Essay Writing Format

Essay Writing Format

Some teachers give as much Weightage to the essay writing format as they do to the essay analysis and content. So if you have been given any particular format guidelines to follow-you would do well to follow these precisely and perfectly. Here are some important points to keep in mind for your essay writing format.

The Title

Every essay writing format has a title that should mention the topic that you have been asked to write on. This title can either be displayed on a separate title page or at the top of page one. It should appear in an identical font type and size to the other parts of the essay. Avoid putting the title in italicized, underlined or bold type.

If you decide to use a separate title page-center the title horizontally on the top one-third of the page. Added parts to your title should be centered or aligned to the left-in single or double-spacing in the lower half of the title page.

If you are not using a separate title page-then you should first write or type:

• Your name
• The name of your course
• Your professor’s name
• The due date

All these personal details should be visible on the upper half of the left hand corner of the first page--followed by the centered title. Begin your essay below the title after leaving a double space. See the example below to get a clearer picture:

Yvonne Catcher

History

Professor Von Brown

November 8, 2009

The Text

• The standard format for the text requires double spacing as this gives some room for the comments/corrections of your professor
• Margins should be of 1" on the top and bottom and 1” or 1.25" on the left and right pages.
• Use “Times New Roman” or other standard font such as Arial or Courier New-size 12.
• Indent five spaces for the beginning of a paragraph without leaving spaces between paragraphs.
• Do not number the title page-but do number the first page of the text as page one-(either in the top right hand corner or centered on the bottom.) The following pages should be numbered on the upper right hand corner.

Cite the source

Make sure that you include a works cited page at the tale end of your paper in which you mention all the sources that you have referred to and drawn from. Your reference list should include the surname of the authors in alphabetical order, followed by the name of the book, the publishing place, publisher and date-(the order of these differs according to MLA, APA, Harvard or Chicago referencing style)

These are some of the important requirements of an essay writing format.