A complete explanation of Modern Language Association …
MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (MLA) FORMAT – Short Version
MLA format is required for all papers. A fully detailed listing of MLA format will also be posted on the course blog; the shorter version here covers just the basics. This will likely be all you need for the first several assignments, but you will need to refer to the longer version when using additional outside sources, such as in the library research paper.
Basic Format Rules for All Papers
• Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
• Double-space the text of your paper, and use Times New Roman font in 12 point.
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks.
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin.
• Put our last name and consecutive page numbers in an upper right-hand corner header.
• On the first page only: in the upper left-hand corner put your name, the instructor's name, the course, and the date.
• Center the paper title (do not italicize or underline or put the title in quotes, unless the title of a book or essay or short story is included – then treat that title accordingly).
• Double space between the title and the first line of your first paragraph.
• Book titles are italicized, essay or short story titles are in quotes.
The two main things you need to know how to do in proper MLA format: the In-Text Citations and the Works Cited page:
In-Text Citation Basic Rules
In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your paper is done by placing relevant source information in parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase (yes, you must cite sources even if you paraphrase – that is, put in your own words – the ideas!).
The author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself (see first example below), or in parentheses following the quotation (second example below) or the paraphrase (third example below), but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence:
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
The citations in the three examples above tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth.
The reader now knows you’ve quoted from page 263 of a source by someone named Whitman, but if they want to know more information about who it is and where the source is from, they would would turn to your separate Works Cited page, located at the end of your paper, where, in an alphabetical listing and under the name of Wordsworth they would find the full source information.
Works Cited Page Basic Rules
• Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch margins and last name/page number header as the rest of your paper.
• Label the page Works Cited (don’t italicize the words or use quotation marks) and center at the top of the page.
• Alphabetize and double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries. Do not number the citations.
• Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations.
The rules for how to format a listing in the Works Cited page differ based on whether your source is a book, newpaper, journal, film, internet source, etc. Below are the formats for how to list in a Works Cited list an essay or chapter from a longer work (such as our literacy narratives readings) and how to list a journal article (such as our critical essay readings). You will need to refer to the longer MLA document to find the proper format if you are using other types of sources (which you will when you are doing the research paper).
Book (general format, followed by a specific example):
Author last name, author first name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of publication.
Rose, Mike. Lives on the Boundary. New York: Penguin Books, 1989. 39-65. Print.
Article from a Scholarly Journal (general format, followed by a specific example):
Author last name, author first name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Date of publication): pages. Medium of publication.
Soliday, Mary. “Translating Self and Difference Through Literacy Narratives.” College English 56.5 (Sept. 1994): 511-526. Print.
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