Formatting College Essays, MLA, Essays (university) of Technical Writing

Download Formatting College Essays, MLA and more Essays (university) Technical Writing in PDF only on Docsity! Formatting College Essays MLA What does a college essay look like? • There is a standard format for academic essays that most instructors expect to see. The image on the next slide is of the first page of a college essay formatted in MLA. MLA is the style guide required in most humanities courses (English, art, etc.). • Always ask your instructors what style guide they want you to use. Individual instructors may have requirements that are not addressed here. Page number Your essay should have a page number that includes your last name. The next slide will explain how to create a page number in the header in Word. Inserting a page number Double-click on the top margin of your document and the header box will open with options. Select Page Number. From the pull-down menu, select top and left. Page number should include your last name. Identification header Your identification header should appear on the top left and include • Your full name • The date • Your course number and section • The name of your assignment Inserting first line indentation Click on the Paragraph pull-down menu for indention options. Select first line indentation. You do not need to change any of the other settings. Click OK. As you start each new paragraph, it will automatically indent. Double spacing Essays should be typed double-spaced Select double spacing. You do not need to change any of the other settings. Also, check the box so that extra spaces are not added between paragraphs. Click OK. Click on the paragraph pull-down menu for spacing options. Left-justification L R Select left-justification from your Paragraph bar. The left side of your essay body should be flush against the margin. The right side should be jagged.