Modern Language Association of America Founded in 1883 Over 30,000 scholars in 100 countries 300 members serve on the Executive Committee They publish guidelines for preparing scholarly manuscripts and research papers www.mla.org
MLA vs. APA MLA Style Used in the Humanities English History Art Philosophy Includes a Works Cited page APA Style Used in the Social Sciences Psychology Sociology Political Science Economics Includes a References page
Why Use MLA? Build your credibility Demonstrate accountability to your source material Protect yourself from accusations of plagiarism
Before MLA...
After MLA...
Using MLA style is easy!
Guidelines for Formatting PAGE ONE of Your Paper Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested. In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Use double-spaced text.
Guidelines for Formatting PAGE ONE of Your Paper Double space again and center the title. Don't underline your title or put it in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case, not in all capital letters. Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
Sample Page One Smith 1 Elliott Smith Dr. Karen Rose English 3 January 27, 2010 Essay Title Text of essay text of essay text of essay text of essay text of text of essay text of essay text of essay text of essay text of essay text of essay text of essay text of essay text of essay text of essay text of
Guidelines for Formatting Your Paper Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. Set the margins of your document to one inch on all sides. Indent the first line of a paragraph one half-inch (five spaces or press tab once) from the left margin. Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font like Times New Roman or Arial.
Guidelines for Formatting Your Paper Long Quotations Place quotations longer than four-typed lines in a free-standing block of text. Omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented one inch from the left margin; maintain double-spacing. Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.
Two Components that Work Together In-text Citations Works Cited Page
In-text Citations WHERE: Within the text of your paper WHAT: Source information placed in parenthesis Just enough info for your reader to find the source on your list of Works Cited Usually just the author s name and the page number WHY: To signal that the material has been quoted, summarized, or paraphrased from a specific source HOW: Follow the conventions for the type of source you are using
In-text Citations When you have not already named the author in your sentence, provide the author s last name and the page number in parentheses. Ex: Santa Cruz bookseller is selling a clock that counts down the minutes until President Bush leaves office (Glionna 3).
In-text Citations If the author s name is already given in your text, you need not repeat it in the parenthetical citation. The citation just gives the page number. Ex: According to John Glionna, People were depressed after Bush was reelected and needed a reason to laugh again (13).
In-text Citations Frequently Asked Questions What do I do when a source has no named author? Use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work, or italicize or underline it if it's a longer work. Ex: Marijuana is the nation s most commonly used illicit drug (Drug Addiction, par. 1).
In-text Citations Frequently Asked Questions Where does the punctuation belong? If the quote ends with a period, place it after the parentheses. Ex: Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope (Fitzgerald 2).
In-text Citations Frequently Asked Questions Where does the punctuation belong? If the quotation ends with a question mark or exclamation point, put the? or! inside of the quotation marks. Place a sentence-ending period after the parenthetical citation. Ex: Sigmund Freud posed the question, What do women want? (78).
Works Cited Page WHERE: A new page at the very end of your paper, numbered in sequence with the preceding pages WHAT: Complete bibliographic information about each source that you mention in your paper WHY: To enable your reader to find the information needed to find the source HOW: Arrange your sources in alphabetical order by the last name of the author. If the source has no author, alphabetize it by the first main word of the title (excluding A, An, or The)
Works Cited Page Follow the specific MLA format for the types of sources you use.
Works Cited Page General format for books: Author. Title. City of publication: Publisher, Year of publication. General format for newspaper/magazine article: Author. Article Title. Magazine/Newspaper Title, Month Year: Page numbers.
Works Cited Page General format for web sources: Author of page (if available). Title of page. Title of overall site (if available often found on home page). Date of last update of web site, if available. Date you accessed the site. <URL of the specific page>.
Sample Works Cited Page Smith 11 Works Cited Drug Addiction. 4 Aug. 2010. <http://www.drugaddiction.com>. Freud, Sigmund. Totem and Taboo. Trans. James Strachey. New York: Norton, 1950. Glionna, John M. He Has a Sense of Timing with Bush. Los Angeles Times. 29 Jan. 2007: B3. Thomas, Jessie. Is Your Job Going Abroad? Newsweek 19 Aug. 2009: 28-32.
