MLA FormatFreshman CompositionAndover High School

What is MLA?

•MLA: Modern Language Association• Responsible for setting writing and

formatting convention in English and the humanities

Formatting Your Paper

•Header•Heading•Title•Spacing•Misc.

Header vs. Heading

Header

• Very top of the page• Repeats on every page• Right hand side• Last name, followed by

page number• Ex) Simpson 1

Heading

• Underneath the header• Only on first page• Left hand side• Your name, followed by

teacher’s name, followed by course name, followed by date• Ex) Jessica Simspon

Ms. Smith Freshman Composition 1/30/14

Header How To (Step 1)

• Open a blank word document.• At the top of the screen go to “View” and

then select “Header and Footer”

Header How To (Step 2)

• Justify your alignment to the right• Click in the header• Type your last name• Hit “Close”

Right alignment

Last nameClose

Header How To (Step 3)

• At the top of the screen, click “Insert” then select “Page Number”

Header How To (Step 4)• Once you’ve selected “Page Number” a box will appear. • Using the options, select that you want your page numbers at

the TOP of the page and on the RIGHT hand side.

Header How To (Step 5)• Clicking “Okay” on the previous box will insert the page

numbers. Your header will now look like this:• It will automatically repeat on all subsequent pages

Heading How To (Step 1)• After you’ve completed the header, click anywhere in the body

of the paper.• Change your text alignment to “align left”

Heading How To (Step 2)• Change your spacing to 2.0 (double)

Heading How To (Step 3)• Begin typing the

heading.• Only hit the “return” or

“enter” key ONCE between each line

• Format is as follows:• Your Name• Your Teacher’s Name• Class/Course Name• Date

Creating a Title• Every paper needs a creative and unique title• After writing the heading, hit the “return” or “enter” key ONCE• Center align your text • DO NOT use bold, underline, or italics, or “quotes” for your

own title• You must use proper formatting when referencing another

work in your title:• Ex) A Tale of Two Citites: Best of Times or Worst of Times?• In this case the title of the published text would be italicized and

the rest of your title would not be

Proper heading with no extra space beneath

Title

Spacing and Misc.• Remember: Spacing should be double spaced ALWAYS. No

exceptions. • You only need ONE space after a period or other piece of

punctuation.• You only need to hit “return” or “enter” ONCE between paragraphs

or lines as long as you are formatted with double spacing.• Margins on the tops and sides of the page should be 1inch. I will

know if they’re not.• Your font should only be size 12• Your paper should only be in one of the following fonts:• Times New Roman• Arial• Cambria• Calibri

Formatting Titles: When do I…?

• Use the “shelf-rule” or “Barnes and Noble rule”: If you can walk into Barnes and Noble and pick it up off the shelf in it’s full form, it gets either underlined or italicized• Rule of Thumb: Pick one and stick with it for the duration of your

paper. For typed works italics are required, but when you write by hand you can underline.

• If you cannot pick it up off the shelf, it goes in “quotes.”

Examples

Formatting Titles: When do I…?

Underline or Italicize• Books• To Kill a Mockingbird

• CDs, Albums• ARTPop

• Movies• Pulp Fiction

• Television Shows• Modern Family

• Newspaper titles• The New York Times

• Magazine titles• Seventeen

Use Quotation Marks

• Poems• “Annabelle Lee”

• Song titles• “Applause”

• Episode titles of a TV show• “Three Dinners”

• Article, chapter, or essay titles• “How to get flawless skin”

Works Cited

•When you are referencing or quoting other works for a paper you need to cite them in a list at the end of the paper.• This page also has to be in MLA format. •More on this at a later date!