Preparing the Research Paper 
for Final Presentation

Use the following formatting, mechanics, and grammatical information as you prepare your research paper for final presentation.

Format

Title page

Pagination

Incorporation of Quotations

Tenses
Format
Typing gives the paper a more formal appearance and makes it easier to read.  When typing, double space the outline, the text, indented quotations of more than four lines in length, and the works cited page.  In order to set off the text, use one-inch margins on all sides.  Use only one side of the sheet.
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Title Page
A title page should be the first page of the research paper.  Upon it the title of the paper should appear, centered and 3 1/2 inches down from the top of the page.  A double space below the title, and centered, should come the student's name.  The name of the course, the name of the instructor, and the due date of the paper should appear, double spaced and centered, starting 5 1/2 inches from the top of the page.
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Pagination


Starting with the second page of body, number the pages consecutively throughout the entire manuscript in the upper right-hand corner (3/4 inch from the top and even with the right margin immediately following the student's name).  The first page of the paper is counted but not numbered.  The Works Cited page is numbered continuing from the text.  Outlines are numbered separately from the body using lower case Roman numerals (e.g., ii, iii, iv)
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Incorporation of Quotations


Quotations of three lines or less are incorporated directly into the body of the paper.  However, at some time you may wish to use a more lengthy quotation.  Quotations more than four lines in length must be indented ten spaces from the left margin and double spaced.  Indent the first line of a paragraph in an indented quotation thirteen spaces.  No quotation marks are needed for indented passages, as the indentation indicates that a quotation is being used.

Introduce all quotations by incorporating them in a sentence of your own, e.g., "At the beginning fo the story, the narrator says," or  "According to T.S.Eliot."  Identify speaker or source.  Vary your verbs by using some of the suggestions in the table below.

says observes asserts confirms
states shows implies contends
remarks points out questions agrees
comments indicates asks argues

Three methods are typically used to incorporate and adapt quotations for use in your paper.

1.  Show that the author or critic made the statement.
Example:  Hemmingway writes, "Ole Anderson looked at the wall and did not say anything
2.  Use a colon to include a quotation after a complete sentence of your own.
Example:  The two old friends feel the presence of war and all its dire meaning and know the Prussians are watching them: "Prussians! They had never seen one, but they knew they were all around Paris."
3.  Use a selected portion of a quotation within a sentence of your own.
Example:  The two old friends, trying to forget that Paris is "blockaded, desolate, famished," decide to go fishing.
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Tenses


Write in the present tense as long as no conflict of tenses occurs.

1.  Discuss events that occur before the story begins in the past tense.
Example:  Father Seraphin was sent to Rome.
2.  Discuss event that occur within the story in the present tense.
Example:  As punishment for her awful deed, Mme. Simon is shot by the Prussian soldiers.  She dies having avenged the death of her son.
3.  Discuss event having to do with the author's life or times in the past tense.
Example:  Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804.  As a child, he was a compulsive reader.
4.  Introduce comments of critics in the present tense
Example:  As J. Chesley Taylor comments,...
5.  Write statements about the author's works in the present tense.
Example:  As Hawthone describes her....
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