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ENG 611: American National Literature: Paper Formatting

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MLA Formatting

  1. After opening your Microsoft Word document, click on the No Spacing option in the Styles section on the Home thread.
  2. Click on the Paragraph Settings icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the Paragraph section on the Home thread.
  3. In the Paragraph pop-up window that appears, click on the drop-down menu underneath Line spacing in the Spacing section.
  4. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Double.
  5. Click on the OK button in the bottom right-hand corner of the Paragraph pop-up window.
  6. Click on the down-arrow symbol to the right of the Font drop-down menu in the Font section on the Home thread.
  7. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Times New Roman.
  8. Click on the down-arrow symbol to the right of the Font Size drop-down menu in the Font section on the Home thread.
  9. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on 12.
  10. Click on the Insert tab near the top of the screen to open the Insert thread.
  11. Click on the Page Number drop-down menu in the Header & Footer section on the Insert thread.
  12. In the drop-down menu that appears, hover the mouse over the Top of Page option.
    1. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on the Plain Number 3 option.
  13. Highlight the page number 1 that appears.
  14. Click on the Home tab near the top of the screen to open the Home thread.
  15. Click on the down-arrow symbol to the right of the Font drop-down menu in the Font section on the Home thread.
  16. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Times New Roman.
  17. Click on the down-arrow symbol to the right of the Font Size drop-down menu in the Font section on the Home thread.
  18. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on 12.
  19. Click just to the left of page number 1.
  20. Click on the down-arrow symbol to the right of the Font drop-down menu in the Font section on the Home thread.
  21. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Times New Roman.
  22. Click on the down-arrow symbol to the right of the Font Size drop-down menu in the Font section on the Home thread.
  23. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on 12.
  24. Type your Last Name [do not bold it in your document] so that it appears to the left of page number 1.
  25. Use the Space Bar button on the keyboard once so that a space appears between your last name and the page number.
  26. Click on the Design tab underneath Header & Footer Tools near the top of the screen to open the Design thread.
  27. Click on the box to the left of Different First Page in the Options section on the Design thread so that a checkmark appears.
    1. Your last name and page number should disappear from the first page, but they should reappear on all subsequent pages in your document.
  28. Click on the red X Close Header and Footer button in the Close section on the Design thread.
  29. Type the following information so that it appears in the top left-hand corner of your document:
    • Your Name
    • Your Professor's Name
    • The Course Number
    • The Date [following the format of Day Month Year]
  30. On a new line, click on the Center align symbol in the Paragraph section of the Home thread.
  31. Type the title of your document.
  32. On a new line, click on the Align Left symbol in the Paragraph section of the Home thread.
  33. Use the following steps to format your citations:
    1. Click on the Paragraph Settings icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the Paragraph section on the Home thread.
    2. In the Paragraph pop-up window that appears, click on the drop-down menu underneath Special in the Indentation section.
    3. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Hanging.
    4. Click on the OK button in the bottom right-hand corner of the Paragraph pop-up window.
  1. After opening your Google Doc, click on the Format menu near the top of the screen.
  2. In the drop-down menu that appears, hover the mouse over Line spacing.
    1. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Double.
  3. Click on the Font drop-down menu [default is Arial].
  4. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Times New Roman.
  5. Click on the Font size drop-down menu [default is 11].
  6. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on 12.
  7. Click on the Insert menu near the top of the screen.
  8. In the drop-down menu that appears, hover the mouse over Header & page number.
  9. In the drop-down menu that appears, hover the mouse over Page number.
  10. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on the top-left option [which shows page numbers in the top right-hand corner of the pages].
  11. Click just to the left of page number 1.
  12. Type your Last Name [do not bold it in your document] so that it appears to the left of page number 1.
  13. Use the Space Bar button on the keyboard once so that a space appears between your last name and the page number.
  14. Click on the box to the left of Different first page in the Header horizontal rule so that a checkmark appears.
    1. Your last name and page number should disappear from the first page, but they should reappear on all subsequent pages in your document.
  15. Click beneath the Header horizontal rule.
  16. Type the following information so that it appears in the top left-hand-corner of your document:
    • Your Name
    • Your Professor's Name
    • The Course Number
    • The Date [following the format of Day Month Year]
  17. On a new line, click on the Central Align symbol.
  18. Type the title of your document.
  19. On a new line, click on the Format menu near the top of the screen.
  20. In the drop-down menu that appears, hover the mouse over Align & indent.
    1. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Center.
  21. Type the title of your document.
  22. On a new line, click on the Format menu near the top of the screen.
  23. In the drop-down menu that appears, hover the mouse over Align & indent.
    1. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Left.
  24. Use the following steps to format your citations:
    1. Click on the Format menu near the top of the screen.
    2. In the drop-down menu that appears, hover the mouse over Align & indent.
    3. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Indentation options.
    4. In the Indentation options pop-up window that appears, click on the drop-down menu underneath Special [default is None].
    5. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Hanging.
    6. Click on the Apply button in the bottom right-hand corner of the Indentation options pop-up window.