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Writing a Paper in MLA Style (Humanities)
Introduction to MLA Style
Writing Textbooks Boundless Writing Writing a Paper in MLA Style (Humanities) Introduction to MLA Style
Writing Textbooks Boundless Writing Writing a Paper in MLA Style (Humanities)
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Overall Structure and Formatting of an MLA Paper

Every paper written in MLA style follows the same basic formatting rules. 

Learning Objective

  • Identify the structural elements of an MLA paper


Key Points

    • An MLA paper should include the body of the paper, an Endnotes section if applicable, and a Works Cited section.
    • There are specific MLA guidelines for font (12pt, often Times or Times New Roman), line spacing (double-spaced), margins (1 inch), indentation, and page numbering.
    • When writing an MLA paper, you must be sure to use the Oxford comma, and to use only one space following periods.
    • Every page should have the same header in the top right: your last name followed by the page number. 

Terms

  • Works Cited

    The end-references section of a paper written in MLA style.

  • Oxford comma

    The comma that comes after the second-to-last item in a list.


Full Text

Overall Structure of an MLA Paper

Your MLA paper should include the following basic elements:

  1. Body
  2. (If applicable) Endnotes
  3. Works Cited

General Formatting Rules

Font

Your paper should be written in 12-point text. Whichever font you choose, MLA requires that regular and italicized text be easily distinguishable from each other. Times and Times New Roman are often recommended.

Line Spacing

All text in your paper should be double-spaced.

Margins

All page margins (top, bottom, left, and right) should be 1 inch. All text should be left-justified.

Indentation

The first line of every paragraph should be indented 0.5 inches.

Page Numbers

Create a right-justified header 0.5 inches from the top edge of every page. This header should include your last name, followed by a space and the page number. Your pages should be numbered with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3…) and should start with the number 1 on your title page. Most word-processing programs have the ability to automatically add the correct page number to each page so you don’t have to do this by hand.

Use of Italics

In MLA style, you should italicize (rather than underline) the titles of books, plays, or other standalone works. You should also italicize (rather than underline) words or phrases you want to lend particular emphasis—though you should do this rarely.

Section Headings

Longer papers sometimes benefit from the added organization of section headings. Unlike some other citation styles (e.g., APA), MLA style does not have specific rules for how to format such headings. However, they recommend that you title each heading with an Arabic numeral, followed by a period and a space, followed by the section title in title case. Subsections should follow the same pattern, with additional numerals after the period (e.g., 1.2, 3.9).

Series and Lists

MLA style does not have specific rules for the formatting of series and lists, beyond mandating the use of the Oxford comma. If your instructor does not give you additional specific guidelines, you should fold any series or list into the paragraph rather than giving each element its own line. That is to say:

As is standard in most style guides, use semicolons rather than commas to separate the elements of the series if at least one of the elements includes a comma somewhere within it (known as an “internal comma”). For example: “Josie was so hungry she ate the brownie; the cupcake, wrapper and all; and the bowl of ice cream.”

General Grammar Rules

The Oxford Comma

The Oxford comma (also called the serial comma) is the comma that comes after the second-to-last item in a series or list. For example:

The UK includes the countries of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

In the above sentence, the comma immediately after "Wales" is the Oxford comma.

In general writing conventions, whether the Oxford comma should be used is actually a point of fervent debate among passionate grammarians. However, it's a requirement in MLA style, so double-check all your lists and series to make sure you include it!

Sentence Spacing

It used to be convention to type two spaces after every period—for example:

"Mary went to the store.  She bought some milk.  Then she went home."

This convention was developed when typewriters were in use; the space on a typewriter was quite small, so two spaces were needed to emphasize the end of a sentence. However, typewriters, and therefore this practice, are now obsolete—in fact, using two spaces after sentences is now generally frowned upon. MLA style in particular includes an explicit rule to use only single spaces after periods:

"Mary went to the store. She bought some milk. Then she went home."

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