Formatting a College Essay — MLA Style
| Learning Objectives: - Employ correct citation format for MLA style.
- Identify proper MLA formatting for college essays, including a works cited page.
|
LESSON
You will likely be asked to write numerous essaysA short piece of writing that focuses on at least one main idea. Some essays are also focused on the author's unique point of view, making them personal or autobiographical, while others are focused on a particular literary, scientific, or political subject. over the course of your academic career. While the contentThe text in a writing that includes facts, thoughts, and ideas. The information that forms the body of the work. of your work is significant, it is also essential that you develop strong and accurate formattingThe way in which content is arranged, usually following a set of rules. In writing, outlines and essays often follow a format specified by their purpose or where they are published. skills. Formatting an essay correctly is not only good authorship but is also important to instructors who often have to read hundreds of essays over the course of a semester. Your instructors will likely provide you with essay guidelines indicating whether you should use MLAA grammar and reference guide used mainly by students and scholars writing about the humanities (languages and literature). or APAA set of guidelines for citing sources used in literary and academic writing. APA style is most commonly used in the social sciences. style to format your paper. If you are uncertain as to your instructor's expectations, be sure to ask. Instructors appreciate students taking extra measures needed to correctly format essays. In this lesson, you will learn how to correctly format a college essay using MLA style. Note: This foundation lesson is not meant to include or cover all of the rules and guidelines for properly formatting an essay. Be sure to refer to the latest MLA style guide to ensure that you follow all of the formatting rules.
Part of formatting an essay is properly formatting in-text citationsInformation about a source, such as the author, date, and page number, in an essay or research paper that helps readers find the source in the works cited or references page. There are different rules for how to use in-text citations depending on the context of the citation and the style of formatting you are using. and your list of sourcesA person, book, article, or other thing that supplies information.. MLA refers to the list of sources as a works cited pageAn alphabetized list of publication information about the sources used in an MLA-formatted essay or research paper.. Keep in mind that in-text citations and the works cited page work together. Without one, you cannot have the other. The in-text citations lead readers to the listing of complete source information in the works cited page.
Formatting an Essay in MLA Style
Headers and page numbers
In MLA style, the headerInformation that appears at the very top of a page and may appear on subsequent pages of a work. includes your last name followed by one space and then consecutive page numbers. It appears in the upper-right corner, one half-inch from the top and flush with the right-hand marginThe outer edges of a document that do not contain writing or images.. Include this header on every page, including the first. (Note: Some instructors prefer that the header be left off of the first page. As always, follow the guidelines your instructor provides.)
MLA Headers
| Content | - Your last name
- Consecutive page numbers
|
| Location | - 1/2" from top
- Upper-right corner
- Flush with right margin
- Every page
|
Essay information
MLA style does not require a cover pageA page that comes before an essay or article and contains basic information about the work, including its title and author. The format of a cover page (also called the title page) will vary depending on the style guide in use.. (As always, though, check with your instructor about his or her preference.) Instead, include the following information about the essay in the upper left-hand corner of the first page of your essay: your full name, instructor's name, course, and date. Your title should be centered on the next line after the date, and your essay should start on the next line after that. Like the rest of the essay, all of this information should be double-spaced.
MLA Essay Information
| Cover page | No cover page required |
| Content | On First Page: - Instructor's name
- Course
- Date
- Title: written with title-style capitalization
|
| Location | Your information: upper left-hand corner of first page, double-spaced Title: centered, one line after the date and one line before the beginning of essay |
Here is an example of the first page of an MLA paper:
| Smith 1 Jane Smith Instructor Jones Introduction to College Writing 1 March 2014 College to Career How many times have you heard children talking about what they want to be when they |
"Smith 1" is the header. Under that are the student's name, the instructor's name, the course title, and the date. Right below that information is the title of the paper.
It is important to note that your name, instructor's name, course, and date should appear only on the first page of your paper. When students mistakenly place this information in the header, the information appears on every page and not just on the first page as it should.
