MLA Essay Outline

When preparing to write a research or academic essay, an MLA paper outline will be one of the first things you need to structure your essay. It enables you to organise your thoughts coherently and gives you an idea of how you will write your paper. You create the outline to order your essay logically so that information seamlessly flows from one topic to the next.

MLA Format Essay Outline

In an MLA format outline, you must respect the double-spaced text, size 12-point Times New Roman Font, and 1-inch margin from all sides. These are the formatting requirements for other elements of an outline:

• Page number – right-align this in the page header.
• Title – centre the title of your research paper.
• Thesis – left-align this text with all other body text, and begin with “Thesis” followed by a colon and your thesis statement.
• Topics – with Roman numerals to demonstrate hierarchical order with subtopics using letters.
• Quotes – write the quote, then insert brackets with the author’s last name and page number from the source of the passage.
• Conclusion – end your outline with a universal statement that applies to your thesis.
• Bibliography – create a new page with “Bibliography” at the top, then press “Enter” to start writing the first source. Every unique entry must have the first line on the left-hand side, with each subsequent line having a hanging indent of 0.5 inches. You must alphabetize sources by the author’s last name.
• Entries with one author – here is a template to follow for an entry: “Last Name, First Name. Name of the Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.”
• Entries with more than one author – write the first author as usual, insert a comma, and write subsequent authors with their full names.

MLA Essay Outline Template

An outline template is a visual tool that demonstrates the layout of your paper and the necessary steps for creating your research essay draft. Here is a basic MLA outline template you can follow to generate an effective outline:

1. Insert page numbers in the top-right corner of your paper.
2. Create an enticing title, which you may use as the title of your essay.
3. Introduce your outline with a thesis statement.
4. Address your topics using paraphrases, and then add at least two subtopics. This part of the outline may contain quotes and references.
5. Write your conclusion, which is only one sentence.
6. Create your bibliography page.

How to Write an MLA Outline

You must identify your topic and brainstorm the arguments you will address. Your essay composition should follow the structure of your outline, and both should adhere to a logically sound construction. But if you have trouble preparing your outline, we can help resolve those challenges.

BWL has professional writing services that can help you generate a confident outline for your composition. Hire one of their writers, and they will produce the high-quality results you need for your college course. Their writers have at least one year of experience in the writing craft, and if necessary, they will make any required revisions to perfect your outline.

MLA Outline Samples

At Bookwormlab, you can follow numerous MLA outline format examples to get the gist of how to write an MLA essay outline. By noticing how all the outline elements are organised and laid out, you can follow the example to help yourself write a fruitful outline. Feel free to explore all the available outline samples from Bookwormlab by clicking on the images to enlarge them.

In conclusion, the Modern Language Association created an easy-to-follow essay outline format that students can recreate for their academic papers. An MLA outline assists students in organising their essays in hierarchical order to understand how paragraphs flow into each other and how each topic supports the thesis statement. If you need help with formatting and completing your outline, contact us, and our writers will complete it for you.