MLA

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MLA

• Sharon Eller

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MLAModern Language Association

• The style recommended by the association for
  preparing scholarly manuscripts and student
  research papers concerns itself with the
  mechanics of writing, such as punctuation,
  quotation, and documentation of sources. MLA
  style has been widely adopted by schools,
  academic departments, and instructors for nearly
  half a century.

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Who uses it?

• MLA guidelines are also currently used by over
  125 scholarly and literary journals, newsletters,
  and magazines with circulations over one
  thousand by hundreds of smaller periodicals and
  by many university and commercial presses. MLA
  style is commonly followed not only in the United
  States but in Canada and other countries as well
  Japanese translations of the MLA Handbook for
  Writers of Research Papers appeared in 1980,
  1984, and 1988, and a Chinese translation was
  published in 1990.
• Used in the Humanities such as English,
  philosophy, and modern languages (all except
  classical languages such as Greek and Latin).

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Why should I use it?

• Allows readers to cross-reference your sources
  easily
• Provides consistent format within a discipline
• Gives you credibility as a writer
• Protects from plagiarism

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Where can I find MLA format?

• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th
  ed. (2003)
• Composition textbooks
• Your handbook
• OWL website owl.english.purdue.edu
• Writing Center - Wright Hall 133
• Writing Center Website- Research and
  Documentation-Handouts-MLA Documentation Guide
  spectrum.troy.edu/writingcenter

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MLA uses two important ways to show citations

• Works Cited and Parenthetical Citations
• What is a citation? No, it isnt a traffic
  ticket.
• It is a very specific, standard way of showing
  where you found your information for your
  research paper.

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Example of Works Cited page
Very specifically formatted list of all of
the places

you found information that you used in your
paper.
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Example of Parenthetical Citations

• Dogs suffering from separation anxiety may
  chew destructively, soil the house, bark
  excessively, or act out other destructive
  behaviors (Hodgson 274).
• Instead of greeting her immediately after
  walking in the door, they should wait a few
  minutes until she is calm to acknowledge her
  (Gorman 102-103).
• Gorman suggests that many dogs suffer from
• separation anxiety (43).

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MLA standard formatting tips

• Use white, 8 ½ X 11 inch paper
• Use Times New Roman Font, 12 point
• Double space everything
• Do not use a title page (unless told to do so)
• Works Cited page should be the last page (s) of
  your paper
• Indent all paragraphs ½ inch (set tab to .5 if
  necessary)
• Center title on first page do not bold,
  italicize, underline or use all capital letters
• Insert last name and page number on each page in
  a right header

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Sample In-text citation and entry in Works Cited
list

• IN-TEXT CITATION
• Matt Sundeen notes that drivers with cell
  phones place anestimated 98,000 emergency calls
  each day and that thephones "often reduce
  emergency response times and actuallysave lives"
  (1).
• ENTRY IN THE LIST OF WORKS CITED
• Sundeen, Matt. "Cell Phones and Highway
  Safety 2000 State
• Legislative Update." National
  Conference of State
• Legislatures. Dec. 2000. 9 pp. 27 Feb.
  2001
• .pdf.
• Source Diana Hacker BedfordSt Martins 2006

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