1. Essay Requirements All polished extended writing pieces must follow these criteria! You are being forewarned……

2. Be Double Spaced This allows me to write comments (and corrections) on your papers. I like to engage with your text… and post-secondary instructors will expect that your papers will be double spaced. Papers that are not double spaced may be returned, unmarked.

3. Be typed and/or neatly handwritten in blue or black ink on one side of the paper only Your reader’s first experience with the paper is how it looks… If it looks messy or the words are difficult to decipher, your reader will be less likely to enjoy the process of reading your paper!! Studies show that messier papers are marked more harshly than those that are neat!!!

4. Be Spell checked and Proofread Guess what? Spell check does not find all of your typographical errors. If a word is spelled correctly, but used incorrectly, your computer will not identify it Common misspelled:  Definitely/defiantly  Their/they’re/there  Its/it’s  Form/from Just plain wrong:  A lot….alot (remember – it’s not alittle) Capitalize  I and proper nouns (names… for example, high school students isn’t capitalized but Millwood High School is…)

5. Have a a MEANINGFUL AND ORIGINAL title Your title is the first opportunity to catch your reader’s attention. It should hint at the content of your essay, while being as creative as possible. “English Essay” does not count as a meaningful or original title

6. Use font 12-point Times New Roman, Palatino or Century Schoolbook Larger fonts are simply a waste of paper – and they don’t fool your teacher into thinking the essay is longer than what it really is.

7. Have pages that are clearly numbered! Be consistent The title page does not count as a numbered page

8. Give credit where credit is due… Properly cite any material that doesn’t come from your head. If you use information from a website or someone else and don’t credit it to that source, you have plagiarized Your essay will not be evaluated until it has been rewritten.

9. Reminders…. You are being evaluated on your commitment to writing. As such, you must submit:  Your rough draft (revision and editing)  Feedback sheet (thinking about writing)  Good copy