MLA, the Wright Way!

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Updated: September 2012MLA 7th EditionMLA, the Wright Way!

What is MLA?MLA is a style of writing.

The Modern Language Association (MLA) wanted to create a uniform way to organize and document their findings when writing.

They wanted there to be one standard way to write a paper.

Other Writing StylesThere are MANY styles of writing. Here are the three most commonly used styles today:MLA : Modern Language AssociationUsed mostly for high school and undergraduate work.APA : American Psychological AssociationUsed for graduate work and in scientific research.Chicago/TurabianJust organizes things in a different way.

Plagiarism..dun dun dunProper 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.

MLA is as easy as 1, 2, 3, (4)! I. Title Page or Heading II. Page Numbers III. Works Cited Page IV. Parenthetical Citations

I. Title Page VS. Heading1) Choose One2) Ask your teacher/professor3) Double Space, 12 Font, TNR! (for entire paper)Smith 1

Title

Professors Name

Course Name

Due Date

Your Name

Smith 1Your NameProfessors NameCourse NameDue DateTitle

II. Page NumbersSmith 3

A fair amount of research regarding information needs and uses has been conducted since the early seventies. At this time library and information scientists seem to have begun looking more closely at the user and his/her information behaviorsNumber your pages consecutively throughout the paper (including the first page).Place numbers in the upper right-hand corner of each page, one-half inch from the top Type your last name before the page number.TIP: You can create a running head by going to the view menu and choosing Header and Footer.III. Works Cited PageA complete list of every source that you make reference to in your essayProvides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any sources cited in your essay.Last Page (with a page number!)Double SpacedListed Alphabetically by Author(s) Last Name2 or more works by the same author

Sample Works Cited PageSmith 12Works Cited

Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. 1852-1853. New York: Penguin,

1985.

---. David Copperfield. 1849-1850. New York: Houghton Mifflin

Company, 1958.

Miller, J. Hillis. Charles Dickens: The World and His Novels.

Bloomington: U of Indiana P, 1958.

Zwerdling, Alex. Esther Summerson Rehabilitated. PMLA 88 (May

1973): 429-439.

Time to put the list togetherExample Sheet from MLA BookPractice!

IV. Parenthetical CitationsAuthors last name and page number(s) of quote must appear in the text.The 2 ways to make this happen: Direct Quote:Romantic poetry is characterized by the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings (Wordsworth 263).Paraphrasing:Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by strong feelings (263).

Parenthetical Citation Challenges!

More than one author with the same last name(W. Wordsworth 23); (D. Wordsworth 224)

More than one work by the same author(Joyce, Portrait 121); (Joyce, Ulysses 556)

Different volumes of a multivolume work(1: 336)

Citing indirect sources (Johnson qtd. in Boswell 2:450)

Challenges ContinuedIf the source has no known author, then use an abbreviated version of the title:Full Title: California Cigarette Tax Deters SmokersCitation: (California A14)

If the source is only one page in length or is a web page with no apparent pagination:Source: Dave Polands Hot Button web columnCitation: (Poland)

How to put a citation in my writingExample Sheet from MLA BookPractice!

Now that I know you can do it yourself, here is a little help:Noodletools.comEasyBib.com