MLA Format
MLA (Modern Language Association) format is the accepted form of writing an English or Language Arts paper. It is designed so that all papers have a uniform look so instructors can focus on the writing instead of struggling through various formats. It has specific guidelines on formatting, font, font size, titles, headers, and page numbers. It is important that you become very familiar with this format as this skill will follow you right into college where all English papers will be submitted this way.
Margins
- Leave the margins set on the default
- Don't manipulate margins to make your paper seem longer (teachers notice right away)
- Double space the entire document
- Get in the habit of doing this when you open a new document
- Your name
- Your teacher's name (spell it correctly - geez!)
- Class name (Language Arts)
- Date (ex: September 13, 2015)
- Add a meaningful title (not "English Essay," or "Twelfth Night Paper"
- Center your title under your heading
- Your entire document will be 12 point Times New Roman or Arial font - NO EXCEPTIONS!
- If your paper is more than one page include a header and page number on each additional page
- Top right hand corner (Last name, page #)