Below are the standards and formats for writing and formatting written essays and projects.

Benjamin Franklin High School Writing Format and Style Guide

Standards for Handwritten Work - All Classes

• Ink must be black or blue; use pencil only in math or science classes.

• Name, teacher, period, date, and assignment must be written in the top right-hand corner (above blue line).

• Multiple pages must be stapled together.

• Rough drafts must be double-spaced, final copies single-spaced.

• Handwriting must be neat and legible, and in standard cursive.

• Paper must be perforated notebook or loose-leaf.

Standards for Printed Work - English

• Font must be black, Times New Roman, size 12.

• Page layout must have one-inch margins all around and double-spaced lines all throughout.

• Titles of essays must be centered, boldface, and uppercase with one line space between the title and the first paragraph

• Paragraphs must be indented one tab (0.5”).

• Quotations and citations (including a reference page) are formatted according to APA style. 

• Multiple pages must be stapled together.

Title Page

• Included at the very beginning of the paper (is not included in page count)

• Should be centered on the upper half of the page

• Should include:

  • Title

  • Author’s Name

  • Period

  • Date

Header

      ❑  Include a header at the top of every page that consists of a page number (numeral, only) in the upper
right corner

APA In-text and Parenthetical Citations

ANY information that is someone else’s words or ideas must use an in-text citation - either as a narrative or parenthetical citation. This includes quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. 

Direct quote example: 

Thorin tells Bilbo on his deathbed, “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world” (Tolkien, 1937, p. 263).

Paraphrase or summary examples: 

Tolkien (1937) once said we should value things other than gold to create a better world (p. 263).

We should value things other than gold to create a better world (Tolkien, 1937, p. 263).

APA Reference Page

• The reference page should appear on its own page and is not included in the page count. 

• It should be titled Reference (References for more than one) in: 

  • Times New Roman, size 12, black font.

  • No quotation marks, bold, italics, or underline.

  • No extra space between entries. 

• All entries should be double spaced with a hanging indent. 

• All entries should be organized in alphabetical order by the first word in the entry.

APA Citations

Always check with the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) for variations of sources. Common source examples are listed below:

Book with one author example:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher Name. DOI (if available)

Stoneman, R. (2008). Alexander the Great: A life in legend. Yale University Press.

Online periodical example:

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Vol.(Issue), page number(s). DOI

Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Psychology & Marketing, 23(2), 161-180. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20105

Standards for Printed Work - History

• The font must be black, Times New Roman, size 12.

• Page layout must have one-inch margins all around and double-spaced lines all throughout.

• Titles of essays must be centered and capitalized.

• Paragraphs must be indented one tab

• Quotations and citations (including a Bibliography page) are formatted according to Chicago style. 

• Multiple pages must be stapled together.

Chicago Style Citations

• ANY information that is someone else’s words or ideas must be followed by a footnote citation.

  • The first time you cite something in a footnote, you use a full note citation.

    • Footnote: (does not need to be in hanging indent)

Note #. Author’s First Name Last Name, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book  (City: Publisher, Date of Publication), p

• Check with the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) for variations of sources. (Periodicals, speeches, etc.) 

• When citing the same source again, you may use “Ibid” or condensed Citations 

Chicago Style Bibliography 

• The Bibliography page should appear on its own page.

• Make sure you use a Bibliographic Citation (hanging indent required) 

Book with one author example:

Last name, First name. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication.

Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. New York: Viking Press, 1958.