HomeBlogHow To Write A Remarkable MLA Format Narrative Essay In 3 Steps

How To Write A Remarkable MLA Format Narrative Essay In 3 Steps

24 May 2021 6 min read

Essay writing is an inevitable part of multiple tasks students cope with while studying in colleges. According to non-official statistics, young people prepare from 10 to 15 papers each semester. Seemingly, it isn’t possible to escape such types of assignments if you don’t want to be expelled.

Most students can easily create multiple essays on various topics. They are good at writing and know how to format the papers in accordance with guidelines. Still, there are some assignments that require special knowledge and skills. Not all young people are aware of the peculiarities of the MLA short story format. Thus, it means that creating such papers can be quite a challenging task.

This article will describe how to write an MLA essay and provide students with useful tips and recommendations.

Main Features Of MLA Essay Writing

MLA or Modern Language Association style is widely used in various writing fields. In most cases, it is applied when it comes to the writing of:

сustom essays;
research papers;
term papers.

Basically, MLA refers to a set of guidelines and rules that are mainly used in humanities and liberal arts. One of the main purposes is to protect writers from accusations of plagiarism.

The main rules can be found in the guide, which was updated in 2016. It states the guidelines for the whole paper and covers:

title;
header;
numbering;
spacing;
citation;
references;
font.

In general, it helps students create an outline of the assignment and ensure that they perfectly format it.

MLA Formatting Tips And Its Overall Format

According to the MLA rules, the overall formatting is as following:

students should print their works on a white paper of 8,5×11 inch;
the text should be double spaced;
they should use the Times Roman size 12 font.

As aforementioned, there are special guidelines for each part of the work. Let’s take a closer look and check how to format a paper in the right way:

Title Page

When it comes to an essay, a cover page isn’t obligatory. It is created only in case your professor asks for it.

In most cases, students include the main information on the title page. It should contain such things as:

the name of the author;
your teacher’s name;
the name of the University;
the date;
the title of the paper.

Follow these guidelines when creating a heading:

capitalize the headers;
don’t italicize, bold, or underline them;
ensure that all text is double-spaced;
don’t use periods;

Before writing a title, make sure that you use double-spacing.

Title

Students should always use headings and subheadings throughout the works. Note that all the headings must be grammatically identical. Thus, if you make them short, they should be short throughout the whole paper.

Still, some essays may contain only one title. Make sure that it is bold and centered.

Outline

It is important to pay attention to the structure of the essay. It should be logically divided into three main parts. Start with a catchy introduction that will hook the readers. Tell the story in the main paragraphs and use figurative language to make your essay engaging. Restate the thesis and create a meaningful conclusion.

Don’t forget to properly format citations and numbers if you use any throughout the work.

How To Prepare An Essay In MLA Format In 3 Steps

It may seem that MLA narrative essay format is difficult to follow. However, this formatting type is easier than Chicago or APA. Moreover, all the information is available online, and all that students need to do is check it.

Here are the main steps that will let you create a good narrative essay in MLA format:

Get Acquainted With The Structure And Formatting Rules
If you wonder how to write an MLA essay, the best idea is to find and read several samples. Luckily, there are plenty of them available online nowadays. Such an approach will help you:

find ideas for your future paper;
learn how to format essays in MLA style;
get acquainted with examples of such formatting.

You will realize how to outline your paper and what each section should include. Moreover, you will be able to use these samples as a draft for your paper. It means that you won’t need to manually set the settings and will save your precious time.
Pay Attention To All The Guidelines
MLA style has diverse rules that should be followed when using this formatting. First of all, students should use Times New Roman 12 size font and ensure they set margins on all sides to 1 inch. Secondly, they need to double-space all the sentences throughout the work.

There are some special guidelines for citing. Firstly, don’t include the author’s name and year of publication in parentheses. Instead, if you use any quotations, list them on the “Work Cited” page. Still, don’t forget that sometimes it is better to paraphrase or just use your own words.

But, the rules aren’t applied to formatting only. It is vital to pay attention to the style and write in the 1st person narrative. The best idea is to share your experience with readers and show them your real feelings. Sometimes students use lots of passive voice or make their essays sound too academic. However, narrative essays should be written in vivid language. Thus, to create a good narrative paper, follow these tips:

use figurative language to paint the picture with words;
use present tense to immerse your readers in the evidence you are describing;
use a new paragraph for each new event or location you talk about.
Thoroughly Check Your Final Version
Well, does it seem that your narrative paper is ready and properly formatted in accordance with the guidelines? Don’t hurry to hand it in and spend some time double-checking. The best option is to relax and proofread and edit the paper after some time. It will let you take a fresh look at it and critically evaluate the final version. In this case, you will be able to see all the inaccuracies and ensure that your assignment is flawless.

Still, even those students who have already completed plenty of MLA format papers can make mistakes. Thus, if you want your paper to be perfect, the best idea is to ask for professional help. Fortunately, there are some reliable companies that are glad to provide such services.

Conclusion

To conclude, writing an MLA narrative essay could be a challenging task as it requires special knowledge and skills. Students need to check diverse samples in order to get acquainted with the peculiarities of this format style. They need to know how to properly structure a paper and what guidelines to follow to make it impeccable.

Undoubtedly, such essays can’t be written in several hours as they are quite time-consuming. Therefore, young people need to prepare such assignments in advance.

It could be difficult to cope with all the papers students need to create. Luckily, it is possible to ask for professional writing help and get assistance from top experts. They can not only prepare high-quality sample papers but also are glad to offer editing or proofreading services. So, if you want to save your time and get good grades, this option is definitely the one you are looking for.