Your Name Teacher’s Name Class (English 12, Period #) 23 December, 2009 This is the date the paper is due, not the date you turn it in or the date you finish. Title of the Paper This is how the first page of the paper should look. The paper should have an inch margin all the way around. It should also be double-spaced. There are no extra spaces between paragraphs. Use the default tab of five spaces for indenting your paragraphs. Even though I will be using bold print in this sample, you will not. The only time you will use any formatting of this nature is when you are giving the title of a work or including a direct quote. You will notice that there is no page number on the first page of this paper. You do not start numbering until page two. You will have to create the outline and the title page in a separate file so that they do not mess up the numbering. If you are using Microsoft Word you should have no trouble setting up page numbers for your paper. Wait until you have at least two pages of text to set it up. Go to View then header and footer. Your paper lettering will turn gray and you will see a dotted rectangle at the top and bottom of the paper. This is where your headers (numbering) will go. Tab over to the right hand side of the header and type your last name. Move one space over for the page number. On the toolbar for headers and footers that has appeared on your page, look at the first icon that has the number symbol on it (#). Clicking this will automatically number all the pages of your paper. There is a problem though. You don’t want a number on the first page. Go back to the tool bar for headers and footers. There is an icon that looks like an open book. This is page
Name 2 setup. Click on the icon. In the menu you will see a check box for different first page. Check that box. When you finish your header, click your mouse twice in the now-gray body of your paper. You will see that the header has become gray and that the body has returned to normal. If you did this correctly, the first page does not have a number or name on it. You must use the information you gathered from your sources. In MLA format you use in-text citations. When you have used information that was taken from your source whether or not you quote it directly you put the author’s last name and the page number in parentheses immediately following the sentence (Last Name #). Notice that there are no commas separating the name and the number. Notice also that the sentence period goes after the parenthesis, not before.
Name 3 Works Cited Author’s last name, first name. Title of the Work. City of publication: Publishing Company, copyright date. Author’s last name, first name. Title of the Work. City of publication: Publishing Company, copyright date. Author’s last name, first name. Title of the Work. City of publication: Publishing Company, copyright date. On the Works Cited page, the works are arranged in alphabetical order by the
author’s last name.
This is the Basic format for a simple, one-author book. Each type is different. Consult a current MLA stylebook for the specifics.
In a Works Cited page, the only information you give is on the books and sources you actually used and cited in the body of your paper. In a Bibliography you list every work you consulted, whether you cite them or not. Make certain you know what your teacher is asking for.