Manuscript Preparation

1. Your essays should use a black font and a white background.

2. Leave a one-inch margin on all four sides of the page.
3. Double-space everything, no more and no less.
4. Use a font that looks like regular type, not script. Set the font size at 12.
5. Justify only the left side.
6. In the upper right corner of each page, using a header one-half inch from the top of
the page, place your last name and the page number.
7. Use the conventional MLA heading on the first page only. On the upper left corner
of the page, one inch from the top of the page, write your name. Skip a line; all work in
the MLA style is double-spaced, including the heading. On the next line, write the
instructor's name. On the following line, allowing for double-spacing, write the course
number followed by a hyphen and the section number. For example, if you are in Comp
1, your course number is English 1301. If you are in section 052, then the third line of the
heading should look like this: English 1301-052. Finally, on the last line of the heading,
place the date in day-month-year style: 20 August 2017. Notice that this style for dates
uses no commas.

Here is an example:

Sally Student

Mrs. Giles

English 1301-052

18 May 2013

8. Use only one double-space between the heading and the title. The title should be
centered on the next line. If the title is original, do not place it in quotation marks, and do
not underline it.
9. Use both upper case and lower case letters.
10. When you begin a new paragraph, indent one-half inch.
11. Your paper is now properly formatted and ready for attachment to an email and
submission.