The OWL at Purdue MLA Style Guide This should always be with you as you work on your research paper so that you are successful

The OWL at Purdue MLA Style Guide This should always be with you as you work on your research paper so that you are successful General MLA Guidelines Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper. Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). The font size should be 12 pt. Use standard spacing after periods or other punctuation marks Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides. Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times. Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin, omitting this from the first page (e.g. Joyce 2) Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis. Formatting the First Page 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. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text. Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters. Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking" Double space between the title and the first line of the text. Works Cited Page: Basic Format According to MLA style, you must have a Works Cited page at the end of your research paper. All entries in the Works Cited page must correspond to the works cited in your main text. Basic Rules Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper. Label the page Works Cited (do not italicize the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page. Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries. Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations five spaces so that you create a hanging indent. Alphabetize entries by whatever appears first; a, an, the do not apply For every entry, you must determine the Medium of Publication. Most entries will likely be listed as Print or Web sources, but other possibilities may include Film, CD-ROM, or DVD. Include URLs for web entries by including them in angle brackets after the entry and end with

a period. Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalize articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle: Gone with the Wind, The Art of War, There Is Nothing Left to Lose. Use italics (instead of underlining) for titles of larger works (books, magazines) and quotation marks for titles of shorter works (poems, articles) Thesis Statement A thesis statement is a single sentence that formulates both your topic and your point of view. It is your answer to the central question or problem you have raised. Works Cited Guidelines For all source types, include the maximum amount of information available. If a piece of information is unavailable, include the appropriate abbreviation (n.d. for no date, n.p. for no publisher and n.pag. for no page numbers ). Remember to alphabetize entries, hang indentions and double space. *Print Sources 1. To cite a regular book, one author: Lastname, Firstname. Title. City: Publisher, Year. Medium. Parker, Steve. Genetic Engineering. Chicago: Raintree, 2005. Print. 2. To cite a regular book, more than one author: Lastname, FirstnameA, and Firstname LastnameB. Title. City: Publisher, Year. Medium. Fedoroff, Nina, and Nancy Marie Brown. Genetic Engineering. Washington, D.C.: Joeseph Henry Press, 2004. Print. Note: if there are more than two authors, include the first only and then write et al. after his/her name. (e.g. Fedoroff, Nina et al. Genetic ) 3. To cite a regular book, with editor listed instead of an author: Lastname, Firstname, ed. Title. City: Publisher, Year. Medium. Engdahl, Sylvia, ed. Genetic Engineering. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Print. 4. To cite a part of a book (like a chapter or an article in an edited collection): Lastname, Firstname. Chapter Title. Book Title. Ed. Editor Name. City: Publisher, Year. Page#-Page#. Medium. Smith, Jeffery M. Genetically Modified Crops are Harmful. Genetic Engineering. Ed. Sylvia Engdahl. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. 25-30. Print. 5. To cite a general encyclopedia or reference book from a print source (this does NOT include specialized encyclopedias): Entry Title. Encyclopedia Title. Edition or Volume Year. Medium. "Ideology." The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed. 1997. Print. (If you have an author for the section, begin with the author s name last, first) 6. To site Part of a book from a multivolume set: Author for section Last name, First. Title of section. Title of book. Ed. First name last name. # of edition (if given). Volume #. City: Publishing company, date. Page numbers. Medium. Stowe, Harriet Beacher. Soujourner Truth, the Libyan Sibyl. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter, et al. 5 th ed. Vol.2. Boston: Houghton, 2006. 2601-09. Print

*Internet Sources 7. To cite an article from a database, originally in a periodical: Lastname, Firstname. Article Title. Periodical Title. Volume.Issue Publication Date: Page numbers. Database Name. Medium. Date of Access. <URL>. Svoboda, Elizabeth. 2021: You ll Grow a New Heart. Popular Science. 268. 6 June 2006:42. Student Resource Center Gold. Web. <www.shaker.org>. 8. To cite an article or chapter from a database, originally in a book: Lastname, Firstname. Article Title. Book Title. Ed. EditorFirstName EditorLastName. City: Publisher, Year. Database Name. Date of Access. Medium. <URL>. Rifkin, Jeremey. Genetic Engineering May Harm Society. Opposing Viewpoints: Genetic Engineering. Ed. James Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2001. Opposing Viewpoints Database. March 31, 2008. Web. <www.shaker.org>. 9. To cite an article from a webpage: Lastname, Firstname (if available). Article Title. Website Name. Organization/Publisher Name (if available). Publication Date (if available). Medium. Date of Access. Palmer, Jack A. The New Eugenics: Genetic Engineering. GeneticEngineering.org. n.d. GEENOR. Web. March 31, 2008. *Other Sources. To cite a personal interview: Lastname, Firstname. Personal Interview. Date of Interview. Holt, Hope. Personal Interview. April 1, 2008. 11. To cite an image or artwork: ArtistLastname, Firstname. Title of work. Year. Medium. Institution in possession of work, City. Davinci, Leonardo. Mona Lisa. 03. Oil on canvas. Musee de Lourve, Paris. Note: To cite a photographic reproduction, include all of this information, followed by properly cited source information (i.e. book or database source). 12. To cite a video recording of a film: Film Title. Dir. DirectorLastname, Firstname. Perf. Performers Names. Release Year. Studio or Distributor. Recording Year. Medium. Ed Wood. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette. 1994. Touchstone, 2004. DVD. For more info on additional resources, see The Owl at Purdue website Basic In-Text Citation Rules In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what is known as parenthetical citation. This method involves placing relevant source information in parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase. Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text, must be the first thing that appears in the corresponding entry in the Works Cited List.

