1
Tomás Summers Sandoval
History 17 CH
September 5, 2012
The Guidelines for All Written Assignments
Our class is designed, in part, to make you a better reader, writer, and thinker.
Each of you is expected to improve your skills at these practices, although you are not all
expected to be at the same level by the end of the semester. Each of us brings to class our
unique experience of learning to read and write, as well as an assortment of contexts and
environments which have impacted our habits of thought and reason. Whether you see
yourself as a skilled and complex reader and writer, or whether you see yourself as a
beginner who needs a lot of improvement, each of us has the opportunity to develop even
further. I would go as far as saying your success in college will depend upon your ability
to challenge your talents and continue developing them.
The basis of our class, then, is to develop the fundamental skills you will need to
succeed in college. One of these skills—in fact, one of the most basic to success—is
your capacity to follow directions. Of course, we will always be primarily concerned
with what you say. Because we are also learning to write for an academic audience, how
you say it and how you present your ideas are also important. This document is a visible
example of what most of your writing assignments should look like. Paying close
attention to the format of this essay will serve as an example of what you are
expected to do for your own essays this semester.
To begin with, basic format specifications of essays are important to follow.
Some of your grade will always depend on whether or not you followed the format
directions. This essay meets all of the requirements you will have, unless stated as
2
otherwise on the assignment. First off, this essay is typed. As I’m sure you expect, all
assignments for our class must be type-written. Second, this essay is in a standard,
academic font and size. This font is 12 point Times New Roman. I recommend you use
this font or an equivalent font. (Most fonts you have access to are not acceptable for a
paper. Most are decorative or stylized and are appropriate for documents that require an
artistic flair. An academic essay is not such a document.) Finally, notice the margins of
this document. The top and the bottom are each 1.0 inch in length. The left and
right margins are both 1.25 inches in width. Every essay you submit for our class
must meet these margin sizes.
This sheet shows you other format specifications which must be followed. For
example, your name, the course information, and the date the assignment is turned in are
all listed on the first page. This information is ONLY provided on the first page of the
assignment. All this information is single-spaced and indented to the right. This is also
called “right alignment.” Also, notice the assignment has a title. This can be a title you
come up with or simply the name of the assignment. Either way, it should be centered in
the middle of the sheet. This is called “center alignment.” Also notice it is in bold. (Do
not use quotation marks for your title so that we don’t confuse it with a quote from
somebody else. If part—or all—of your title is a quote from a reading or some other
source, then using quotation marks is appropriate.) Additionally, the essay has page
numbers which are located in the top, right-hand corner. The page number on the first
page is optional. For the other pages it is required, but notice that the only information
required for these pages is the actual page number, not your name or the title of the essay.
3
From the title through the body of the essay notice the text is double-spaced. This
(and the size of the left and right margins) provides me with an appropriate amount of
space in which to write comments to your written work. The only parts of a regular essay
that should be single-spaced are the personal information you provide in the upper right
hand corner of the first page, footnotes or endnotes (which we will discuss in greater
detail later), and quotes from a source that are three lines or longer.
The quotes mentioned in the final example of things that are appropriately singlespaced are called “block quotes.” When you quote at least three lines—or even one or
two lines if they are substantial—putting them into a block quote sets them apart and
gives them emphasis. To make a block quote, we also indent the quoted lines differently.
As an example, here is a block quote from a text on critical thinking called The Miniature
Guide to Critical Thinking, written by Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder. On the
topic of egocentric thinking, the authors write:
Egocentric thinking comes from the unfortunate fact that humans do not naturally
consider the rights and needs of others, nor do we naturally appreciate the point of
view of others or the limitations in our own point of view. We become explicitly
aware of our egocentric thinking only if trained to do so. We do not naturally
recognize our egocentric assumptions, the egocentric way we use information, the
egocentric way we interpret data, the source of our egocentric concepts and ideas,
the implications of our egocentric thought. We do not naturally recognize our
self-serving perspective.1
As you might notice, the entire quote is single-spaced and indented (only on the left).
This makes it stand out, giving it the look of an independent paragraph. Notice also that
there are no quotation marks. Since its spacing and indentation are different from the rest
of the essay, a block quote is assumed to be a quote. No marks are necessary.
1
Richard Paul and Linda Elder, The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools (The
Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2003), 6.
4
Finally, the block quote above has a footnote accompanying it. This is called a
CITATION. When you quote directly from another person or text, or even when you get
information or ideas from another source, it is appropriate—even required—to give a
citation. Citations are good in the academic world. They show that we have done our
research in order to formulate the opinions and perspectives we are presenting. For our
class, footnotes or endnotes are acceptable, depending on the assignment. Because
citations are so tricky, we will spend much more time on them in future classes. I will
also post another document on our website describing how to do proper citations.
That is all you have to know for now. Keep this document in a place you can
easily access when you need to. If you follow the guidelines explained here, by the end
of the semester they should become second nature for you.
Welcome to History 17 CH!