Subheadings in essay

Subheading is a derived term of heading. As nouns the difference between subheading and heading is that subheading is any of the headings under which each of the main divisions of a subject may be subdivided while heading is the title or topic of a document, article, chapter etc. As a verb heading is (head).

MLA style refers to the guidelines put out by the Modern Language Association for writing essays. It specifies how you should write your headings for any type of essay that asks you to use MLA style, including literature essays. You should also use the guidelines to format other parts of your paper, including your title and headers.

Headings and subheadings represent the key concepts and supporting ideas in the paper. They visually convey levels of importance. Differences in text format guide readers to distinguish the main points from the rest. Headings are generally bigger, if not more conspicuous, than subheadings.

Headings are standard for some written forms (e.g. report writing, case studies). However, lecturers can be divided about whether they allow/prefer you to use headings in your academic essays. Some lecturers prefer headings while others don’t want you to use headings.