Course Style Guidelines

ASSIGNMENT STYLE GUIDE

These style guidelines apply to all major assignments (paragraphs and essays). They do NOT apply to daily work, in-class work, or homework (unless I specifically tell you otherwise). Occasionally, the specifics of an assignment will take priority over these guidelines; this will generally be indicated either in the prompt for the assignment, or by me in class. If you are ever not sure about any of these guidelines, or when they apply, please feel free to ask!

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

• All major assignments should be TYPED, DOUBLE-SPACED, and STAPLED TOGETHER (if the assignment is more than one page in length).

• Assignments of more than one page should be numbered in the lower-right hand corner of each page (this can be done by hand if necessary).

• I do NOT require a title page for major assignments; you can provide one if you wish, but I consider them a waste of trees. The ONLY information I require as part of your heading are the following two things:

YOUR NAME

And

THE TITLE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The title can be very simple (your narrative paragraph, for example, could be

titled “Narrative Paragraph”) though I encourage you to be more creative and

come up with a clever/descriptive title. I DO NOT WANT my name, the name of

the class/course number, date, or any other material of that sort as part of your

heading—ONLY the two things mentioned above. Your name should be put on

the very top line of the first page (you can skip a line or two if you would like,

depending on how high your top margin is set, but I do not want your first page to

begin further down than a few inches) and you should then skip one line (or just

hit return if you are already double-spacing) and give the title. You may then

skip one more line (or hit return again for double-spacing), indent your first line,

and begin writing.

• Please use normal margins (one to one and a half inches)—the default margins on your word processing program are probably fine.

• A “page” of an assignment (as in “a three-page paper”) means an ENTIRE page, from the top to the bottom. A three-page paper is NOT half a first page (with room for your extensive heading), a full second page, and one line (“the end”) on the third page. Papers that violate this will be considered incomplete and penalized accordingly.

• Use a 12-point typeface, in either Times New Roman, Courier, or Arial font. If you wish to use a different font, you may do so as long as you clear it with me first. Use black ink for your printouts if at all possible.

• PROOFREADING COUNTS. Every single major writing assignment we will have has as part of the point total some points that come from punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and grammar. I certainly understand that typos happen, and I will allow for a few mistakes in each paper. However, repeated or severe problems will lead to point deductions, and extreme cases may result in the assignment being returned to you ungraded for a rewrite. Take the time after you have completed your paper to run spellcheck, and also read the paper over carefully—in many cases, it can be helpful to read the paper out loud. I know this sounds strange, and it does feel uncomfortable at first, but it goes a long way to finding awkward or confusing passages.

• If you are ever typing a web address into a word document, you will find that the address becomes blue and underlined—it becomes a hyperlink that can be clicked on to travel to the relevant web page. Since hyperlinks cannot be used in printed pages, please remove all hyperlinks before you print out a paper (simply right-click on the link, and select “remove hyperlink” from the pull-down menu).

• As we will already be double-spacing, there is no need for additional space for comments. DO NOT SKIP LINES BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS!

• Follow all relevant MLA formatting guidelines, as necessary. We will go over these in class, so you will know what you need to do when the time comes.

• If there are any further style concerns for a given assignment, I will cover them at that time. MAKE SURE that you check with me about any additional style concerns for an assignment if you miss class the day we go over an assignment prompt.

As always, see me with any questions or concerns.