@reactwright/template-essay

MLA-style academic essay template for the Reactwright document engine. US Letter, 1" margins, Times New Roman 12pt double-spaced, first-line indented paragraphs, left-aligned bold section headings, hanging- indent Works Cited at the back.

When to use this over alternatives

• Pick @reactwright/template-essay for single MLA-style essays, undergraduate papers, term papers, or any short academic prose destined for double-spaced grading-friendly output.
• Pick @reactwright/template-report for technical or business reports (single-spaced, decimal section numbering).
• Pick @reactwright/template-ieee or @reactwright/template-ieee-report for IEEE-branded papers.
• Pick @reactwright/template-book for long-form chaptered prose at trade-paperback dimensions.

Format conventions

• US Letter paper, 1" margins all sides.
• Body: Times New Roman 12pt, line-height 2.0 (double-spaced).
• Paragraphs: 0.5" first-line indent. The first paragraph after a heading is flush left (no indent).
• Title: 14pt bold centered.
• Author: 12pt italic centered below the title.
• Section headings (depth 1): 12pt bold, left-aligned, no numeric prefix. Headings are kept with the following paragraph (no orphan heads at the bottom of a page).
• Block quotes: 0.5" left + right indent, upright (no italic), no first-line indent.
• Inline code: monospace, no background or border.
• Works Cited (role="bibliography"): heading centered bold; entries with hanging indent (0.5" left margin negated by a -0.5" first-line indent) and no numeric prefix.
• Running header on page 2+: author's last name and page number, top right.

Usage

import "reactwright/jsx";
import { Template } from "@reactwright/template-essay";

export { Template };

export default function MyEssay() {
  return (
    <document title="The Question of Method" author="A. Author">
      <set running="author-lastname" value="Author" />

      <section title="Introduction">
        <p>
          Open with the thesis. Subsequent paragraphs in the same
          section pick up the 0.5" first-line indent automatically.
        </p>
        <p>The second paragraph indents; the first does not.</p>
      </section>

      <section title="A Closer Look">
        <p>
          Cite as you go <cite cite="smith2024" />. Sources resolve
          against the <code>refs</code> block at the back of the
          document.
        </p>

        <quote>
          <p>
            Block quotes are indented on both sides and lose the
            first-line indent. Use them for long extract quotations.
          </p>
        </quote>
      </section>

      <section title="Conclusion">
        <p>Wrap with a concluding paragraph.</p>
      </section>

      <refs>
        <ref-entry refKey="smith2024">
          Smith, A. (2024). <em>A Robust Method</em>. Publisher.
        </ref-entry>
      </refs>
    </document>
  );
}

The <set running="author-lastname" value="Author" /> line is what populates the top-right page-2+ header. Omit it if you do not need a running header.

Implementation notes

Styling is expressed entirely via the styling dialect (<styles> + <rule>). The exported ESSAY_STYLES is the CSS-dialect source the template binds. There is no engine-bypass CSS.

Section roles are not required — the template numbers nothing and expects unrouted top-level <section>s for the body. The role="bibliography" section is composed by the userland <Bibliography> helper that the template includes after the body slot; author-side, you provide entries via <refs> and the engine collects them.

Limitations

• MLA header block (author, instructor, course, date stacked at the top of page 1) is not built into the template. Authors who need it can add a small lead-in section before the first body section, or extend the template by adding a region above the body slot.
• Single citation style. Cites render as bare links to the Works Cited target by default; MLA parenthetical "(Author 12)" formatting is not currently computed by the engine. Authors who need it can hand-author the parenthetical in prose and let <cite> provide only the anchor.