MLA Header & Pagination, Body Text, Citations, Works Cited, Source & Note Cards
Font
Set up computer for Times New Roman Font and Font size 12.
This can be done on the menu bar at the top of the page, or in the Format drop-down menu at the top of the screen.
Margin settings
Margins should be in place if factory settings for the Word program have not been altered, except some versions of Word now sets left and right margins at 1.25 inches instead of 1 inch. Go to Page Setup under the File drop-down menu and make sure the left and right margins are 1.00 inch.
Line Spacing
Go to the Format Menu at the top of the screen, click on it and click on Paragraph. In the spacing section of the new screen look for the Line Spacing drop down menu on the right. Click on the drop down menu and click on “double.” Then click OK to close the screen.
Page Numbers/Name (Pagination)
Go to the View Menu at the top of the screen, click on it, and then click on Header and Footer. Two things will happen: A screen will open with a dotted line box at the top of the page, and a menu bar labeled Header and Footer will open a few inches down from the top.
In the dotted line box, Type your last name only, then hit the space bar once, and then look at the menu bar for the icon with the number sign on it (#) and click that icon. Now highlight your name and the number that has been inserted and make them both right justified, by clicking the Align Right button on the menu bar at the top of the page. Now click Close. Every page will now have your last name and the correct page number automatically printed on it. Your name and page number will show on the screen as gray letters in the upper right corner of each page.
MLA Formal Header
After pagination is in place on page 1, hit ENTER and begin the first line of the MLA formal header on the far left of the page.
(Note: this header is only to be completed for the first page of the document! Do not make it a programmed every page header!) The header should look as follows:
Abigail Cranston Smith (Student’s FULL name)
Mr. Aitcheson (teacher’s/professor’s name)
Themes in American Literature Period 6 (class & section)
27 October 2009 (date: day month year-no punctuation!)
· Example: First page with Header:
The body/text of the MLA essay or research paper.
· All paragraphs are indented (Hit tab key once!)
· Everything is kept in the Double Space format.
· All ideas, quotes or paraphrases from a source other than the student’s MUST be cited using parenthetical citation formats.
§ (Miller 948).
§ (Steinbeck 722).
§ (Gore 21).
§ (“Satire Defined” 1).
NOTE: The sentence punctuation follows the citation!
§ Example of a page entry
· Long Quotes (over four typed lines) must be double indented for the beginning of the quote and then single indented for following lines. Example:
Works Cited Page
· Set up the Computer for Times New Roman Font size 12 point.
· Click on the Format tab on the toolbar and scroll down to paragraph. Locate the line spacing drop down menu. Click on the double notation.
· Paginate the Works Cited section as a continuation (last page) of the document (Student last name followed by the number of the page).
· Title the page – Works Cited – in the 12 point font. Center the title on the page.
· Hit the return button only once and begin typing in the work cited (bibliographical) information from your works cited (bibliography) cards.
· Observe the basic formatting rules of MLA for each type of entry. Listings are arranged alphabetically by the first letter of the author’s last name or the first letter in the first word of a title when there is no author. NOTE: NO numbering!
See EXAMPLE on next page:
A WEB SITE MUST!
You can do a search for “MLA OWL PERDUE”
Or type in this address:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu.owl/resource/557/01/
This site will give you all the information for citations, formatting, etc. that you will need! It has drop down menus and some examples of the kinds of MLA information most students would need. Don’t guess at MLA! Look it up to save yourself the challenges of a plagiarism charge!
And of course:
http://www.easybib.com/
For the web site to create you works cited page and keep track of your sources.
The Purpose of the Modern Language Association (MLA) Style
The MLA style is designed to provide writers the tools for research in a manner that recognizes the customs of the larger publishing community and the rigor of scrupulous scholarship and accurate documentation and recording of research. The system attempts to guard against plagiarism in an age of mass publication and electronic research. It is a system that has evolved since the first edition in 1951. The sixth edition (2003) provides modern writers with the format and techniques that assure quality writing in the new century (Gibaldi xv-xvi).
Teacher Book Resources for MLA Style and Format Rules
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers: Sixth
Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of
America, 2003.
This is the ‘bible’of MLA style and provides information for every
kind of source and documentation question.
Trimmer, Joseph F. A Guide to MLA Documentation with an Appendix
on APA Style: Sixth Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,
2004.
This 46 page pamphlet is a good student resource and includes the
kinds of format changes to meet APA requirements. Includes a
sample student research paper.
“Using And Documenting Sources.” The Bedford Reader:Ninth Edition.
X.J. Kennedy, et al. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. 49-72.
Another brief MLA formatting guide with a student sample.
MLA Quiz:
True or false? Use a “T” or an “F” to show True or False on the lines before each statement! Be careful!
______The title of an MLA paper is centered, underlined and bold printed in the center of page 1.
______In MLA documents EVERYTHING is double-spaced!
______Plagiarism results when a writer fails to cite his/her sources properly.
______A Works Cited Page is not necessary if we cite sources in our papers.
______et. al. means: “eat it all up!”
______Ed. or ed. is a nickname used in citation for someone whose name is “Edward” or “Eduardo.”
______In a citation we put a comma after the author’s first name and the page number.
______Works Cited pages are ordered by the alphabetical listing of authors and/or editors by last names.
______M.L.A. = Modern Language Association.
______As long as we cite information at the end of a paragraph we have not committed plagiarism.
______Electronic (Internet, Web Site Pages, etc.) do not have to be cited or listed on a Works Cited Page.
______If there are only two authors for a book, on the Works Cited page we simply drop the second
author’s name and print, et. al.
______The sentence punctuation is always placed BEFORE the citation in a MLA paper.
______Quotations are put before and after the title of an article, poem or short story in a Works Cited Entry.
______Pagination is not used on the Works Cited Page..
______On a Works Cited page we add page numbers for novels.
______If we push the TAB button on a keyboard the system will INDENT 5 spaces automatically.
______If we DOUBLE INDENT we simply hit the TAB button 4 times.
______A title page can be required for MLA reports or essays and replaces the first page header.
______Works Cited note cards provide the writer with information needed for citation and for the Works
Cited Page.
______(Smith ,17). is the correct citation for a quote on page 17 from a book by Jim Smith .
______At the end of every Works Cited entry we put a semi-colon.
______Plagiarism is a violation of the school honor code and can result in disciplinary action and
failure on a project!
______An author’s ideas never require citing! Only direct quotes do!
Source Card:
Note Card