Chapter 27. MLA Documentation

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27c
332 MLA MLA Documentation
27c Sample Research Paper—MLA
Nelson Rivera, a first-year student at the University of South Carolina, wrote
“Taking a Closer Look at the Motorcycle Boom” in March 2005 while a student
in “English 101: Rhetoric and Composition.” The assignment sheet for
the paper asked students to write a casual argument, that is, a paper that tries
to explain a phenomenon—in this case, the growing popularity of motorcycles.
The paper appears here substantially as Rivera wrote it, though with some
modifications to highlight specific features of MLA style. It is accompanied by
annotations and checklists designed to help you set up a paper correctly.
Checklist 27.1
Formatting the Paper—MLA
Use the following general settings in your word processor for an MLA
paper, but adjust them to match any special preferences set by your
instructor. (Note: If using a typewriter or fixed-width font, you can insert
five spaces in place of each half-inch of indentation.) Subsequent checklists
provide details for the title page, special items (quotations, tables, and figures),
and the Works Cited page.
a. Use white, 8 1 ⁄2-by-11-inch paper. For a traditional academic assignment,
never use color or lined paper. Handwrite a paper only with an
instructor’s permission.
b. Insert your last name and page number one-half inch from the top of
every page,aligned with the right-hand margin. The best way to achieve
this is to insert a running page header. (See the View or Insert menus.)
c. Use the same readable font face throughout your paper. Avoid fonts
with too much decoration,since they can be hard on the eyes.Also be sure
to use a moderate text size, 10 to 12 points depending on the font face.
d. Double-space the entire document. This includes the Works Cited
page and title page. Use your word processor’s Format or Paragraph
menus to select line spacing.
e. Left-align the body of the paper and do not hyphenate words at the
end of the line. You may need to turn off your word processor’s automatic
hyphenation tool.
f. Indent the first word of each paragraph one-half inch. Most word
processors have a way to auto set an indent for the first line of paragraphs.