MLA Review for Academic Fair Formatting, Style, and In-text Citations Fall 2014 Grades 6-8 By PresenterMedia.com
What is MLA? MLA (Modern Language Association) style formatting is often used in various Humanities disciplines.
What does MLA regulate? MLA regulates: Document Format In-text citations Works Cited (a list of all sources used in the paper)
Your teacher knows best! #1 rule for any formatting style: ALWAYS Follow your teacher s guidelines
Format: General guidelines Type on white 8.5 x 11 Double-space everything Use 12pt. Times New Roman font Leave only one space after punctuation Set all margins to 1 on all sides Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch
Format: General guidelines (con t.) Header with page numbers in the upper right corner Use Italics for titles Bibliography page is called Works Cited page All this information is on the school library webpage.
You have your sources now what? How do you cite your sources in your paper?
Types of citations Works Cited Page (Bibliography) All the sources used in your paper Parenthetical Citations Information used in your paper, attributed to the original source
Now you know what to do how do you put it together? Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas. Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is. Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay. Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly. From Purdue Owl, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/
Types of in-paper (parenthetical) citations Direct Quote Facts that are not common knowledge Source: wa.westfordk12.us/pages/westfordwa_teachers/taylor/pdfs/parentheticalcitations.doc
Direct Quotes Quotations must be identical to the original. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author. From: Purdue Owl, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/
Direct Quotes Place a short direct quote in quotation marks. Include author s last name and page number. If no author, use first few words of title.
Direct Quote examples For a quote shorter than four lines, put it in quotation marks and incorporate it into the text. Joseph Conrad writes of the company manager in Heart of Darkness, He was obeyed, yet he inspired neither love nor fear, nor even respect (87).
Direct Quote examples For a quote longer than sentences in the text, set it off from the text by beginning a new line, indenting 1 from the left margin, and typing it double-spaced with no quotation marks. At the conclusion of Lord of the Flies, Ralph and the other boys realize the horror of their actions: The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wretch his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (186)
Facts that are not common knowledge Facts that are commonly known do not require a citation. But unique facts do. If you find the same fact in 3 or more sources, it s common knowledge and doesn t require a citation. Statistics almost always require a citation because they are not generally known. From: wa.westfordk12.us/pages/westfordwa_teachers/taylor/pdfs/parentheticalcita tions.doc
Facts examples Dates: The Soviet Union showed they were superior by taking control of ten countries between 1974 and 1980 (Hoffman 20). Specific numbers: After being funded by Congress, President Reagan initiated a $1.5 million dollar military buildup (Matthews, 310). If they aren t facts that are common knowledge (such as the Earth is the 3 rd planet from the sun), cite them!
Any questions? Don t be like this!