MLA Header & Pagination, Body Text, Citations, Works Cited, Source & Note Cards
Font
Set up computer for Times New Roman Font and Font size 12.
This can be done on the menu bar at the top of the page, or in the Format drop-down
menu at the top of the screen.
Margin settings
Margins should be in place if factory settings for the Word program have not been altered,
except some versions of Word now sets left and right margins at 1.25 inches instead of 1 inch.
Go to Page Setup under the File drop-down menu and make sure the left and right margins are
1.00 inch.
Line Spacing
Go to the Format Menu at the top of the screen, click on it and click on Paragraph. In the
spacing section of the new screen look for the Line Spacing drop down menu on the right.
Click on the drop down menu and click on “double.” Then click OK to close the screen.
Page Numbers/Name (Pagination)
Go to the View Menu at the top of the screen, click on it, and then click on Header and Footer.
Two things will happen: A screen will open with a dotted line box at the top of the page, and a
menu bar labeled Header and Footer will open a few inches down from the top.
In the dotted line box, Type your last name only, then hit the space bar once, and then look at the
menu bar for the icon with the number sign on it (#) and click that icon. Now highlight your
name and the number that has been inserted and make them both right justified, by clicking the
Align Right button on the menu bar at the top of the page. Now click Close. Every page will
now have your last name and the correct page number automatically printed on it. Your name
and page number will show on the screen as gray letters in the upper right corner of each page.
MLA Formal Header
After pagination is in place on page 1, hit ENTER and begin the first line of the MLA formal
header on the far left of the page.
(Note: this header is only to be completed for the first page of the document! Do not make it a
programmed every page header!) The header should look as follows:
Abigail Cranston Smith (Student’s FULL name)
Mr. Aitcheson (teacher’s/professor’s name)
Themes in American Literature Period 6 (class & section)
27 October 2009 (date: day month year-no punctuation!)

Example: First page with Header:
Smith 1
Abigail Cranston Smith
Mr. Aitcheson
Themes in American Literature Period 6
27 October 2009
Satire in Miller’s The Crucible
The body/text of the MLA essay or research paper.



All paragraphs are indented (Hit tab key once!)
Everything is kept in the Double Space format.
All ideas, quotes or paraphrases from a source other than the student’s MUST be
cited using parenthetical citation formats.
 (Miller 948).
 (Steinbeck 722).
 (Gore 21).
 (“Satire Defined” 1).
NOTE: The sentence punctuation follows the citation!
 Example of a page entry
Arthur Miller made the connections to Joseph McCarthy’s behavior obvious
in the satirical allegory. The interrogation of Tituba “matched word for word the
kinds of cruel attacks the Wisconsin junior senator used to demean ‘witnesses’ in
the hearings in Washington” (Haverly 125). The interrogators attacked the
powerless slave who knew that the whip was the justice that befell her as she took
the blame for all that went wrong in the Parris household. She was pushed to

