Whether you are studying many sources for a research paper or a few passages from one text for a book review, what matters is how you select, present, and interpret materials. You must at all costs avoid plagiarism, which is a crime and means automatic failure. Points 2-4 are obvious cases of cheating. Although it is generally recognized that everything an individual has thought has probably been influenced to some degree by the previously expressed thoughts and actions of others, such influences are general. Plagiarism involves the deliberate taking of specific words and ideas of others without proper acknowledgment.
Standard format is double-spaced with wide enough margins for reader's comments.
Don't forget to put your name, the class name, and the title of the paper on the first page. Always number the pages for easy reference. There you will find information on such topics as proper footnote style. As noted in the introduction, this guide is a very general formula for writing essays. In writing, follow the guidelines, but do not be formulaic.