MLA format

 ESSAY/PAGE FORMAT GUIDELINES (MLA)​​​     ​​​​​​​​​​​​Your Last Name 1

(Double space and left align all thisinformation.)

 

 

 

 

 

Your Name

 

 

(Center the title and capitalize all the major words.  Do not underline your title.  You do not need a title page.)

 

My Name

 

Course Name and #

 

Date

 

Title of Your Essay

Each essay you write for this class and others needs to be neatly formatted. Indent each new paragraph using the “Tab”key.  Your document should be double spaced and 12 pointfont.  Please use Times New Roman font.  Make sure you have standard margins—one inch on the top, bottom and sides.  Do NOT add extra space between paragraphs; it should ALL be double-spaced.  A well-formatted essay looks good and makes it easier to read.

If you are including quotations in your essay, make sure to punctuate them with quotation marks and provide an in-text citation.  Here is an example: Fowler admits “Facebook is possibly the greatest and entertaining time waster disguising itself as a unifying college community, since study groups” (94).  The quotation marks let the reader know that these are not your words, and the page number in parenthesis tell the reader where they can find these words.  We’ll be going over this in more depth soon!

Before you print out your final draft, always read it one more time to check for mistakes and to make sure the format is correct.  Always save your work, and make sure you save ALL your work from the quarter, as you will need it for the portfolio.  If you use a computer at school or a friend’s save it on a flash drive and email it to yourself.  When you turn it in, it should feel like a finished piece of writing of which you feel proud! 

MLA Checklist

• Is the heading in the upper left-hand corner of the first page? 

• Does the heading include the following information in this order:

• Your name

• Your Instructor's name

• The course name

• The date formatted correctly:  Day Month Year  21September 2018

• Does the paper have an original title (other than something like "Final Paper" or a novel title, or someone else’s work)? 

• Is the title presented without being bolded, italicized, or placed in quotation marks?

• Is the title correctly capitalized?

• Does the paper have 1" margins on all sides? 

• Is the text justified to the left-hand side, with a 1” tab at the start of each paragraph?

• Is the paper written in Times New Roman and in 12-pt. Font?

• Is the entire paper double-spaced (including any notes and the works cited page)? Make sure to eliminate any extra spaces that are set to automatically appear when you hit enter. Make sure you don’t have any extra spaces between paragraphs. Set “Before” and “After” spacing to “0.”

• Is your header correctly done? Are your last name and the page number in the upper right-hand corner of each page (0.5" from the top, or inserted using the "header" function in Word)? Is it in written in TNR 12?

• If you've used ANY sources, do you have a works cited page? Is it titled "Works Cited" (without the quotation marks)? Does it have a page number (that follows the last page of your paper) and your last name?

• Does your works cited page conform to MLA format?

• Are the entries in your list of works cited in alphabetical order by the author's last name or other initial entry word(s)?

• Does each source have an entry on the works cited page?

• Have you italicized “containers” (novels, screenplays, journals, films, webpages)?

• Have you enclosed smaller pieces (articles, chapters, songs, poems) in quotation marks?

• Have you eliminated hyperlinks?

• Are your in-text references done correctly?

• Are all direct quotes in quotation marks?

• Do all paraphrases and summaries clearly indicate that they come from other sources?

• Does each in-text reference include a parenthetical citation that includes the author’s last name (unless the reference is obvious from the context of the sentence) and the page number from which the information was taken?

• If a quotation is 4 lines or more, is it block-quoted? (i.e. double-spaced, indented 1 inch from the left margin)

• Have you formatted dialogue from a film or play correctly?

• Have you clearly indicated where you found all outside information?