Format Guidelines
Posted on April 21, 2008
Filed Under Essay Writing 1
Hi everyone. I apologize for the lateness of this, but luckily, we discussed everything that is relevant in class. I discovered that my format handout prints weirdly, because it’s saved in PDF form and for 8.5×11 paper (a common North American page size) and not A4. So instead, here’s a formatting guideline. You can check the points one by one to make sure your formatting is good:
- Font: use a monospace font at 12 point size. (I strongly prefer Courier New.) I can recognize 12-point ata glance, and will know if you used 10 or 11 point, or 13 point. I will return these to you unread, and you will be a week late. So please submit something with a 12-point font. Treat my eyes nicely.
- Line spacing should be double-spaced, NOT 1.5 spaced or 3x spaced. See Format-Paragraph for the settings for line spacing. With anything less than double-spaced, you will receive exactly zero comments on your essay.
- All margins should be 2.5 cm, or 1 inch. Headers should be at 1.25 cm (or 0.5 inches) from the edge of the page.
- Place page numbers in the header of your document. Top right is the appropriate placement.
- Headers should be in the same font as the rest of the document, and should contain your name, my name (preceded by the word Prof. in case someone finds the essay lost), your student number, the title (or part of the title followed by ellipsis (…), and the course name.
- Paragraphs should be indented using TAB, not SPACE. This makes them much easier to read.
- Text alignment should be left justified, not LR justified or any other format. I showed you how to do this in class, as well as how to access the left-justify button if it’s hidden on your installation of Word. (It often is in Korean PCs, for some reason.)
- Your Bibliography page (where you list your sources) should be on a separate page at the end of your essay.
- Please staple your essay. If you give it to me unstapled, I will use it to start a barbecue and will not read it. (Paperclipped is okay too, but a staple is better.)
- I’m not joking.
- Remember, I said you should have two sources for this essay. It’ll be at least five by the end of semester, but for now, two is enough.
- Good luck, and I am looking forward to seeing your essays!