How to write an Essay in MLA Format

How to write an Essay in MLA Format

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What is the MLA Format for Essays? It is widely recognized as a standard reference for academic writing. MLA is an abbreviation that stands for the Modern Language Association, which is the organization that was responsible for developing this format. Students studying subjects related to the humanities, such as literature, liberal arts, language, and other fields, are the most likely to use this format.

Students tasked with producing an essay in the Modern Language Association (MLA) style must adhere to a predetermined set of guidelines regarding presentation and citation. This article will analyze its most fundamental recommendations using the MLA style guide’s most recent (2016) edition. Let’s delve even further into our essay writing basics.

Basic Requirements for writing an Essay based on MLA Format

The following are the guidelines for writing in MLA style:

• The Times New Roman font is recommended.

• Size of the font: 12 point

• 1-inch margins on all pages

• Double space between lines.

• Half-inch new paragraph indents

• Use title case for headings.

The next section of this tutorial will show you how to properly create a heading in MLA style for the top of your paper. Inquire beforehand if there is a preferred MLA heading format from your instructor.

Also, if you need assistance with your essay format, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Headings, Subheadings, and Title Page

The Title Page

It’s important to remember that a title page is not required when using MLA style. It is okay for students to include a title page in their MLA essays, but there needs to be specific instruction.

Header

The header for your work in MLA style should appear either at the top of the first page or on the title page if you choose to use one.

The header must contain the following four items:

• Name of the student.

• Name of Teacher.

• The course/semester/section name and number.

• Deadline for the Project.

Double spacing between lines and one-inch margins on all sides of the page for these four components to look right.

If you’re not starting your project on a title page, the name of the assignment should come after the last line of the header (the due date). The work’s title should be centered, without special formatting (bold, italics, underlining, or quotation marks).

You only need to italicize the title in an MLA citation if you’re referencing another work within your own.

Use of Headings and Subheadings

The text’s use of headings and subheadings is essential for any assignment because they help maintain the content’s logical organization and structure. As a result, when crafting an essay in MLA style, you’ll need to incorporate some chapter titles, section headings, and other subheadings.

The official MLA style guide has no hard and fast rules on how to format an essay. Just remember these two suggestions:

• Don’t end your heading with a period.

• If you decide on a certain style for your headings, maintain it consistently throughout the essay.

A good example of how to format your headings and subheadings is as follows:

1. Name of the Chapter

2. Heading of the Section

3. Subheading

Everything is the same size and typeface. You are only modifying the typeface. Chapter titles should be in bold because of their prominence, while section headings should be in italics because they are less noticeable. On the other hand, subheadings differ from the main heading style because of their lower prominence.

Use of Running Head and Page Numbers

A brief heading known as a “running head” should be placed in the upper right corner of each page. The author’s surname and the page number follow a space in this heading.

The following are some of the overarching principles that govern the running head and the page numbers:

• Put this at the top right of every page of your paper.

• The only information in the running head is the student’s last name and the page number.

• For MLA citations, omit the period after the page number.

• The running head should be positioned one inch from the right margin of the page and half an inch from the top margin of the page.

Margins

Common MLA practice calls for one-inch margins. The margins on all sides of each page should be one inch. The running head is the only thing that should fit within the one-inch margin.

Paragraphs

A half-inch indent should be made from the left margin to the first word of each new paragraph. Double space between paragraphs is required. Half an inch should be used as the default margin space between the left margin and the beginning of your text. Use the “tab” button to make your adjustments.

Spacing

Double-space your entire essay according to the MLA format guidelines.

The Typeface and Point Size

The MLA style manual recommends a Times New Roman font in 12-point size. Students can use any standard font, including Times New Roman, but it is strongly suggested.

MLA-Style Citations Within the Text

Quotations

You can incorporate quotations into your MLA-styled essay in one of the following ways:

Using a quotation and naming the author in the context of the sentence

Example:

Winston Churchill once said, “Use your free time wisely by reading the works of other men to better yourself; then, the fruits of their labor will come to you with ease.”

