General Formatting (1)
Which font is generally appropriate for an MLA paper?
Times New Roman, size 12 is generally the standard.
How should you format the title of your essay? Be specific!
Centre the title without bolding, underlining, italicizing, or putting it in quotation marks.
Where do in-text citations usually appear, and what are they used for?
They usually appear in parentheses within the body of your writing, after borrowed information or a quotation. They tell the reader where the information came from and help them find the full source on the Works Cited page.
What is the title of the page where you list the sources you used in your essay?
Works Cited.
How should the first line of each paragraph be formatted?
Indent the first line by half an inch (one tab space).
Where should page numbers appear in an MLA-formatted essay, and what other information must appear with them?
Page numbers should appear in the top-right corner of every page, including the first page. Your last name should appear immediately before the page number.
Example: Apple 1
Which citation is formatted correctly in MLA?
A. (Apple, p. 12)
B. (Apple 12)
C. (Apple: 12)
D. (p. 12, Apple)
B. (Apple 12)
How should the words “Works Cited” be formatted at the top of the page?
A. Bold and aligned left
B. Centred, in standard text
C. Underlined and italicized
D. In quotation marks
B. Centred, in standard text, without bolding, underlining, or italics.
A student wants to double-space a paper in Microsoft Word. Which setting should they use?
Use the line-spacing setting (2.0) rather than adding extra blank lines.
True or False: It is acceptable to use bright colours, bold text, and different font sizes throughout your essay to make it look more interesting.
False. MLA formatting uses a consistent, readable, and professional layout. All your text should look generally the same.
Where does the period go when a sentence ends with a quotation followed by a parenthetical citation?
Example: “The character feels isolated” (Smith 12)
After the citation, outside of the bracket.
How should sources be organized on an MLA Works Cited page?
Alphabetically by the author's last name, generally.
A student leaves three blank lines between each paragraph. What should they do instead?
Double-space the paper and avoid adding extra blank lines between paragraphs.
Which sentence correctly formats a short story title?
A. In the story The Lottery, Jackson critiques tradition.
B. In the story The Lottery, Jackson critiques tradition.
C. In the story “The Lottery,” Jackson critiques tradition.
D. In the story The Lottery, Jackson critiques tradition.
C. In the story “The Lottery,” Jackson critiques tradition.
Smith states, “Reading can build empathy” (Smith 24). What can be removed from the citation, and why?
Remove “Smith” from the parentheses because the author's name already appears in the sentence. The citation becomes (24).
True or False: If you cannot find certain information when creating a Works Cited entry, it is okay to simply leave it out and use what you have.
True. If certain information is unavailable, you can leave it out and use the information you can find. Never make up information to complete a Works Cited entry.
You are citing an online article, but it does not have page numbers. What should you include in your MLA in-text citation?
If the source has no page numbers, do not invent them or count the paragraphs. ONLY include the author's last name if available.
You need to cite a webpage, but you cannot find the author's name. What should you do?
Begin the Works Cited entry with the title of the source. For the in-text citation, use a shortened version of the title.
A quotation ends with a question mark, and a parenthetical citation follows. Where should the question mark and final period go?
The question mark stays inside the quotation marks if it belongs to the quoted material, and the final period goes after the citation. Example: “Where are you going?” (Apple 12).
What should you do if a Works Cited entry is too long to fit on one line?
Use a hanging indent so the second and following lines are indented half an inch.