Margins, font, and spacing
MLA has specific requirements with respect to margins, fontA set of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks that are the same style. Examples: Times New Roman and Arial are fonts., and line spacingThe vertical distance between lines of text on a page. The most common types of spacing are single and double.. Set one-inch margins on all sides. Use 11-13-point font unless otherwise specified by the instructor. MLA advises using a font that is both easily readable and has regular and italicized versions of the font that are distinguishable. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, Baskerville, and Garamond are all good options; however, if you are ever in doubt as to which font to use, ask your instructor. Whichever font you choose, remain consistent throughout your essay. Your essay should always be double-spaced throughout. Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the margin. Use only one space after all end punctuationThe punctuation at the end of a sentence, which can be a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. The end punctuation helps define the tone and meaning of a sentence. Notice the difference in tone in these examples: Someone ate my last cookie! (I'm really mad about that.) Someone ate my last cookie. (Oh well, I wasn't hungry anyway.) Someone ate my last cookie? (I'm not sure I even had another cookie.).
MLA Margins, Font, and Spacing
| Margins | 1" on all sides |
| Font | 11-13 point Times New Roman (or another suitable font) |
| Spacing | Double-spaced throughout |
| Indent | First line of paragraphs 1/2" from left margin |
| End punctuation | One space following |
Look online to see samples of a properly formatted MLA essay.
Punctuating and Formatting In-text Citations
Here are the guidelines for formatting in-text citations when using MLA style.
- For every in-text reference, provide the author's name (or the work's title if there is no author). Include a location within the work (page number, chapter number, time-stamp, etc.) if you quote or paraphrase a section of the source.
Example:
Evan's work has been characterized as "masterful, but distinctly odd" (Thomas 45).
"(Thomas 45)" is the in-text citation with the author and page number.
- If the author's name is mentioned in the attributive phraseA short introduction to source material that identifies the author and often the title of a work that will be quoted or discussed in an essay or research paper. , the in-text citation should include the page number only.
Example:
John Thomas characterizes Evan's work as "masterful, but distinctly odd" (45).
"John Thomas characterizes" is the attributive phrase with the author's name. "(45)" is the in-text citation with the page number or other location information.
There are occasions when all pertinent information is included in the attributive phrase. In these cases, a parenthetical citation is not needed.
Example:
On page 45, Thomas describes Evan's work as "masterful, but distinctly odd."
"On page 45, Thomas describes" is the attributive phrase with the author name and page number. There is no in-text citation at the end because it is not needed there.
There will be times when all the information for a citation is not available--for example, websites do not always list dates and usually do not include page numbers, sources are sometimes published without authors, and so on. If you cannot obtain all the required information on a source, provide as much information as you can in order to allow readers to find your source.
- Here is an example of how to cite a web source that does not have numbered pages:
According to a recent study, "more than seventy-five percent of payday loans are to people taking out new loans to cover the original one" (CNN).
"According to a recent study" is the attributive phrase. "(CNN)" is the source information with no page number.
Here are some more specific requirements with respect to the punctuationMarks such as such as a comma (,), period (.), question mark (?), and exclamation mark (!), among others, that help break a writing into phrases, clauses, and sentences. Different types of punctuation marks give the reader different impressions of the writer’s purpose in that sentence. and format of MLA in-text citations:
- In most cases, the in-text citation goes inside the end punctuation. Remember that the in-text citation is part of the sentence in which the source materialInformation that is quoted or paraphrased from outside works, such as journal articles, online documents, and books. is used, so it must be included in the sentence by placing the period after the parentheses.
- When citing a quote, both the in-text citation and end punctuation go outside the closing quotation marksA set of single or double inverted commas (' ' or " ") that are placed around a word or passage to mark the beginning and end of a direct quotation or a title.. The end punctuation goes after the in-text citation, and this is one of the few instances in which the end punctuation goes outside quotation marks.
- Prose quotes that exceed four lines are indented 0.5 inches from the left-hand margin. (The same goes for poetry quotes of more than three lines.) Because this block-quotationA copy of a long section of a text or speech, set off from the rest of a text. Block quotations, like direct quotations, are exact repeats of wording, but because of their length they are indented or printed in a different font rather than placed inside quotation marks. format signals a quotationAn exact copy of the words from a speech or text. These words are placed inside quotation marks to show that they are a perfect repeat of the original. , no quotation marks are needed.
- In long (block) quotations, the in-text citation goes outside the end punctuation.
Works Cited Pages
MLA style requires a works cited page to list the sources at the end of the work. Here are the guidelines for formatting works cited pages.
- The works cited page needs to be double-spaced, and in the same font as the rest of the essay. Do not use bold font, do not underline any words, and do not resize the font in any way.
