MLA

1
MLA

• Modern Language Association Format

2
Overview

• MLA Formatting Issues
• Use of Sources in Text
• Preparation of Works Cited Page
• Misc. Concerns

3
Why Use MLA?

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

4
Formatting the Paper

• Heading
• Font
• Margins

5
Why You Should Care About Formatting

• Using a consistent format helps your reader
  understand your arguments and the sources theyre
  built on.
  
• It also helps you keep track of your sources as
  you build arguments.
  

6
Why You Should Care About Formatting

• The proper use of MLA style shows the
  credibility of writers such writers show
  accountability to their source material.
  
• Proper citation of your sources in MLA style can
  help you avoid plagiarism, which is a serious
  offense. It may result in anything from failure
  of the assignment to expulsion from school.

7
Question What goes in a Paper Heading?

• Name
• Instructors Name
• Course
• Date

8
Example

• Susan Garcia
• David Somerfleck
• JRN 1010
• 22 August 2007

9
Margins

• 1 inch on all sides
• In Word, the Left Margin is _at_ 1.25
• To change the margin
• File
• Page Setup
• Choose 1

10
(No Transcript)
11
Title Page

• Whats on the title page
• Title/Name/Class/Professor/Date
• You may not need a title page.
• Check with instructor prior.

12
Underlining vs. Italicizing

• Use underlining
• In printed material submitted for grading and
  editing, therefore, words that would be
  italicized in a publication are usually
  underlined to avoid ambiguity.

13
Spacing of Text

• Between words
• Before and after punctuation, see MLA. Usually,
  no space before and two spaces after punctuation.
  
  
• For publication, often, youll see 1 space after
  punctuation. Use 2 spaces for your class essays.

14
Parenthetical Documentation EXAMPLE

• The following is from a paper

15
Direct Quotes A

• It may be true that in the appreciation of
  medieval art the attitude of the observer is of
  primary importance (Robertson 136).
  
• Exact quote
• Punctuation goes after the citation
• No comma between author and pagenumber(s).

16
Direct Quote B

• It may be true, as Robertson maintains, that in
  the appreciation of medieval art the attitude of
  the observer is of primary importance (136).
  
• Exact quote
• Authors name is not in parenthesesbecause it is
  in the text.

17
Indirect Quotes

• It may be true, as Robertsonmaintains, that the
  art loversperspective is key to his or
  herappreciation of medieval art (136).
  
• No quotes paraphrased
• Authors name is not in parenthesesbecause it is
  in the text so we already know it

18
Quoting from Same Author/Text

• In the novel, Oliver Twist, Oliver bravely asks,
  'Please, sir, I want some more' (Dickens 14).
  The master of the work house is astonished that
  an orphan could be so bold. He replies, "
  'What! said the master at length, in a
  faintvoice"(14).
• Name is not used the second time youquote from
  the same source.

19
Quotes from Authors

• According to Harold Bloom, "Charles Dickens was
  the most prolific author of the Victorian Age"
  (Bloom 122). In Dickens's novel Bleak House, the
  narrator prepares us for Joe's imminent death,
  "Fast. The cart is shaken all to pieces, and the
  rugged road is very near its end" (Dickens
  603).
• Why is Dickens documented?

20
Special Note

• Cite the author's name in the quotes the first
  time I use it.
  
• If you quote from a critical source and then
  quote Dickens again, you need to put Dickens's
  name back in parentheses.

21
Works Cited

• This is always the last page in a paper
• A complete list of every source that you make
  reference to in your essay
  
• Provides the information necessary for a reader
  to locate and retrieve any sources cited in your
  essay.
  
• It is a separate page, but is numbered
  consecutively
  
• If you have a ten-page paper, then the works
  cited page is page eleven
  
• The page is titled Works Cited. No underlining,
  quotes, or fancy fonts.

22
Some Examples

• Book
• Byatt, A. S. Babel Tower. New York Random
  House, 1996.
  
• Article in a Magazine
• Klein, Joe. Dizzy Days. The New Yorker 5 Oct.
  1998 40-45.
  
• Web page
• Poland, Dave. The Hot Button. Roughcut. 26
  Oct. 1998. Turner Network Television. 28 Oct.
  1998 .
  

23
Works Cited List

• A newspaper article
• Tommasini, Anthony. Master Teachers Whose
  Artistry Glows in Private. New York Times 27
  Oct. 1998 B2.
  
• A source with no known author
• Cigarette Sales Fall 30 as California Tax
  Rises. New York Times 14 Sept. 1999 A17.
  

24
Works Cited List

• A TV interview
• McGwire, Mark. Interview with Matt Lauer. The
  Today Show. NBC. WTHR, Indianapolis. 22 Oct.
  1998.
  
• A personal interview
• Mellencamp, John. Personal interview. 27 Oct.
  1998.

25
When Should You Use Quotation Marks?

• When quoting any words that are not your own
• Quoting means to repeat another source word for
  word, using quotation marks
  

26
When Should You Use Parenthetical Notation Marks?

• When summarizing facts and ideas from a source
• Summarizing means to take ideas from a large
  passage of another source and condense them,
  using your own words
  
• When paraphrasing a source
• Paraphrasing means to use the ideas from another
  source but change the phrasing into your own
  words
  

27
More than three authors

• Gilman, Sander, et al. Hysteria beyond Freud.
  Berkeley University of California Press, 1993.

28
Articles from Scholarly Journals

• Gorzelsky, Gwen. Ghosts Liberal Education and
  Negotiated Authority. College English. Volume
  64 Number 3. (January 2002) 302-325.

29
An article in a magazine

• Kher, Unmesh. "The Odd Ordeal of Daniel
  Pearl." Time. 11 February 2002 34-35.

30
Electronic Citation A Complete Scholarly
Project or Information Database

• Britannica Online. Vers. 98.2. Apr. 1998.
  Encyclopedia Britannica. 8 May 1998
  .

31
Works Cited Practice Book

• Riverhead Books (pub.)
• Harold Bloom (author)
• New York (pub. city)
• 1998 (year)
• The Invention of the Human (title)

32
Answer

• Bloom, Harold.  The Invention of the Human.  New
  York  Riverhead Books, 1998.

33
Internet Sources

• Things to Consider
• Validity
• How will I cite the source
• Author
• URL (Address)

34
Internet Sources and no Page Number

• Use Paragraph Numbers
• For example (Moulthrop, pars. 19-20).
• For common abbreviations, see MLA Handbook,
  section 7.4
  
• If no reference numbers, use name of author in
  text

35
MLA Paper Example

• Look for
• Format
• in-text citations
• Works Cited page entries

36
Misc Prose

• Direct/Clear/Lively/Persuasive
• Paragraphs main idea is clearly stated at
  beginning of paragraph
  
• Wording is concise
• Lively and Persuasive (interesting/convincing)

37
Punctuation

• Quotations
• Punctuation of Questions, Exclamation Marks,
  Ellipses
  

38
The End

• http//www.mla.org/style -- What is MLA Style or
  Format?
  
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/
  -- Online Writing Lab at Purdue University MLA
  Style and Formatting Guide
  
• http//www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/writer_r
  esources/citation_styles/mla/mla.htm -----Citation
  Styles Handbook MLA from the University of
  Illinois