E108: Using MLA format (Stands for Modern Language Association)

E108: Using MLA format(Stands for Modern Language

Association)

Paper (one paper per group)

Works cited page

Outline

*Later, I will have you fill out an evaluation on your group members.

So what’s the order?

Sabato 1

Veronica Sabato

E108 Minniti

Hot Topics Paper

Date

Centered Title

Then begin writing your paper with a

wonderful attention getter and great

introduction to your wonderful 7-10 page

paper. Everything is written in Times New

Roman size 12, and everything is double

Spaced with a 1” margin all around.

Double space between each line evenly—no double double spaces.

header

What your first page

should look like…

Formatting

• Your last name should go on the far right corner of every sheet that follows with the page number.

Example: Sabato 8• Page 1 and all subsequent pages will have the author's

last name and the page number as a header 1/2 inch from the top of the paper. The actual text will begin at the 1 inch margin.

• Each page should have a one-inch margin (not 1 1/2 or 2 inches!)

• Use 12 point type and a standard font, such as Times New Roman.

• Type on only one side of the page and double space all text

What the first page of your paper should look like

Purdue 1

In Stephen King’s novel Carrie… Okay, so pretend there is more written here and pretend also that this appears to be double spaced. Also imagine that the edges of the paper are exactly 1/2 inch away from this essay. You probably need to believe that this looks more like an essay and less like a notecard. I have nothing left to say, so I’m just going to write filler from now on. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah… I hope this isn’t what I sound like in class.

Your last name and the page number goes on the upper right side of the paper. (1/2 inch down)

Double space everything in your paper.

Use one inch margins on all sides of the body.

How do you cite your source in the paper and how does this tie

into the works cited?

How a quote will look in your paper:Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).

Your in-text citation will correspond with an entry in your Works Cited page, which, for the Burke citation above, will look something like this:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: University

of California P, 1966.

Credibility of sources

• The first time you cite a source, tell us who it is…– Anne Willis, literary critic, writes that “blah

blah blah” (333).– Lorraine Hansberry, author of Raisin in the

Sun, wrote the play based on her real life experience.

Whatcha need to know about quotes:

Laughter is also an elixir for the mind. Tests administered by Swedish psychologist Lars Ljungdahl before and after

humor therapy reveal a reduction of stress and depression and a heightened sense of mental well being and creativity (Lederer 10).

Important: Don’t use more than a couple (one or two) of long quotes in your paper. Remember to double space it.

In the event of a long quote–more than 4 lines–the writer must set it off by indenting 10 spaces. This will not need quotation marks.

More about quotes (and cows)

A teacher said to her students, " 'If you subscribe to the summer Weekly Reader you will receive ten issues.' However, one of her students waited all summer for the magazine and never received it." (Lederer 147).

Please notice that there is no punctuation inside the parenthesis, and the closing punctuation from the sentence is placed after the parenthesis.

In the event there is a quote inside your quote, use a single

quote mark for the interior quote. This is a combination quote with an interior quote.

Example:

Quoth the raven…In the event one doesn't wish to use a whole quote, one may use an ellipsis (...) to indicate that text is missing.

Example:In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand notes that "some individuals make a point of learning every recent rumor or tale ... and in a short time a lively exchange of details occurs" (78).

Am I getting carried away with the raven?

In the event the quote comes from a book with 2 authors, list both in parenthesis like this (Author1 and Author2 10).

With 3 authors it will be (Author1, Author2, and Author3 10). Beyond 3 authors, one may name them all, or name the first followed by the abbreviation for "and others" et al.  (Author1 et al.  10). 

If one mentions an author's name in the text, one need only give the page number in  the parenthesis.

This is also the case if one is continuing to quote from one author. "She's a real Pre-Madonna" (152).

Adding varietyHere are three ways to include a parenthetical citation:

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).

Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text.

Jan Harold Brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states: "some individuals [who retell urban legends] make a point of learning every rumor or tale" (78).

Quotes and punctuation

According to some, dreams express "profound aspects of personality" though others disagree (Foulkes 184).

According to Foulkes‘ study, dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (184).

Is it possible that dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184)?

Formatting the bibliography• You must provide complete bibliographic

information in correct MLA form for all sources from which you borrow material.

• Start your Works Cited list on a new page, and number the page as though it were a page in your paper.

• Arrange entries alphabetically by the authors' last names. If no author is provided for any source, use the title to alphabetize. (Do not number the entries.)

• After the first line of an entry, indent five spaces so that the first word of the entry stands out. This is called hanging indentation.

Example:

Plagiarism includes the following:• not citing sources of information or ideas I used that belong

to someone else• summarizing ideas or information that belong to someone

else and failing to cite the original source• not putting quotation marks around words that are not mine

even though I cite the source• quoting material but failing to cite the source• getting a paper or part of a paper off the internet and

claiming it is my own• getting a paper or part of a paper from another student and

claiming it is my own

Why cite your sources?(So you don’t plagiarize!)

Reminders…• This is formal writing, but do not forget about

the other lessons we’ve learned this year on: sentence structure, word connotation, using rich language, and organization of points.

• No contractions (won’t = would not)

• Write in third person…no “I, we, me, you, etc.”

Now you know everything you need to write a great research paper.