MLA Template



This is the Cover Page

Paper Title Goes One-Third of the Way Down the Paper in Initial Caps, Using Heading 1 Style: If the Title Goes on to Two Lines or Has a Subtitle, Continue with the Heading 1 Style as Shown in this Example (Subtitles Are Set Off with a Colon)

[Your first and last name may be centered here instead of at the bottom]

Your first name and surname

URL if paper is stored on an e-portfolio

Your instructor’s name

Course title

16 July 2006 (needs to be due date)

Write your text here (first line of paragraph indented by half an inch, text formatted as 12pt Times New Roman, double-spaced). Formatting styles are found in the Style pull-down box in the upper left-hand corner of the standard toolbar. Use the Normal style with this template to achieve an indented, double-spaced body text with 1-inch borders.

Using subheaders helps organize your paper and make it more readable. If you have first- and second-level subheaders, they should use the format as follows.

First-level subheaders are indented and underscored, with only an initial cap

To create a first-level subheader, type the header as you wish it to read, highlight it, and select the Heading 2 style. Hit [enter] to begin typing the body in Normal (indented, double-spaced) style. Note that the first-level subheader has an additional half space above it.

A second-level subheader is indented and underscored, with an initial cap, followed by a period. Type the second-level subheader as you wish it to read, highlight it, and then select the Heading 3 style from this template. Do not hit [enter] to begin the text. Make sure there is a period after the second subheader (but be careful it isn’t underscored) and then just continue typing the text of your body using the Normal style.

There are many ways that MLA citations may appear in text. If you are quoting something, use quotation marks followed by a parenthetical element (author page). Pay close attention to punctuation around the quotation marks and the parenthetical citation. Much of the time, the period or comma goes after the parenthetical, even though the quotation marks close before it. Here is an example: “Attention to detail is the mark of the careful writer” (Bianco 17).

This is what a block quotation should look like (formatted as 12pt Times New Roman, double spaced, indented one inch).

To use this style, select the Block quotation style. Note that block quotes are appropriate only for quotations longer than four lines in your text. For shorter quotations, use in-line quotation. The block quote does not use quotation marks. Also note that the parenthetical is handled differently; in the case of a block quote, the period goes before the parenthetical. (Bianco 25)

Continue on with the Normal style after a block quote.

Your page header should include your surname as well as the pagination. In order to insert it, you will have to work in page layout view. Select View Header and Footer. In this template, you may modify the header easily by double-clicking on it and changing the name to your last name.

The Works Cited page. The Works Cited page is on a separate, numbered page at the end. Always hit ctrl-enter to create a page break before inserting your Works Cited page. It is very important to remember to use the Header 1 style for the title of the Works Cited page, because if you are still in “Normal style” mode, the Works Cited title will be difficult to get centered. You will need to consult an MLA citation style guide for punctuation of Works Cited entries; however, if you use the Reference style from this template, the entry will be spaced and indented appropriately. Remember that entries are in alphabetical order by author’s last name.

Works Cited

Eakin, Paul John. How Our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves. Ithaca and London: Cornell UP, 1999.

Fiske, John. “Popular Culture.” Critical Terms for Literary Study. Ed. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. 321 - 335.

Harrison, Claire. “Hypertext Links: Whither Thou Goest, and Why.” First Monday. 7 Oct. 2002. 10 Feb. 2004 .

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