MLA Format Example: Annotated Sample Paper

An MLA format example shows the rules working together: a four-line heading at the top left, a centered title, your last name and the page number at the top right, double-spaced text with half-inch paragraph indents, and a Works Cited page at the end. Below is a full MLA sample paper, page by page, with every element labelled with the rule it shows, followed by a formatting checklist and steps for Word and Google Docs. It follows the MLA Handbook, 9th edition.

MLA format at a glance

Use these settings for any MLA format paper or research paper written in MLA style unless your instructor gives different ones. They are the same on every page, so set them once before you type.

MLA essay format settings

Element	MLA setting
Margins	1 inch on all four sides.
Font	An easily readable font, such as Times New Roman, at 12 pt. Italics must look clearly different from the regular text.
Line spacing	Double-spaced throughout (select “double” in the line spacing menu rather than pressing Enter twice), including the heading, block quotes and Works Cited. No extra space between paragraphs.
Paragraph indent	Half an inch for the first line of each paragraph.
Header	Your last name, a space, then the page number. Right-aligned, half an inch from the top, on every page including the first.
Title page	Not required. The heading and title go at the top of page 1.
Works Cited	Starts on a new page. Alphabetical, with a half-inch hanging indent.

MLA sample paper, annotated

The sample is a short student essay on Pride and Prejudice. It is built from an online text of the novel, so it also shows how to cite a source with no page numbers. Numbers in brackets point to the rule listed under each page.

Page 1: heading, header, title and first paragraph

What page 1 shows

Label	Rule it shows
[1] Header	Last name and page number, top right, half an inch from the top edge. The number appears on page 1 too, with no “Page” or “p.” in front of it.
[2] Heading	Name, instructor, course and date on four separate double-spaced lines, flush left, with no bold and no extra blank lines.
[3] Title	Centered, in the same font and size as the text. No bold, no underline, no quotation marks. Only the novel’s title is italicized, because it is the title of a book.
[4] Indent	The first line of the paragraph is indented half an inch, and the text is double-spaced.
[5] In-text citation	The citation sits inside the sentence, before the final period. Because the paper cites two works by the same author, each citation uses the author’s name plus a short title.

The heading rules are short, but the details change with the assignment, such as what to do when the instructor wants a different date format or no course line. The MLA heading guide covers each case.

Where the header sits

The running head is the detail students get wrong most often, so it is worth measuring. The header is one line of text, and it follows the same font and size as the paper.

MLA header and page number placement

Measurement	Setting
Distance from the top edge	Half an inch, so the header sits above the 1-inch top margin.
Horizontal position	Flush with the right margin, so the number lines up with the right edge of the text.
Content	Last name, one space, page number. No comma, no dash, no “Page”.
Where it appears	On every page, including page 1 and the Works Cited page.
First line of the heading	Starts at the 1-inch margin, one double-spaced line below the header.

Page 2: body paragraph and block quote

What page 2 shows

Label	Rule it shows
[6] Page number	The header repeats on every page and the number goes up by one.
[7] Lead-in	A colon after a full sentence introduces the block quote. The sentence stays in the indented paragraph above it.
[8] Block quote	Used for more than four lines of prose. The whole passage is indented half an inch from the left margin, without quote marks and with no extra indent on its first line. It stays double-spaced.
[9] Citation after the period	In a block quotation the citation goes after the final punctuation, and no period follows it.
[10] Short quote	A short quote stays in the paragraph, inside double quotes, and the citation goes before the period.

Page 3: Works Cited

What page 3 shows

Label	Rule it shows
[11] Title and position	The list starts on a new page. “Works Cited” is centered, with no bold, no italics and no quotation marks.
[12] Entry and hanging indent	Entries run in alphabetical order. The first line is flush left and every later line is indented half an inch. Each entry follows the MLA core elements: author, title, container (here the website), and location (the URL without https://).
[13] Same author	A second work by the same author starts with three hyphens and a period in place of the name. Order the entries by title.

The same layout works for any subject. Replace the sample text with your own, keep the settings, and check each citation against the source itself. MLA publishes student essays that were chosen as models on its sample essays page, which is worth a look when you want to see a longer paper with a different structure. Each entry gives the reader enough information to find the source, so copy the author, title and location exactly as the source shows them. MLA style drops the https:// from web addresses and leaves out any element the source does not provide.

MLA in-text citation examples

Every quote or paraphrase in the body needs a short citation in parentheses that points to a Works Cited entry. The text citation usually holds the author’s last name and a page number, with no comma between them. Use the pattern that fits the source.

MLA in-text citation patterns

Situation	Pattern
One author	(Smith 45)
Two authors	(Smith and Jones 45)
Three or more authors	(Smith et al. 45)
No author	A short title in quotation marks, as in (“Climate Report” 12).
Author named in the sentence	Put only the page in the parentheses, as in (45).
Quote from another writer’s words	(qtd. in Jones 45), where Jones is the author of the source you read.
No page numbers	The author alone, or the chapter or section if the source has one.

Whatever pattern you pick, the first word in the parentheses must match the first word of the Works Cited entry. That is how a reader finds the full source in the list. MLA style keeps each citation short because the Works Cited page carries the full information.

How to cite a source with no page numbers in MLA

In MLA format, a citation tells the reader where to look. Online texts rarely have stable page numbers, and a page you saw on one screen will not match another reader’s. Do not guess a page. MLA lets you point to a division that exists in the source, such as a chapter, section or paragraph. The sample does this with “ch. 1” and “ch. 6”.

