Journal Topic for Tuesday, November 6th:

What is MLA format? What is it used for? Do you remember how to use it properly? Why or why not?

Learning Target:• How can I put a quote in the middle of a paragraph

and make sure I give credit to the proper source?

Criteria for Success:• Begin working on group interpretive

statements.

Assignment:• Interpretive statements for Act One of “The Crucible”

What is MLA anyway?

• Modern Language Association– Founded in 1883– Discussion & advocacy group for literature & modern

languages– 30,000 members in 100 countries worldwide– Annual 4-day convention• Academic study of language• Language mapping• Job placement

Why would you want to?

• Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries– Support claims or add credibility– Give examples of POV– Call attention to position– Highlight something powerful– distance yourself from the original– expand the breadth or depth of your

writing

Summarizing

• Summarizing = put main idea(s) into your own words, including only main point(s) –must be attributed

– significantly shorter than original

– take a broad overview

Paraphrasing

• Paraphrasing = put it in your own words–Attribute paraphrases to their original

sources

–usually shorter than the original

–Condense a broader source

Quoting

• Quotations = exact words!– narrow segment– must match source document word for word – must be attributed to the original author– Use quotes when:• Author makes a solid point• Precisely & accurately stated• You can’t say it better yourself

Signal Phrases and In-Text Citation

• introduce someone else’s work

• In-text citations (also known as parenthetical citations)– Usually appear at end of quote– Give credit where credit is due

• A simple rule: Author or Title and Page: what isn’t signaled up front must be cited at the end.

Signal Phrases and In-Text Citation (continued)

• Limited signal, everything in citation. . . end of paraphrased sentence, in which you convey the

author's ideas in your own words (Williams 103)." . . . end of quoted sentence" (Williams 103).

• Author in signal, page in citationIn 1985, Williams reported that . . . (103).Williams tells us that . . . (103).According to Williams, ". . ." (103).

Examples from “The Crucible”

• Character: John Proctor• Evidence: He was the kind of man – powerful of body, even-

tempered, and not easily led – who cannot refuse support to partisans without drawing their deepest resentment (1245).

• Interpretation:Proctor becomes an easy target because people believe he’s very self-righteous.

• Rationale:– This tells us a lot about what’s going to

happen to Proctor later in the play: the fact that he never chose sides means everyone will be against him.

Writing an Interpretive Statement

• Combine your evidence and interpretation into one paragraph– Must use correct MLA format for citing quotes!

• Example:– The character of John Proctor in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” is

a very confident, strong willed man who doesn’t care what other people think of him. This leads people to believe he’s very self-righteous. We see proof of this when Miller describes John Proctor’s character. “He was the kind of man – powerful of body, even-tempered, and not easily led – who cannot refuse support to partisans without drawing their deepest resentment” (1245).

Looking for quality quotes!

• Which of these quotes tells the most about Abigail Williams?– “I know you, John. I know you” (1246).– “And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the

edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (1244).

– “I never sold myself! I’m a good girl! I’m a proper girl” (1259)!

– “… Abigail Williams, seventeen, enters – a strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling” (1238).