How to Format a Paper (for Rob's Class)
| Paper Formatting |
Dear students: during this semester, you will be turning in several papers to my class, and one thing that I grade on is formatting. I expect you to use MLA formatting consistently throughout your papers and will take points off if you do not. Below I have listed several rules that I keep for formatting a paper according to MLA format. Please follow them diligently so you don’t lose points.
1. Staples: Any papers you turn in to me MUST be stapled. Not stapling will cause you to immediately lose 2 points on your paper.
2. Printing: For final papers (or drafts), you can turn in papers printed blank on the back. You may also print double-sided (with your paper on the front and back). Please DO NOT turn in a paper with recycled material on the back of pages (doing so will result in a loss of points).
3. Fonts: You must use one of two fonts: Times New Roman 12 point or Garamond 12 are acceptable. NO OTHER FONTS, PLEASE. Please, do not try to pull a fast one by changing to Times 12.5 or something to make your paper longer. I’ll check this.
4. Heading: Your heading should look like this:
Your Name
My Name
Date
Writing About Board Games
Title
Paper Start Here
Notice a few things about my heading:
- It is left aligned. Please do not right align yours.
- It is also double spaced. However, there is only one space between the bottom item (Section #) and the Title. There is also then only one space between the Title and the beginning of the paper.
- There are 4 required items. Please no more than 4.
5. Page Length: For each paper, I will give you a page length, for example your paper may need to be 6-8 pages. Here’s some math for you: 5.5 ≠ 6. Also, 5.75 ≠ 6. What this means is that when I say 6 pages, your paper should go to the bottom of page 6. To be safe, it may be best to at least get on to that 7th page. Also, your Works Cited Page and Process Memo do not count toward your page length ever. Your Process Memo will have a separate length requirement.
6. Page Numbers are required. Please put them, along with your last name, in the upper right corner of your paper. They should not appear on the first page in the header, but should appear on all pages thereafter. In order to get your page numbers not to be on first page, check the box depicted below:
7. Spacing: Papers should be double spaced, unless otherwise specified. Please do not attempt to do anything other than double space. Some students have trouble with this because the default in word is different. Here is what you want to do. Go to your “paragraph” formatting button, and under spacing, change both “Before” and “After” to 0 pt. Also, change “Line spacing” to double, NOT multiple. Please do not try to make your spacing 2.5 in order to get length for your paper.
8. Margins: Margins should be 1’’, as the margins on this page are, not 1.25’’ or anything bigger. This may seem silly to you, but when I grade papers, I carry a ruler with me to make sure that the margins are correct.
9. Titles: Every paper you turn in must have a title. Please try to make it engaging. For example, don’t title your first paper “Monopoly: An Analysis” or “Paper 1.” Draw your reader in by naming your papers and poems something exciting.
10. Citations: Please use parenthetical in text citations. Remember that punctuation for short quotes goes outside the parentheses (Lastname 1). And for long quotes it should be placed before the citation:
Also, remember that quotation marks generally “hug” punctuation, except if there is an end citation. This means that if you have a quotation it should appear like this: “The dog dug under the fence,” but the quotation continues, “to get the bone” (Lastname 1). The end punctuation comes not inside the quotation but at the end of the whole sentence, after the citation. But any punctuation that does follow a quotation never appears like “this”, or “this”.
10. Works Cited: is also not included in the page count, but should be formatted using a hanging indent, in the same font as your paper. (Note this entry is formatted using the hanging indent). Works Cited should appear as the title of the page, centered. Each source that appears in your paper should be cited in MLA format. You must include at least 3 sources that are NOT internet sources and contain at least 5 total sources IN ADDITION to your primary interview.
11. Other Tricks that You Might Try, but I will Catch!
- Please do not change the font of your periods so that they take up more space. This is a ridiculous waste of time, and it would probably take you just as much time to write the extra sentences.
- Please left align your text. Do not justify your text to get extra length.
- Do not change the carats between letters to get length.
1. Staples: Any papers you turn in to me MUST be stapled. Not stapling will cause you to immediately lose 2 points on your paper.
2. Printing: For final papers (or drafts), you can turn in papers printed blank on the back. You may also print double-sided (with your paper on the front and back). Please DO NOT turn in a paper with recycled material on the back of pages (doing so will result in a loss of points).
3. Fonts: You must use one of two fonts: Times New Roman 12 point or Garamond 12 are acceptable. NO OTHER FONTS, PLEASE. Please, do not try to pull a fast one by changing to Times 12.5 or something to make your paper longer. I’ll check this.
4. Heading: Your heading should look like this:
Your Name
My Name
Date
Writing About Board Games
Title
Paper Start Here
Notice a few things about my heading:
- It is left aligned. Please do not right align yours.
- It is also double spaced. However, there is only one space between the bottom item (Section #) and the Title. There is also then only one space between the Title and the beginning of the paper.
- There are 4 required items. Please no more than 4.
5. Page Length: For each paper, I will give you a page length, for example your paper may need to be 6-8 pages. Here’s some math for you: 5.5 ≠ 6. Also, 5.75 ≠ 6. What this means is that when I say 6 pages, your paper should go to the bottom of page 6. To be safe, it may be best to at least get on to that 7th page. Also, your Works Cited Page and Process Memo do not count toward your page length ever. Your Process Memo will have a separate length requirement.
6. Page Numbers are required. Please put them, along with your last name, in the upper right corner of your paper. They should not appear on the first page in the header, but should appear on all pages thereafter. In order to get your page numbers not to be on first page, check the box depicted below:
7. Spacing: Papers should be double spaced, unless otherwise specified. Please do not attempt to do anything other than double space. Some students have trouble with this because the default in word is different. Here is what you want to do. Go to your “paragraph” formatting button, and under spacing, change both “Before” and “After” to 0 pt. Also, change “Line spacing” to double, NOT multiple. Please do not try to make your spacing 2.5 in order to get length for your paper.
8. Margins: Margins should be 1’’, as the margins on this page are, not 1.25’’ or anything bigger. This may seem silly to you, but when I grade papers, I carry a ruler with me to make sure that the margins are correct.
9. Titles: Every paper you turn in must have a title. Please try to make it engaging. For example, don’t title your first paper “Monopoly: An Analysis” or “Paper 1.” Draw your reader in by naming your papers and poems something exciting.
10. Citations: Please use parenthetical in text citations. Remember that punctuation for short quotes goes outside the parentheses (Lastname 1). And for long quotes it should be placed before the citation:
Also, remember that quotation marks generally “hug” punctuation, except if there is an end citation. This means that if you have a quotation it should appear like this: “The dog dug under the fence,” but the quotation continues, “to get the bone” (Lastname 1). The end punctuation comes not inside the quotation but at the end of the whole sentence, after the citation. But any punctuation that does follow a quotation never appears like “this”, or “this”.
10. Works Cited: is also not included in the page count, but should be formatted using a hanging indent, in the same font as your paper. (Note this entry is formatted using the hanging indent). Works Cited should appear as the title of the page, centered. Each source that appears in your paper should be cited in MLA format. You must include at least 3 sources that are NOT internet sources and contain at least 5 total sources IN ADDITION to your primary interview.
11. Other Tricks that You Might Try, but I will Catch!
- Please do not change the font of your periods so that they take up more space. This is a ridiculous waste of time, and it would probably take you just as much time to write the extra sentences.
- Please left align your text. Do not justify your text to get extra length.
- Do not change the carats between letters to get length.