Research Papers / What is the best format/style to employ for writing an undergraduate senior thesis? [3]

Hello everyone,

I am an undergraduate senior and one of the requirements for my major (Classics) is writing a research paper on a topic of my choosing (in my case, the banishment of the Roman poet Ovid in 8 A.D.). What I am unsure of is exactly how I should format my paper. I'm aiming for around 20-30 pages, so I'm wondering if I need to use anything specific (table of contents? parenthetical citations or footnotes? That kind of formatting). I hope I don't come off as stupid, but I haven't had to do any serious paper writing since my Freshman year since I focus mostly on the two Classical languages. This is an independent study type deal, and the professor for whom I am writing is very lax and has no requirements about formatting other than a length of 15 pages minimum. Moreover, I plan to use this paper as a writing sample when I apply to graduate school this coming fall, so I am wondering if that has any affect on how I should put everything together (i.e., should I set up the paper any differently since I know that I will be using it as a writing sample).

Thanks in advance for input!