John H. Flannigan
Guidelines for English Essays
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John H. Flannigan
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GUIDELINES FOR ENGLISH ESSAYS
The following guidelines should be followed when you prepare your essays for submission in any of my English classes. Bear in mind that other instructors may create their own guidelines for written work. When you are in doubt about what kind of format to use for written work, always ask your instructor for clarification.
- Paper: 8-1/2" by 11" bond or printer paper.
- Margins: Margins should be 1" on all sides (top, bottom, left, right).
- Justification: Justify left (i.e., an even margin along the left, ragged margin along the right).
- Page numbers: Include your last name, followed by the page number, in the upper right hand corner, ½" from the top, on the first page and on all subsequent pages of your essay.
- Spacing: Double space throughout. Do not increase spacing between paragraphs. Every line of text in your essay should be the same distance from every other line.
- Indentation: Indent the first line of every paragraph five (5) spaces. When quoting dialogue, each interchange in the conversation should be indented five (5) spaces.
- Font Style: Use Courier, Times New Roman, or CG Times. Do not use fancy fonts, cursive fonts, banner fonts, etc., for any academic writing.
- Font Size: Do not use a font smaller than 10pt or larger than 12pt.
- Boldface: Do not use bold type in academic writing.
- Italics: Use italics for titles of books, plays, paintings, newspapers, journals, magazines, television programs, films, video cassettes, compact discs, record albums, etc. (See quotation marks below.) Use italics when quoting text in a language other than English. If your word processing system does not have an italics feature, use underlining instead.
- Underlining: Use underlining only as a substitute for italics (see above).
- Quotation marks: Use quotation marks to set off quoted discourse. Use quotation marks for titles of the following: articles in newspapers, magazines, or journals, chapters in books, essays, poems, short stories, songs, etc.
- Titles: Always give your essay a title. A title should do two things: announce the subject matter of the essay, and, if possible, explain the author’s (i.e., your) approach to that subject matter. Titles should be in the same font and font size used for the surrounding text. Titles should be centered and double-spaced if more than one line. Do not increase the line spacing before or after the title.
- Title pages: Do not use title pages for English essays. Use title pages only when instructed to do so.
- Outlines: Do not submit outlines for essays unless instructed to do so.
- Covers: Do not use covers, plastic bindings, Duo-Tangs, etc., unless instructed to do so.
- Stapling: Use one staple in the upper left-hand corner of your essay to secure the pages. Please remember to staple your work before you hand it in. Torn or folded corners as attachment devices are inappropriate for academic writing.
- Graphics: Do not use canned graphic images (e.g., happy faces, balloons, etc.) in academic writing. If appropriate to the subject matter, visual displays of information, such as graphs, tables, pie charts, etc., may be used. Larger or more complicated displays should be placed at the end of the essay in an appendix.
- Capitalization: Do not capitalize words, phrases, or sentences, unless you wish to shout at the reader. (NB [or nota bene, Latin for “note well”]: Avoid shouting at the reader.)
- Exclamation points: Avoid exclamation points except when you desire the reader to be surprised, taken aback, or amused. One exclamation point per essay is almost one too many.