- The works cited page should always begin a new page. The title—"Works Cited"—should be centered, but not bolded, underlined, or enclosed in quotes. (Note: if there is only one source, it should be titled "Work Cited.")
- Individual citations must be arranged alphabetically.
- If you have more than one book or article by the same author, list the works alphabetically by title. For the first entry, provide the author's full name in last name, first name format. Then, for each following work by the same author, use three hyphens or em dashes and a period in place of the name.
Example:
Morrison, Toni. Beloved: A Novel. Alfred A. Knopf. 1987.
---. The Bluest Eye. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 1970.
- Each full citation should have a hanging indent, which means that the first line should be on the left margin and all following lines indented by 0.5 inches.
- The full citation must include all the information that a reader needs to find the original text. Generally, that includes:
- The author's full name (unless there are more than two authors; then et al. replaces all but the first author's name)
- Title of work (chapter, article, web page, etc.) in quotation marks
- Title of larger work, if applicable (book, newspaper, journal, magazine, website, etc.) in italics
- Page numbers, when applicable
- Publisher's information, when applicable
- Date published
- Identify the location of online works with a DOI, permalink, or URL.
Works Cited Page
| Works Cited Francis, Judy. "Gender Politics in the Novels of Eli Fraser." Journal of Gender Studies, vol. 12, no. 3, 2007, pp. 22-30. Howard, Nell. "Eli Frasier and the Sequestered Woman." English Studies, vol. 23, no. 3, 2005, pp. 89-95. Marvin, Sarah. "Eli Frasier's Women." Journal of Contemporary Women's Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2011, pp. 13-22. |
In the example works cited page above, the title is "Works Cited." The citations are listed in alphabetical order, and the font is 11- to 13-point. Note the use of a hanging indent for each citation.
+ PRACTICAL APPLICATIONYou will encounter various situations over the course of your academic career in which you will be required to provide work with properly cited references. For example, imagine that your literature instructor assigns an essay requiring evidentiary sourcesSpecific media, such as journal articles, newspapers, and research studies that provide the support for claims or viewpoints expressed in an essay and help convince readers that an argument has merit. Evidentiary sources may provide facts and statistics, expert opinions, or anecdotal evidence.. This will require you to research and compile a list of citations for your sources. As you are writing, you will incorporate in-text citations into your essay. Another scenario in which you will need to provide in-text citations and a works cited page is when you are asked to write an essay to support your findings in a science lab. While this essay should be based upon your own experiential evidence in the lab, you will need to do research to provide additional support for your findings.
Any time you use the ideasA thought, opinion, or impression., argumentsA set of statements or reasons making a case for or against something., theoriesIn science, a well tested and widely accepted explanation for a phenomenon. Theories incorporate facts, observations, experiments, laws, and careful reasoning. In more general usage, theory may merely mean an unproven idea, speculation, or guesswork., or words of another writer, you must provide correct and properly formatted citations. Be sure to check with your instructors regarding what style they prefer for formatting any essay you are assigned.
Exercise 1: MLA In-text Citations
This section provides five examples demonstrating incorrect punctuation and format for in-text citations in MLA style. As you read, notice the errors and how they should be corrected.
- Wright argues that Shakespeare's comedies are in fact "more tragic than his tragedies" (Wright 22).
The error in the above example is repeating the author's name in the in-text citation. When the author's name is included in the attributive phrase, it doesn't need to be repeated in the in-text citation.
Correction: Wright argues that Shakespeare's comedies are in fact "more tragic than his tragedies" (22).
- According to Wright, Shakespeare's comedies should be characterized as "more tragic than his tragedies." (Wright 22)
There are two errors. First, the author's name should not be included in the in-text citation when it has already been stated in the attributive phrase. Second, the formatting of the in-text citation is incorrect. The period should come after the page number outside the right parenthesis mark. The in-text citation is part of the sentence, so the period should be placed after it.
Correction: According to Wright, Shakespeare's comedies should be characterized as "more tragic than his tragedies" (22).
- According to Jesperson, Dr. Master's research about levels of exercise and aggression in dogs is "unsubstantiated" (2010 Jesperson).
The errors in this example are that the author's name is repeated in the in-text citation, the page number is missing, and the year of publication is needlessly included.
Correction: According to Jesperson, Dr. Master's research about levels of exercise and aggression in dogs is "unsubstantiated" (165).
