Documentation in MLA Format

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Documentationin MLA Format

• GVSU Writing Center
• DEV 101B (Pew Campus)
• STU 201 (Allendale Campus)

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Overview of MLA Formatting

• Used in humanities fields, such as English,
  writing, philosophy, and modern languages
• Expressed by in-text, parenthetical documentation
• Includes a Works Cited page
• Definitive Source MLA Handbook for Writers of
  Research Papers, 6th Edition, 2003.

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Why Document Sourcesin MLA Format?

• To give credit where credit is due avoid
  plagiarism
• To establish your credibility as a careful
  scholar within the field
• To ensure consistency within the discipline
  readers know what to expect
• To give readers access to the sources you cite

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How Documentation Works

• In-text citations refer to a Works Cited page
• Works Cited page gives readers bibliographic
  information to locate sources themselves

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Works Cited Page

• Provides bibliographic information so readers can
  find sources themselves
• Each entry includes this basic information
• Authors name
• Title of work
• Publication information Source of work, date
  published, volume and issue numbers, and page
  numbers
• Quick Tip All sources cited in the paper must be
  listed on the Works Cited page. All sources
  listed on the Works Cited page must have been
  cited in the paper itself.

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A Sample Works Cited Page

• Works Cited
• Davis, Barbara, Michael Scriven, and Susan
  Thomas. The Evaluation of Composition
  Instruction. New York Teachers College P, 1987.
• Hanson, F. Allan. Testing Testing Social
  Consequences of the Examined Life. Berkeley U of
  California P, 1993.
• Huot, Brian A. The Literature of Direct Writing
  Assessment Major Concerns and Prevailing
  Trends. Review of Educational Research 60
  (1990) 237-63.
• Yancey, Kathleen. Looking Back as We Look
  Forward Historicizing Writing Assessment.
  College Composition and Communication 50.3
  (1999) 483-503.

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Sample Citation

• Book
• Davis, Barbara, Michael Scriven, and Susan
  Thomas. The Evaluation of Composition
  Instruction. New York Teachers College P, 1987.
• Quick Tip Simply write P to stand for
  Press. Although you should begin the entry with
  the last name of the first author, you should
  write the names of the other authors in
  first-name/last-name format, for easier
  readability.

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Sample Citation

• Article in a scholarly journal
• Yancey, Kathleen. Looking Back as We Look
  Forward Historicizing Writing Assessment.
  College Composition and Communication 50.3
  (1999) 483-503.

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Sample Citation

• Scholarly article from a database
• Walstad, William. Improving Assessment in
  University Economics. Journal of Economic
  Education 32.3 (2001) 281-94. Proquest. Grand
  Valley State U Lib., Allendale, MI. 18 Feb. 2004
  .
• Quick Tip Each type of electronic source is
  documented differently. Consult the MLA Handbook
  for information about how to format correctly
  each source you cite.

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Sample Citation

• A source with no known author
• Squeezing the Poor for Votes. New York Times on
  the Web. 18 February 2004 2004/02/18/opinion/18WED2.html.
• Quick Tip Since there is no authors name
  listed, youll list the citation on the Works
  Cited page alphabetized by the first key word in
  the title (in this case, Squeezing).

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In-Text, Parenthetical Citations

• Use them to
• Quote directly
• Summarize material
• Paraphrase material
• Quick Tip Plagiarism is using someones words or
  ideas without giving the source proper credit.

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In-Text, Parenthetical Citations

• Are brief
• Refer readers to the Works Cited page
• Avoid repetition

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Formatting An In-Text, Parenthetical Citation

• There are two common ways of writing an in-text
  citation
• Integrate the authors name into the sentence
  itself
• Include the authors name in a parenthetical
  citation at the end of the passage in which you
  quote, summarize, or paraphrase the work

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Sample In-Text Citation

• Example 1
• Paulson and Paulson concede that their
  student-teachers discovered that the need to
  tailor a portfolio was influenced by how much
  personal risk could result were they to bare
  their own perspectives (289).
• The authors name appears within the text of the
  sentence itself the page on which the quotation
  can be found is in parentheses at the end of the
  quotation.

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Sample In-Text Citation

• Example 2
• One study found that teachers discovered that
  the need to tailor a portfolio was influenced by
  how much personal risk could result were they to
  bare their own perspectives (Paulson and Paulson
  289).
• The authors name, the publication date, and the
  page number on which the quotation appears are
  included in the parentheses after the quotation.

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Special Cases

• More than one author with the same last name
• (K. Sutherland 255) (D. Sutherland 440)
• Two or more works within the same parentheses
• (Cruise 24 Cruz 58 and Kidman 600)
• A work by more than three authors
• (Brady et al. 25)
• --Adapted from Purdues OWL presentation on MLA
  documentation

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Special Cases

• Source has unnamed author
• Use first key word from the title
• Squeezing the Poor for Votes is the title of
  the article, so (Squeezing para. 4) is the
  parenthetical citation
• General reference to a web site
• GVSUs Writing Center is the source, so (Grand
  Valley State University Writing Center para. 7)
  is the parenthetical citation
• --Adapted from Purdues OWL presentation on MLA
  documentation

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Sample Passage with Parenthetical Citations

• More recently, however, scholars have begun to
  register possible concerns about teaching
  portfolio use. Robert Yagelski, for instance,
  cautions that teacher educators should make
  careful choices about the design of their
  portfolio systems in order to address the
  tensions teachers experience in an evaluative
  context. P. R. Paulson and F. L. Paulson concede
  that their student-teachers discovered that the
  need to tailor a portfolio was influenced by how
  much personal risk could result were they to bare
  their own perspectives (289). Another study
  found that it is desirable to use separate
  portfolios for development and credential
  purposes, suggesting that efforts to combine the
  dual purposes of support and accountability in a
  single portfolio do not always result in
  constructive tension (Snyder, Lippincott, and
  Bower 139). And Leverenz and Goodburn warn
  teacher educators about the problems with
  professionalizing teaching too quickly.

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Where Can You FindMLA Documentation Help?

• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th
  Edition, 2003.
• All GVSU librariesnoncirculating
• Writing Center, Allendale Pew campuses
• GVSU bookstore (Approximately 17.00)
• The Diana Hacker website (http//www.dianahacker.c
  om/writersref/pdf/Hacker-DocSources.pdf)
• Updated information about citing electronic
  sources

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GVSU Writing Center

• Allendale, STU 201
• Mondays-Thursdays, 900 a.m.-
• 600 p.m.
• Fridays, 900 a.m.-300 p.m.
• Pew Campus, DEV 101B
• Mondays-Wednesdays, 500-900 p.m.
• Thursdays, 300-900 p.m.
• Meijer Campus, Holland 119
• Wednesdays, 600-800 p.m.

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Questions?