ENG 1002 Writing Resources | R. Rambo Home Page

English Composition 2

The Proper Format for Essays

Below are guidelines for the formatting of essays based on recommendations from the MLA (the Modern Language Association).

• Fonts: Your essay should be word processed in 12-point Times New Roman fonts.
  
  
• Double space: Your entire essay should be double spaced, with no single spacing anywhere and no extra spacing anywhere. There should not be extra spaces between paragraphs.
  
  
• Heading: In the upper left corner of the first page of your essay, you should type your name, the instructor's name, your class, and the date, as follows:
  
  Your Name
  
  Mr. Rambo
  
  ENG 1002-100
  
  24 February 2017
  
  
• Margins: According to the MLA, your essay should have a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, left, and right. However, for this course, just keep the default margins in Word.
  
  
• Page Numbers: Your last name and the page number should appear in the upper right corner of each page of your essay, including the first page, as in Jones 3. Insert your name and the page number as a "header." Do not type this information where the text of your essay should be.
  
  
• Title: Your essay should include a title. The title should be centered and should appear under the heading information on the first page and above the first line of your essay. The title should be in the same fonts as the rest of your essay, with no quotation marks, no underlining, no italics, and no bold.
  
  
• Indentation: The first line of each paragraph should be indented. According to the MLA, this indentation should be 1/2 inch or five spaces, but pressing [Tab] once should give you the correct indentation.
  
  
• Align Left: The text of your essay should be lined up evenly at the left margin but not at the right margin. In your word processor, choose "Align Left." Do not choose "Justify."

Putting all of the above together, you should have a first page that looks like the following:

Copyright Randy Rambo, 2019.