You now have chosen your sources and organized ideas from them into an Outline. The next step is to change that outline into sentences and paragraphs. The Outline is already in the 5-paragraph structure you will need, but for your Essay, you will also need to include a Title page and a Reference page as well as insert Citations properly into your paragraphs. Look at the example provided to you. It is not a complete Essay, but is formatted exactly as your Draft and Final Essay must be by the time they are due.
The Title Page consists of three main parts.
- Header: There must be an automatic page number inserted in the header which is right aligned. It is proceeded by the Essay title. If the title is quite long, it can be shortened. The font must be formatted as the rest of the Essay.
- Title: The title of your Essay is about 5 spaces from the top of the page. The key words should be capitalized and it must be properly centered.
- Personal Information: Another 9 spaces down, your name (First Last), the course name, your teacher's name, and the date your Essay is due are all written. Each is centered.
At the bottom of the Title Page is a proper page break. In a Google Document, this can be inserted by Going to "Insert Page Break" in the menu or simply typing "ctrl + enter" at the same time.
The next part of you Essay is the body itself. At the top of this page, you must type the Essay Title once more. There is no space between this Title and the first paragraph of your Essay. The next 5 paragraphs of your Essay follow, and each must be formatted with a 0.5" (1/2 inch) first-line indent. In Google Documents, you will need to learn how to do this using the "Ruler" at the top of the document. If you can not see the ruler, in the menu go "View > Show ruler". For more help on using the ruler, watch the following instructional video about first-line indents.
Using Indents and Tabs
LearnFree.org show us how to use indents and tabs in Google Docs.
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