How To Write A Critical Analysis Essay In The MLA Format?
What is a critical analysis essay?
A critical analysis essay is a piece of academic writing that is mainly given to university students as part of course curriculum. In this essay, the writer has to go through a material that revolves around a focal point. Then he/she must come up with convincing evidences in support/ against of this idea. Ex- you may be given the instruction to write believability of an ad claim.
What is MLA format?
MLA (or Modern Language Association) format is a set of guidelines that is mainly used in humanities and literature subject streams. This format helps the author of an article to format the pages in such a way that they become full-proof from the accusations of plagiarism. If you are assigned with the task of writing critical analysis article, then following MLA format will give your article an edge.
Tips on writing critical analysis essay in the MLA format
- Be careful with the spacing
- Keep the title page minimalistic
- Follow the specific guidelines for typing
- Maintain uniformity in the section headings
If you are instructed by your guide to follow MLA format in your piece of writing, then do keep it in mind that you have to follow double-spacing throughout the paper. This means from the title page to the end note, there will be double-spacing. Most of the students unintentionally add extra spaces, especially between title and the body text. Also MLA format demands that in case of punctuations, you have to add only one space after punctuation marks. Also in case of margins, the spacing is 1-inch from all the four sides.
The title page of the paper must not be italized or underlined according to MLA format. Moreover, in this style, adding a title page is not necessary unless your mentor specifically has asked for that. However, if you are introducing a title page then you need to write down your name, guide’s name, department and date on the upper left side of the paper. The title of the critical analysis article shall be placed at the middle.
Though MLA format is universal, you should consult to your guide before adding or subtracting anything from the paper. It’s advised that in MLA style of writing, only the ‘tab’ key must be used when it comes to alignment. The first line of each paragraph should be aligned half-inch from the left margin. But you are prohibited to use space bar for that. In case of page-numbering, the number of every page has to be in the upper hand right side of the page.
In MLA format, the section headings could be two types. Numbered and unnumerbered. Ex. Of numbered section headings- 1. Pollution 1.1 global warming 1.2 acids rain 1.3 Ozone layer etc. on the other hand, for unnumbered section headings, an example is- Level 1Heading: Centered, bold, Level 2 Heading: centered, italics etc.