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MLA Style Guide: Home

When Should I use MLA Style?

At MICDS all of your papers, for every class, should be in MLA format.

Printable Version of the Messing Library MLA Style Guide

For More Information

Bibliography

MICDS Style Guide is based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers: Seventh Edition. New York: Modern Language Association, 2009. Print.

What does MLA format look like?

  • Your entire paper should be double spaced including the header and Works Cited page.
  • Use Times New Roman 12 point font only.
  • Leave only one space after punctuation marks.
  • Use italics for the titles of books but enclose poems or articles in quotation marks.
  • Use a MLA header - not a cover page.

Headers

1. Use a header on the first page of your paper with your last name and page number. This page number should be right justified. 

The top left-hand corner of your paper must include the following information in this exact order:

a.      your name

b.     your teacher’s name

c.      the name of your class (for example: French 8)

d.      the date your paper is due. (Day-Month-Year)

e.      skip a line between the header and the title.

The title should define the assignment or the topic of the paper. It should not be the title of the book, poem, essay, or short story about which you are writing. Do not bold, italicize or underline your title. Type it in the same font and size as the rest of your paper.

 Example of an MLA Formatted First Page

                                                                                                                                                                                                     Smith 1

 Suzy Smith

 Mr. Fitzgerald

 American History

 28 August 2017

 Title is Centered, Not Bolded, Italicized or Underlined

      Your whole paper including the MLA Header, Title, and Works Cited pages should be double spaced.  Indent each paragraph.

You can do this by hitting the “Tab” button or pressing the space bar five times. You should always double-space your work, as well.

You can set this by using the “Paragraph” features under the "Home” button on your Word Tool Bar.

 

Number your pages on the top right hand side of your paper with your last name and page number. Start this on the first page of your paper.

 Example of how to make a header for your paper   

Smith 2  

      To make a header for your name and the page number, click on the Insert tab at the tool bar of Microsoft Word.  Click on Page Number.  Click on Top of Page. Choose Plain Number Three.  See the example at the top right of this box.