Looking For A Good MLA Essay Example: Essential Rules To Follow
When you write a paper that requires research, there are many style of formatting. Two of the most popular ones are the MLA and the APA. The APA lends itself to Science and Math, while the MLA is usually used for history or literature. But, it is the teacher’s call on which format they wish for you to use with your composition. There are many rules with both formats, and it is recommended that you find a good website that explains them and then you book mark it. Or you can buy a hard copy book for the style. The books are updated about once every two years, so get a current reference book. You should follow these guidelines, but keep in mind these are just a few of the rules:
- Use size 12 font for the paper
- Use a plain font like Arial or Times New Roman
- Double space your lines
- Have one inch margins
- Use a heading in the right corner, not a title page, so it looks like this Smith 2(for page 2)
- The first page will have a left heading that looks like this:
- Your Name
- Teacher Name
- Subject
- Date (looks like 2 October 1990)
- The title will be after this and will be centered in the page
- Cite with last name of the author and the page number in parentheses, so it looks like this (Brown 22).
- Use quotations for direct words
- Mention the source for validity
- You will have a Works Cited page (if the teacher asks for a bibliography, this page will include everything you looked at, the Works Cited only lists what you used)
- Two-three supports for each point supporting a main idea is a good ratio
- Have a thesis statement in the introduction
- Have a hook and background material in the introduction
- In the conclusion, restate the thesis (in different word), summarize, and have a universal statement
In addition to all of this, you should follow all teacher instructions, meet all deadlines, go for extra help or hire a tutor if you struggle, have the correct amount of resources (ask the teacher how many), not use contractions, and write in a formal manner. There are a lot of rules to remember with the MLA style, so feel free to print and use this guide as your write your paper.