Guidelines for Quotations
Adding Words in Quotations If you add (or change) a word in a quotation, put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text. Jan Brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states: "some individuals [who retell urban legends] make a point of learning every rumor or tale" (78).
Omitting Words in Quotations If you omit a word or words from a quotation, indicate the deleted word or word by using ellipsis marks, which are three periods (...) preceded and followed by a space. In an essay on urban legends, Jan 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).
Quotations within Quotations Use double and single quotation marks to indicate quotations within quotations. According to Jack White, career counselor at Long Beach City College, Socrates taught us Know thyself. This is a good thing to keep in mind when selecting a career path (15).
Integrating Quotations Avoid creating a scotch tape special. Don t pad your text with long quoted passages.
Integrating Quotations Strive to incorporate sources gracefully into your own prose.
Summarizing Involves putting a source s main idea(s) into your own words. It is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and present a broad overview of the source material.
Paraphrasing Involves putting a short passage from source material into your own words. Writers often paraphrase when they want to use specific information from a brief passage in the source and don t want to interrupt the flow of their own voice. A paraphrase must be attributed to the original source.
Quoting Quotes must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.
Use Attributive Tags Use attributive tags to signal to reader which ideas are your own and which ideas are taken from another source. According to the American Council on Science and Health... Dr. James Goodwin claims that... As linguist Noam Chomsky has suggested...
Use Attributive Tags to Shape Reader Response If you want your reader to respect the expertise of a source: According to noted chemist, Marie Jones... If you want your reader s to discount a source s view: According to Marie Jones, an industrial chemist on the payroll of a major corporate polluter...
The End
Questions???
SELECTIONS FROM ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA BY ALVAREZ, J. ENG 1 Lecture
GROUPWORK ACTIVITY #1 Break up into your groups and discuss this week s reading. 1. Why does Alvarez have ethos? 2. How is she using logos and pathos? 3. What is the central argument? What are the supporting claims and evidence?
KEY TERMS Quinceañera or quince Rite of Passage Retroculturation Cultural Capital Latina Hispanic (from Spain) http://www.isabellawall.com/
THEMES Commercialism Community Ethnicity Gender Identity Ritual Tradition
FROM ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA Positives: Power Strength Self esteem Tradition / Lineage / Heritage Mother / Daughter Bonding Anything else?
FROM ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA Why should a girl have a quinceañera? 1.Gives her a moment to be a queen. 2.Gives her a system of support during a tumultuous pubescent time. 3.Gives parents something to do with a pubertal teen.
FROM ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA Negatives: False empowerment Debt Self impoverishment
FROM ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA How does the Quinceañera falsely empower young Latina girls? Women s initiation offers a religious compensation for a sociopolitical deprivation An opiate for an oppressed class -Bruce Lincoln Even though she is crowned queen, nothing changes -Alvarez
FROM ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA Big Business Dinero versus Money The price of false power is poverty. Over 21 percent of Hispanics live below the poverty level
FROM ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA Retroculturation
FROM ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA How are rites of passage different for boys and girls in other cultures? Are there parallels?
FROM ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA What part does the quinceañera play in the formation of identity if any at all?
FROM ONCE UPON A QUINCEAÑERA Questions? Comments?
WRITER S WORKSHOP: IN-TEXT CITATIONS
WHAT IS A PARENTHETICAL CITATION? Brief descriptions in parentheses acknowledging which parts of a paper reference particular information from other people. Parenthetical = Parentheses
WHEN SHOULD YOU CITE? Any time you use information that is not common knowledge
WHAT IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE? Any information that most people know to be factual. Information that is beyond dispute. For example: The sun is hot. There are 50 states in America. Ice is cold.
WHEN SHOULD YOU CITE? When in doubt, CITE!
Guided Practice