Manuscript Form
Do not just write "margins" or "MFT." State the rule you violated.
1. Mrg: margins. Margins should be one inch wide on all four sides. If you intend to bind your paper in a cover, your left margin may be one or 1.5 inches.
Microsoft Word users: File > Page Setup > Margins
2. Hdg: heading. Starting one inch from the top of the paper, write your full name, the course title (e.g., American Literature), and the date. Unless your teacher specifies one side or the other, the heading can go on the right or the left. Headings may be single- or double-spaced.
Microsoft Word users: For a heading at the right, do not use right alignment. Write the heading, select it, and indent five or five and a half inches.
Format-Paragraph-Indentation-Left-5.5"(or 5")
3. MFT: title.
a. Essays and creative writing should have titles.
b. Leave two or three blank lines after the title, and one blank line between the heading and title. If you write by hand, put the title on the first ruled line, and put the heading in the upper margin.
c. Center the title.
d. Capitalize the first letter of the first and last words, and all other words except articles (a, an, the), conjunctions and prepositions. Capitalize both parts of hyphenated words: Self-Love.
e. Your title should not use boldface, all capitals, or a larger type size. Use no quotation marks, italics or underlining except for foreign words or titles within the title.
f. Do not put a period after the title. If a title is a question, it needs a question mark.
g. If you have a subtitle, set it off with a colon following the title.
h. Double-space a title longer than one line. If it includes a subtitle, place the break after the title.
i. If you use a cover sheet, center the title and heading horizontally and vertically, with the heading two inches below the title; omit the heading (but not the title) from page 1.
4. Spacing and typeface.
a. Double space the whole essay, including indented quotations. Do not leave an extra line between paragraphs or to set off indented quotations. A double-spaced page has 27 or 28 lines of type.
Microsoft Word users: Format > Paragraph > Line Spacing > Double
If you want to double-space your essay but single-space your heading and leave two blank lines after your title, do not set double line spacing until the first line of your text.
b. Use 12-point type (or the size closest to the type used on this page).
Microsoft Word users: Format > Font > Size > 12
c. Do not print your paper in all boldface, italics, or a decorative typeface. A typeface like Times New Roman is appropriate. Do not change typeface in mid-paper.
Microsoft Word users: Format > Font > Times New Roman
5. Ind: indentation. Indent paragraphs one-half inch on typed papers, or one inch on handwritten papers. Use tab stops; if you space five times, the indentation will be less than one-half inch.
Microsoft Word users: Format > Tabs (the default setting is every half inch)
Indent long quotations one inch. Indent them from the left margin only (see MFQ below).
6. Pg: pagination.
a. Page numbers should be typed; learn how to set page numbers on your word processing program.
Microsoft Word users: Insert > Page Numbers > Position > Top; Alignment > Right
b. Do not number the first page; start numbering at page 2.
Microsoft Word users: Insert > Page Numbers >Show number on first page
c. Place page numbers one inch from the right margin and one-half inch from the top of the page.
d. Use Arabic (not Roman) numerals with no abbreviations or punctuation.
Microsoft Word users: Insert > Page Numbers > Format > Number format
7. MFP: punctuation.
a. Use one or two blank spaces after periods, question marks, and exclamation points. Be consistent.
b. One blank space follows internal punctuation (commas, colons, semicolons).
c. A dash is an unbroken line longer than a hyphen. You may also indicate a dash by typing two hyphens with no spaces--as in this sentence. Never divide the hyphens at a line break. If you write by hand, do not write two hyphens; use an unbroken line longer than a hyphen.
Microsoft Word users: Insert > Symbol > Special Characters > Em Dash > Insert
d. Use one blank space before and after each period in an ellipsis (marking an omission):
WRONG: "I … I guess so," he stammered. "I. . .I guess so," he stammered.
RIGHT: "I . . . I guess so," he stammered.
College style manuals now suggest placing brackets around ellipses when you quote literature:
RIGHT: The description of "Time's [. . .] chariot" is an allusion to Greek mythology.
8. MFQ: quotations. For longer quotations (over four lines of prose; over three of poetry), use no quotation marks. Indent the entire passage one inch on the left only. If the indented quotation has paragraph breaks, use an extra indentation of about .3 inches (1.3").
Microsoft Word users: Format > Paragraph > Indentation > Left > 1"
9. Cit: citations. Cite quotations from literature. After the quotation, place the page number(s) in a parenthesis. Use no abbreviations; put the final period after the citation. Use line numbers, not page numbers, for long poems (over one hundred lines). No citation is needed for a short poem.
WRONG: Elizabeth dislikes "design." (p. 62)
RIGHT: Elizabeth dislikes "design" (62).
For indented quotations, the period goes before the citation, with one space in between.
10. Mat: materials.
a. Use 8.5 x 11 inch paper.
b. Write on only one side of the paper.
c. Use only one kind of paper for all pages.
d. Dog-eared, torn, stained, wrinkled or folded paper is unacceptable.
e. Avoid paper torn from spiral notebooks, or trim pages neatly. To avoid unsightly marks on subsequent pages, take paper out of the binder or notebook and write on only one sheet at a time.
11. Hwtg: handwriting.
a. Write neatly and legibly. If there are more than a few small corrections, recopy the page.
b. Clearly distinguish between capitals and lower case. Do not write in all capitals.
c. Leave a slightly larger space after periods than you leave between words.
d. Use dark blue or black ink; bright shades are hard to read. Use only one shade of ink.