What is a college paper?

Format and Length

Leave all your plastic binders in Miss Hodgebottom's fourthgrade classroom. They fall apart, scattering pages to the breeze or leaving them to be scrunched up in the bottom of my book bag. The binders feel like slimy death; they are an expensive environmental disaster. Simply staple an 8 ½ × 11 white title page to the front of your paper.

This title page should have a title in the center about a third of the way down. The title should not be in quotation marks unless it is a quotation. It should not be underlined unless it is also the title of a published work. It should say something. "Paper #2" is not a title. In the lower right-hand corner of this title page should be your name, the date, and the name and number of the class.

Do not repeat the title on the first page. The first page of text should begin at the top as any other page does. Nor should you begin the first page halfway down the paper as if there had to be room for a title that isn't there. We professors know padding when we see it. And for the love of Gaia, do not include blank pieces of paper at either the beginning or the end. Play your tricks of illusion with words. I am constantly amused at the students who try to hide their papers in the middle of the pile when they are turning them in, as if we teachers never read the things. We do. You can't hide from us. And when we get to yours, we will realize with surprising speed that the thick paper handed in was padded by empty sheets on either side. Once so alerted, we will then be on the lookout for padded paragraphs too.

The paper must be typed - or whatever the verb is for word processing. No, we do not accept neat handwriting. An absolute universal requirement is that you double space. We can recognize triple and even two-and-a-half-line spacing, so don't get cute. Double spacing gives us room to write our penetrating critiques of your mistakes between the lines. We need all the room we can get.

Standard margins are an inch and a quarter on the sides, an inch and a half top and bottom. Each page should be numbered I prefer the numbers at the top right, out of the way, to leave room for my pithy comments.

The length of the paper, of course, should be part of the assignment. If you are not sure, do not be afraid to ask. If you don't know, chances are very good that others don't know. The rest of the class and the teacher will thank you for clearing up the confusion. An assigned length of two to three pages does not mean one page and a line at the top of the second. It means at least two full pages with the possibility of spillover onto a third. Note that we teachers hate to discourage eager students, but few of us are thrilled to see papers several pages longer than the assignment calls for. Learning to be concise is a major part of learning to write. We are glad you have something to say, but keep it under control please. With perhaps forty four-page papers to grade before tomorrow, we are faced with at least 160 pages to read and edit before dawn. Being able to put yourself in the other guy's or gal's sneakers is a universal requirement for success in any endeavor.