17 Using Figures in Your Writing

In both WRC 1013 and WRC 1023, you will be tasked with including figures in your writing. In Comp 1, you might be creating figures from data you collected yourself while in Comp II, you could be making an original graph or chart from an existing set of data or some other agency. Regardless of the particular assignment, below are some recommendation when using figures and tables in your writing.

Do

• Refer to all charts, graphs, and other images as “Figure 1,” etc.
• Use concise and active language to summarize your data (“Figure 1 shows…”)
• Copy and paste your figures into your Word document (rather than screenshot)
• Highlight important data points or trends for your reader, especially those that are most relevant to your analysis
• Follow your style guide for what and where to cite

Avoid

• Referring to figures as “the graph” or “the chart”
• Including both a figure and a table of the same results
• Showing a screenshot of your whole dashboard to show your figure
• Including the number for every single data point when summarizing your figure
• Summarizing results in the caption or the note below a figure