Essays are a non-fiction prose form that is used to explore an idea or experience.

Perhaps it’s just me, but I find the colon the most mysterious of all punctuation. While we often have a general “sense” of how and where to use commas and semicolons, the colon seems to be less straightforward. They aren’t used as often in modern writing as the comma or semicolon and are most often found in citations. Regardless, colons are useful punctuation marks to draw attention to the words or phrase that follow them. Here are the general rules for using colons (and, as

A brief overview of the comma rules you most need to know.