Lastname 1

Your Name

Professor Name

English XXXX-xx

Day Month Year

Title

          Start your introduction paragraph here. Remember to double-space your entire document!

          This sample paper describes MLA guidelines for formatting papers for your English courses. For more information on document design, see the MLA handbook, or any writing handbook, and perhaps do a web search for "document design."

          You will not need a cover page or a title page for your essay, so set up the first page of your paper as described above. Be sure to double-space your entire essay, including the Works Cited page (even though this web-page is not). Use at least one-inch margins on all four sides. Use a 12-point “readable” font (e.g., Times New Roman, Cambria, Arial, or Calibri). Indent the first line of each paragraph one tab. An extra space between paragraphs is optional.

          Finally, do not submit your final draft in one of those plastic "report covers" or binders. Ask your instructor if s/he prefers you to staple your final draft.

In addition, check your paper for the following items:

• You should NOT “quote,” bold, underline, italicize, CAPITALIZE, or enlarge your own title.
• You might use the assignment title as your own title--or even the number of the assignment, such as Essay #1, as your own title. But some instructors, and readers, might prefer you to come up with a more original title of your own, one that reflects the essay's topic or central idea (argument).
• You should definitely proofread your final draft carefully before submitting it.

As you proofread, pay particular attention to the following items:

• Be sure to spell the names of any other authors correctly; check your books to be sure.
• When you refer to another author in your paper, use her/his full name the first time; then use either her/his full name or last name; do not refer to an author by her/his first name only. 
• Be sure to spell any other names correctly as well, such as characters' names in a novel or play; check your books to be sure.
• When you refer to a character in your paper, use his/her full name the first time; thereafter, you may refer to a character by his/her first name or full name.
• We underline or italicize the titles of books, movies, TV shows, and albums/CDs--e.g., Where No Gods Came and The Little Seagull Handbook are underlined or italicized--but not both at the same time, and be consistent with which one you choose.
• We put in “quotation marks” the titles of stories, poems, articles, chapters, individual TV episodes, individual songs, etc. (For really long titles, once you have used the long title once, such as "Leaves that Shimmer in the Slightest Breeze," you can use a shorter version thereafter, such as “Leaves that Shimmer.”)

These are the most common formatting functions (Word '97):

• To Change Margins -- Go to File -- then Page Setup
• To Change to Double spacing -- Highlight the whole text -- then go to Format -- then Paragraph -- then Line Spacing (or Ctrl-A -- then Ctrl-2)
• To Create a Header -- Go to View -- then Header and Footer