Simon Armendariz

Ms. Goodpaster

English Honors Period 2

October 26, 2019

Correctly Formatting Papers for Submission

Formatting for most English class essays and papers is done according to Modern

Language Association (MLA) guidelines. Papers are to be typed in Times New Roman font in 12

point size. Margins should be set at one inch with the text left justified only. Lines should be

double spaced and paragraphs must be indented with no extra spaces between paragraphs. Your

name, your teacher’s name, class and the date should be listed in the upper left of the first page

only and should be double spaced like the rest of the paper. Page numbers are to be in the upper

right corner along with your last name on the second and subsequent pages.

Before addressing the line spacing you need to select all the text of the paper. Once you

have done that, line spacing appears under the home tab and is in the paragraph section. Select

the diagonal arrow in the lower right corner of the paragraph box. This will cause a box to

appear. Indents and spacing are selected in the box. From the top it should address the text

alignment and it should say left and not need to be changed. The next section down is for

indents, under Special the system default has it at none, when you click the arrow on the box you

should change it to first line. The next section is spacing, rather than Multiple it should be

Double and Before and After should both be set to zero, then select the box for “Do not add

space between paragraphs of the same style”. Then click OK to apply the changes. If you do this

before you start typing a paper, it will create the proper format for the entire paper without the

need for corrections.

 Armendariz 2

Margins are also required to be set at one inch and this paper is not correct as you start

with it. Select the tab at the top of the page labeled PAGE LAYOUT, then all the way to the left

is the Margins box. Once you have selected all the text, you click on the arrow for the Margin

menu and select Normal which places all margins at one inch.

Adding information to the header for your name and the page numbers is available under

the INSERT tab at the top of the page. Near the right side you will see the header and footer

section which includes page numbers. Make certain you are on the second page of the paper and

place your cursor at the end of the first line on the second page. This will not place any

information there, but it does ensure that the information appears on the correct page. First select

Page Number and then top of page and then Plain Number 3 for the correct position for MLA

formatting. The cursor will appear before the page number, this is where you will type your last

name and a space so the page number does not appear like the last letter of your name. After you

have done this you will see additional options appear and you should select the box for

“Different First Page” as this will put your last name and the page numbers on all pages but the

first one.

The requirement to reach the conclusion of this paper and the assignment today is to

correct the formatting on this paper and to print it out. You should be adding your name and

information to the first page and correctly applying the header with your name and the page

numbers as well. The paper needs a title and it should be “Correctly Formatting Papers for

Submission.” You need to add this and center it above the first paragraph.

For those who do not have Word, you can get a free copy of Microsoft Office 2013

through the school district. See the district website for more information.