Determine what types of illustrations best suit your purpose.Gather the source information required for MLA documentation for the source medium of the illustration (e.g. For additional information on writing a research paper in MLA style, visit the MLA Style Center’s page on Formatting a Research Paper. Because MLA style is most often used in the humanities, it is unlikely that you will include raw scientific data in an MLA-style paper, but you may be asked to include other kinds of research in your writing. Writers can embed several types of visuals using most basic word processing software: diagrams, musical scores, photographs, or, for documents that will be read electronically, audio/video applications. The purpose of visual materials or other illustrations is to enhance the audience's understanding of information in the document and/or awareness of a topic. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (9 th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page. MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. Writing Letters of Recommendation for Students.