Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

MLA Sample Paper

OWL logo

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This resource contains a sample MLA paper that adheres to the 2016 updates. To download the MLA sample paper, click this link .

Using MLA Format

mla style format for essay

Document Sources

Works cited quick guide.

Learn how to use the MLA format template.

Digital Citation Tool

Build citations with our interactive template.

In-Text Citations

Get help with in-text citations.

Endnotes and Footnotes

Read our guide about using notes in MLA style.

mla style format for essay

Set Up Your Paper

Setting up a research paper.

Get our guidelines for setting up academic research papers.

Formatting Captions

Learn how to format captions.

Sample Papers

Read sample papers written in MLA style.

Annotated Bibliographies

Learn how to set up an annotated bibliography.

mla style format for essay

Get Writing and Teaching Tips

Ask the mla.

Browse answers and ask MLA editors questions.

Writing Tips

Improve your writing with these suggestions.

Teaching Resources and Advice

Get teaching advice, lesson plans, and activities.

Test your knowledge with these fun quizzes.

Recent questions from Ask the MLA

How do i cite a cross-published article.

If an article you cite has been cross-published in two journals at the same time, give the title and other relevant information for the journal… Read More

How do I cite an article in a library database with no DOI?

As noted in section 5.84 of the MLA Handbook , for works consulted online, “the location, in order of preference, is the DOI, permalink, or URL.”… Read More

Should I cite a summary generated by Google’s AI Overviews feature like a source?

No. Google’s AI Overviews feature is a form of search results, and as we note in this post, “[s]earch results are not a work.” If… Read More

When do I capitalize the first letter of a quotation?

Whether you capitalize the first letter of a quotation depends on how the quotation fits into your sentence. Capitalize the first letter of a quotation,… Read More

How do I cite quotations from different pages of a work?

This post explains how to cite quotations from different pages of a work. Read More

How do I cite a playlist?

Cite a playlist by following the MLA template of core elements. In the Title of Container element, include the name of the playlist surrounded in… Read More