MLA FormatWhat to do and what not to do.

General Format• Paper must be typed on standard white

paper. • Text of paper must be double-spaced,

including the heading. • Margins are set at 1 inch for left, right, top,

and bottom (older versions of Microsoft Word will set the margins at 1.25 inches for left and right – go in and reset manually).

• There must be a header on the right side that has the writer’s last name and the page number.

Heading and TitleName 1

Stephen Drew

Mrs. Wishart

ENG 102.401

30 October 2011

Edgar Allen Poe’s Manipulations in “The Cask of Amontillado”

and “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Edgar Allen Poe is renowned for his spooky tales and haunting plotlines. One of

the reasons that his stories work so well is the manner in which Poe layers

manipulation into his tales. Throughout his works, including “The Cask of

Note: header to the rightThis is the correct order for informationThe title of published stories are in quotation marks, but not the title of the paper

In-Text CitationsMLA uses parenthetical citation

(information about the source inside parentheses).

IF USING ONE BOOK FOR YOUR PAPER:“…sleep of the innocent.” (p.97)

IF USING MULTIPLE BOOKS:“…72% of students were affected.” (Jones, 2001)

Remember!Work the citation into a sentence that

contains some of your own words. Quotations should be integrated, not just dropped into the paper.

Example: Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth, p263).

Make Your Life Easier• For the purposes of this research paper,

make sure that there is an author for all sources. If no author is listed and you want to use the source, see your instructor for assistance.

• The lack of an author most often occurs when using an Internet source.

• Avoid using any Internet source with an address ending in “.com” unless approved by your instructor.

Methods of Parenthetical Citation• The following are examples from Purdue

OWL: MLA Format: • According to some, dreams express

“profound aspects of personality” (Foulkes, p184), though others disagree.

• According to Foulkes’s study, dreams may express “profound aspects of personality” (184).

• Is it possible that dreams may express “profound aspects of personality” (Foulkes 184)?

Quotes of More than Four Lines You may use only 1 or 2 such quotes in your research

paper. The paper should be mainly your thoughts. Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him when

she says: They entirely refused to have in bed with them, or even in

their room, and I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone in

the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept into

Mr. Earnshaw’s door, and there he found it on his quitting

chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and

in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

Note placement of period with quote, lack of quotation marks, and lack of punctuation after the parenthesis.

Citing Internet Sources You do not need to give paragraph

numbers or page numbers based on your print preview.

Do not list the URL address within the text of the paper. Instead, list the author of the source.

Works Cited• Begins on a separate page and is labeled Words Cited

(no italics or quotation marks). • Double space, but do not skip spaces between entries. • Indent the second and subsequent lines five spaces. • List page numbers only when needed. • Determine the Medium of Publication. Most will be print

or web sources. Basic Format: Last name, First name. Title of Book. Place

of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Work from an Anthology: Last name, First name. “Title of Story.” Title of Anthology. Ed. Editor’s Name. Place of Publication, Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium.

Work from a web source: Last name, First name. Title of Source. Name of Institution publishing the source. Date source was published. Web. Date you viewed source on the web.

Assistance with Works Cited The Burlington County Media Center has

a license for “Noodle Tools.” This site will assist you in building a

proper Works Cited page. Another site that is helpful in building a

Works Cited page is “Easybib.” Use of these sites is not considered

plagiarism; it is considered an excellent use of resources available in the information age.

Works Cited SampleAristotle. Poetics. Ed. S. H. Butcher. The Internet

Classics Archive. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sept. 2007. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.

Wysocki. Anne Frances. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2004. Print.

Exit Slip• Write out this citation correctly:

• The Stranger by Albert Camus

• (here’s a hint: look at the copyright page of the book)

The correct way

Camus, Albert. The Stranger. New York: Random House, 1988. Print.Author’s name. Title. City: Name of Publisher, year published. Medium

If you are still confused

www.easybib.com

www.citationmachine.net

www.bibme.org

Source Used for This PowerPoint The Purdue OWL. Purdue U

Writing Lab, 2010. Web. April 4, 2013

(Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.