- Jesperson wrote, "Dr. Master's research around dogs and how certain breeds need more walking and running or they will become aggressive is unsubstantiated" (The Contemporary Journal of Canine Behavior; page 165).
There are three errors in the above example. First, the writer has incorporated the title of the publication into the in-text citation. While that must be included in the works cited page, the title of the publication is not part of the in-text citation. Second, there is no need to precede the page number by the word "page." Third, the semicolon in the citation is unnecessary in MLA in-text citations.
Correction: Jesperson wrote, "Dr. Master's research around dogs and how certain breeds need more walking and running or they will become aggressive is unsubstantiated" (165).
- In Saving Money and Time, Brandle makes a convincing argument that we should "stop wasting our resources on living longer and just start living more."
There are two errors in this final example. The first is that the title of the book is both italicized and underlined. It should only be italicized. The second is the absence of a page number. When the page number necessary for a reader to find a particular quote is not part of the attributive phrase, it must be included in the in-text citation.
Correction: In Saving Money and Time, Brandle makes a convincing argument that we should "stop wasting our resources on living longer and just start living more" (80).
Exercise 1: MLA In-text Citations
This section provides five examples of in-text citations in MLA style. Now it's your turn to determine if the examples have been properly punctuated and formatted. Identify the errors, if any, and correct the in-text citation accordingly.
- According to Kendricks, the works of Abbott are so popular because the average person can "relate" to them (94).
What errors (if any) does this in-text citation contain?
This example is properly punctuated and formatted.
Write the corrected in-text citation (if necessary).
- On page 33 of "The Short Story as Told by Ronald Abbott," Kendricks argues that the success of Abbott's writing can be attributed to the average reader's ability to "relate" to it. (Kendricks, page 33, "The Short Story as Told by Ronald Abbott").
What errors (if any) does this in-text citation contain?
This example unnecessarily includes an in-text citation and is incorrectly punctuated. When all relevant information is included in the attributive phrase, an in-text citation is not used.
Write the corrected in-text citation (if necessary).
Correction: On page 33 of "The Short Story as Told by Ronald Abbott," Kendricks argues that the success of Abbott's writing can be attributed to the average reader's ability to "relate" to it.
- Thompson beautifully explains Fine's argument regarding the "trials and tribulations" of today's college student. (page 423, 2011).
What errors (if any) does this in-text citation contain?
The errors in this example are the word "page" and the date, which are incorrectly included in the in-text citation; also, there is an extra period after "student."
Write the corrected in-text citation (if necessary).
Correction: Thompson beautifully explains Fine's argument regarding the "trials and tribulations" of today's college student (423).
- "I believe," writes Fine, "that nothing should stand in the way of a young person's desire to go to college, even finances." ("Today's Economy and Its Impact on Higher Education," The Journal of Education and Economics, 16(6): 2012: 125 –129. Print. (page 128).
What errors (if any) does this in-text citation contain?
There are two errors in this example. First, in the parenthetical citation following the quote, too much information is provided. The goal is to lead readers to the proper entry in the works cited page. Second, the addition of the word "page" to the in-text citation is incorrect.
Write the corrected in-text citation (if necessary).
Correction: "I believe," writes Fine, "that nothing should stand in the way of a young person's desire to go to college, even finances" (128).
- In her essay, Reynolds argues that Stevens's book (22) accurately and aptly depicts the current state of environmental conservatism in our cities.
What errors (if any) does this in-text citation contain?
The page number is in the wrong place in the sentence. It should come at the end before the period.
Write the corrected in-text citation (if necessary).
Correction: In her essay, Reynolds argues that Stevens's book accurately and aptly depicts the current state of environmental conservatism in our cities (22).
METACOGNITIVE QUESTIONS
Why is it important to correctly format your essays in college?
It is important to correctly format my essays because instructors expect this of their students. Plus, if I turn in properly formatted essays, my instructors will know that I have made an effort to follow their guidelines, so it will probably positively impact my grade and reflect well on the quality of my work.
Why do you need to include both an in-text citation and a works cited page?
Neither the in-text citation information nor the works cited page provide enough information regarding your sources by themselves. In-text citations and the works cited page work together to allow you to write a smooth and cohesive essay (rather than one that is broken up by full citations), provide the details required by the MLA style, and enable your readers to locate any of your sources.
This lesson follows the 9th Edition of the MLA Handbook, published in 2021. Check the MLA Handbook for updates.
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