#mla formatting

because I have this paper that is worth 100 points.

My teacher made MLA format 20 points of the 100 points. 

It is all or nothing meaning the smallest mistake gives me a 0/20

My results are back and I have a 68/100 and you want to know why? It is because of the some small mistake in MLA that I cannot find in the dam essay. If there was no mistake in MLA, it would have been 88/100 but no.

She's giving us a chance to get half credit but she won't help us. I cannot find the mistake because I didn't use much citations so I AM CONFUSED AS HELL TRYING TO FIND THE MISTAKE.

Essay Writing Tips: A Step-by-Step Guide to MLA Formatting

If you are taking an English class or some kind of liberal arts or humanities course, you will likely be required to write an essay and follow MLA (Modern Language Association) style. This introduction to MLA style will help you get through these essays without having to resort to one of those websites that pumps out the reference page for you. By using websites or tools that do the work for you, you are not learning how to use this style on your own. You wouldn’t be able to tell if there was an error. If you have to write an in-class essay or exam that requires MLA formatting, and you do not have access to these tools, you will wind up losing major marks for not knowing how to implement the style on your own. There’s really not much to it. By learning how to reference your sources properly using the required MLA style, you will not lose any more easy marks on your essays and your grades are bound to improve.

In-text citations

In order to support your arguments, you must include in-text citations. Do your research and gather relevant quotes. When you are ready to reference a quote in your essay, it is important to introduce the quote. Once you’ve done this, insert the relevant portion of text. Don’t forget to include quotations marks at the beginning and end of the quote. After the closing quotation mark, you need to include the citation. This lets the reader know where you found this specific reference. After the quote you would type the author’s last name and the page number the quote is from in brackets. After the citation you would end the sentence with a period.

Example:

Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263).

So what? What’s your point? Do not forget to explain the relevance of the quote you’re including. It is not up to the reader to determine the relevance. Your teacher cannot read your mind. Even if the relevance or purpose of the quote seems abundantly clear to you as you’re writing, it is necessary that you provide an explanation.

The Works Cited page

Once you are finished your essay, you need to include a Work(s) Cited page. Start a new page and title the page Works Cited. If you only used one source, it should be called Work Cited. This title needs to be centered. Do not put this title in quotation marks, do not underline it, and do not change the font style or size. You will create a separate entry for each source consulted. For each entry you must list the author last name, first name, title, city, publisher, year published, and medium. Double space all citations, but do not add additional spaces between entries. Italicize the titles of longer works (books, magazines) and just use quotation marks for the titles of shorter works (articles, poems). Also, include the punctuation seen below.

Works Cited

Last name, First name. Title. City of publication: Publishing company, Year of publication. Medium of publication.

Last name, First name. Title. City of publication: Publishing company, Year of publication. Medium of publication.

Example:

Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print.

Indent the second line of each entry if it exceeds the first line, creating a hanging indent. Also, all entries need to be listed in alphabetical order. If you are dealing with more than one author, format the names like this:

Last name, First name, and First name last name. Title. City of publication: Publishing company, Year of publication. Medium of publication.

Example:

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.