A practical guide to MLA style
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Transcript of A practical guide to MLA style
A Practical Guide to MLA StyleA Practical Guide to MLA Style
Barnett 1
Leecy Barnett
Dr. Smith
Dialog of Self and Society
10 October 2008
A Practical Guide to MLA Style
When the MLA style was first conceived more than a half
No Need for a Title page unless your
instructor requests one
Begin your paper immediately
The First PageThe First Page
Title---Center & Capitalize Important Words
Top Left Corner: Your Name, Instructor’s
Name, Course, Date
Header with last name and page in upper
right corner
10 October 2008
A Practical Guide to MLA Style
When the MLA style was first conceived more than a half century ago,
the main purpose was to develop standards for the publication of manuscripts in
the field of English and other modern, as opposed to ancient, languages (Modern
Language Assoc. xvi). “Although designed for those who intend to publish,”
Houghton and Houghton point out that, “numerous colleges and universities
adhere to these stringent guidelines” ( xii). Learning to do MLA style well shows
you are concerned about doing thorough research and giving proper credit to
those
Indent ¶s
Always double space
The BodyThe Body
In Text Citations--IdeasIn Text Citations--IdeasWhenever you get an idea from a source, cite it using the author’s name and page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence or paragraph describing their idea. The period goes after the final parenthesis.
Example:
When the MLA style was first conceived more than a half century ago, the main
purpose was to develop standards for the publication of manuscripts in the field of
English and other modern, as opposed to ancient, languages (Modern Language
Assoc. xvi). Modern Language Association is a corporate
author….for corporate authors abbreviate words with standard abrievations.
In Text Citations—Author in textIn Text Citations—Author in textIf you refer to the author(s) in the text of your paper, cite the source simply with page number (s) in parentheses next to the author’s name.
Example:
According to Fox, the internet has played a significant role in the
increase of plagiarism in academia today (27).
In Text Citations—In Text Citations—Short Direct QuoteShort Direct Quote
When you directly quote a source you need to add quotation marks around the words or sentence you copy. You put the parenthetical citation and final period after the closing quotation mark.
Example:
“Although designed for those who intend to publish point out that
numerous colleges and universities adhere to these stringent guidelines”
(Houghton and Houghton xii).
In Text Citations—Long Direct QuoteIn Text Citations—Long Direct QuoteWhen your direct quotation is longer than 4 typed lines of prose or 3 lines of poetry, put it in an indented paragraph without quotation marks.
Example:
The Owl at Purdue clearly explains MLA long quotations:
Place quotations longer than four typed lines in a free-standing block of text,
and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire
quote indented one inch from the left margin; maintain double-spacing. Only
indent the first line of the quotation by a half inch if you are citing multiple
paragraphs. Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing
punctuation mark. (Kunka et al. par. 8)
When quoting from a webpage, determine the paragraph # quoted and
use that instead of a page #
The Works Cited PageThe Works Cited Page Barnett 10
Works Cited
Gibaldi, Joseph . MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: Modern
Language Association, 2003. Print.
Kunka , Jennifer Liethen et al. “MLA Formatting and Style Guide--- Formatting
Quotations.” The Owl at Purdue. Purdue University, 30 Sept. 2008. Web. 13 Oct. 2008.
Lipson Charles. Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citation, Avoid
Plagiarism and Achieve Real Academic Success. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2004. Print.
Center
•Alphabetical by Author’s Last Name•Hanging Indent•Double Space
Tip:Do the
Reference Page 1st
Author---Last name, First name. Authors can also be a company or organization
Title—Italiacs.
Publication information---City and state (if mentioned—use postal abbreviation) , publisher and year of publication.
Medium of Publication—Print.
Example:
Lipson Charles. Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare
Citation, Avoid Plagiarism and Achieve Real Academic Success.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. Print.
BooksBooks
Author --same as book
Article Title— in quotation marks
Journal Title—italics Volume– number only Issue---number only
Date– in parentheses, followed by colon
Page Numbers Medium of Publication--Print.
Example:
Raymond, Richard C. "When Writing Professors Teach Literature: Shaping
Questions, Finding Answers, Effecting Change. " College Composition and
Communication 59.3 (2008): 473-502. Print.
Journal Articles---PrintJournal Articles---Print
Author --same as book
Article Title— in quotation marks
Journal Title—italics
Volume– number only Issue---number only
Date– in parentheses, followed by colon
Page Numbers
Example:Wang, Yu-Wei. "University Student Online Plagiarism. " International
Journal on ELearning 7.4 (2008): 743-757. ProQuest. Web. 18 Aug. 2009.
Journal Articles---DatabaseJournal Articles---Database
If you get your journal from a database add:•Name of database—in italics•Medium of publication---Web.•Date you got it (d/m/yr)
Author --- same as book if available. More than 3 authors, use first author given and et. al.
( et. al. means and others)
No Author---use title of page
Title of page —in quotation marks
Name of Website---in italics
Example:
Kunka , Jennifer Liethen et al. “MLA Formatting and Style Guide---
Formatting Quotations.” The Owl at Purdue. Purdue University, 30
Sept. 2008. Web. 13 Oct. 2008.
WebpageWebpage
Add:•Name of Producing Organization•Date produced or updated (d/m/yr)• Medium of publication---Web.•Date Retrieved (d/m/yr)
Using Microsoft Word 2010Using Microsoft Word 2010
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