Good Writing Days
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Essay Formatting

Formal essays must adhere to the following guidelines.
  • Typed and double-spaced (always!)
  • Printed on standard-sized paper (8.5 inch x11 inch)
  • 1 inch margins on all sides
  • 10-12 pt. Times New Roman or Arial font (no ornate fonts)
  • Title, centered, on the first page; create a cover sheet if directed
    (otherwise, center the title above your writing as in the example below) 
  • Page numbers in the upper right hand corner
  • Your name, the course name and number, the instructor’s name,
    and the date in the upper left hand corner of the first page
  • Indent all new paragraphs; pay attention to transitions from one
    paragraph to the next
  • An Introduction (that will usually contain your thesis statement)
  • A minimum of three Body paragraphs that support the thesis
  • A Conclusion that revisits the main point of the essay
  • No spelling errors, grammatical errors, or misplaced marks of punctuation
  • No images (unless the assignment requires them)
  • Cite any (ANY) information taken from any outside source

  • (**Information that is not created by you and that is not cited in some way
    is plagiarized material)

Formatting

Sample Researched Essay (formatting) from OWL(pdf)

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