Modern Language Association (MLA) formatting

MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.

General Guidelines

• Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
• Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are recognizable one from another. The font size should be 12 pt.
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times.
• Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor's guidelines.)
• Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
• If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).

Formatting the First Page of Your Paper

• Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested.
• In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
• Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
• Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking"
• Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
• Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow instructor guidelines.)

Here is a sample of the first page of a paper in MLA style:

 

From: Purdue Online Writing Lab

How to Cite the Purdue OWL in MLA

Entire Website

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. Date of access. 18 April 2016.

 

 

http://www.easybib.com/

 

 Library Online Resources

 

 

MLA Citation Methods Quiz

1. What does the acronym MLA stand for?

2. What is MLA?

3. When documenting one author in reference in a text, which is correct?

 

a.This point has been argued before (Frye 197).

 

b.This point has been argued before. (Glenn Frye, 197)

 

c.This point has been argued before. (Frye 197)

 

d.This point has been argued before(Frye, 197).

 

4.When documenting one author by name in a text, which is correct?

 

a.Frye has argued this point before (Frye 197).

 

b.Frye has argued this point before. (197).

 

c.Frye has argued this point before. (Frye, 197).

 

d.Frye has argued this point before (197).

T/F 5. You should not use the authors’ last names in the citation if the authors’ names appear in the text.