Why MLA Formatting?
MLA (Modern Language Association) formatting is often used in the humanities, and particularly in English classes. MLA is a standard way for a student to format her paper. When a student takes the time to format her paper in this way, her professor won’t be distracted by the looks of the paper and will instead give the student’s content of her essay the proper time and attention it deserves. Instructors don’t ask their students to conform to MLA standards arbitrarily. For example, if all students use the same type of font and font size, then all students who write a three-page essay will have written about the same amount of text. Another reason students are asked to follow MLA guidelines is for readability. For instance, it is standard in MLA to double space one’s paper. Double spacing makes for easier reading (in part due to the extra white space), but it also makes it easier for an instructor to leave a comment on a student’s paper that isn’t as hard to read because there is more ro
