© Damen, 2002

18. Neatness and Formatting.

I am concerned much more with what your papers say than with how they look but, when you are given time outside of class to prepare them, as you are here, I expect something legible, neat and typewritten. In an age of computers and keyboards the ability to type is a must in virtually every field. Even car mechanics have to type these days. If your keyboarding skills are limited, now's the time to learn.

What's "neat"? In this class, neatness entails the use of a standard format acceptable to most editors, which means your papers should be formatted in the following way:

* one-inch margins all around
* 12-point character width
* Times New Roman font
* double-spaced
* black ink or typeface
* indent paragraphs
* print on only one side of the page
* no empty line(s) between paragraphs
* and no right-margin justification.

A title for the paper is unnecessary since your name, the name of the assignment and the date you turned in the paper are included—single-space these three items—in the upper corner of the first page (either right or left side). Unless you are told otherwise, double space the rest of the paper. Any written work longer than one page must be stapled in the upper-lefthand corner. Dog-earring is absolutely forbidden! Foreign words and the titles of literary and historical works should be italicized or underlined, including "The" or "A" if the title begins with an article (e.g. The Iliad).

So, before you turn it in, look your paper over for blank spaces and any general flaws in its presentation. Only papers which meet these basic professional courtesies and look formal in a way appropriate to formal education will be accepted for credit in this class.

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