MLA Configuration Instructions for MS Word 2007

Transcription

1 Table of Contents Introduction... ii A. Configuring the Spelling/Grammar Checker... 1 B. Setting 1 Margins... 1 C. Displaying the Rulers... 2 D. Setting 12 pt Times New Roman Font... 2 E. Setting the Spacing Before and After Controls... 2 F. Inserting Last Name and Page Number in Upper Right... 2 G. Displaying the Non-Printing Characters... 3 H. Double-Spacing Lines of Text Automatically... 3 I. Left Aligning the Text... 3 J. Inserting the MLA Format Author Block... 4 K. Centering Your Essay Title... 4 L. First Line of Paragraph Automatic ½ Indent... 4 M. Adjusting the Left Margin for the Author Block and Title... 5 N. Disabling the Widow/Orphan Control... 5 O. Adding a Works Cited Page... 5 If Your Essay Ends at the Very Bottom of a Page... 5 If Your Essay Does Not End at the Very Bottom of a Page... 6 P. Formatting the Works Cited List... 6 Q. Removing Works Cited Page Hyperlinks... 7 R. Creating a New MLA Format Word Template... 7 S. Using an MLA Template on a USB Drive... 8 MS Word 2007 Essay Format Instructions r5d2.doc Brian Smith i

2 Introduction The default page formatting in Microsoft Word 2007 (MS Word) is considerably different from the page formatting specified for essays in the MLA Style Manual. In order to meet that MLA standard, you must reconfigure Microsoft Word by changing the program s default controls for margins, type font and size, line spacing, indentations and other settings. The following instructions detail the MS Word configuration steps necessary to meet the MLA format standard for both the essay body and Works Cited pages. Once you become familiar with the various controls required to configure MS Word for the MLA format, you can save those MS Word settings as a template file that will allow you to automatically configure Microsoft Word 2007 on any PC you use. Note, however, that the computers in the De Anza Advanced Technology Center labs do not allow you to save a template file on those PCs, so you should instead save the template to a USB drive, thereby creating a portable template file. Spend time to become familiar with the instructions described in this document because template files can become corrupted. Experience with these configuration instructions will help you to recover quickly from any problems that occur. MS Word 2007 Essay Format Instructions r5d2.doc Brian Smith ii

3 A. Configuring the Spelling/Grammar Checker The Word spell-checker is turned on by default, but the grammar-checker is not. Completing the instructions below sets the grammar-checker and spell-checker to run together when the spell-checker is activated. 1. Click the MS Office Button in the upper left corner 2. Click Word Options 3. Click Proofing in the left hand pane 4. Find When correcting spelling and grammar in Word section in the middle of the right hand pane 5. Click the Settings button 6. Find the Require section under Grammar and Style Options 7. Click on 1 in the Spaces required between sentences drop down box 8. Find the Grammar section 9. Click each box under the Grammar section to insert a check mark 10. Find the Style section 11. Click the boxes next to Contractions, Passive Sentences, and Sentence Structure to insert check marks 12. Click OK 13. Click OK B. Setting 1 Margins This procedure sets the top, bottom, left and right page margins to the MLArequired one inch. 1. Click Page Layout tab 2. Click Margins button 3. Click Normal (1 Top, Bottom, Left, Right) MS Word 2007 Essay Format Instructions r5d2.doc Brian Smith 1

4 C. Displaying the Rulers Completing these instructions displays the needed top and left rulers that control margins and tabs. 1. Click View tab 2. Insert a check mark in the Ruler box in the Show/Hide group D. Setting 12 pt Times New Roman Font The following instructions change the font to the MLA-specified 12 point Times New Roman. 1. Click Home tab 2. Select Times New Roman in left-hand box within the Font group 3. Select 12 in right-hand box within the Font group E. Setting the Spacing Before and After Controls This procedure removes the additional ten spaces added by default after every use of the <Enter> key. 1. Find the Spacing group 2. Find Spacing Before and After spin boxes 3. Insert 0 (zero) in both the Before and After spin boxes F. Inserting Last Name and Page Number in Upper Right The MLA requires the student last name and the page number to appear in the top right corner of each page, ½ from the top paper edge. The following procedure does both that and sets the page number to increment with each additional page. 1. Move cursor to top 1 of document 2. Double-Click anywhere in that top 1 space (Word automatically opens the Design tab) 3. Click Page Number in the Header/Footer group 4. Click Top of Page MS Word 2007 Essay Format Instructions r5d2.doc Brian Smith 2

