MLA Formatting Study Guide

What is in the header in the upper right-hand corner?

Last Name and Page Number (repeating consecutively on every page) ex. Smith 1

How many spaces should one put after a period or other punctuation marks?

Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).

If you have any endnotes, where should you put them?

On a separate page before your Works Cited page.

What does the in-text citation of the Bible look like?

Include the name of the Bible (italicized), chapter, and verse of the Bible. ex. (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezek. 1.5-10).

Works Cited vs. Bibliography

W.C. -MLA -Only what you used in your essay Bibliography: -APA or Chicago or other styles that are not MLA -Includes EVERYTHING YOU LOOKED AT whether you used it in your paper or not

Indent the first line of paragraphs _____ inch(es) from the left margin. (MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times.)

one half (1/2)

What if MLA and teacher disagree?

Always follow your instructor's guidelines.

Two basic rules will help you use the correct punctuation when a sentence has both a quotation and a parenthetical citation.

1. The end quotation mark should be placed immediately after the last word of the quotation. 2. The period should be placed immediately after the citation. ex. ...flat" (Loewen 56).

What is the spacing for the Works Cited page?

Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries.

Where is the period or other punctuation placed in the sentence of an in-text citation?

After the citation.

The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends on what two things?

(1.) upon the source medium (e.g. Print, Web, DVD) and (2.) upon the source's entry on the Works Cited (bibliography) page.

What should generally be included in an in-text citation of a print source of a known author?

(Author's Last Name, Page Number).

What is the margin size?

1 inch on all sides

General info for using illustrations such as photos, tables and graphs in a paper

1. Gather the source information as required normally for any citation 2. Use illustrations of the best quality 3. Do not use illustration's to boost page length. Illustrations cannot carry the entire length of the document.

What is the font size?

12 pt.

General guidelines for in-text citations:

Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text, must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry in the Works Cited List.

When in doubt...

CITE.

What information should be cited in the paper?

Cite any information that is not common knowledge, any information that you obtained from a source that is not your own.

In what order should the Day, Month and Year be arranged in the heading of an MLA paper?

Day Month Year (ex. 12 May 2017) REMEMBER****NO COMMAS

Example of a citation on W.C. page

Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." (indent 0.5 inch here) The New York Times, 22 May 2007 (indent 0.5 inch here)www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/science/earth/22ander.html?_r=0. Accessed 12 May 2016.

T or F: Always make a title page for your paper.

False (unless you are specifically requested to)

T or F: When quoting or citing another source, the page number can be in the sentence as well as in the in-text citation.

False: The page number can ONLY be in the parentheses of the in-text citation.

T or F: Single space between the heading and the title.

False; DOUBLE space

T or F: One may use ellipsis points (...) and square brackets to change the meaning of a quotation.

False; never change the meaning of a quote.

T or F: You may use any type, color, and size font for your MLA paper.

False; only use Times New Roman size 12 pt. font and it must be black... like my soul

T or F: The title should be 12 pt. font and placed on the far right side of the page.

False; the title should be 12 pt. font and centered in the middle of the paper.

T or F: Every word in the title should be a capital letter including words such as [a, or, of, etc.]

False; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters, and capitalize the first word and the last word of the title.

This stuff is on fire!1!1!1!11111!!

Somebody better call the fire department!!111!!!1111!!!111!11

T or F: Do NOT underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks.

True

T or F: Double space between the title and the first line of text.

True

T or F: In the Works Cited page, author names are written last name first; middle names or middle initials follow the first name.

True

T or F: In the Works Cited page, entries are listed alphabetically by the author's last name (or, for entire edited collections, editor names).

True

T or F: You do not need to include a page number when citing a source from the internet.

True

T or F: You may omit the number on your first page if your instructor asks you to.

True

T or F: The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence.

True. For example: Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).

T or F: If the fact or information is generally known and accepted—for example, that Woodrow Wilson served as president of both Princeton University and the United States, or that Avogadro's number is 6.02 x 1023—you do not need to cite a source.

True; common knowledge that is generally known and accepted does NOT need to be cited.

T or F: The heading should be double-spaced.

True; the entire document is double-spaced

What should one put in an in-text citation if the author's name is not known?

Use a shortened version of the title (still followed by a space and a page number). Place the shortened title in quotations/italics.

Rules for using quotes vs. italics when referring/citing another work.

Use quotations if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites)

What is included in the heading and in what order?

Your Name, Your Teacher's Name, The Class, The Date. For example: Alex Cohen Mr. Edsall AP Euro/P. 2 12 May 2017

What is the order of items in a citation on the Works Cited Page?

author, title, publisher, date, link

You paper should be ________ spaced.

double

To leave unnecessary words out of a quotation or shorten a quotation, use...

ellipsis points AKA (...) AKA "dot, dot, dot"

Where should the heading be placed?

in the upper left-hand corner of the first page

Where is the header found?

in the upper right hand corner, repeating on every page

What is considered common knowledge in MLA?

information generally known to an educated reader, such as widely known facts and dates, and, more rarely, ideas or language.

All works cited entries end with a ____________

period

What should one use when referring to other works in your title?

quotation marks and/or italics, just as you would in your text. ex. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking"

In a Works Cited page, indent the _______________ and ________________ lines of citations by _____ inches to create a hanging indent.

second, subsequent, 0.5 inches

The use of these may be done to clarify an unclear word such as "it" or an unclear reference to a person, such as "he" or to add or change words in a quote.

square brackets

To add or change words in a quote, use...

square brackets AKA [ ]

Describe the type and size of paper that is used for one to be correctly following MLA format.

standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper

The photo, table or graph's label and number should always appear in two places:

the document main text and near the illustration itself

Use italics throughout your essay for...

the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.

If page numbers are not available for your in-text citation...

use par. or pars. to denote paragraph numbers. Use these in place of the p. or pp. abbreviation.