MLA Formatting
 

Set up essays using Microsoft Word 2007


Double Spacing

1.      Click on bottom right corner arrow of “Paragraph” under “Home”

2.      Change “Line Spacing” from multiple to double

3.      Change “Spacing After” from 10 pt to 0 pt

  1. 4.      Then hit OK


Header

1.      Click on “Insert” tab

2.      Click on “Page Number”

3.      Go to “Top of Page”

4.      Click on “Plain Page Number 3” (so page number is in the upper right hand corner)

5.      Then type in your last name followed by hitting the space bar once

6.      Then press the red X to close header and footer (in the upper right corner)

 

Heading

With cursor in the upper left hand corner type in: Your Name, hit enter, teacher name, hit enter, class name, hit enter, and date formatted like day month year (22 July 2008)

 

Title

Hit enter after the date of the header, then center align only type in a title (Do NOT bold, italicize, underline, change font type/size, etc)

 

Font Size

Highlight your heading and title and change the font to Times New Roman, 12 point font (keep this font for the entire essay)




Works Cited Information – MLA Formatting

 

Tips:

It is one page, its own page – the very last page of your paper

Works Cited is centered on the very first line

Sources are listed alphabetically by author’s last name or first word of title (A, A, The – do not count for alpha order)

Need an hanging indent – indent the second, third, etc. line

Double spaced

 

Go to www.easybib.com for help for the citations as listed below. This site will do the work for

you, all you have to do enter the information in.

 

PAY ATTENTION TO THE PUNCTUATION FOR EACH CITATION  -  this includes placement of periods, commas, quotes, underlines, etc.

 


MLA Quick Reference Guide – courtesy of the Purdue Online Writing Lab


An Article from an Online Database (FOR EBSCO)

Cite articles from online databases (e.g. LexisNexis, ProQuest, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, EBSCO) and other subscription services just as you would print sources. Since these articles usually come from periodicals, be sure to consult the appropriate sections of the Works Cited: Periodicals page, which you can access via its link at the bottom of this page. In addition to this information, provide the title of the database italicized, the medium of publication, and the date of access.

Note: Previous editions of the MLA Style Manual required information about the subscribing institution (name and location). This information is no longer required by MLA.

Junge, Wolfgang, and Nathan Nelson. “Nature's Rotary Electromotors.” Science 29 Apr. 2005: 642-44. Science Online. Web. 5 Mar. 2009.

Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal 50.1 (2007): 173-96. ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.

So a translation of the above: Author’s last name, first name. “title of article.” title of journal. date of issue (volume): page number. Database. Web. date found.


Article in a Magazine

Cite by listing the article's author, putting the title of the article in quotations marks, and italicizing the periodical title. Follow with the date of publication. Remember to abbreviate the month. The basic format is as follows:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.

Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping Mar. 2006: 143-48. Print.

Article in a Newspaper

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in a newspaper. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition following the date (e.g., 17 May 1987, late ed.).

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007: LZ01. Print.

Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times 21 May 2007 late ed.: A1. Print.

If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name and state in brackets after the title of the newspaper.

Behre, Robert. "Presidential Hopefuls Get Final Crack at Core of S.C. Democrats." Post and Courier [Charleston, SC] 29 Apr. 2007: A11. Print.

Trembacki, Paul. "Brees Hopes to Win Heisman for Team." Purdue Exponent [West Lafayette, IN] 5 Dec. 2000: 20. Print.

Basic Book Format

The first-give author’s name or a book with a single author's name appears in last name, first name format. The basic form for a book citation is:

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Book with One Author

Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print.


Book with More Than One Author

The first given name appears in last name, first name format; subsequent author names appear in first name last name format.

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.

If there are more than three authors, you may choose to list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (Latin for "and others") in place of the subsequent authors' names, or you may list all the authors in the order in which their names appear on the title page. (Note that there is a period after “al” in “et al.” Also note that there is never a period after the “et” in “et al.”).

Wysocki, Anne Frances, et al. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2004. Print.

or

Wysocki, Anne Frances, Johndan Johnson-Eilola, Cynthia L. Selfe, and Geoffrey Sirc. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2004. Print.

 

Basic Style for Citations of Electronic Sources (Including Online Databases)

Here are some common features you should try and find before citing electronic sources in MLA style. Not every Web page will provide all of the following information. However, collect as much of the following information as possible both for your citations and for your research notes:

•Author and/or editor names (if available)

•Article name in quotation marks (if applicable)

•Title of the Website, project, or book in italics. (Remember that some Print publications have Web publications with slightly different names. They may, for example, include the additional information or otherwise modified information, like domain names [e.g. .com or .net].)

•Any version numbers available, including revisions, posting dates, volumes, or issue numbers.

•Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date.

•Take note of any page numbers (if available).

•Date you accessed the material.

•URL (if required, or for your own personal reference).


Citing an Entire Web Site

It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often updated, and information available on one date may no longer be available later. Be sure to include the complete address for the site.

Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2008.

Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.

A Page on a Web Site

For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by the information covered above for entire Web sites. Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.

"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow.com. eHow, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009.

An Article in a Web Magazine

Provide the author name, article name in quotation marks, title of the Web magazine in italics, publisher name, publication date, medium of publication, and the date of access. Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if not publishing date is given.

Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites. A List Apart Mag., 16 Aug. 2002. Web. 4 May 2009.

Films or Movies

List films (in theaters or not yet on DVD or video) by their title. Include the name of the director, the film studio or distributor, and the release year. If relevant, list performer names after the director’s name. Use the abbreviation perf. to head the list. List film as the medium of publication. To cite a DVD or other video recording, see “Recorded Films and Movies” below.

The Usual Suspects. Dir. Bryan Singer. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin, and Benecio del Toro. Polygram, 1995. Film.



 

 

In Text Citations

In parenthesis, before the end of the period, put the author’s last name.  If you do not have the author’s last name, put the title of the article, with correct punctuation.

 

Direct Quote from Source - use of quotes, word for word from text

"Virtually anyone could find himself the object of satirical writing in the twelfth century" (Peppin 18).

 

Paraphrase from Source - not use of quotes, not word for word from text

People of today can always find something interesting to write about in regards to making fun of modern day language. (“Who Said That”).