sure it pops. Don’t mistake this passage for the structure (see below). It is instead where you present a condense version of your argument or claim or your point in the most provocative way.

3. Structure

Give your essay a form the reader can follow, and dedicate one paragraph to telling the reader what this structure is. For along essays, readers love this kind of guidance. Something like: “this essay (or study) is divided into three parts and then talk about the three parts showing how they build on one another.

4. Reader Awareness

Imagine your audience as real people with specific interests. Guide them through the material. Do not assume knowledge that has not been explained. You are speaking to fellow undergraduates. Meet the at a level that feels right to you. Explain words that needs explaining. Not everyone knows what “vectors” are or what “singularity” means.

5. LLM Disclosure

If you use an LLM at any point, by mindful that you retain ownership of what you say and how you sound and what you write. If the LLM introduces words, phrases that you wouldn’t write, edit it. If it does not sound like you, it is not you and your readers can sense it. So make sure that you “keep an eye” on the LLM. Give the LLM specific tasks to accomplish. Don’t ask it to write the essay. Ask it to do specific things for you.

6. Visuals and Layout

We are expecting you to include graphics like screenshots, diagrams, or figures when they help. You need to caption them and cite them. Make sure visuals are analyzed. Don’t just let them sit there.

7. Editorial Readiness

Write with clean transitions, coherent paragraphs, careful wording. Edit for flow and accuracy.