There is no need to repeat the author’s name because it appears alongside the quotation at the start of the sentence.

Using a quotation without identifying the author

Example:

“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for,” said one prominent politician, eloquently articulating the value of reading (Churchill).

Incorporate the author’s name, whenever possible, into the sentence itself; otherwise, place it in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

Block Quotes

Any quotation four lines or longer is considered a block quote, the third type. Following these guidelines will help you properly incorporate a lengthy quote into the text of your essay:

• Each new line in a block quote should be indented.

• There should be no quotation marks around a block quote.

• Remember to use double spacing.

• To the left of the quote, make a half-inch indentation.

• Always use the same punctuation, capitalization, etc., as the source material.

• In parentheses, after the quotation, you should note the name of the author.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be used sparingly, if at all when writing in MLA style. The Modern Language Association recommends that academics use full words instead of acronyms in the official guide. This rule applies to essays written in this format to avoid misunderstandings.

Although abbreviations are acceptable in rare circumstances, their use is discouraged. Some texts may benefit from their inclusion, and that is fine. There are protocols to follow in such situations:

For example, the United States should be written as the U.S., not the U.S.

Periods are allowed between words in the phrase “for example =, e.g.,” if the full words are written in lowercase.

Do not put periods after a phrase that contains both upper and lower case letters if the former predominates (e.g., Ph.D., not Ph.D.)

Here we’ll break down the various abbreviation types:

Months‍

The body of an essay written in MLA style must include the full names of the months. This means you should type out the full names of the months if you need to refer to them in your research or other essays. However, if you need to refer, you can shorten months with more than four letters to their initials. The month of June will remain unchanged, but January will be shortened to “Jan.”

In addition, other abbreviations may be used on the Works Cited page. You can use abbreviations like these when referring to certain things:

• Ch

• p. and pp.

• Vol.

• Rev.

• No.

• Ed.

• Trans.

Please note that you may only use these abbreviations on your Works Cited page. Otherwise, you should type them out completely in the essay’s main body.

Titles‍

Abbreviations of some biblical and classical works are acceptable for use on the Works Cited page (references). To name a few:

Shakespeare:

• Much Ado About Nothing – Ado

• Henry VI, Part 3 – 3H6

• Othello – Oth.

• Macbeth – Mac.

• Julius Caesar – JC

• Romeo and Juliet – Rom.

• Midsummer Night’s Dream – MND

Since these works are referenced frequently, it is unnecessary to type out their full titles every time. This has led to the creation of abbreviations specifically for use in citations.

Numbers

Depending on its nature and scope, you may spend a lot of time with numbers in your work. Specifically, here are some rules to keep in mind:

Numerals

The Modern Language Association (MLA) recommends that students use numerals before measurements whenever possible.

Consider the following as an illustration:

• To the tune of 8 kilos

• Weighing in at 130 ounces

Using Arabic Numerals

Those Arabic digits that can be written with one or two words should be spelled out when used in a written work (e.g., three or twenty-five). Large numbers that require more than two words should be expressed numerically. Please use digits for decimal and fractional numbers. Additionally, numerals should be used whenever a number is placed before a measurement or label.

Examples:

• Two

• Fourteen

• Numbing 55

• 631

• 14.7

• 3 ½

• 3 a.m.

• 9 years

The use of Roman Numerals

For MLA, roman numerals are reserved for use in outlines and to designate postfixes (e.g., Ramses III).

MLA Outline Numbers

The Modern Language Association needs to outline the MLA format outline formally. To create an outline, however, it is recommended that you use Roman numerals, capital and lowercase letters, and numbers.

Useful Hints

There are two more rules to follow when working with numbers in MLA style:

• If you are writing a research essay, you should exclude ISBNs.

