Typeface If handwriting: write neatly! If typing/word processing: Use a standard typeface or font. If on a typewriter - hey, you're set! If on a computer, the temptation is, again, to make the type look pretty. Do not do this - it makes it harder for the teacher to take your work seriously. Stick with Geneva or Helvetica if on a MAC, or Times or a similar font on a PC. (Something very, very plain.) What size? No larger than 14pt, no smaller than 12. Do not set your font bigger just to make the essay look longer - it has the unfortunate effect of making the paper look childish. (Try it - it's weird but true!) Margins What are margins? The gaps you leave around the words on the paper. They're important - they make the words easier to follow with the eye, and they give the prof. somewhere to write copious notes about how great your ideas are...They're also where the page numbers and title will go. If handwriting: Lined paper usually has a drawn margin on the left-hand side, and a blank space (margin) above where the lines start. Obey these (do not write left of the drawn line or above the top line) and also stop writing one inch from the right-hand side of the paper, and one inch from the bottom. That bottom margin may be used for footnotes or page numbering but nothing else! It is permissible to put a title above the first line on the first page. (See Titles below.) If typing: Leave a one inch border (top, bottom, left, right). If on a computer you can set your margins automatically (and most word processing programs have this one inch border as a default already. Titles Titles (also called main headings) are often teacher-dependent; some like them - some don't. Check this out with your professor. If you do use a title, make it useful and make sure it doesn't distract from the real ideas/intention of the essay. You must capitalize the main words of your title/heading, but you have several choices of how to format your title: You can bold it: Kandinsky's Spirituality You can underline it: Kandinsky's Spirituality You can italicize it: Kandinsky's Spirituality. You can bold it and italicize it: Kandinsky's Spirituality You can put it all in caps: KANDINSKY'S SPIRITUALITY If handwriting: Write the title on top of the first line of the lined paper. If typing: Type the title where the first line of typing would usually go, then skip a couple of lines before you start typing the essay. Double-spacing Double-spacing makes writing easier to read. Some teachers even like handwritten papers double-spaced (check with your teacher), but all typed papers should be double-spaced (otherwise the typed lines tend to blend into each other when read.) If your paper is over 5 pages long, it is then permissible to use 1 and 1/2 spacing. This is particularly of use for thesis students. If, however, it is a thesis draft, your advisor may want to write comments on the paper and double-spacing is more useful for this purpose. If using a typewriter: Skip a line between each line. If using a computer: Set the spacing to 2 instead of 1. Page numbering How long your essay is will dictate the number of pages involved. If you've followed this website diligently (OK, we're teasing) your paper will be at least 2 pages long. You must number the pages. Where? This is up to you, but you need to stick with the position you choose for the whole paper. The center of the top or bottom margin is a good place as is the right hand top or bottom corner. What should it look like? 1. or 1/ or -1- will do. The page numbers are simply there to be useful.