Voorhees High School

English Department Style Sheet

 

REQUIRED FORMAT FOR FORMAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

 

Assignments must be submitted on or before the due date. Penalties for late papers are determined by individual teachers. Written work must be typed. Writing must be double-spaced, on 8.5” x 11” white paper; quadruple spacing anywhere in the essay is unacceptable. One-inch margins are required on all sides. Paragraphs should be indented ½”. Ink notations or cross-outs are unacceptable. Staple the paper in the upper left hand corner. Assignments must have the appropriate standard heading.

 

STANDARD HEADING FORMAT

 

ALL PAGES—Beginning 1” from the top of the page and flush with the right hand margin, type your last name, space, and the page number, using Arabic numerals. This can be accomplished using Word’s Header and Footer function under the View menu. “Justify Right” then type as described.

 

FIRST PAGE ONLY—Do not use a title page. Double-space after your last name and page number. Flush with the left hand margin, write your full name, the teacher’s name, the course name and mods, and the due date on four separate lines, double-spacing between lines. Double space again, and center the title; do not underline the title. Double-space again, indent, and begin your paper.

 

Smith 1

 

 

Sarah Smith

 

Miss Williams

 

English 2 CP Mods 7-8

 

September 21, 2002

 

Center the Title: Do Not Underline Your Words

 

            New paragraphs should be indented one half inch from the left hand margin. Double-space throughout the paper; do not quadruple-space between paragraphs (or anywhere else in the paper). The left margin is justified, but the right margin is not justified. Insert one space after all ending punctuation. Use the font Times New Roman in size twelve and only print in black ink.

~one-inch margins on all sides~

(This can be set by selecting Page Setup from the File menu)

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WRITING CONVENTIONS FOR FORMAL ASSIGNMENTS

 

Most academic writing requires formal style and diction (Word choice). English essays need to conform to the following conventions:

 

·         Write in the third person (i.e.: they, he, she; do not use “you”)

·         Avoid contractions and abbreviations (i.e.: don’t; &; etc.)

·         Avoid informal diction, colloquialisms, slang, dialect, universal and archaisms

(so, anyways; “down the shore”; dough (currency); sack (bed); everyone always; anon; everybody)

 

·         Use consistent verb tense (always present when speaking of literature)

·         Avoid passive voice (Mary made fudge –active- VS. the fudge was made by Mary –passive-)

·         Vary sentence structure (simple, compound, use semicolons and transition words)

·         Underline OR italicize titles of novels, plays, magazines, and full-length films

·         Use “quotation marks” for titles of poems, articles, songs, short stories, and short films

 

·         Spell out numbers in one or two words, and represent other numbers by numerals (one, twenty-two, one hundred, fifteen hundred, one thousand, three million,

                      but 2 ½ , 101,   1, 267)