Mrs. Spear’s Guidelines for Formal Papers 1. Observe MLA format. This includes the following: a. Use default margins. Most margins should be accurate. If you have problems with your margins; show me. b. Double space throughout the paper. Do NOT add any extra double space before or after the title or between paragraphs. c. Use a standard 12 point font. Fancy fonts are harder to read. And they are not always the same size. The only “product” you are selling here is your thinking, so you don’t have to dress up the letters. Don’t increase the size of your font or margins to disguise the fact that your paper is short. I will notice. A serif fonts such as Times New Roman is a better choice than a sans serif font such as Verdana, Arial, Calibri or Microsoft Sans Serif. d. Omit a title page. Instead, in the upper right corner type your name, the class name, and the date the paper is due. e. Center your title. Do not italicize, boldface, enlarge, or punctuate it. However, if your title includes the title of another work, that title must be punctuated appropriately. Do NOT use your author’s name as your title. The author’s name can be in the title just not by itself. f. Make sure pages numbers are included. Page numbers may be inserted on the bottom right margin or the bottom center. 2. Refer to the author by full name in the introduction. Any reference after that consists only of the surname, as in “Twain,” not “Mark Twain,” “Mr. Twain” or “Mark” (or “Sam”). 3. Refer to the action in a work of literature in the present tense. (“The raven sits on the bust above the door as the poem ends.”) 4. Use your spell checker. Anyone can goof on the occasional there/their/they’re and a spellchecker won’t catch it. However, grievous errors indicating a lack of a spell check will annoy the techer an are not a gud idea. 5. Hand in a rough draft. Composing at the keyboard does not remove the responsibility to draft and revise. 6. Avoid wordiness. Sentences beginning with “There is/There are” or “It is/They are” are automatically wordy. Padding your paper with superfluous verbiage is unwise. 7. Avoid second person (“As you will see…” OR “The writer shows you what she means…”) Find and replace the word “you” in your paper except in quotations. 8. Passive voice should not be used. Passive voice indicates that the subject of the verb is being acted upon. A passive verb combines a be verb with a past participle. 9. Understand the limitations of your grammar checker. Software does not always grasp the structure of your sentences. You may need to override it. (Example: type in “Shakespeare was a writer who…” and it will suggest changing “Who” to “that” every time. “Who” is preferred because the pronoun refers to a person. 10. Proofread! I can’t stress this enough. The value in proofreading any document is limitless and helps avoid looking ignorant about basic writing skills. Paper Format Specifications Font: Time New Roman 12 pt. Spacing: Double space (except for outline) Numbered pages: Bottom right Heading: Name, class, date - upper right hand corner. Title: Center alignment Length: 4 – 6 pages Sources: 4 minimum – all four must be used in the paper. .