Easton Area High School English Department
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Typesetting

Select a serif font, one designed to look like a typewriter. The English Department recommends 12 point Palatino; all of the samples in this handbook, including the sample paper, appear in this font.  If Palatino is unavailable, use a formal, widely-accepted serif font such as Roman, Times, Bookman, or Century Schoolbook. Do not use fancy calligraphic or novelty fonts for a research paper. Set point size (height) to twelve, and be sure to make all measurements carefully in inches. Remember that a page of 27 lines of double-spaced text plus the pagination line is the accepted standard.

Even if your word processing program is capable of italic type, the latest MLA guidelines recommend using underlining rather than italics.  Do not use boldface in a research paper.