MLA Format
Kelly Clifford
Freshmen English I
2012-2013
What is MLA?
• MLA stands for Modern Language Association
• Most common style for writing papers within
the libral arts & humanities (i.e., English) with
respect to:
– Formatting & page layout
– Stylistic technicalities (quotations, abbreviations)
– Citing secondary sources
– Creating the Works Cited page
MLA—Why do we need it?
• MLA makes it easy for your reader to navigate
your paper/essay because a universal format
is used. MLA standards allows YOU to:
– Give readers structure so they can follow your
ideas and topics
– Keep your reader’s attention by not distracting
them with unfamiliar formatting
– Maintain “neatness in your paper”
– Organize secondary sources & prevent plagiarism
– Present sources for follow-up
Basic Guidelines
Font: Times New Roman (preferred), Arial, Calibri
Font Size: 12 point (always)
Margins: 1” on all four sides
Title: center of paper
Spacing: Double space throughout body of paper
Page number: beginning on page 1, upper right hand
corner followed by last name
Title of books: italicized always
Paragraph: press TAB button to indent first line of each
paragraph by .5”
Title pages are forbidden
Formatting/Setting up first page
• On the upper left hand corner of the page type:
–
–
–
–
Student’s name
Teacher’s name
Course name (Eng 9)
Date
*One space between each line
*Do not stray from this order. 5 points will be deducted
off your grade!
Title of Document
• After setting up the first four lines on the upper
left hand side of your paper, press enter twice
and press the center align button
• Type the title of your paper
– No bold
– No underline
– No larger fonts
Press enter twice and tab once to begin typing first
paragraph
Your first page
1”
Name, Teacher,
Class & Date
Page # & last name
title
Indent 1st line
1”
1”
1”
Last sentence is thesis
In-text citations
When citing sources in the text using MLA style, the Purdue University Online
Writing Lab (OWL) notes that you must employ the author/page number
format. In cases where an author exists for your source, you will cite it in
one of the following ways: using the author's name as part of a sentence
or enclosing the full citation in parenthesis at the end of a sentence. For
example, "Jones contends that 73 percent of athletes doped prior to the
event (15). Athletes reported improved recovery time 22 percent of the
time (Jones 43)." Here, the page numbers are 15 and 43.
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/
747/02/
Works Cited Page
Anderson, J. "Keats in Harlem." New Republic 204.14 (8 Apr. 1991): n. pag. Online. EBSCO. 29 Dec.
1996.
Angier, Natalie. "Chemists Learn Why Vegetables are Good for You." New York Times 13 Apr.
1993, late ed.: C1. New York Times Ondisc. CD-ROM. UMI-Proquest. Oct. 1993.
Burka, Lauren P. "A Hypertext History of Multi-User Dimensions." MUD History. URL:
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/lpb/mud-history.html (5 Dec. 1994).
Creation vs. Evolution: "Battle of the Classroom." Videocassette. Dir. Ryall Wilson, PBS Video,
1982. (MLA) 58 min.
Darling, Charles. "The Decadence: The 1890s." Humanities Division Lecture Series. Capital
Community College, Hartford. 12 Sept. 1996.
Feinberg, Joe. "Freedom and Behavior Control." Encyclopedia of Bio-ethics, I, 93-101. (MLA) New
York: Free Press, 1992.
Hennessy, Margot C. "Listening to the Secret Mother: Reading J.E. Wideman's Brothers and
Keepers." American Women's Autobiography: Fea(s)ts of Memory. Ed. Margo Culley.
Madison, WI: U. Wisconsin P, 1992. 302-314.
Plagiarism
• Defining Plagiarism:
• “Plagiarism is the deliberate or negligent,
copying of words, ideas and/or thoughts in
whole, or in part, of another and then passing
them off as original thought.”
Plagiarism
• The strength of the department depends on
academic and personal integrity. In this
course, you must be honest and truthful.
• Plagiarism is the use of someone else's work,
words, or ideas as if they were your own.
Plagiarism
• Here are three reasons not to do it:
• By far the deepest consequence to plagiarizing
is the detriment to your intellectual and moral
development: you won’t learn anything, and
your ethics will be corrupted.
Plagiarism
• Giving credit where it’s due but adding your
own reflection will get you higher grades than
putting your name on someone else’s work. In
an academic context, it counts more to show
your ideas in conversation than to try to copy
another’s ideas.