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How To Write Essay Titles And Headers

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Creating effective essay titles and headers is important for grabbing your reader’s attention and providing a clear road map for your essay.

Here are some tips to help you craft compelling titles and headers:

Essay Titles:

Be Descriptive: Your title should give readers an idea of what your essay is about. Include keywords related to your topic or thesis.

Be Concise: Keep your title relatively short and to the point, usually no more than a few words to a line.

Avoid Ambiguity: Make sure your title is clear and specific, avoiding vague or overly general phrases.

Use Key Terms: Incorporate important terms or concepts from your essay to signal its focus.

Consider Tone: Match the tone of your title to the overall tone of your essay, whether it’s formal, academic, creative, or persuasive.

Use Title Case: Capitalize the first letter of each major word in your title (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs), except for short prepositions and articles.

Essay Headers:

Include Necessary Information: Your header should typically include your name, instructor’s name, course title, and date (in academic essays). Follow any specific formatting guidelines provided by your instructor or institution.
Use a Consistent Format: Choose a format style (e.g., MLA, APA) and adhere to its guidelines for headers, including font size, font type, alignment, and spacing.
Positioning: Place your header in the top right corner of each page, unless otherwise specified by your formatting style.
Page Numbers: In academic writing, include page numbers in your header, usually in the top right corner or centered at the bottom of the page.
Be Mindful of Length: Keep your header concise and avoid including unnecessary information that is not required by your formatting style.