teaching mla basics to high school

MLA Format Lesson A Guide to

MLA Format how to cite resources in your papers

What does MLA stand for? Modern Language Association

What is the purpose of MLA?to avoid plagiarism and giveothers credit for their ideas

Types of Sources

booksjournal articlesmagazinesnewspapersencyclopediawebsites

How To Cite Resources

Types of ResourcesYou Need to Cite

Use only 1 space after periods or other punctuationMargins set to 1 inch on all sidesTab key for all new paragraphsYour last name and page number as header in right hand corner

Times New Roman size 12Double Spaced

The Basics of MLA within your Paper


The HeaderYour nameYour instructor’s nameCourse nameDate: day, month, year


source: MLA for

research papers

The Title of Your Paper

Double space and place your title under headerNo italics, bolded, underlined or quotation marksCapital letters only on first letter of each word of the title


source: MLA for

research papers


Citing Within Paragraphswhen referencing a text, use the abbreviation “qtd. in” (quoted in) followed by the title of the text, all in parenthesis

SOURCE: MLA for research papers

when referencing an author, use the last name of the author and page number or rangeof page numbers; use only thepage number when referring tothe same text more than once

begin on a new page with last name and page number in corner and label the page Works Cited

do not italicize or put in quotation marks & don’t skip spaces between entries

Create hanging indent: Under paragraph, go to indentation, click hanging and then set at .5


Your Works Cited Page

source: MLA for

research papers

Last name, First name, Title of Book, City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication, Medium of Publication

Olan, James. Chaos: Making Sense of Neuroscience. New York: Penguin ,2016. Print.


List BOOKS on Works Cited page in this format:

Last name, First name of Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Periodical Day, Month, Year: pages. Medium of Publication


List ARTICLES on Works Cited page in this format:

Time Magazine Print

Polaski, Allen “It’s All A Joke.” 30 July 2016: 12-15.

Be specific with page numbers

don’t forget to indicate print or web at the end of the entry

no need to provide a url if citing a web page


Spellman, John. It’s Open to the Public. Springfield: Catholic Press, 2016. First Church of Springfield: 148 - 151. Print. 10 May 2016

Example:


You can also cite social media sources in MLA:

Works Cited and Bibliography are not the same.

In Works Cited you only list items you have actually referred to and cited in your paper.

A Bibliography lists all of the material you have consulted in preparing your essay whether or not you have actually referred to and cited the work.


What’s the Difference?

Works Cited vs Bibliography

teaching mla basics to high school

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