5 5. Click Plain Number 3 (Word automatically correctly positions the numeral ½ inch from top of page and positions cursor to left of numeral) 6. Type your last name 7. Press spacebar once to insert one space after your last name 8. Find the red Close Header and Footer button in the Close group at the right side of the top menu 9. Click the Close Header and Footer button G. Displaying the Non-Printing Characters This procedure makes the non-printing characters visible. These include spaces, page breaks, end of paragraph markers, and other control characters MS Word uses to format each page. Although these characters will not print, seeing their placement allows you to better control the format of your document. 1. Click Home tab 2. Click the Show/Hide button in the Paragraph group 3. Ensure the Show/Hide button is now orange H. Double-Spacing Lines of Text Automatically These instructions set the MLA-required double line spacing. 1. Find the Spacing group 2. Click the Line Spacing drop down box arrow 3. Click Double I. Left Aligning the Text These settings align the text with the correct straight-edge on the left and ragged edge on the right. 1. Find the General group 2. Click Left in the Alignment drop down box MS Word 2007 Essay Format Instructions r5d2.doc Brian Smith 3

6 J. Inserting the MLA Format Author Block Type the following information in the following order. Insert one double-space line between entries. Your Name Instructor s Name Course Name and essay number Date Insert one double-space line between the date and the centered title of your essay. K. Centering Your Essay Title This procedure correctly centers your essay title between the 1 margins. 1. Click Home tab 2. Position the cursor at the start of the blank line after the author block 3. Click the Center button in the Paragraph group 4. Type in your essay title L. First Line of Paragraph Automatic ½ Indent These instructions automatically indent the first line of every paragraph by the correct ½ inch. Note this procedure will also indent your essay author block and title, so you may need to manually adjust both afterward. See below. 1. Click Home tab 2. Click Paragraph 3. Find the Indentation group on the drop-down menu 4. Insert 0 in the Left and Right spin boxes 5. Click the Special spin box 6. Click First Line 7. Insert 0.5 in the By spin box MS Word 2007 Essay Format Instructions r5d2.doc Brian Smith 4

7 M. Adjusting the Left Margin for the Author Block and Title MS Word considers pressing the <Enter> key to signal an end to a paragraph. Since the <Enter> key is pressed at the end of each line of the author block, MS Word considers each of those to be paragraphs and will indent each ½ according to the above instructions. Complete the following steps to move the author block back in line with the left margin. 1. Select the four lines of the author block 2. Click the right-hand pointer on the top ruler 3. Drag the right-hand pointer to exactly meet the left-hand pointer N. Disabling the Widow/Orphan Control If the first two or fewer lines of text in a paragraph are at the bottom of a page, Word by default shifts those widowed or orphaned lines to the next page, which then leaves a large, empty space greater than the MLA- specified one inch bottom margin. The following procedure turns off that default process. 1. Click the Line and Page Breaks tab at the top of this same Paragraph menu 2. Find the Pagination group 3. Click the Widow/Orphan control box to remove any check mark or blue square 4. Ensure the Widow/Orphan control box is clear 5. Click OK to exit the Paragraph menu O. Adding a Works Cited Page The easiest way to add a Works Cited page is to just type all the information at the bottom of the last page of your essay. If Your Essay Ends at the Very Bottom of a Page If your original essay ends at the bottom of the page, in that you cannot add another line, all you have to do is place your cursor at the end of that last line and press <Enter>; Word will automatically advance to a new page and you can then complete all the Works Cited page information. If you have already set the correct 1 inch margins for your essay, MS Word will use those same margin settings for the Works Cited page you are creating. And, since you have already MS Word 2007 Essay Format Instructions r5d2.doc Brian Smith 5

