Writing conventions exist so writing is uniform and more easily understood. Dictionaries were invented to make writing uniform at the word level. Grammar rules ensure writing is uniform at the phrase, clause, and sentence levels. Beyond that, format keeps writing uniform. Each professional discipline sticks to a format: journalists follow AP Format, psychologists and sociologists follow APA format, and most engineers follow the Chicago format.
LITERARY WRITING FOLLOWS MLA FORMAT. ALWAYS.
Written essays. Printed essays. Digital essays. ALL must be in MLA format. A group called the Modern Language Association (MLA) sets the rules for how essays in the discipline of English should look and how sources should be cited (to learn more about that, go to the research section). Here is what MLA requires for essay formats:
PAGE HEADERS: USE THEM
Your first page is different from the rest of your essay: it has no page number and this header in the upper left corner:
Full Name Average C. Student
Teacher's Name Mr. Coon
Class English 9, Block 6
Day Month Year 10 November 2013
Full Name Average C. Student
Teacher's Name Mr. Coon
Class English 9, Block 6
Day Month Year 10 November 2013
After the first page, every subsequent page needs your last name and the page number in the upper right corner (Coon 2).
The whole idea behind the header is that if you lose your essay and someone finds it, it will make it to your instructor, and he or she will know what class it belongs in as well as when you wrote the essay. If your staple comes loose and your essay falls apart, your instructor can also easily put it back together using the page number system.Even on a digitally submitted assignment, the header helps the instructor remember whose paper is being read without clicking back and forth through tabs to credit your work to you.
Occasionally, teachers will want the information in your header on a separate cover page. A cover page has only the quoted title of the essay, followed by all the header information, centered and about of a third of the way down the page. A cover page has no page number. With more digital submission, however, cover pages are becoming less common, so do not provide one unless your instructor specifically requests it.
The whole idea behind the header is that if you lose your essay and someone finds it, it will make it to your instructor, and he or she will know what class it belongs in as well as when you wrote the essay. If your staple comes loose and your essay falls apart, your instructor can also easily put it back together using the page number system.Even on a digitally submitted assignment, the header helps the instructor remember whose paper is being read without clicking back and forth through tabs to credit your work to you.
Occasionally, teachers will want the information in your header on a separate cover page. A cover page has only the quoted title of the essay, followed by all the header information, centered and about of a third of the way down the page. A cover page has no page number. With more digital submission, however, cover pages are becoming less common, so do not provide one unless your instructor specifically requests it.
FONTS: KEEP IT SIMPLE
MLA forbids block fonts (the ones in all capital letters) and script fonts (the ones that look like handwriting or cursive). So you must choose either a serif font or sans serif font. A serif is a little tail you will see on the ends of letters that make letters look fancier. Serif fonts (like Times New Roman or Georgia) look more professional, but sans serif fonts (like Calibri or Helvetica) are easier to read. Whichever font you choose, make sure the regular and italics type styles differ enough that they are recognizable from one another. Never use Comic Sans--you are writing an essay, not making a sign for a lemonade stand. The font MUST be the same throughout the paper.
Font size must be 11 or 12 point. Ink must be black.
Coon prefers Calibri 11 point or Helvetica 11 point.
MARGINS: ALL ONE INCH
Margins must be 1” on all sides. This allows an instructor to write in the margins and leaves enough room for a hole punch on the left side.
TEXT ALIGNMENT: GIVE IT SPACE
Every paragraph should have a 1/2" indent on the first line (though this is sometimes ignored for digital submission). Text should be double-spaced so an instructor can write comments easily between each line. Text should also be fully justified to the margins; this makes the essay look more professional.
TITLES: STAY PLAIN
The easiest element is often the most screwed up. Titles should be centered at the top of the page, under the header but above the text.
Titles are the same size and font as your text.
For some reason, students like to make their title a crazy fun font or at least have it dominate the title space. DON'T DO IT! It makes the MLA angry. And you wouldn't like them when they're angry.
FINISHING TOUCHES
If a paragraph is split between two pages, consider spacing it down so it's only on one page: this makes it easier to read. Make sure, if attaching a Works Cited page, that it is after the rest of the essay but still numbered in order. If you are turning in a printed paper copy, make sure that you only print on one side of the page so your instructor's red ink pen doesn't bled through to text on the other side. Staple in the upper left corner. Turn in a pristine paper-- a paper covered in orange Cheetos fingerprints is a paper going into the shredder. You spent so long on proper formatting to get food on your work? Yuck. You can do better.
