1. MLA Formatting
Where details matter

2. Your finished paper will
look very similar to this
one.
(Only in appearance. If you read
this sample, which I don’t
recommend, you will see it full
of errors)

3. Notice the heading
• Left aligned
• Double spaced
• The date is Day Month Year

4. Notice the title:
• It is centered
• The words are capitalized
(but not every letter)
• It is not bold, large,
underlined, italicized.
• Other than being centered
and capitalized, there is
nothing special about it.

5. Look at the header (not to be
confused with the heading):
• It shows the last name
(space) and page number
• The number is just a digit, it
does not say “page”
• It looks light grey now but it
will print black
• It is only ½ inch from the top
• You must insert this a special
way.

6. 1. Go to insert
2. Go to Page #

7. 3. Go to “Top of Page”
4. Choose “Plain Number 3”
which shows the number on the
top right.

8. 5. Double click next to the page
number in order to type

9. 5. Double click next to the page
number in order to type
6. Type your last name next to
the number, leaving a space
between name and number.
Now, your page number will
automatically change, but the
name will stay the same on
every page.

10. 5. Double click next to the page
number in order to type
6. Type your last name next to
the number, leaving a space
between name and number.
Now, your page number will
automatically change, but the
name will stay the same on
every page.
If you try to type your header
without following these steps,
your placement and page
nember will be off.

11. Notice that
everything is
double spaced.
John Smith to
the last line.

12. There are no extra
spaces from the
heading to the title,
or from the title to
the first sentence.
There are no extra
spaces between
paragraphs.

13. You must
double space
using the
proper
formatting
button. If you
press enter to
manually, you
will mess up
your formatting.

14. The trick to double
spacing is in that button
right there.
If you don’t know why
you get extra spaces
every time you press
enter…

15. The trick to double
spacing is in that button
right there.
If you don’t know why
you get extra spaces
every time you press
enter…
This is why

16. Look at the font
• Everything is 12pt font.
• Everything is Times New
Roman
• “Everything” includes the
heading and title.

17. Finally, if you quote a source in
your paper, you must cite it to
MLA specifications.
After the quote, you will need to put
the author’s last name and the page
number in parentheses.
If you are quoting a poem, you put
the line number in parentheses.
Note: If you use the author’s name
to introduce your quote, you will
only need the page number (as this
writer has done).
The most important thing to
remember is that the citation comes
after the quotation but before the
period (and you don’t spell out
“Page”)
For more particulars, see the
“Embedded Quotes” notes.

18. Now you have the basics
You will see that there are many particulars to deal
with when following MLA. It is a good idea to own an
MLA handbook before starting college. You can also
search for answers to your questions online, but be
sure your source is credible. Here are a couple
websites you can trust:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/mla