8 set up your last name and page number (directions above) for the essay, Word will automatically insert your last name and correct page number on the new Works Cited page. If Your Essay Does Not End at the Very Bottom of a Page If, however, your essay does not end at the bottom of a page, you will ultimately need to insert a Page Break. Simply pressing the <Enter> key multiple times to advance to another page will cause you problems. Instead, use the Page Break function. Once you have typed and formatted the Works Cited information on the last page of the essay, do the following: 1. Click the Insert tab 2. Click Page Break If Word inserts an additional line at the top of the page, make sure you delete that extra line. The Works Cited page must have the same margins as the rest of your essay, 1 inch on all sides, so the Works Cited title should be at the top 1 inch margin position. P. Formatting the Works Cited List The Works Cited page uses the same 12 pt. Times New Roman font and doublespacing as the rest of your essay. Use the Centering Your Essay Title instructions listed previously in order to position the Works Cited page title, which is simply: Works Cited. Individual entries on the Works Cited page are outdented ½ rather than indented like the first lines of paragraphs in the essay body. The following steps will automatically outdent the first lines of every Works Cited entry. 1. Position the cursor on the first entry after the Works Cited page title. 2. Click Home tab 3. Click Paragraph 4. Find the Indentation group on the drop-down menu 5. Click the Special spin box 6. Click Hanging MS Word 2007 Essay Format Instructions r5d2.doc Brian Smith 6

9 MS Word will automatically outdent the first line of the entry and indent any additional lines of that same entry by the correct ½. Word will also automatically format all the other Works Cited entries in the same manner. Q. Removing Works Cited Page Hyperlinks MS Word will format any complete web page addresses in your Works Cited page as hyperlinks with blue font color and underlining. You should change these from hyperlinks to regular text by completing the following instructions for each hyperlink. 1. Right-click anywhere in the hyperlink 2. Find Remove Hyperlink in the drop down menu 3. Click Remove Hyperlink R. Creating a New MLA Format Word Template MS Word allows you to create and save templates, which are files with preset formatting. Template files are stored in the Template folder. One template comes packaged with MS Word, the NORMAL.dotx file, which is the default template in MS Word document. Following the instructions below will create a second template configured to the MLA format. The computers in the De Anza Advanced Technology Center lab PCs do not allow you to save a file to the MS Word Templates folder, so you should instead save the template to a USB drive. You can then use the MLA template file on your USB drive on the De Anza lab PCs. If you wish, you can also copy the template file to your home PC by saving the file to your MS Word Templates folder. Doing so will allow you to keep a copy and use the template file on your home PC. 1. Click the MS Office Button in the upper left corner 2. Click the New button New 3. Complete Instructions A-N in this document 4. Hover cursor over Save As 5. Click Word Template in right-hand pane 6. Type MLA Format in the File Name text box 7. Save the template file to a USB drive MS Word 2007 Essay Format Instructions r5d2.doc Brian Smith 7

10 S. Using an MLA Template on a USB Drive The following instructions will create a new MS Word.docx document file using the MLA format specified by the template file on your USB drive. 1. Insert the USB drive with the MLA Format template into a PC with MS Word 2007 installed 2. Open the template file on the USB drive, which will also open MS Word 3. Click the Office Button 4. Click New at top of left-hand pane 5. Click New from existing, the fourth entry under Templates in the left-hand pane. 6. Use the vertical scroll bar to find your MLA Format template on the USB drive. 7. Click to select the MLA Format template 8. Click Create New 9. Use the Save As button to rename the file Brian Smith, contents and design 2010 Images by Microsoft Inc., 2007 MS Word 2007 Essay Format Instructions r5d2.doc Brian Smith 8