Last Name 1

MLA INSTRUCTIONS!

Microsoft Word—Windows

Getting Started and Setting Margins and Font:

  1. Create a new file using Microsoft Word
  2. Select from the menu bar at top: File + Save As. Name your file and save it to the location desired.
  3. Select from the menu bar at top: Page Layout. Margins. Choose Normal, which should be 1” on all sides.
  4. Select from the menu bar at top: Home. Change font to Times New Roman size 12.

Putting Last Name and Page Number in Header:

  1. Select from the menu bar at top: Insert + Header. Choose the 1st option which is Blank.
  2. Press Ctrl+R to align the header to the right side of the page. Change font to Times New Roman size 12.
  3. Type your last name. Press the space bar a couple of times.
  4. Click on the Insert tab.
  5. Click on Page Number. Choose Current Position.
  6. Click Close on the Header Footer toolbar.

Setting Double Space:

  1. Select from the menu bar at top: Page Layout. Be sure the Spacing of Before andAfter is both set to 0 pt.
  2. Click on tiny arrow in the lower right hand corner of the Paragraph menu. Change the Line Spacingto Double and click OK.

Heading and Centered Title:

  1. Type your name, press Enter.
  2. Type your teacher’s name (Forrester), press Enter.
  3. Type your class name (Honors English 11), press Enter.
  4. Type the date the paper is due in military format (23 February 2015), press Enter.
  5. Select the Centering icon on the Home tab.
  6. Type your title, press Enter.
  7. Select the Left alignment icon on the Home tab.
  8. Indent your first paragraph and begin typing!! SAVE! SAVE! SAVE!

Hanging Indent on Works Cited Page

  1. Highlight one citation entry. Click on the tiny arrow in the Paragraph box.
  2. In the Indentation section, toggle Special to show Hanging.
  3. Click OK.
  4. Repeat for each entry.

First Name Last Name

Mrs. Forrester

Honors English 11

6 October 2014

Your Title Goes Here

This should begin your introductory paragraph. Make sure you indent for paragraphs. Notice the

font should be Times New Roman 12 and the paper is double spaced. Your introduction should begin

with an attention getter to interest the reader and it should continue in a general to specific structure.

The conclusion will be the opposite of the introduction, structured in a specific to general format.

You may want to include some background information on the author and the novel or the time period.

The goal of the information in the introduction is to lead into your thesis statement. Your approved

thesis statement, including the title and the author, will be the last sentence in your introductory

paragraph.

This will be the topic sentence for your first supporting paragraph. You will then continue to

follow the format of the Essay Planning Worksheet. Remember to incorporate your textual evidence

using proper MLA format for citations. Any material you “quote directly from the novel” (24) should

be punctuated by quotation marks. Even if you are summarizing or paraphrasing events of the novel,

you will still need to properly cite any information you are including from the text (113). This is a

formal paper, so abbreviations, contractions, and 1st or 2nd person pronouns are not allowed. Spell out

numbers one to ninety-nine. Remember to always write in the present tense: “Literature is Living.”

The Great Gatsby does include flashbacks, so you will use past tense if you incorporate those

flashbacks, but if you include events that happen in the summer of 1922, you will write in present

tense. The last sentence of each body paragraph will link to the next body paragraph and you will

repeat the process for each of your supporting paragraphs.