MLA Rules

(Modern Language

Association)

Mrs. Dahlke

MLA

What is MLA?

What does it mean to cite a source?

Modern Language Association (MLA) guide to citing sources.

Give credit where credit is due: * Writing down that

the ideas and information came from a specific author or source other than yourself.

What’s the big deal?

I know I did the work. Why do I have to spend so much time figuring out how to cite my sources?

If you do not, you are stealing someone else’s work and calling it your own. (plagiarism = BAD)

– Risk getting a zero on the assignment and failing the class!

General MLA Guidelines

Double space your paper Times New Roman or Arial Size 12 font 1 inch margins on all sides Header on 1st page Last name and page number on every

page Title is centered size 12, not bold,

underlined, italicized, or in a different font Works Cited Page

PAPER FORMATTING

You will use the following heading on EVERYTHING for the rest of the year:

In the top LEFT hand corner, double spaced:

Your name

Teacher

Class, Period

Date

Title

What kinds of citations are there?

There are two types of citations.

What is the difference?

In-text and end-of-text citations.

In-text occurs in the paragraph or outline you write.

End-of-text citations go in a “Works Cited” page.

Types of In-text Citations

Direct Quotations

Paraphrasing

Summarization

Where text is put in quotation marks “” and copied verbatim from the source.

Occurs when you rewrite what is said in another way.

Occurs when you rewrite what is said in an abbreviated manner.

In-text formatting

What vital information must be placed in an in-text citation?

If there is no page number for your on-line source, what information should you substitute?

Author’s last name and page from which you go the information:– (Shadlauskas 57).

Substitute the paragraph number if a page number is not present:– (Shadlauskas 5) = in

paragraph 5 of her paper.

Sample In-text Citation

Paraphrased:According to Amy Tan, in her novel, The Bone-Setter’s Daughter, a woman’s life- importance can be found through her mother’s stories growing up (Tan 87).

Sample In-text Citation: Practice“Men frequently say to me, ‘I should think you would feel lonesome down there, and want to be nearer to folks, rainy and snowy days and nights especially.’ I am tempted to reply to such, --This whole earth which we inhabit is but a point in space. How far apart, think you, dwell the two most distant inhabitants of yonder star, the breadth of whose disk cannot be appreciated by our instruments? Why should I feel lonely? Is not our planet in the Milky Way? This which you put seems to me not to be the most important question. What sort of space is that which seperates man from his fellows and makes him solitary? I have found that no exertion of legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another.”

- Henry David Thoreau “Solitude” in Walden, page 387

Sample In-text Citation: Practice

According to “Solitude” in Walden, Thoreau believed that loneliness. . . (Thoreau 387).

OR

As said in the section “Solitude” of Walden, Thoreau explains that . . . (Thoreau 387).

OR

As stated by Thoreau in “Solitude,” . . . (Thoreau 387).

OR . . . .

Citations for evidence

Whether your information is summarized, paraphrased, or a direct quote, you must include the citation! Remember: whenever the information came from somewhere other than your own head, you cite!

“Works Cited” versus “Bibliography”

Define “Works Cited”

Define “Bibliography”

The actual articles, pamphlets, websites, etc. that you cite directly in your paper or outline.

The survey of information that you may or may not have used directly in your paper.

These sources give you the background knowledge you need to write the paper.

ON-LINE SAMPLE

Works Cited

Smith, Jane. “The History of the English Language.” The

Writing Well Journal. 24 Jan. 2003: 56-75. Online. 6 Apr.

2003 <http://www.writingwell.com>.

BOOK SAMPLE

Works Cited

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of

Research Papers. NY: Modern Language

Association of America, 1999: 56-58.

NEWSPAPER SAMPLE

Works Cited

Toomey, Shamus. “Snow Finally Socks Suburbs.” Daily

Herald. 5 Mar. 2003: A1.

Formatting FAQ’s

How do you write the date in MLA style?

How do you write the author’s name?

Are the all the important first letters in a title capitalized?

Is there a difference between underlining and italicizing a longer work?

Day Abbreviated Month Year: 13 Jul. 1983

Last, First.

Yes: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Nope! Italicizing = underlining

More Formatting Fun

Which is put in quotation marks, an article or a newspaper/magazine/periodical title? Why?

Which is underlined or italicized, an article or a newspaper title? Why?

Shorter works are put in quotation marks, so the title of the article is put in quotation marks.

Longer works are put in italics or underlined, so the newspaper/magazine/periodical title is underlined or italicized.

Web Formatting

What two dates need to be included in a web citation?

What must precede a “www” address in a Works Cited?

Date article was published online

Date you accessed the article online

<http://

Web Formatting

In what are URL addresses enclosed?

What punctuation must follow the end of a URL address?

Carrots “< >”<http://www.chicagotribune.com>.

A period

<http://garygulman.co

m>.

Formatting and Labeling

Which will I use for this research assignment?

How is the page set up?

You will write a “Works Cited” page.

The “Works Cited” page is double spaced.

Margins are 1” with a 1.5” hanging indent.