MLA Formatting

Where details matter

Your finished paper will look very similar to this one. (Only in appearance. If you read this sample, which I don’t recommend, you will see it full of errors)

Notice the heading

• Left aligned• Double spaced• The date is Day Month Year

Notice the title:

• It is centered • The words are capitalized

(but not every letter)• It is not bold, large,

underlined, italicized.• Other than being centered

and capitalized, there is nothing special about it.

Look at the header (not to be confused with the heading):

• It shows the last name (space) and page number

• The number is just a digit, it does not say “page”

• It looks light grey now but it will print black

• It is only ½ inch from the top• You must insert this a special

way.

1. Go to insert

2. Go to Page #

3. Go to “Top of Page”

4. Choose “Plain Number 3” which shows the number on the top right.

5. Double click next to the page number in order to type

5. Double click next to the page number in order to type

6. Type your last name next to the number, leaving a space between name and number.

Now, your page number will automatically change, but the name will stay the same on every page.

5. Double click next to the page number in order to type

6. Type your last name next to the number, leaving a space between name and number.

Now, your page number will automatically change, but the name will stay the same on every page.

If you try to type your header without following these steps, your placement and page nember will be off.

Notice that everything is double spaced. John Smith to the last line.

There are no extra spaces from the heading to the title, or from the title to the first sentence. There are no extra spaces between paragraphs.

You must double space using the proper formatting button. If you press enter to manually, you will mess up your formatting.

The trick to double spacing is in that button right there.

If you don’t know why you get extra spaces every time you press enter…

The trick to double spacing is in that button right there.

If you don’t know why you get extra spaces every time you press enter… This is why

Look at the font

• Everything is 12pt font.• Everything is Times New

Roman• “Everything” includes the

heading and title.

Finally, if you quote a source in your paper, you must cite it to MLA specifications.

After the quote, you will need to put the author’s last name and the page number in parentheses.

If you are quoting a poem, you put the line number in parentheses.

Note: If you use the author’s name to introduce your quote, you will only need the page number (as this writer has done).

The most important thing to remember is that the citation comes after the quotation but before the period (and you don’t spell out “Page”)

For more particulars, see the “Embedded Quotes” notes.

Now you have the basics

You will see that there are many particulars to deal with when following MLA. It is a good idea to own an MLA handbook before starting college. You can also search for answers to your questions online, but be sure your source is credible. Here are a couple websites you can trust:http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/mla