If a work is paginated, the page number must be cited The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For a source with three or fewer authors, list the authors' last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation (e.g. (Smith, Yang, and Moore 76).) If you cite more than one work by a particular author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Formatting Quotations When you directly quote the works of others in your paper, you will format quotations differently depending on their length. Below are some basic guidelines for incorporating quotations into your paper. Please note that all pages in MLA should be double-spaced. Short Quotations To indicate short quotations (fewer than four typed lines of prose or three lines of verse) in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. Provide the author and specific page citation (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the text, and include a complete reference on the Works Cited page. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation. Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text. Long Quotations For quotations that extend to more than four lines of verse or prose: place quotations in a freestanding 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. When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.) For example: Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration: They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr.Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. (Bronte 78) As this quote by Bronte shows

Note Taking For every source you use, make a source card. On your source card, put the bibliographic information EXACTLY the way you will type it on your works cited page. Also number each source card and tell where you found the source. Include your name on each card. Example: Source A Internet Rubenstein, Irwin. Genetic Engineering. World Book Online Reference Center. 2008. Student Resource Center Gold. March 31, 2008. Web. www.shaker.org (parenthetical citation) After you make your source card, you are ready to begin taking notes. There are three main methods of note taking: direct quotation, summary, and paraphrase. It is best to use a variety of all three, understanding that they serve different purposes. In the upper left hand corner of each note card, you will put a guideline note which tells which section of your paper that card addresses (what is the general topic of the card?). Direct Quotation Card Topic Source: A1 Pg. 2 Direct quotation cards are copied word for word. Don t forget words and be careful not to misquote. If it is a long passage and you only need part of it, you can use ellipses Direct quotation cards work best on passages that are so unique an so well written in the source that they would lose something if you changed the words. Make sure you use quotation marks and include a page number if there is on (19).

Summary Card Topic Source: A1 Pg. 2 Summary cards are for material that is summarized, meaning you take a long passage and shorten it, keeping the important information. A summary is shorter than the original and it uses your own words. If you choose to borrow a word because it is key to the summary, then place it in quotation marks. Be sure to list page numbers that you are summarizing on the source card (19-20). Paraphrase Card Topic Source: A1 Pg. 2 Paraphrase means to put in your own words. The paraphrase is the same length as the original. Be careful not to borrow words from the original. Also, vary the style of writing from the original. Be sure to include the page number as well. Obviously, you cannot paraphrase names, dates, statistics, technical words, etc. (19). On your paraphrase cards, you must write the original passage on the back so that I can compare them.

Outline Structure This structure should be the format used for both your topic outline, as well as your sentence outline. Once you have pre-planned your writing, the task of writing a paper won t be so daunting and you will find your writing more organized, especially after teacher and peer feedback. I. Thesis A. Body Idea #1 1. 1 st body supporting paragraph 2. 2 nd body supporting paragraph (and so on for as many body paragraphs as you need for this idea) 3. Transition B. Body Idea #2 1. 1 st body supporting paragraph For sentence outline these should be topic sentences 2. 2 nd body supporting paragraph (and so on for as many body paragraphs as you need for this idea) 3. Transition C. Body Idea #3 1. 1 st body supporting paragraph 2. 2 nd body supporting paragraph (and so on for as many body paragraphs as you need for this idea) 3. Transition II. Conclusion This document has been adapted from The Owl at Purdue in conjunction with Purdue University. Please use this site for further explanations or additional questions. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Turning Point: Research Paper Rubric (this will be used when assessing your papers) 1. Criteria No title page FIRST page is in proper MLA format Points Possible 2. Thesis Statement is underlined 5 3. Minimum of three separate body paragraphs which follow the order of ideas in the thesis exactly 4. Paragraph 1 proves its section of the thesis and clearly explains/defends thesis; includes topic sentence connecting to thesis 5. Paragraph 2 proves its section of the thesis and clearly explains/defends thesis; includes topic sentence connecting to thesis 6. Paragraph 3 proves its section of the thesis and clearly explains/defends thesis; includes topic sentence connecting to thesis 7. Other paragraphs support thesis with necessary background information and proper citations 8. Correct internal citation format for every citation 5 Points Earned 9. A minimum of 2 separate citations in body paragraph 1 (separate meaning from 2 different sources). A minimum of 2 separate citations in body paragraph 2 (separate meaning from 2 different sources) 11. A minimum of 2 separate citations in body paragraph 3 (separate meaning from 2 different sources) 12. Each citation matches an entry on the work cited; each Works Cited entry has a matching citation. 13. Works Cited page is correct: alpha order, proper format 14. Arial or Times, 12 point font 5. All is double spaced 16. Proper Headings: Numbers are in the upper right hand margin accompanied by your name, i.e. Ahrens 2. No header on the first page of the text. There are only page numbers on pages 2 and later. 17. The paper has 4 FULL pages of text 4+ =, 3-4 = 6, 2-3 = 4, 1-2 = 2 18. No use of illegal words: it, they, you, etc. or any variations or contractions (can t) or abbreviations. 19. No run-on sentences or fragments 5 20. All words are correctly spelled (2 or less ok) 21. Capitalization is used correctly throughout the paper. 5 5 5 Total 200