1) Use lots of quotes, especially long quotes. Using MLA style, long quotes have to be set in, or indented, several spaces into the page and one quote can fill a quarter of a page, no problem.

2) Add extra spaces after periods and between paragraphs.

3) Increase the page margins and font size, choose an odd-looking font because it’s larger than average.

4) When you write lists, separate each item into a separate sentence with its own thought. One sentence becomes a paragraph just like that!

5) Use lots of adjectives, or descriptive words, and lots of transition words (such as therefore, however, although, inasmuch, despite the fact, moreover, etc.).

You can use this phrases for shortening or lengthening essays.

How to make an essay look longer on paper trick

“which can be compared to”
“for example,”
“shares similarities with”

You can fine tune your words to make your point. “Like” is a very broad term. By using that sort of language, you can fine tune the “likeness” to help make your argument more clear; however, you can’t just throw in this sort of vocabulary hoping to sound smart. It needs to be chosen carefully to produce a specific, accurate and precise comparison to convey a level of detail that demonstrates your knowledge of the topic at hand.

I usually just used zero contractions and searched the thesaurus for any synonyms that were larger than random words in my paper.

Changing a font or its size may make the essay appear to be longer, but it won’t change how many words it is, or how long it takes to read it. If you want a longer paper, do more research! And don’t think that hasn’t been tried on a teacher/professor. It is probably the oldest attempt at fooling them.

I know teachers look at a lot of text but I certainly don’t think that they will pick up on this… they can tell margins and text size but if they haven’t seen something before they will perhaps think you are using a different font and ask you not to next time but I can’t imagine someone being marked down for big periods. What I do to get a longer paper is set it aside overnight and read it through. Every single time I do this I find that something I had brainstormed and intended to include got left out. Another thing I do (not sure whether some teachers will mark down) is use somewhat indirect language, and one great way to not only lengthen a paper but also think of things to say is to use quotes.