1. MLA STYLE & FORMATTING

2. Basic MLA Standards Margins must be set to 1”
In Microsoft Word, double click on the ruler and change the settings for Left, Right, Top, and Bottom to 1.0”
Or, go to Format  Document. You can set the margins from there
All text must be typed in:
Times New Roman font
Size 12 only

3. Basic MLA Standards
Alignment and Spacing must be set to zero or “No Spacing”
The document must be double spaced
Do not hit the space bar twice after a period
No extra spaces between paragraphs or headings
Select the whole document, click Format  Paragraph, and under spacing, select “Double”

4. MLA Headings An MLA heading must be included on every academic paper
Top left corner of the first page ONLY
Do not type into header bar
Double spaced
Follow a specific order!
Your name
Teacher’s name
Class (and section)
Due date (Day Month Year)

5. Titles Are you a published author? Titles of
If your work has NOT been published, you MAY NOT:
Underline your title
Italicize your title
Titles of
Books, epic poems, plays: Italicized
Don’t underline: it is ungrammatical
If the title begins with the word “A,” “An,” or “The,” it is part of the title and should be capitalized and italicized
Short stories and short poems: “In Quotations”
Letters of major words capitalized
Prepositions with five or more letters: for instance, “to” would not be capitalized, but “Through” or “Between” would be!
A Separate Peace
The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963
The Light Between Oceans

6. Quotations You must cite every quote
Use quotation marks to show the beginning and end of a quote:
“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country”
Do NOT include periods or commas at the end of a quote, even if the quote is the end of a sentence in the book
Periods go AFTER the second quotation mark and the parenthetical citation
In parentheses after the quote, put the author’s last name and the page number where you found the quote
“After all you can’t come to the shore with just anybody and you can’t come by yourself, and at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal” (Knowles 48).

7. Supporting Sentences: Examples
Context/Lead-In = red; Example/Quote = blue; Analysis = green
Example in a sentence:
Gene struggles throughout the story to understand what it means to be a friend. From the beginning, he shows his discomfort with getting close to others when he fails to return Finny’s sentiment that Gene is his “best pal” (Knowles 48). Later, when he visits Leper at his home, Gene feels deeply uncomfortable with Leper’s openness about his fears and eventually fights with Leper before literally running away from him. This discomfort helps reveal Gene’s doubts about himself: since he cannot accept himself, he finds it especially hard to be a good and accepting friend.
Quote in a sentence:
Finny shows surprising affection on the beach, just before he and Gene fall asleep: “After all you can’t come to the shore with just anybody and you can’t come by yourself, and at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal” (Knowles 48). This brief emotional moment stuns Gene, who cannot bring himself to respond. Finny’s openness with his friends about his emotions – especially in a place where “exposing a sincere emotion … was the next thing to suicide” (48) – shows his unique courage, and helps explain why the others see him as a leader even after his injury.

8. The Transitional or Concluding Sentence
Transitional sentence
Appears at the end of any body paragraph that is not the final body paragraph.
Joins the current paragraph to the next by linking the topics or the analysis
Uses transitional words and phrases (adverbs!)
“therefore”, “as a result”, “consequently,” “similarly”
Example:
Ultimately, Brinker’s assertiveness makes the other boys accept him more than they accept Quakenbush, yet not as accepted as the kinder boys, such as Leper and Chet.
The Concluding Sentence, or “clincher”
Can appear at the end of any paragraph, but must be at the end of the last body paragraph
Restates or emphasizes the topic statement using new words and phrasing
Pulls examples and details together to signal the end of the discussion of this topic (and the paragraph)
As seen throughout the story, the outcasts of Devon School reveal the harsh ways the students judge themselves, excluding others based on their own insecurities. In a time of war, which calls for great unity, the consequences of excluding individuals lead to greater, deeper divides in the whole community.