Citation Help for MLA, 8th Edition: Formatting Your Paper

 

There are a number of essay formats available for students to use. This essay format is usually set by the course instructor or the institute you are studying in. An essay format that is commonly used by students all over the world is the MLA format. 

If you struggle with essay formats and have a hard time remembering them, then get in touch with an essay writer. These are trained professionals who can help you with any essay format. These expert writers are skilled at using essay formats so they can guide you with anything regarding essay formats.

 

While most students are aware of what the MLA essay format is, some have a hard time remembering every single rule of the MLA format. This article will give you a complete overview of the MLA essay format. After reading the overview, you will be ready to go and write an essay that has the perfect MLA essay format

 

What is MLA?

The MLA essay format has been designed by the MLA. MLA stands for Modern Language Association of America. The aim of this association is to increase the strength of language and literature. 

The MLA essay writing format has been published in the 8th edition of the MLA handbook. In this handbook, you can find the specifications related to formats for essays and academic papers. The MLA format for essays and academic papers is very similar. The handbook also contains information on how to cite using the MLA citation style.  

 

Overview of MLA essay format 

Now that we know where the MLA essay format came from, let us see the format for both academic papers and essays. Before going into detail about the format, you need to know 5 format guidelines. These guidelines are

 

  1. Use font size 12 and set font style to Times New Roman
  2. Set page margins to 1”
  3. Use double line spacing instead of single line spacing
  4. For each new paragraph, you use, set up a 0.5” indent
  5. The headings should have case capitalization

These 5 guidelines are the basics that should be remembered when writing an essay in MLA essay format. Next time you find yourself asking, ‘What guidelines should I use when I write my essay in MLA format?’ remember the above 5 guidelines.

Now let us move on to the header. The header is located on the first page of the paper in MLA essay format. The header is also left-aligned and contains the following information;

  • Full name
  • Name of course instructor or supervisor
  • Name of course with the number
  • The due date for the assignment

After you add these 4 to your header, then we write the title. The title is located in the center of the page right below the header. Remember to use title-case capitalization. The running head of your essay should just contain your last name and the page number. The MLA essay format states that the running head should be right-aligned so make sure you do that 

Like the references page in APA essay format, the MLA essay format has a ‘Works cited’ page. This page is usually put at the end of the essay and contains all the outside sources you have used when write my paper. These outside sources can either be primary sources or secondary sources. 

If the references in your ‘Works cited’ page is more than one line, then you should use a hanging indent. A hanging indent is an indent that is applied to all lines except the first. This rule applies to all other essay formats as well

It is up to you if you want to use headings or subheadings in your MLA formatted essay. However, if you do end up using them then you need to remember the format for them. In MLA essay format, the headings are all aligned to the left. They need to be written and title case and should not be ending with a full stop. Remember to bold the headings so they are prominent

The subheadings are also left-aligned and written in the title case by myperfectpaper.net. However, subheadings are not bold-faced. Instead we subheadings are italicized. 

MLA essay format also specifies how you should label any tables and figures used in the essay. For tables, there should be a caption that shows the source for the table. This caption is put below the table. The table is labeled with a number and this label is bold-faced

Figures, just like tables, are also labeled and numbered. The label is bold-faced and is placed below the image. The caption of the image usually has the word figure shortened to ‘fig’ and then the number of the image. Provide the source of the picture in the caption. Remember to include the sources of your tables and figures on the work cited page.  

Now that you are aware of what the MLA essay format is, try writing an essay using the format specifications given in the article. Practicing the format will enable you to write essays in the perfect MLA format. Once you get the hang of it, you will not have to consult a guide every time you write an essay.

This article should serve as a proper guide for your next MLA essay. Get in touch with an paper writing service if you face trouble remembering the formats. One of the many services they provide is known as proofreading. The service proofreads your essay and then fixes any of the formatting mistakes that you may have made. 

 

 

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