APPENDIX

A
Remarks about Manuscript Form
BASIC MANUSCRIPT FORM
Much of what follows is nothing more than common sense.
Use good-quality 8
1
/2 11 paper. Make a photocopy! or if you ha"e written on a word processor!
print out a second copy! in case the instructor#s copy goes astray.
$f you write on a word processor! double-spae! and print on one side of the page only% set the
printer for professional or best quality. $f you submit handwritten copy! use lined paper and write on
one side of the page only in black or dark blue ink! on e"ery other line.
Use o"e-#"$ %a&'#"s on all sides.
&ithin the top margin! put your last name and then 'after hitting the space bar twice( the pa'e
"u%be& 'in arabic numerals(! so that the number is flush with the right-hand margin.
)n the first page! below the top margin and flush with the left-hand margin! put your (ull "a%e!
your #"s)&u)o&*s "a%e! the ou&se "u%be& 'including the section(! and the da)e! one item per line!
double-spaced.
Ce")e& )$e )#)le of your essay. Remember that the title is important*it gi"es the readers their first
glimpse of your essay. C&ea)e +ou& o," )#)le*one that reflects your topic or thesis. For e+ample! a
paper on ,harlotte -erkins .ilman#s /0he 1ellow &allpaper2 should not be called /0he 1ellow
&allpaper2 but might be called
3isguised 0yranny in .ilman4s 50he 1ellow &allpaper5
or
6ow to 3ri"e a &oman Mad
0hese titles do at least a little in the way of rousing a reader#s interest.
Cap#)al#-e )$e )#)le )$us. 7egin the first word of the title with a capital letter! and capitali8e each
subsequent word e+cept articles 'a, an, the(! con9unctions 'and, but, if, when, etc.(! and prepositions
'in, on, with, etc.(:
A &ord on 7ehalf of ;o"e
<otice that you do not enclose your title within quotation marks! and you do not underline it*
though if it includes the title of a poem or a story! that is enclosed within quotation marks! or if it
includes the title of a no"el or play! that is underlined 'to indicate italics(! thus:
.ilman4s 50he 1ellow &allpaper5 and Medical -ractice
and
.ender =tereotypes in 6amlet
A()e& ,&#)#"' +ou& )#)le! double-spae! indent fi"e spaces! and begin your first sentence.
Unless your instructor tells you otherwise! use a s)aple to hold the pages together. '3o not use a stiff
binder% it will only add to the bulk of the instructor#s stack of papers.(
>+tensi"e re"isions should ha"e been made in your drafts! but minor las)-%#"u)e &e/#s#o"s may be
made*neatly*on the finished copy. -roofreading may catch some typographical errors! and you
may notice some small weaknesses. 1ou can make corrections using the following proofreader#s
symbols.
,orrections in the Final ,opy
C$a"'es in wording may be made by crossing through words and rewriting them:
has
0he influence of -oe and 6awthorne ha"e greatly diminished.
Add#)#o"s should be made abo"e the line! with a caret below the line at the appropriate place:
greatly
0he influence of -oe and 6awthorne has diminished.
T&a"spos#)#o"s of letters may be made thus:
0he inlfuence of -oe and 6awthorne has diminished.
Dele)#o"s are indicated by a hori8ontal line through the word or words to be deleted. 3elete a single letter
by drawing a "ertical or diagonal line through it% then indicate whether the letters on either side are to be
closed up by drawing a connecting arc:
0he influence of -oe and 6awthorne has greatl?ly diminished.
Sepa&a)#o" of words accidentally run together is indicated by a "ertical line! closure by a cur"ed line
connecting the letters to be closed up:
0he influence of -oe and 6awthorne has g reatly diminished.
Pa&a'&ap$#"' may be indicated by the symbol @ before the word that is to begin the new paragraph:
0he influence of -oe and 6awthorne has greatly diminished. " 0he influence of 7orges has "ery
largely replaced that of earlier writers of fantasy.
Auotations and Auotation Marks
First! a word about the point of using quotations. 3on#t use quotations to pad the length of a paper.
Rather! gi"e quotations from the work you are discussing so that your readers will see the material being
considered and 'especially in a research paper( so that your readers will know what some of the chief
interpretations are and what your responses to them are.
Note: 0he ne+t few paragraphs do not discuss how to include citations of pages! a topic taken up in
the ne+t appendi+ under the heading /6ow to 3ocument: Footnotes! $nternal -arenthetical ,itations! and
a ;ist of &orks ,ited.2
T$e 0olde" Rule. $f you quote! comment on the quotation. ;et the reader know what you make of it
and why you quote it.
Additional principles:
B. Ident i f y the spe ake r or writ er of the quot at i on so that the reader is not left with a
sens e of uncert ai nt y. Usually, in accordance with the princi pl e of letti ng reader s know wher e
they are going, this identificati on precedes the quot ed mat eri al, but occasi onall y it may follow
the quot at i on, especi ally if it will provide somet hi ng of a pleas ant surpri se. For inst ance, in a
discus si on of Flannery OConnors stori es, you might quot e a dispar agi ng comme nt on one of
the stori es and then reveal that OConnor herself was the speaker .
C. f the quot at i on is part of your own sent ence, be sure to fit the quot at i on
gramma t i c al l y and logi cal l y int o your sent e nc e .
