MLA FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS FOR MICROSOFT WORD

1” MARGINS

  1. Click on FILE
  2. Click on PAGE SETUP (from the pull down menu). You will get a pop up screen.
  3. Click on the MARGINS tab.
  4. Set the TOP, RIGHT, AND LEFT margins to 1”
  5. Set the BOTTOM margin to 0.8”
  6. At the bottom of the window Apply to: Whole document.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Then click on FORMAT
  9. Click on PARAGRAPH
  10. Click on the LINE AND PAGE BREAKS Tab
  11. Make sure the box for WIDOW/ORPHAN CONTROL is UNCHECKED

DOUBLE SPACING

  1. Highlight everything you have already typed including the Works Cited page.
  2. Click on FORMAT.
  3. Click on PARAGRAPH (from the pull down menu). You will get a pop up screen.
  4. Click on the INDENTS AND SPACING tab.
  5. In the Spacing Section you will find line spacing, choose DOUBLE.
  6. Click OK.
  7. You will not need to add ANY extra spacing to any part of the essay, including the heading, title or paragraphs. Using this method to change your spacing will apply the correct spacing through out the essay. It should all be uniform in appearance.

TYPING YOUR HEADING

  1. Your essay must have a heading in the Upper Left Corner of the FIRST PAGE ONLY.
    Do not type your heading on the Works Cited page.
  2. Type your name.
  3. Type your teacher’s name
  4. Type English II – your class period
  5. Type the due date of your essay in this format: Day Month Year è 05 September 2007

INSERTING THE HEADER

  1. Your essay must have a header in the upper right corner on every page.
  2. Click on VIEW.
  3. Click on HEADER AND FOOTER (from the pull down menu).
  4. You will see a box on your document and a pop up tool bar.
  5. Click on the RIGHT JUSTIFY TOOL BAR BUTTON on the word tool bar. That will move the cursor in your document box to the right.
  6. Type in your last name and a space.

7.  On the HEADER AND FOOTER TOOL BAR, click on the INSERT PAGE NUMBER (#) BUTTON. Do not type the number, otherwise it will show the same number on every page.

  1. Click on CLOSE. Your header should now appear on every page with continuing page numbers.

INDENTING PARAGRAPHS

  1. Highlight all the paragraphs. Do not include the heading, title, or Works Cited.
  2. Click on FORMAT.
  3. Click on PARAGRAPH (from the pull down menu). You will get a pop up screen.
  4. Click on the INDENTS AND SPACING tab.
  5. In the Indentation section you will choose FIRST LINE INDENT.
  6. Click OK.

ADDING A WORKS CITED PAGE

  1. Your essay should include a work cited page. It is a NEW PAGE IN THE SAME DOCUMENT, not a new document.
  2. After the last sentence in your essay, press the CTRL AND ENTER KEYS. A new page should appear.
  3. Click on the CENTER JUSTIFY BUTTON in the tool bar.
  4. Type on the very first line: Works Cited
  5. Press ENTER again, then click on the LEFT JUSTIFY BUTTON on the toolbar.
  6. Type your work cited entries.
  7. Remember, the work cited page is indented differently. The first line will not be indented. The subsequent lines will be indented ½ inch. To do this:
  8. Highlight all the entries.
  9. Click on FORMAT.
  10. Click on PARAGRAPH (from the pull down menu). You will get a pop up screen.
  11. Click on the INDENTS AND SPACING tab.
  12. In the Indentation section you will choose HANGING INDENT.
  13. Click OK.
  14. See below for an example.

Sample 1

Works Cited

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx