This document provides guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA style. It discusses setting 1 inch margins and double spacing the text. The header should include the author's last name and page number. The heading lists the author's name, instructor, class, and date. In-text citations include the author's last name and page number in parentheses. Long quotes of more than 4 lines are indented without quotation marks. The Works Cited page lists references alphabetically with author's last name, book or article title, publisher, date, and medium in a specific format.

1. MLA Format
What to do and what
not to do.

2. General Format
• Paper must be typed on standard white paper.
• Text of paper must be double-spaced, including the
heading.
• Margins are set at 1 inch for left, right, top, and bottom
(older versions of Microsoft Word will set the margins at
1.25 inches for left and right – go in and reset
manually).
• There must be a header on the right side that has the
writer’s last name and the page number.

4. Heading and Title
Name 1
Stephen Drew
Mrs. Wishart
ENG 102.401
30 October 2011
Note: header to the right
This is the correct order for
information
The title of published stories
are in quotation marks, but
not the title of the paper
Edgar Allen Poe’s Manipulations in “The Cask of Amontillado”
and “The Tell-Tale Heart”
Edgar Allen Poe is renowned for his spooky tales and haunting plotlines. One of
the reasons that his stories work so well is the manner in which Poe layers
manipulation into his tales. Throughout his works, including “The Cask of

5. In-Text Citations
MLA uses parenthetical citation (information about
the source inside parentheses).
IF USING ONE BOOK FOR YOUR PAPER:
“…sleep of the innocent.” (p.97)
IF USING MULTIPLE BOOKS:
“…72% of students were affected.” (Jones, 2001)

6. Remember!
Work the citation into a sentence that contains
some of your own words. Quotations should be
integrated, not just dropped into the paper.
Example: Romantic poetry is characterized by
the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”
(Wordsworth, p263).

7. Make Your Life Easier
• For the purposes of this research paper, make sure that
there is an author for all sources. If no author is listed
and you want to use the source, see your instructor for
assistance.
• The lack of an author most often occurs when using an
Internet source.
• Avoid using any Internet source with an address
ending in “.com” unless approved by your
instructor.

8. Methods of Parenthetical Citation
• The following are examples from Purdue OWL: MLA
Format:
• According to some, dreams express “profound aspects of
personality” (Foulkes, p184), though others disagree.
• According to Foulkes’s study, dreams may express
“profound aspects of personality” (184).
• Is it possible that dreams may express “profound aspects
of personality” (Foulkes 184)?

9. Quotes of More than Four Lines
 You may use only 1 or 2 such quotes in your research paper. The
paper should be mainly your thoughts.
Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him when she says:
They entirely refused to have in bed with them, or even in their room, and
I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone in the morrow.
By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept into Mr.
Earnshaw’s door, and there he found it on his quitting chamber. Inquiries
were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense
for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)
Note placement of period with quote, lack of quotation marks, and lack of punctuation after the
parenthesis.

10. Citing Internet Sources
 You do not need to give paragraph numbers or page
numbers based on your print preview.
 Do not list the URL address within the text of
the paper. Instead, list the author of the source.

11. Works Cited
• Begins on a separate page and is labeled Words Cited (no italics or
quotation marks).
• Double space, but do not skip spaces between entries.
• Indent the second and subsequent lines five spaces.
• List page numbers only when needed.
• Determine the Medium of Publication. Most will be print or web
sources.
Basic Format: Last name, First name. Title of Book. Place of Publication:
Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
Work from an Anthology: Last name, First name. “Title of Story.” Title of
Anthology. Ed. Editor’s Name. Place of Publication, Publisher, Year.
Page range of entry. Medium.
Work from a web source: Last name, First name. Title of Source. Name of
Institution publishing the source. Date source was published. Web.
Date you viewed source on the web.

13. Assistance with Works Cited
 The Burlington County Media Center has a license for
“Noodle Tools.”
 This site will assist you in building a proper Works Cited
page.
 Another site that is helpful in building a Works Cited
page is “Easybib.”
 Use of these sites is not considered plagiarism; it is
considered an excellent use of resources available in the
information age.

14. Works Cited Sample
Aristotle. Poetics. Ed. S. H. Butcher. The Internet Classics
Archive. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sept.
2007. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide
to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.
Wysocki. Anne Frances. Writing New Media: Theory and
Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition.
Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2004. Print.

15. Exit Slip
• Write out this citation correctly:
• The Stranger by Albert Camus
• (here’s a hint: look at the copyright
page of the book)

16. The correct way
Camus, Albert. The Stranger.
New York: Random House,
1988. Print.
Author’s name. Title. City:
Name of Publisher, year
published. Medium

17. If you are still confused
www.easybib.com
www.citationmachine.net
www.bibme.org

18. Source Used for This PowerPoint
 The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010.
Web. April 4, 2013
(Editor, author, or compiler name (if
available). Name of Site. Name of
institution/organization affiliated with the
site (sponsor or publisher), date of
resource creation (if available). Medium
of publication. Date of access.