Incorrect: 6olden ,aulfield tells us "ery little about /what my lousy childhood was like.2
Correct: 6olden ,aulfield tells us "ery little about what his /lousy childhood was like.2
. Indi cat e any omi s s i on s or addi ti ons . !he quot at i on must be e"act . #ny mat eri al
that you add$even one or two words$mus t be enclos ed within squar e bracket s, thus%
6awthorne tells us that 5owing doubtless to the depth of the gloom at that particular spot Din the
forestE! neither the tra"ellers nor their steeds were "isible.5
$f you wish to omit material from within a quotation! indicate the ellipsis by three spaced periods enclosed
within a pair of square brackets. 0hat is! at the point where you are omitting material! type a space! an
opening square bracket! a period! a space! a period! a space! a third period! and a closing square bracket
'no space between the last of these three periods and the closing bracket(. $f you are omitting material
from the end of a sentence! type a space after the last word that you quote! then an opening square bracket!
a period! a space! a period! a space! a third period! the closing square bracket! and a period to indicate the
end of the sentence. 0he following e+ample is based on a quotation from the sentences immediately abo"e
this one:
0he instructions say! 5$f you D. . .E omit material from within a quotation! Dyou mustE indicate the
ellipsis D. . .E. $f you are omitting material from the end of a sentence! type D. . .E and a period to
indicate the end D. . .E.5
<otice that although material preceded /$f you!2 periods are not needed to indicate the omission because
/$f you2 began a sentence in the original. ,ustomarily! initial and terminal omissions are indicated only
when they are part of the sentence you are quoting. >"en such omissions need not be indicated when the
quoted material is ob"iously incomplete*when! for instance! it is a word or phrase.
F. Di sti ngui s h bet we e n short and long quot at i ons , and treat each appropri at el y.
Short quot at i ons &usuall y defined as fewer than five lines of typed prose or three lines of
poet ry' are enclosed withi n quot at i on marks and run into the te"t &rat her than being set off,
without quot at i on marks', as in the following e"ampl e%
6awthorne begins the story by telling us that 51oung .oodman 7rown came forth at sunset into the
street at =alem "illage!5 thus at the outset connecting the "illage with daylight. A few paragraphs
later! when 6awthorne tells us that the road 7rown takes was 5darkened by all of the gloomiest trees
of the forest!5 he begins to associate the forest with darkness--and a "ery little later with e"il.
$f your short quotation is from a poem! be sure to follow the capitali8ation of the original! and use a slash
mark 'with a space before and after it( to indicate separate lines. .i"e the line numbers! if your source
gi"es them! in parentheses! immediately after the closing quotation marks and before the closing
punctuation! thus:
$n 53i"ing into the &reck!5 Adrienne Rich#s speaker says that she puts on 5body-armor5 'G(.
)b"iously the 9ourney is dangerous.
0o set off a long quot at i on &mor e than four typed lines of prose or mor e than two lines of
poet ry', indent the entire quot at i on ten spaces from the left mar gi n. Usually, a long quot at i on
is introduced by a clause endi ng with a colon$for inst ance, (!he following pass age will make
this point clear% ) or (!he closest we come to heari ng an edit ori al voice is a long pass age in
the middl e of the story% ) or some such lead* in. #fter typi ng your lead* in, doubl e* space, and
then type the quot at i on, indent ed and doubl e* spaced.
G. Comma s and peri ods go insi de the quot at i on marks .
,hopin tells us in the first sentence that 5Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble!5 and in the
last sentence the doctors say that Mrs. Mallard 5died of heart disease.5
E1ep)#o". f the quot at i on is immedi at el y followed by mat eri al in parent hes e s or in squar e
bracket s, close the quot at i on, then give the parent het i c or bracket ed mat eri al, and then$
aft er closing the parent hesi s or bracket $i nser t the comma or period.
,hopin tells us in the first sentence that 5Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble5 'CH(! and in
the last sentence the doctors say that Mrs. Mallard 5died of heart disease5 'CI(.
Se%#olo"s! olo"s! a"d das$es go out si de the closing quot at i on marks.
2ues)#o" %a&3s a"d e1la%a)#o" po#")s go inside if they are part of the quot at i on, out si de if
they are your own.
$n the following passage from a student#s essay! notice the difference in the position of the question
marks. 0he first question mark is part of the quotation! so it is enclosed within the quotation marks. 0he
second question mark! howe"er! is the student#s! so it comes after the closing quotation marks.
0he older man says to .oodman 7rown! 5=ayest thou soJ5 3oesn#t a reader become uneasy when the
man immediately adds! 5&e are but a little way in the forest yet5J
2uo)a)#o" Ma&3s o& U"de&l#"#"'4
Use quotation marks around titles of short stories and other short works*that is! titles of chapters in
books! essays! and poems that might not be published by themsel"es. Underline 'to indicate italics( titles
of books! periodicals! collections of essays! plays! and long poems such as The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner. &ord processing software will let you use italic type 'instead of underlining( if you wish.
A No)e o" )$e Possess#/e
$t is awkward to use the possessi"e case for titles of literary works and secondary sources. Rather than
/The Great Gatsby#s final chapter!2 write instead /the final chapter of The Great Gatsby.2 <ot /The
Oford Companion to American !iterature#s entry on >merson!2 but! instead! /the entry on >merson in
The Oford Companion to American !iterature.2
,orrections in the Final ,opy
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Appendi+ A ? Remarks about Manuscript Form
Auotations and Auotation Marks
Appendi+ A ? Remarks about Manuscript Form