How to Format an Essay Paper With a Cover Sheet and Page Numbers

Depending on the class and instructor, essays for high school and college classes may have different formatting styles. The most common style found in high school and most general education and humanities college classes is MLA (Modern Language Association) format. Although many upper level, and occasionally lower level, social science classes will use APA (American Psychological Association) format, the majority of class assignments for the average student, both high school and college, will be in MLA format.

Things You'll Need

  • Word processing program
  • Computer
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Instructions

  1. Cover Sheet

    • 1

      Type the title of your essay on the first line. Capitalize all the important words --- such as, the first word in the title, main adjectives, nouns and verbs.

    • 2

      Type your first and last names, your professor's name, the class name and the course number, and the date on four subsequent lines. When typing the date, put the day first. For example, type "24 November 2010."

    • 3

      Center the text, double-spaced, on the page.

    Main Essay

    • 4

      Create a header in your word processing program.

    • 5

      Type your last name into the header box and press the left justify button.

    • 6

      Place the cursor after your name and select the Page Number option on the header tool bar. Ensure that there is a space between your name and the page number.

    • 7

      Ensure that the "different first page" option is selected from the header menu, so that the cover page has no page numbers.

    • 8

      Select Page Format from the appropriate drop-down menu in your word processing program. Ensure that the page margins are one inch on every side.

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