mla.sty

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%
%
%   The MLA Package for LaTeX
%   By Ryan Aycock
%
%   with contributions by Steven Wheelwright,
%        Edward Z. Yang, and Teddy Bradford
%
%   Last updated on December 29, 2010  
%   
%    For use with LaTeX and pdflatex.
%
%   To use, 
%   1. Put  \usepackage{mla}  in the preamble
%   2. After the \begin{document}, put \begin{mla}{Firstname}{Lastname}{Prof's lastname}{class name}{date}{Paper title}
%   3. Immediately - the next line - start typing your paper.
%   4. Put   \end{mla}   just before \end{document}
%
%   To use the bibliography feature,
%   1. Use  \begin{workscited} to start the bibliography.  There is no need to 
%      declare a new page or even type "Works Cited" at the top of the page.
%   2. Use   \bibent  before each entry.
%   3. Put   \end{workscited} at the end.
%
%
%
%
% The following template is what I use:
%
% \documentclass[12pt,letterpaper]{article}
% \usepackage{mla}
% \begin{document}
% \begin{mla}{Ryan}{Aycock}{Professor's last name}{Class name}{\today}{Really Cool Title}
% Start typing paragraph 1 here.
%
% Continue the rest of the paper as normal.
%
% \begin{workscited}
%
% \bibent
% author's last name, first name.  ``Paper Title."  \textit{Book Title}.  Date of publication.
%
% \end{workscited}
% \end{mla}
% \end{document}
%
%
%   Tips for writing MLA:
%   I strongly recommend using \documentclass[12pt,letterpaper]{article}
%   Some professors require block quotes to be singled space.  To accomplish this with 
%      the MLA package, use the blocks and blockm environments for single paragraph and
%      multiple paragraph cites, respectively.
%   LaTeX will not tab the first paragraph after new sections.  To get around this, use  \tab
%   LaTeX does not allow double spaces after periods like most term and research papers require.
%       When typing your paper, hit the spacebar twice as normal.  After you are finished with your project, 
%       do a find/replace by changing all double spaces into (space)\(space).
%
%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


\ProvidesPackage{mla}
\typeout{MLA Package - by Ryan Aycock}

% New code thanks to Edward Z. Yang
\ifpdf % We're generating a pdf
    \usepackage[pdftex]{color,graphicx}
    \pdfpagewidth=\paperwidth
    \pdfpageheight=\paperheight
    \usepackage{thumbpdf}
    %\pdfcompresslevel=9
\else
    \usepackage[dvips]{graphicx}
\fi

% The old code
% \ifx\pdfoutput\undefined % We're not running pdftex
% \usepackage[dvips]{graphicx}
% \else
% \usepackage[pdftex]{color,graphicx}
% \pdfpagewidth=\paperwidth
% \pdfpageheight=\paperheight
% \usepackage{thumbpdf}
% %\pdfcompresslevel=9
% \fi

\usepackage{times}

%
% fixes headings
%
\pagestyle{headings}

%
% correct page size
%
\setlength{\paperheight}{11in}
\setlength{\paperwidth}{8.5in}
\setlength{\textwidth}{6.5in}
\setlength{\textheight}{9in}
\setlength{\footskip}{40pt}

%
% One inch borders
%
\setlength{\hoffset}{0in}
\setlength{\voffset}{-1in}

%
% eliminates margin notes
%
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{0in}
\setlength{\evensidemargin}{0in}
\setlength{\marginparwidth}{0in}
\setlength{\marginparpush}{0in}
\setlength{\marginparsep}{0in}

%
% Double space
%
\linespread{2}

%
% Places heading 1/2 inch from top of page
%
\setlength{\topmargin}{.5in}        
\setlength{\headsep}{18pt}

%
%   Last name and page number on every page
%
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\fancypagestyle{norule}{ %
    \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
    \renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}
}
\fancyhf{}
\pagestyle{headings}
\pagestyle{norule}

%
% If you want an index, uncomment the lines below
% 
% \usepackage{makeidx}
% \makeindex

%
%   Other new commands
%
\newcommand{\tab}{\hspace{0.5in}}

%
%   MLA environment
%
\newenvironment{mla}[6]{\newcommand{\lastname}{#2} \fancyhead[RO]{\lastname\ \thepage} \raggedright #1\ #2 \\  #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \centering #6 \\ \frenchspacing\raggedright\setlength{\parindent}{.5in}}{\newpage}

%
%   Block quote environment
%
\newenvironment{blocks}{\begin{quote} \linespread{1} \small \normalsize}{\end{quote} \linespread{2} \small \normalsize}
\newenvironment{blockm}{\begin{quotation} \linespread{1} \small \normalsize}{\end{quotation} \linespread{2} \small \normalsize}

%  
%   Russ Ault's mla quote environment
%   
\newenvironment{mlaquote}{\list{}{\leftmargin=1in}\item[]}{\endlist}
\newenvironment{mlaquotation}{\list{}{\leftmargin=1in}\item[]\parindent=0.5in}{\endlist}


%
%   Works Cited environment
%
\newcommand{\bibent}{\noindent \hangindent 40pt}
\newenvironment{workscited}{\newpage {\centering Works Cited\\}}{\newpage}