Masahiro Akaishi

Format is very IMPORTANT

…However, many students do not pay attention to formatting so much

There are always rules to write something If you overlook formatting correctly, your

essay might not be as good as it should be

There are two main format styles

MLA & APA style …in most case, professors tend to prefer MLA

format style including in your upper courses of your major

Even though the point of format in First Year Composition Assessment Rubric is small, do not under estimate the format; it is always important to be consistent in your essay

These are examples from USF library website for your reference page

MLA (Works Cited)Jones, Barry.  Sleepers, Wake!: Technology and

the Future of Work.  New York: Oxford UP, 1995.

APA (Reference list)Beck, C.A., & Sales, B.D. (2001). Family mediation:

Facts, myths and future prospects. Washington, DC:  American Psychological Association.

See the difference? Even the title for your reference is different for MLA and APA

In addition, there is an underline for MLA, but none of that for APA.

In-text citation rules are also different.

You want to be consistent in your essay, so DO NOT mix them in your essay

Let’s see what else you need to be careful about major MLA style formats!

This is not a big deal, but there is a rule for margins.

Margins are always 1 inch to top, bottom, left, and right

In addition, a margin to a header is ½ inch

Adapted from A writer’s handbook

You need to have a header that contains page number followed by your last name

Your full name, your instructor’s name, your course name, and date should be in this order and placed at top-left side in your paper

You should have an interesting title of your essay at the center of your essay

Adapted from A writer’s handbook

Double space is required of MLA style

This applies to your heading, paragraphs, and works cited

You need to indent your first line by 5 spaces If you have a block quotation, you need to indent

the paragraph by 10 spaces

Adapted from A writer’s handbook

This is sometimes tricky After you put in-text citation with page

number in parenthesis at the end of sentence, punctuations come after the parenthesis An example from Leonard J. Rosen (168);And “that,” writes Chopin, is “the beginning of the

shameful affair” (32).

However, if a sentence continues, you need to put punctuations within a quote. Same example from Rosen (168)And “that,” writes Chopin, is “the beginning of the

shameful affair” (32).

You always need to introduce an author if you only use page number in a parenthesis Same example from Rosen (168)And “that,” writes Chopin, is “the beginning of the

shameful affair” (32).

Even if you summarize or paraphrase your source, you still need to make clear divisions between your thoughts and an author’s thoughts; therefore, it is better to introduce the author when you summarize or paraphrase his/her thoughts

Block quotation is a quotation that is longer than 4 lines

You need to follow a few things No quotation marks is necessary You need to start a new paragraph You need to indent 10 spaces from left

Adapted from A writer’s handbook

Works Cited is a list of all sources you use You need to start Works Cited on a new page You need to put “Works Cited” in the center of

the first line You need to fix all bibliographies in

alphabetical order Margins are as same as the other pages; 1

inch to all sides and ½ inch for a header For each source, you need to indent 5 spaces

after second line if your bibliography is more than 1 line

Adapted from A writer’s handbook and OWL at Purdue

"MLA Examples." Citing Sources. University of South Florida Library. 2 Dec 2008 <http://www.lib.usf.edu/public/index.cfm?Pg=MLAExamples>.

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue Online Writing Lab. The OWL at Purdue. 2 Dec 2008 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/>.

Rosen, Leonard J. Decisions A Writer's Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: Longman, 2002.