MLA Format for Essays

Your essays should be written in MLA format as explained at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/24/

General Guidelines

• Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
• Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are recognizable one from another. The font size should be 12 pt.
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times.
• Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor’s guidelines.)
• Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
• If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).

Formatting the First Page of Your Paper

• Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested.
• In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor’s name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
• Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
• Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in “After Apple Picking”
• Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
• Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow instructor guidelines.)

• Strong Response Essay Assignment

  The first essay is a strong response to “‘You Need to Cover Your Tattoos!’: Reconsidering Standards of Professional Appearance in Social Work,” an article from the BCTC online library.This essay will be a 4-paragraph response to the article in which you discuss both a positive and a negative response to the article. You will also use MLA documentation in the essay.The description of the structure of the essay is below.
  Paragraph 1In the first sentence, identify the author, the name of the text (with the text name in quotation marks), and the main idea of the text

  In the four to six sentences, summarize the text

  End the paragraph with your thesis statement: mention positive and negative responses

  Although I agree with ________, I disagree with _________.While I like _________ about Williams et al.’s essay, I don’t like ______________.Williams et al. do an excellent job with _____; however, I disagree with ______.The authors do a good job with _____, but they haven’t included _____.
  Paragraph 2Begin with a topic sentence that states the main point of the paragraph

  Discuss your positive response (what you like, what you agree with)

  Include a quote from the text
  Paragraph 3Begin with a topic sentence that states the main point of the paragraph

  Discuss your negative response (what you don’t like, what you disagree with)

  Include a quote from the text
  Paragraph 4Conclude your response by summarizing your main points. Or you might suggest how the authors could improve the essay. Another possible use of your conclusion is to tell whom the article might be suitable for or what situation it might be used in. You might instead reflect on how well the authors’ perspectivereflects the real world (from your perspective).
  REMEMBER to include a separate page for your works cited page. It should have the heading Work Cited, and it should contain the citation for Williams et al.’s article.

• “Tattoos” Article

  Attached Files:

  • Click to open or download PDF file (824.389 KB)

  Here is a pdf version of the article we’re responding to in the strong response essay.

• Producing the Summary

  Summary writing requires you to focus on structure and content. And writing a summary challenges a writer to convey the main ideas of a text in as few words as possible.

  The following steps show how to condense a text’s ideas into an accurate summary:

  • Read the text quickly for general meaning

  • Re-read the text carefully, and write gist statements in the margin

  • Locate the text’s main divisions / parts
  Summaries typically range from 100-250 words in length. The order and the proportions of the summary can usually follow that of the text. However, if the text has a delayed thesis, you may rearrange to begin with the thesis. By this I mean that if you are summarizing an open-form piece of writing (a piece of writing in which the thesis usually comes at or near the end), you should still begin with the main idea.

  When writing a summary, follow the structure below:

  • Begin your summary by writing a sentence that contains the author’s name, the title of the article, and the main idea of the article.

  • Writing complete sentences, summarize the rest of the important ideas in the article; this will most likely include the supporting details (the details that support the main idea).
  It is a good idea to use direct quotations from the text when summarizing, but use them sparingly, one or two at most in a 100-250 word summary. The summary should be written, for the most part, in your own words. If you use groups of words from the text, then you must quote them.

  Quotation Attributive Tags:

  • Williams, Thomas, and Christensen say,”…”

  • Mr. Williams et al. say that “…”

  • According to Williams et al.,”…”

  Please see the other handouts for additional information.

• Introducing Quotes

  Attached Files:

  • Printable Word version (26.5 KB)

  To quote from a source, you can use one of the following structures.1. Name + lead-in verb + comma + quoteMcLaughlin and Halstead explain, “Each year, Americans consume over 100 billion single use plastic bags” (38).2. Name + lead-in verb + that + quote A 2013 paper by Turque stated that “environmental groups that conduct cleanups of county stream banks reported a significant reduction in the number of plasticbags recovered” (McLaughlin and Halstead 40).3. Complete sentence + a colon + quote In Arizona, efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags have been quite effective: “Plastic bag use at stores has dropped by 12 percent” (McLaughlin and Halstead39). There are 3 approaches to reducing the number of plastic bags people use: [O]ne option is an outright ban. Another is assessing a fee or tax on plastic bags; this can reduce single-use bag consumption while allowingcustomers to choose if they want a plastic bag. According to Romer andTamminen (2014), charging for plastic bags has a greater impact onreduction because it incentivizes behavioral change and forces customers to make a conscious decision to purchase a bag. The last option isvoluntary take-back/recycling programs to address plastic bags at the end of their useful cycle. (McLaughlin and Halstead 40)Some possible lead-in verbs includesays states questionswrites argues addressesclaims remarks exploresWhen you quote, if you have an author’s or speaker’s name, include it in the opening structure. After the quote, generally at the end of the sentence, enclose in parentheses the page number if your source has actual page numbers. Providing the author’s name and the page number is all that MLA documentation requires within your paper. Providing the Works Cited page at the end of your paper completes the MLA documentation requirements.
  The above quotes are from the following article:McLaughlin, Megan E. and John M. Halstead. “The Ubiquitous Plastic Bag — and What to Do.” Biocycle, vol. 57, no. 7, Aug. 2016, pp. 38-40. EBSCOhost, blc-lrc. bluegrass.kctcs.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=117597608&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

• Work Cited Format

  Your citation should look like the one below, and it should be on a separate, final page of your paper. Note that it uses “hanging indentation” in which only the first line lines up with the left margin and all other lines are indented. Work CitedWilliams, D. J., et al. “‘You Need to Cover Your Tattoos!’: Reconsidering Standards of Professional Appearance in Social Work.” Social Work, vol. 59, no. 4, Oct. 2014, pp. 373-375. EBSCOhost, blc- lrc.bluegrass.kctcs.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true… &AN=98636531&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

• MLA Documentation

  The Modern Language Association (MLA) has a specific format for using sources within writing and for documenting those sources. Sources must be cited correctly both within the text of your paper and on a Works Cited list as the end of your paper. The reference in your text refers the reader to the Works Cited page, and the reader expects to be able to locate the source based on the information you give in your text.When you use someone else’s ideas or words within your own writing, you must give credit to the original writer (or thinker or speaker) of those ideas or words. This is true whether you summarize, paraphrase, or quote from the original. In MLA documentation style, you are responsible for giving both the author’s name and the page number the words or ideas are taken from. If you don’t have an author’s name, you must make sure there is a one-to-one correspondence between the first word in the bibliographic entry on the Works Cited page and the name you use in your text to identify the source.If you don’t have an actual page number from a print document or a pdf, don’t include a page number.The Works Cited list should contain all of the sources you use in your paper—and only those sources. If you do not summarize, paraphrase, or quote from a source in your paper, you should not list the source in your Works Cited. It truly is a list of the works you cite in your paper.The Works Cited list should be alphabetized by the first word of the entry.

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