MLA is a Documentation Style. 
MLA is often required in academic writing in the humanities, including religion, literature, and history. MLA guides students in
1) how the paper looks on the page (also called formatting) and
2) making sure the reader knows what sources you used and when you used them.
Why use documentation style (MLA) for your classes?
- Allows your instructor to find your sources
- Shows your research and knowledge of subject
- Gives writer and reader a standard style. If your instructor had to figure out every single student's paper, it would be confusing! Documentation style makes it easy for you to be clear.
There are 3 main components of MLA style
- Works Cited (end of paper)
- In-text Citations (within paper)
- MLA formatting (header, student's information on first page, font, etc.)