Long Quotes (over four typed lines) must be double indented for the beginning of the
quote and then single indented for following lines. Example:
It is clearly evidenced in Sander’s own description of her entry.
Priscilla entered the room with a devilish attitude designed to make
the entire crowd wish that they could be in another time and place to avoid
the fury of this demented woman. Each person knew that Priscilla would
accept nothing less than the death of those who had attacked her plan. She
was bent on making the lives of every enemy miserable (Sander 29).
Works Cited Page
 Set up the Computer for Times New Roman Font size 12 point.
 Click on the Format tab on the toolbar and scroll down to paragraph. Locate the
line spacing drop down menu. Click on the double notation.
 Paginate the Works Cited section as a continuation (last page) of the document
(Student last name followed by the number of the page).
 Title the page – Works Cited – in the 12 point font. Center the title on the page.
 Hit the return button only once and begin typing in the work cited
(bibliographical) information from your works cited (bibliography) cards.
 Observe the basic formatting rules of MLA for each type of entry. Listings are
arranged alphabetically by the first letter of the author’s last name or the first
letter in the first word of a title when there is no author. NOTE: NO numbering!
See EXAMPLE on next page:
Aitcheson 10
Works Cited
Agee, Joel. “German Lessons: When Home Is Not Where the Homeland Is.” Harper’s Magazine. Feb.
2001: 68-74.
Auletta, Ken. World War 3.0:Microsoft and Its Enemies. New York: Random House, 2001.
“Beginner Tip: Presenting Your Page with Style.” Webmaster Tips Newsletter. July 2000. NetMechanic.
12 Feb. 2001 ,http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol3/beginner_no7.htm>.
Blanchard, Kenneth H., et al. High Five! The Magic of Working Together. New York: Harper Collins
Publishers, Inc., 2001.
Cave, Andrew. “Microsoft and Sun Settle Java Battle.” The Daily Telegraph [London]. 25 Jan. 2001: 36.
A WEB SITE MUST!
You can do a search for “MLA OWL PERDUE”
Or type in this address:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu.owl/resource/557/01/
This site will give you all the information for citations, formatting, etc. that you will need! It has
drop down menus and some examples of the kinds of MLA information most students would
need. Don’t guess at MLA! Look it up to save yourself the challenges of a plagiarism charge!
And of course:
http://www.easybib.com/
For the web site to create you works cited page and keep track of your sources.
The Purpose of the Modern Language Association (MLA) Style
The MLA style is designed to provide writers the tools for research in a manner that
recognizes the customs of the larger publishing community and the rigor of scrupulous
scholarship and accurate documentation and recording of research. The system attempts to guard
against plagiarism in an age of mass publication and electronic research. It is a system that has
evolved since the first edition in 1951. The sixth edition (2003) provides modern writers with the
format and techniques that assure quality writing in the new century (Gibaldi xv-xvi).
Teacher Book Resources for MLA Style and Format Rules
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers: Sixth
Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of
America, 2003.
This is the ‘bible’of MLA style and provides information for every
kind of source and documentation question.
Trimmer, Joseph F. A Guide to MLA Documentation with an Appendix
on APA Style: Sixth Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,
2004.
This 46 page pamphlet is a good student resource and includes the
kinds of format changes to meet APA requirements. Includes a
sample student research paper.
“Using And Documenting Sources.” The Bedford Reader:Ninth Edition.
X.J. Kennedy, et al. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. 49-72.
Another brief MLA formatting guide with a student sample.
MLA Quiz:
True or false? Use a “T” or an “F” to show True or False on the lines before each statement! Be careful!
_______ The title of an MLA paper is centered, underlined and bold printed in the center of page 1.
_______ In MLA documents EVERYTHING is double-spaced!
_______ Plagiarism results when a writer fails to cite his/her sources properly.
_______ A Works Cited Page is not necessary if we cite sources in our papers.
_______ et. al. means: “eat it all up!”
_______ Ed. or ed. is a nickname used in citation for someone whose name is “Edward” or “Eduardo.”
_______ In a citation we put a comma after the author’s first name and the page number.
_______ Works Cited pages are ordered by the alphabetical listing of authors and/or editors by last names.
_______ M.L.A. = Modern Language Association.
_______ As long as we cite information at the end of a paragraph we have not committed plagiarism.
_______ Electronic (Internet, Web Site Pages, etc.) do not have to be cited or listed on a Works Cited Page.
_______ If there are only two authors for a book, on the Works Cited page we simply drop the second
author’s name and print, et. al.
_______ The sentence punctuation is always placed BEFORE the citation in a MLA paper.
_______ Quotations are put before and after the title of an article, poem or short story in a Works Cited Entry.
_______ Pagination is not used on the Works Cited Page..
_______ On a Works Cited page we add page numbers for novels.
_______ If we push the TAB button on a keyboard the system will INDENT 5 spaces automatically.
_______ If we DOUBLE INDENT we simply hit the TAB button 4 times.
_______ A title page can be required for MLA reports or essays and replaces the first page header.
_______ Works Cited note cards provide the writer with information needed for citation and for the Works
Cited Page.
________ (Smith ,17). is the correct citation for a quote on page 17 from a book by Jim Smith .
________ At the end of every Works Cited entry we put a semi-colon.
________ Plagiarism is a violation of the school honor code and can result in disciplinary action and
failure on a project!
________ An author’s ideas never require citing! Only direct quotes do!
Source Card:
ROGACOM
Topic: Henri Nouwen
Source A
_____________________________________________________________________
Author:
Aitcheson, Arch.
Title:
Reflections of Grace: A Celebration of Ministry.
City of Pub
Elon, NC:
Pub Company
PIP Publishing,
Date (most recent) 2001.
Works Cited Page Entry:
Aitcheson, Arch. Reflections of Grace: A Celebration of Ministry. Elon, NC: PIP
Publishing. 2001.
Note Card
ROGACOM
Topic: Henri Nouwen
Note A-1
___________________________________________________________________
Idea/Topic
Character
Quote/Paraphrase
“A quiet priest, deep in prayer,
Hungering for Love’s assurance,
Thirsting for affirmation and truth,
Blessing lives touched by his gentle
Wisdom.
Citation: (Aitcheson 20).
Page No.
20
Source ID:________
Topic: _________________________
Note A-1
___________________________________________________________________
Idea/Topic
Quote/Paraphrase
Page No.
Source ID:________
Topic: _________________________
Note A-1
___________________________________________________________________
Idea/Topic
Quote/Paraphrase
Page No.