1. A “No Fear” Approach to Writing Academic Essays
MLA Format
A “No Fear” Approach to Writing Academic Essays

2. What is MLA? MLA stands for the Modern Language Association
Who are they?
The Modern Language Association designates a set of formatting guidelines for academic writing and media publications.
Why? It’s important to have a standard way of writing and citing materials so writers can credit their sources. This helps keep writers keep their writing organized, legal, and formal. It also provides your readers with cues so they can follow your ideas, and allows them to focus on your topic without being confused by unfamiliar formatting.

3. The Basics: The First Page
Upper right-hand corner should be your last name and the page number. In order to do this, open up Microsoft Word and click on “Insert Page Number.” Select the option for page numbers in the upper-right hand corner. When the page number appears, type your last name in front of the number without deleting the number. Double-click back on the page, and you’re finished! It should appear like this: Russo 1
All writing must be in font size 12 Times New Roman and be double-spaced (CTRL 2)

4. Heading
The heading is located in the upper-left hand corner of the paper and must include in this order:
Your name Liana Russo
Your teacher’s name Mrs. Russo
The Course English 9
The Date March 2017

5. In-Text Citations
Follow this format to correctly cite your quotations.
“Insert your quote into quotation marks” (author’s last name pg. #).
Example: (Steinbeck 4). The author’s last name and the page number from which the quote came are located inside the parenthetical citation--fancy way of saying inside the parentheses.
If you are using the author’s name to introduce your quote, you only need to put the pg. # in the parenthesis. Example, Steinbeck wrote, “insert quote” (106).
**Punctuation always goes on the OUTSIDE of the parenthesis.

6. Works Cited Page The basic form for a book citation is:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.
All this information can be found on the publisher’s information page on the second page of the book. Now, you try it by following the above formatting exactly.

7. The Dreaded Introduction Paragraph :)
Don’t sweat your introductory paragraph! Try taking the upside down pyramid approach. Start BIG with a general statement about the book and narrow it down. Get more and more detailed as your paragraph goes on.
Begin with a broad statement about John Steinbeck’s work, about migrant workers during the Great Depression, or a snatch of dialogue between characters. Check out the handout provided to you to get ideas for your essay. DO NOT start your intro. With a question!!

8. Thesis Statement:
For your analytical essay, as well as all other essays, you must include a thesis statement.
A thesis statement is a roadmap to your essay and will help your audience understand what you plan to discuss. You should NEVER start your thesis with “I will be writing about…” Your thesis should be the last sentence of your introduction.
Instead get right to the point: George and Candy embody the theme of the difficulty of following your dreams and moving up in society during The Great Depression.