1	MLA Formatting Mr. Parkins
2	General Format MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages. Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental un-credited use of source material by other writers.
3	Formatting Guidelines 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 a legible font like Times New Roman. Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides. Indent the first line of a paragraph one half-inch (five spaces or press tab once) from the left margin. Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: I am asking you to omit the number on your first page.) Use either italics or underlining throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
4	Formatting the First Page of Your Paper Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested. In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text. Double space again and center the title. Don't underline your title or put it in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case, not in all capital letters. Use quotation marks and underlining or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text, e.g., Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking" Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
5	Basic In-Text Citation Rules In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what's known as parenthetical citation. Immediately following a quotation from a source or a paraphrase of a source's ideas, you place the author's name followed by a space and the relevant page number(s). Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3). When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work, or italicize or underline it if it's a longer work. Your in-text citation will correspond with an entry in your Works Cited page, which, for the Burke citation above, will look something like this: Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: U of California P, 1966. We'll learn how to make a Works Cited page in a bit, but right now it's important to know that parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.
6	Anonymous Work/Author Unknown
7	Citing Authors with Same Last Names
8	Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author
9	Citing Indirect Sources
10	Citing the Bible
11	Works Cited Page: Basic Format 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 page number header as the rest of your paper. Label the page Works Cited (do not underline the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page. Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries. List page numbers of sources efficiently, when needed. If you refer to a journal article that appeared on pages 225 through 250, list the page numbers on your Works Cited page as 225-50. If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in print form but that you retrieved from an online database, you should provide enough information so that the reader can locate the article either in its original print form or retrieve it from the online database (if they have access).
12	Works Cited Page: Formatting Continued
13	Works Cited Page: Formatting Continued
14	Citation is a Formula Just like math, once you know the formula you can cite any source.
15	Specific Sources For Books: Author (s), Title (and subtitle), and publication information; city of publication, name of the publisher, and the date of publication. (If the book you found is in a series of books, you need to have the edition or volume number) For Periodicals: Author (s), Title (and subtitle), Title of Periodical, publication information; Volume number and issue number, Date of issue, and page numbers on which article appears.
16	Specific Sources (continued) For Electronic Sources: Author (s), Title (and subtitle), publication data (if source is also published in print), Electronic publication data; date of release, name and vendor (or publisher) of a database or name of an online service or network (American Online, etc.), medium (CD-Rom, online, etc.), format of online source (e-mail, Web page, etc.), date you consulted the source, and complete electronic address. Example
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