Locating a quote in a source without pages

Source type	What to put in the parentheses
Online novel with chapters	The author, then “ch.” and the chapter number, as in (Austen, Pride, ch. 1).
Web article with no numbers	The author only. Do not add a page or paragraph number the source does not show.
Print book	The author and the page number, as in (Austen 3).
Two works by one author	The author, a short title in italics or quotation marks to match the full title, then the location.

Container titles and secondary sources in the MLA Works Cited

A container is the larger work that holds your source. A journal holds articles, a book of essays holds chapters, and a website holds pages. When the container sits inside another container, such as an article you found in a database, list the smaller container first and the larger one after it. This is the part of MLA style that confuses students the most, because the same pattern covers books, articles and web pages.

Works Cited entry patterns for common sources

Source	Pattern
Journal article	Author. “Article Title.” Journal Title, vol. 12, no. 3, year, pp. 45-60.
Article found in a database	Author. “Article Title.” Journal Title, vol. 12, no. 3, year, pp. 45-60. Database Name, DOI or URL.
Chapter in an edited book	Author. “Chapter Title.” Book Title, edited by Editor Name, Publisher, year, pp. 10-25.
Web page	Author. “Page Title.” Website Name, Publisher if different from the site name, day month year, URL.
Whole book	Author. Book Title. Publisher, year.

The elements of every MLA citation run in the same order: author, title of source, title of container, other contributors, version, number, publisher, date and location. Leave out any element your source does not have, and drop https:// from web addresses. Whatever the research paper is about, the same template applies to articles, books and websites.

Citing generative AI in MLA format

Generative AI tools are now a source type students ask about. The MLA’s updated guidance on citing generative AI uses the same core elements. It advises against treating the AI tool as an author, so the entry starts with a description of the prompt in quotation marks instead.

MLA core elements for a generative AI source

Element	What goes in it
Title of source	A description of what the tool generated, in quotation marks, followed by the word “prompt”.
Title of container	The name of the tool, in italics.
Version	The model or model version, as specifically as you can state it.
Publisher	The company that made the tool.
Date	The date the content was generated.
Location	A stable, shareable link to the conversation. If the tool has none, use the general URL for the tool.

In the text, cite the first words of the prompt in quotation marks, as in (“Describe the theme”). Your instructor may also have a policy on AI use, so check it before you rely on any generated text.

MLA format checklist

Run through this list before you hand in an MLA format essay. It works whether you write in Word, Google Docs or a plain editor.

• 1-inch margins
• 12 pt readable font
• Double spacing everywhere
• Half-inch paragraph indents
• Last name and page number
• Four-line heading
• Centered plain title
• Works Cited on its own page
• Hanging indent on entries

Most lost marks come from a handful of slips in the MLA essay format. The table shows what each slip looks like on screen, so you can spot it without re-reading the rules.

Common MLA formatting mistakes and how to spot them

Mistake	How to spot it and fix it
Extra space between paragraphs	There are visible gaps between paragraphs, usually because Word adds 8 pt of space after each paragraph by default. Set spacing before and after to 0.
Bold or underlined title	The title stands out from the text. MLA wants plain text in the same size as the body.
“Page 1” in the header	The header reads “Page 1” or “p. 1”. It should read “Rivera 1”, with only the name and the number.
Quote marks around a block quote	An indented passage also has marks at each end. Remove them, because the indent already signals a quote.
Period after the block-quote citation	The block quote ends with the citation followed by a period. The period belongs before the citation instead.
Works Cited left aligned with no indent	Every line of an entry sits flush left. Add a half-inch hanging indent so the author’s name stands out.
A title page nobody asked for	Page 1 is just a title block. MLA does not require one, so skip it unless the instructor does.

If your instructor does ask for a cover page, an MLA title page generator will lay one out for you.

How to set up an MLA format paper in Word and Google Docs

Set these up on a blank document before you start writing, so the MLA style is in place for every page. Every step below uses the default menu names.

Microsoft Word

1. Open Layout, then Margins, and choose Normal (1 inch on all sides).
2. Select Times New Roman at 12 pt on the Home tab.
3. Open the Paragraph dialog. Set Line spacing to Double, set Before and After to 0 pt, and set Special to First line at 0.5 inch.
4. Double-click the top of the page to open the header. Right-align it, type your last name and a space, then use Insert, Page Number, Current Position to add the number.
5. For the Works Cited page, insert a page break, center the title, then set Special to Hanging at 0.5 inch for the entries.

Google Docs

1. Open File, then Page setup, and set all four margins to 1 inch.
2. Choose Times New Roman at 12 pt from the toolbar.
3. Open Format, then Line and paragraph spacing, and choose Double. Use the same menu to remove space after paragraphs.
4. Open Format, then Align and indent, then Indentation options. Set Special indent to First line at 0.5 inch.
5. Open Insert, then Page numbers, and choose the header placement. Click in the header, right-align it and type your last name before the number.
6. For the Works Cited page, press Ctrl+Enter for a page break, then set Special indent to Hanging at 0.5 inch for the entries.

For a block quote, set the left indent to 0.5 inch for that paragraph only and set the special indent back to None.

Where to go next

This page covers the layout and format of the whole paper, plus the citation information a reader needs. For the other MLA topics, such as citing individual sources, go to the MLA citation style hub. The layout rules here come from the 9th edition of the MLA Handbook, and Purdue OWL’s MLA general format page lists the same settings if you want a second reference. Its page on formatting quotations explains the verse and prose thresholds for block quotes.

MLA sample paper FAQ

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