Humanities Department Style Sheet 2014-15
All upper-school humanities teachers will expect you to follow these
guidelines when handing in any formal assignment.
All papers must have:
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Student’s name, teacher’s name, class, and the date (arranged vertically) in the upper-lefthand corner of the first page. Date should follow MLA style, for example, 6 Sept. 2014.
• A one-inch margin on all sides
• Title centered and typed two line spaces below the first-page heading
• An original title (e.g., NOT “All Quiet on the Western Front Essay” or “Antigone Essay”)
• All pages numbered in header at the upper-right-hand corner following student’s last name
• Paragraphs indented one-half inch (i.e., five spaces or one tab)
• 12-point standard font (e.g., Times New Roman, Calibri, CG Times, Palatino, etc.)
• Double spacing and double-sided printing when possible
Quotations from the text:
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Any essay on a work of literature MUST include quotations from the text. Back up every
general statement about the book with a passage or specific example from the text.
Cite page number(s) of quoted text in parentheses: (46) or (78-9); NOT (page 46) or (p. 46).
ALL quotations longer than four full lines of print MUST be offset in block form:
 double spaced
 indented left side only
 NOT bold or italicized
 no quotation marks
Do not start a new paragraph after a block quotation; analysis following a quoted passage
should be incorporated into the body of a paragraph.
Use quotation marks around short quotations that are integrated into the text of a sentence.
References to names:
• Refer to authors by FULL NAME on first mention, then by LAST name only. For example,
do not refer to Zora Neale Hurston as “Zora.”
• Italicize the title of a full-length work, such as a book or a play.
• Put the title of a poem or short story, as well as a chapter title or newspaper article, in
quotation marks (e.g., “If We Must Die” or “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”).