MLA Formatting

When you write an essay for a class, you'll be asked to format it according to one of the accepted styles for academic writing. If you're one of my students, those styles include MLA, APA, and Turabian. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to focus on each of them. Since MLA is the more common style for English and Liberal Arts courses, I'll start with it. Once you grasp its requirements, you shouldn't have any problems with proper formatting.

The first question you may have, though, is why MLA?

Now that you understand the "why," let's move on to the "how."

Follow these slides as they direct you through user-friendly steps:

 

I've covered the basic in-text formatting, but you might have a source that is different than those mentioned. A good resource that addresses many different types of resources is Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL).

Now on to some general MLA formatting requirements:

I highly recommend that you set up an MLA template that pre-sets these requirements. Here's a guide through that set-up:

Your first page should look something like this (NOTE: Some assignments may also require a title page, but that should not take the place of this first page formatting):

Finally, you need to make certain your Works Cited list captures each source that you have referenced in your essay (whether you summarized, paraphrased, or quoted directly). Make certain it is formatted correctly!

Please note that you don't include the entire web address if your source was found online!

I know it seems complicated, but if you follow these steps, you should have no problem formatting your essays correctly ... which will make your English instructor very, very happy!

If APA is your required style, come back in a week or so, and I'll take it step-by-step.

Keep pen to paper!

Prof. Rinehart