[OS X TeX] question regarding spacing after a period

[Ayesha Rumjahn]

Hello,

I am wondering if anyone can help me. I am writing an English paper  
and using LaTeX, I thought that I would automatically get
two spaces (or a larger space) after each period. However, I am only  
getting one and am confused as to why. I've tried adding  
\nonfrenchspacing,
but its not working well. I used texshop downloaded from mactex. Any  
help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

here is a copy of my code:
\documentclass[12pt,letterpaper]{article}

\usepackage{mla}
\usepackage[numbers]{natbib}
\usepackage{ifpdf}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}

\singlespacing

\begin{document}
\nonfrenchspacing
\begin{mla}{Ayesha}{Rumjahn}{Sheetal Lodhia}{Engl 226}{\today}{Title  
of your cool paper}


\doublespacing

\ \\

In the Renaissance England, women were to be obedient, chaste and  
silent. There was a common notion that women were to only speak to  
their own husbands, family members, and other women. Speaking to other  
men or simply speaking a lot would be a sign of impurity. Both  
Isabella and Desdemona speak to other men in Measure for Measure and  
Othello. Although the motive for both is to save, Isabella is  
ultimately rewarded for her speeches, whereas Desdemona is chided  
twice, used as a tool for revenge, and finally killed. In Measure for  
Measure Isabella is held in very high regard, as she is a nun-to-be  
and said to be virtuous. On the other hand, we are first introduced to  
Desdemona through her transgression of leaving and betraying her  
father for Othello; soon after, she is also accused of infidelity. We  
as audiences are led by Shakespeare and other characters to think that  
Isabella is a virtuous and chaste woman, and that Desdemona is an  
unfortunate wife that sadly talked too much. Hardly do we realize that  
by close observation of Isabella and Desdemona’s speeches, we can  
actually see that Desdemona is truly chaste, whereas Isabella is  
unchaste unconsciously. As a result, we can see that the reputation of  
the women, the outer chastity, matters more than the inner virtue, or  
actual chastity of the women; in other words, it does not matter  
whether or not a women is chaste at heart as long as she is known and  
appears to be chaste.

\end{mla}

\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
\bibliography{Engl226}

\end{document}