Setting Up a Paper in MLA Format
Using MS Word

1. Run Microsoft Word. 

2. To set the page margins at one inch, select File from the menu bar, then Page Setup. When the dialogue box appears, click on the Margins tab, then enter a 1 in the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right boxes. When done, click the OK button.

3. Prepare the document for double spacing and proper paragraph indentations by clicking on Format from the main menu, followed by Paragraph and then Spacing. Set the spacing at Double and set the indent at SPECIAL: First line. 

4. To create a header in the upper-right hand corner of the page that includes your last name and the page number, do the following: 

a. Select View from the menu bar, then Header/Footer from the menu that appears.

b. Note that, at the top of the current page, a small area has been sectioned off from the rest of the page amid a set of (barely visible) gray lines. The cursor should be in this box. If it is not, click inside the box to put it there.

c.   Click on the justification button (the one to the right of the U on the toolbar) and select Right from the list of options.

d.   Type in your last name, followed by a space. DO NOT type a page number, as the same number will appear on every page of the document. Instead, select # from the Header and Footer menu.

e.   Click the area outside the header box (on the main part of the document) to continue with the rest of the document:  DO NOT write the rest of your paper in the header box, as this will make whatever text you typed in that box appear on every page of the paper.

f.     If at any time you need to change the header you created, simply click back in the header area, make your revision(s), then click back out again.

5.  On the first available line of the document itself (but not in the header box), enter your first and last names, then press the [Enter] key once. On the second line, enter your instructor's name, then press [Enter] again. On the third line, enter the your class period. On the fourth line from the top, enter the date the paper is to be submitted (the due date), formatted as such: DD Month YYYY.

6. The paper's title should be centered on the fifth line. To do this, type the title, highlight it, and then choose center from the justification menu. Important Note: Do not underline or bold the title, place it in all caps or italic type, or use a different font or font size than that used in the rest of the paper. Once you have entered the title, press the [Enter] key once, then choose left from the justification menu. 

7.        The text of the paper itself begins on the sixth line of the first page. Note: From this point on, it is only necessary to press the [Enter] key at the conclusion of a paragraph, as opposed to at the end of each line. Do not tab to begin a new paragraph.

8. Type a few sample sentences, then print out and turn in your format sample.
 

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