Sally Sequoia (Your Full Name)

12pt font
doublespaced

Mrs. Baldaccini (Teachers Name)

English I ICAP (Course Title)
6 October 2011 (Due Date)

Indent for all paragraphs

Title is always centered

and is in normal font

No extra space
here or here

Title of Essay or Paper

All final draft papers you write for English should follow this format. It is called MLA.
Your essay should be double-spaced throughout the entire document and you should use 12-pt
Times New Roman font. Remember to use your best grammar and spelling and to avoid using
12pt
font
doublespaced

slang and contractions. Write your essay in the present tense. Italicize titles of books and use
quotation marks around the titles of poems, short stories and articles. Your thesis is the last
sentence in your introductory paragraph.
There are two ways to insert quotes into an essay. The first is a block quote, which is
demonstrated here. The lead-in usually provides context and summarizes the quote:
Any quotation more than four sentences/lines long should be set apart like this.

Set-off quotations
more than 4sentences long by
indenting 1

Even though a block quote is a quote, it does not start and end with quotation
marks (unless quotation marks are present in the text). The block quote must look
exactly like the text that is being quoted. In addition to the 1 indent for the whole
quote, include any other formatting that is present in the text. Notice how the page
number is after the punctuation. (34)

Do not indent after a block quote; just write your two CMs. You may also embed a quote in the
text of your essay. It is essential for the lead-in of an embedded quote to give the context of the
quote. Embedding a quote mak[es] it fit smoothly into the flow of your text (MLA Guide 23).
The punctuation comes after the page number. The brackets indicate a small change made to the
1 margins on all sides

quote in order for it to fit correctly. On the following page, you will find additional examples.

Last Name Page Number

Three more ways to

embed quotes

Include your last name

and page #.
Under Insert go to
Page Numbers.
Choose Header
Position and Right
Alignment. Then, enter
the Header and add your
last name. Remember, do
not include page
numbers on the first

The following examples will use this passage from the MLA Documentation Guide to
demonstrate different methods of embedding quotes:
To move a quotation from a text to your paper, making it fit smoothly into the flow
of your text, use one of the following methods.
***A general rule to follow: use a comma to introduce a quotation after a dialogue tag (says), a
brief phrase, or a dependent clause.
Example 1: It is preferable to work the quoted passage into the syntax of your sentence:
The MLA guide says, To move a quotation from a text to your paperuse one of the
following methods (MLA Guide 23).
Example 2: If the quoted word or phrase fits into the flow of your sentence without a break or
pause, a comma is not necessary:
When writing an essay, there are many methods to make a quote fit smoothly into the
flow of your text (MLA Guide 23).
Example 3: To embed a spoken quote (dialogue), the first word must be capitalized. If it is not
capitalized in the text, use brackets [] to indicate that you have changed it. Pretend the sample
quotation is being spoken by a teacher:
In class, the teacher says that in order [t]o move a quotation from a text to your paper,
making it fit smoothly into the flow of your text, use one of the following methods
(MLA Guide 23).