Formatting the First Page

Always read the assignment instructions before formatting your paper. In standard MLA, there is no designated title page. However, there is a heading placed at the start of the first page of your essay, formatted as such:

• In the header of the page, put your last name and the page number (starting from 1 on the first page).
• In the top left corner of the main part of the page, put the following:
  • Your full name
  • Your instructor's name
  • Course name/code
  • The due date of the assignment (Day Month Year)
  • After this comes the title of your paper, centered on the next line. See the example below:

Please note: the 7th, 8th, and 9th Edition of MLA follow the same formatting for the header, heading, and title.

Sample header created by Claire Pienaar, 2021.

It is also helpful to know that some of the tools you'll use to write your papers will require you to make adjustments to the default settings for spacing. For instance, Microsoft Word's default setting maintains an extra space after every paragraph, which can result in odd-looking papers.

You can consult the video below for one method for adjusting your spacing in Microsoft Word.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Cu-o2Io_c