• Don’t begin a new sentence with a numeral. Rephrase the sentence without the number if possible. Instead of using a digit to start a sentence, spell out the number if necessary.

Need information with a different essay writing format? Also, Check our guide on how to write an essay in APA format.

Figures and Tables

Pictures, tables, and other visuals are good additions to an essay as long as they do not diminish the quality of the work as a whole and contribute something of value. Therefore, leaving an image or table is preferable if doing so will not add any real value.

Images

Rules of thumb:

• Put the related image near the relevant sentence.

• Ensure each image has a descriptive label and affix those labels directly under the pictures. The term “Fig.” must appear at the beginning of any title.

• Insert the figure’s page number after the symbol “Fig.” if the picture is referenced in the text. It is standard practice to refer to the first figure in a scientific essay as “Fig. 1,” the second as “Fig. 2,” and so on.

• To properly reference an image, put its name and number in parentheses at the end of your work.

• There should also be a brief caption underneath each image immediately following the label.

• It is optional to include a source on the Works Cited page if the caption of the image or table gives complete information about its basis of origin and you have already cited the same source in the text.

For instance, the famous blue velvet dress Princess Diana wore at the 1997 Met Gala sold for $347,000. (fig. 1).

(Image)

Princess Diana’s Iconic Dress (Figure 1): Credits.

Tables

In your essay, tables do not require the “fig.” label as images do. Instead, write “Table,” followed by the appropriate Arabic numeral. Like the images, the tables in your work will be given a number corresponding to their placement in the text. In addition, you must label each table. Each of the “Table,” “number,” and “title” components must appear on their line to the left of the data table.

All first letters in table titles must be capitalized except for small, insignificant words. If there are any notes or a citation that pertain to the data, they can be placed beneath the table.

Lists

Incorporating a list into your essay is acceptable if you find it necessary. But there are a few guidelines you must stick to:

• A horizontal list is required for all items in an MLA reference list.

• You can use a colon to separate the list from the introductory sentence if the items on the list are not part of the sentence.

Here is a list used in context:

The Torrents of Spring, The Sun Also Rises, To Have and Have Not, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Across the River and Into the Trees, and The Old Man and the Sea are some of Ernest Hemingway’s best-known novels.

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Works Cited Page in MLA Format

Students write academic essays by gathering information from several different sources and then analyzing and synthesizing that data (e.g., books, websites, scientific journals, etc.). Integrating material from multiple sources and your thoughts and analysis is essential to writing a strong and convincing essay. Incorrectly citing sources is a red flag for plagiarism and can lower an essay’s grade. That’s why a properly formatted work cited page is essential.

Students must use in-text citations, as discussed in the preceding section of our article, to properly credit the original authors of any used material in their essays. More than simply citing your sources in the text is required. You need to list all the sources on a separate page to give the readers sufficient information about the origin of the data used in the text. An in-depth guide on ‘What is MLA Format for an Essay’ can be found in our Blogs.

Standards for Layout and Presentation

• Use a separate page at the end of your essay to list the sources you used.

• Like the rest of the essay, format this section with 1-inch margins and a header containing your last name and page number.

• Work Cited should be centered at the top of the page. (The title should not be italicized or enclosed in quotation marks.)

• Ensure that your citations are aligned to the left side of the page.

• Use two spaces between paragraphs.

• Every citation entry should have half an inch hanging indent added to the second line and any following lines.

• List your items in alphabetical order.

• Use “p.” before the page number to indicate that you are referencing a specific page in a printed source (e.g., p. 632).

• References to a range of pages within a source (such as a chapter or article) can be made using the abbreviation “pp.” followed by the specific range of pages (e.g., pp. 65-112) if necessary.

• If you accessed a print publication via an online database, you must put the name of the database in italics. Keep your subscription details private.

This concludes all the important details you should remember while writing an essay in MLA Format. The format of an Essay is crucial, especially when you submit it for a particular goal like a scholarship. Do you know How to format an essay for a Scholarship?

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