MLA Format for Student Essays

You should use the format shown in these two figures for your essay. Please note that these examples are not drawn to scale.

A few notes about format:

• Do not use a title page. All the pertinent information goes on page one.
• Place your last name and the page number flush with the right margin and one-half inch down from the top of the page. All other margins are 1 inch.
• Indent the first line of all paragraphs one-half inch.
• Indent block quotations one-inch at the left margin, but not at the right margin.
• Double space your entire essay, including block quotations and the works cited.
• Use a standard 10- or 12-point font. Use good judgment--some 10-point fonts will be too small, and some 12-point fonts too large. Ask your instructor if you're not sure.
• Center your title and use book-title style capitalization, but DO NOT put it in quotation marks, underline it, bold face it, italicize it, or use a font different from the rest of the text.

• Start your Works Cited list on a new page.
• Number your Works Cited page consecutively from the last page of your essay.
• Double space your entire Works Cited list. Do not add any extra space between entries.
• Use a 1/2 inch hanging indentation--that means, for entries longer than one line, start the first line of the entry at the left margin and then indent consecutive lines of that entry one 1/2 inch.
• Alphabetize the entries in your Works Cited list.
• If your Works Cited list is longer than one page, do not split an entry between pages--"push" the entire entry to the top of the next page if necessary.
• For examples of how to cite various types of sources, go to MLA Examples.
• Titles of works that have been independently published, such as books, plays, and movies, may be placed in italics or underlined; titles of poems, essays, and articles should be placed in quotation marks.

Last Updated 04/10/02