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MLA Format (Modern Language Association)

What is MLA format? All writing that requires outside sources to be cited (e.g., research papers, expository writing) needs to follow a writing format. A writing format standardizes the way information is organized on a page. All of us had a teacher who wanted all the tests folded down the center of the page. Then, numbered from one to twenty starting on the top line, followed by twenty-one to forty on the center fold. That format standardized all the test papers making them easier to correct. The Modern Language Association (MLA) designed one of the most popular formats (there are many).

The Steel Valley High School English Department will follow the MLA Format. The following information is from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

NOTE: Always check with your instructor. But for English classes at Steel Valley, MLA format will be used.

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Use white, twenty-pound, 81/2- by 11-inch paper. Erasable paper tends to smudge and should be avoided for a final draft. If you prefer to use erasable paper in the preparation of your paper, submit a good photocopy to your instructor.

Except for page numbers (see below), leave one-inch margins all around the text of your paper -- left side, right side, and top and bottom. Paragraphs should be indented half an inch (normally five spaces); set-off quotations should be indented an inch from the left margin (normally ten spaces).

 

All work is double-spaced including heading, quotations, and works cited page

 

No title page is needed. Starting at the top left on separate lines type your name, then the instructor's name, the course title, and date.

 

Harlan Smith

Dr. Simpson

English 10

23 April 2004

Double space after the heading and center your title on the page. The title is not underlined or in italics. Capitalize the first, last, and all important words of the title. If you use the title of another work in your title, put the other work's title in italics only -- not the whole title.

Example: Elements of Allegory in Animal Farm

Number your pages 1/2 inch from the top justified to the right (on the right margin). Insert your last name then the page number.

Example: Smith1

Number all pages including the first page and the works cited page.

Most word processing programs contain running headers which allow you to number pages automatically.

 

In general, most teachers would rather have a plain, stapled copy of a paper. Save your money.

 

A bibliography includes all the works you have actually cited in your work -- and only those cited -- and is located at the end of your paper. In MLA style, the preferred name for your bibliography is Works Cited. Citations are arranged alphabetically, by author, or by title if there is no author. The first line of each citation begins at the left margin and all additional lines of the citation are indented five spaces. Double space each entry; double space between entries.

Hyde, Margaret O., and Elizabeth Held Forsyth. Suicide:

The Hidden Epidemic. Rev. ed. New York: Watts, 1986.

Allen, Robert C. Ed. Channels of Discourse: Television

and Contemporary Criticism. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1987.

Encyclopedia of Photography. 1st ed.,

2 vols. New York: Crown, 1984.

Lazard, Naomi. "In Answer to Your Query." The Norton Book

of Light Verse. Ed. Russell Baker. New York: Norton, 1986. 52-53.

"Ginsberg, Ruth Bader." Who's Who in America. 48th ed. 1994.

Booth, Wayne C. "Kenneth Burke's Way of Knowing."

Critical Inquiry 1 (1974):1-22.

Walsh, John. "U.S. - Japan Study Aim is Education

Reform." Science 16 Jan. 1987: 274-75.

Schreiner, Tim. "Future is A) Dim or B) Bright (Pick One)."

Wall Street Journal 2 June 1983, Eastern ed.: 37.

"Drinkproofing Automobiles." Time 6 Apr. 1987: 37.

(include publication medium, vendor's name, date of electronic publication)

 

Angier, Natalie. "Chemists Learn Why Vegetables Are

Good for You." New York Times 13 Apr. 1993, late ed.: C1. New York Times Ondisc. CD-ROM. UMI-Proquest. Oct. 1993.

"U. S. Population by Age: Urban and Urbanized Areas."

1990 U. S. Census of Population and Housing. CD-ROM. US Bureau of the Census. 1990.

(include publication medium, name of computer service or network, date of access)

 

Guidelines for Family Television Viewing. Urbana:

ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Educ., 1990. ERIC. Online. Dialog. 22 Nov. 1993.

Lindsay, Robert K. "Electronic Journals of Proposed

Research." Ejournal 1.1 (1991): n. pag. Online. Internet. 10 Apr. 1991.

Hardy, Thomas. Far from the Madding Crowd. Ed. Ronald Blythe. Harmondsworth:

Penguin, 1978. Online. Oxford Text Archive. Internet. 24 Jan. 1994.

For additional help in citing electronic sources, see Online Citations

 

A sample research paper (with embedded commentary) is available.

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