Senior Project: MLA
Formatting Guidelines
Feraco
SFHP + Myth/Sci-Fi
13 April 2009
Why Bother?



Formatting easily differentiates research from
original thought
Allows me to double-check your studies
Standardizes papers across classes, especially in
college



Different disciplines = different formats, so learn as
many as you can!
Demonstrates care and attention to detail
Looks attractive, polished, and finalized
The Basics






Submit via turnitin.com and hard copy
Turnitin Due Date: April 17th, 7:30am
2691158 and D1D1 for SFHP 2009
2691159 and H12H12 for Myth/Science Fiction 2009
Upload to “Senior Professional Project Paper”
MUST UPLOAD IN .DOC or .DOCX – NO EXCEPTIONS



If you don’t have Word, upload a properly-formatted copy of
your paper from school
E-mail yourself the text and build the file in my room or in the
library in advance – or go to a friend’s house
If you aren’t here on the 17th, make appropriate plans
to finish early
The Page Itself





This goes into the “Conventions” part of your
grade
Print your hard copies on white computer paper
with black ink!
Create a cover page that includes a creative title
for your research paper, your name, my name,
your period and subject, and the due date – you
may use color or images here
Times New Roman, 12-point font
Set your line-spacing to “Double” and your
spacing to 0 pt on both “Before” and “After”
The Page Itself II




Margins are 1” on all sides (the handouts I give
you have .7” on all sides)
Page numbers should be a header a half-inch
from the top in the upper-right hand corner, and
include your last name (“Feraco 1”)
You should only hit the space bar once after
each sentence. See? Not like this. And
definitely not like this. Boo.
Indent each paragraph by hitting “Tab” once
In-Text Citations


A parenthetical citation includes two parentheses, the
author’s last name, and the page number
When the quote acts as the last part of your sentence,
write the quote, follow it with the parenthetical, and
finish with the end mark.


When the quote lies in the middle of your sentence,
you still put the punctuation after your citation.


Orwell states that “everything is hopeless” (Orwell 6).
Orwell states that “everything is hopeless” (Orwell 6), but
Winston’s experiences in the Prole Quarter contradict him.
If you’re citing the same work twice in a row, you don’t
have to write the name again


In-Text Citations II
If you’re using multiple sources in the same sentence,
you may combine the parentheticals: (Orwell 6;
Fromm 315)
If there’s no obvious author, you may use a shortened
version of the work’s title instead of the author’s last
name



Do the same thing if you’re citing two works from the same
author
Use the first initial and last name of authors if you’re
citing different writers with the same last name: (M.
Feraco 17) (S. Feraco 23)
Italicize the titles of longer works, and place the titles
of songs, poems, films, articles, and other shorter
pieces in quotation marks.
In-Text Citations III




If you’re citing an Internet resource, it’s
probably a scholarly journal
If it is, the last name/page number still applies
If it’s not, use the author’s last name
If you’re citing a religious text, cite whatever is
appropriate – version, book, chapter, verse, etc.

Ezekiel saw "what seemed to be four living
creatures," each with faces of a man, a lion, an ox,
and an eagle (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezek. 1.5-10).
In-Text Citations IV




For quotes that are longer than three full lines
of your page, you’ll use a block quote
The entire block quote is indented one inch
(two Tabs) from the left margin, and is still
double-spaced
You don’t use quotation marks, and you put
your citation after the period
If you’re cutting words out of a quote
(especially in a block quote), use … (an ellipsis)
to show that you’ve made the change
Works Cited





You still have a page number on your separate
Works Cited page – although this does not
count towards your page limit
Center the title of the page on the first line
Double-space all citations here, and do not hit
“Enter” between citations
Indent the second and third lines of citations by
a half-inch (just like a paragraph)
Appropriately capitalize your titles (The Art of
War)
Works Cited II





An author’s name is listed Last, First Middle
When listing your citations, alphabetize them by
last name
If citing multiple works by the same author,
substitute three hyphens for the name the
second time
After writing the author’s name, place a period
after the name and the work’s title
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird.
Works Cited III

Books: Last, First. Title of Book. Place of
Publication: Publisher, Year Published. Print.
If more than one author, then the format includes:
Last, First and First Last.
 If more than two authors, then the format includes:
Last, First, et al.
 Corporations, firms, and foundations count as
authors


If you’re citing an article from a reference book,
the format is: “Article.” Name of Book.
Publication Date. Print.
Works Cited IV




Periodical: Author. “Title.” Title of Periodical
Date: Page Numbers. Publication Method.
Scholarly Journal: Author. “Title.” Title of
Periodical Volume.Issue (Date): Page Numbers.
Publication Method.
Website: Author. Name of Site. Date Posted.
Institution or Organization. Publication Method.
Date You Checked the Site.
Interview: Interviewee. Personal interview. Date
interviewed (in MLA format - ex. 2 April 2009)













Works Cited
"Business Coalition for Climate Action Doubles." Environmental Defense. 8 May 2007.
Environmental Defense Organization. 24 May 2007. Web.
Clinton, Bill. Interview. New York Times on the Web. May 2007. 25 May 2007. Keyword: Climate.
Web.
Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." New York Times on the Web 22
May 2007. Web. 25 May 2007.
Ebert, Roger. "An Inconvenient Truth." Rev. of An Inconvenient Truth, dir. Davis Guggenheim.
rogerebert.com. 2 June 2006. Web. 24 May 2007.
Global Warming. 2007. Cooler Heads Coalition. 24 May 2007. Web.
Gowdy, John. "Avoiding Self-organized Extinction: Toward a Co-evolutionary Economics of
Sustainability." International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 14.1
(2007): 27-36. Print.
An Inconvenient Truth. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Perf. Al Gore. Lawrence Bender, 2006. Film.
Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. New York:
Springer, 2005. Print.
Milken, Michael, Gary Becker, Myron Scholes, and Daniel Kahneman. "On Global Warming and
Financial Imbalances." New Perspectives Quarterly 23.4 (2006): 63. Print.
Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming."
American Economic Review 96.2 (2006): 31-34. Print.
- - -. "Global Warming Economics." Science 9 Nov. 2001: 1283-84. 24 May 2007. Print.
Shulte, Bret. "Putting a Price on Pollution; Climate change laws seem inevitable, but their
economic impact is unknown." US News & World Report 14 May 2007. 24 May 2007. Print.
Uzawa, Hirofumi. Economic Theory and Global Warming. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.
That’s It!



Go to Purdue’s Online Writing Lab if you have
any further questions – they are the authorities
on MLA formatting!
Notice, however, that some of their entries
haven’t been updated to comply with the MLA
2009 changes – so read things over carefully.
Good luck!