Formatting and submitting papers for this class.

As I will be reading and grading your papers electronically, I have some requirements as to how you should be formatting your work; these make reading online easier for me (and thus put me in a better mood while grading, something that I think you will agree is highly desirable).

Formatting the paper

• There is no need for a cover page or running header - I know who you are, what class this is, and don't need to know what prompt you considered. I just need to be reading the text of your argument, nothing more.
• The paper should be typed 1.5 spaced in either Arial or Calibri size 14 font.
• Ensure that works are cited according to this guide.
• There is no need for a works cited page.
• Once your paper is complete, place the word count at the end as a number in parentheses, e.g. (1600).
• Once this is done, paste your thesis statement at the top of the first page. Follow this with a bullet-list of the topic (first) sentences for each argumentative paragraph (i.e. not your introduction, conclusion or any paragraph considering objections to your argument). Following this, insert a page-break. Here is a paper from a previous semester's first assignment that will indicate the correct formatting - it is also a paper that received an 'A' grade. This is what you aspire to; note that the writer correctly used topic sentences and considered objections to their argument. While the latter is not expected of you at this stage, the former most certainly is.

Checklist before submitting

• Is your paper formatted as detailed above? Font size and spacing? Citation of works? Does the first page give your thesis and topic sentences?
• Is your paper between 1500 and 1750 words in length? Short or long papers will be penalized.
• Did you proof-read the paper, checking both spelling and grammar? Spelling and grammar errors will be penalized and you should not rely on the built-in checkers that come with your software. Did you proof-read twice? Three times?

Submitting the paper

Submit your paper using the course BlackBoard site. Select "Assignments" and choose the correct assignment. Browse to your paper and submit it.

By submitting your paper, you are acknowledging that it is solely your work and that you are aware of the penalties for plagiarism as detailed in the course syllabus. All submitted assignments will be checked using SafeAssignment plagiarism detection software.

Note that there are often problems when using Mac computers running Safari to submit papers. If you use a Mac/Safari, I suggest you either use Firefox or a PC to submit your paper. Do not e-mail me your paper, I will ignore it.

Your paper will be returned to you as a PDF file with comments and annotations.

last modified: February 17, 2009