College Comp I and II MLA Formatting Instructions
Students will need to create Word documents for this course which they can attach to their emails to send to my college-assigned email address. I will also need a contact number for the narrative and descriptive essay initial drafts so that I can attempt to contact you during my scheduled office hours. Once you submit a narrative, be prepared to discuss it with your essay close by and pen and paper. Here are the formatting instructions. Type nothing else on the document until you have followed these steps:
If the Word icon does not appear on your home screen, use the window option in the lower left-hand corner of your computer screen to access by scrolling down using a side bar to find a Word document, which will be alphabetically listed. Click on blank document. Set the font to 11 or 12 only (12 is standard), and I would recommend using either Times New Roman or Ariel as your style.
Next, go to View at top, click on ruler; then click on Layout and Paragraph (to the lower right). In the Paragraph window, make sure the alignment is left and the line spacing double; then make sure to check the box beneath that reads Dont add space between paragraphs of the same style. Click on OK.
Next, go to Layout and Page Setup and make sure the top, left, bottom, and right margins are all one inch. Click on OK.
Click on Insert and Page Number (to the far right), Top of Page, and Plain Number 3. With the header box open, immediately type only your last name to the left of the Arabic numeral 1; you dont have to move anything. Then hit the space bar once. Close the red Header and Footer box unless it is not open; then go to the Header and Footer Tools to open it.
Next, set your ruler at the top of the document to one-half inch and click on it. A capital L will appear. Then create your heading and type the properly capitalized title and hit the Center icon at the top of the document to center it. Then press Enter and Back Space. Now you are ready to begin your first paragraph (the introduction).
Begin the first paragraph by pressing Tab on the computer to indent the first paragraph and then write. I hope this helps; otherwise, you may need to consult an online tutorial or the English Writing Lab for assistance. Youll see I sign my name on my documents, but you should not in academic writing.