Choose a title that focuses on the subject of the essay and that indicates your slant on it. For example, "Etiquette as Social Passport in George Eliot's 'Middlemarch'" tells the reader you are writing about a particular literary work and that you will examine manners and mores of the period within the world of the book.
Pay attention to your instructor's directions about formatting the title. Different instructor's have differing expectations. Most will want you to adhere to a scholarly style, such as the Modern Language Association's (MLA) rules, and others are looser. Most essays, as opposed to scholarly papers, use MLA formatting. You need to know your instructor's preferences so that you can make adjustments if necessary.
Position your name, your instructor's name, the class, and the date, one on top of the other, double-spaced, in the upper right-hand corner one inch below the top edge of the paper. Maintaining double-spacing, drop down one line. Type in the title and center it. Use capital letters on all the main words, but not on prepositions, conjunctions and articles. Drop down one line to begin typing the opening paragraph.
Position the title halfway down and centered on a cover sheet only if your instructor requires one. Your name, the professor's name, the class name and the date normally go under the title, one on top of the other in the order listed and centered or sometimes off to the right and three quarters of the way down the page. If your instructor requires this formatting, the names and date should be left justified. However, omit the cover sheet unless your instructor specifically asks for one. Most do not want to fumble with an extra sheet of paper when they evaluate student essays.