Updated: September 2012 MLA 7 th Edition MLA, the Wright Way!

What is MLA? MLA is a style of writing. The Modern Language Association (MLA) wanted to create a uniform way to organize and document their findings when writing. They wanted there to be one standard way to write a paper.

Other Writing Styles There are MANY styles of writing. Here are the three most commonly used styles today: MLA : Modern Language Association Used mostly for high school and undergraduate work. APA : American Psychological Association Used for graduate work and in scientific research. Chicago/Turabian Just organizes things in a different way.

Plagiarism..dun dun dun… Proper citation of your sources in MLA style can help you avoid plagiarism, which is a serious offense. It may result in anything from failure of the assignment to expulsion from school.

MLA is as easy as 1, 2, 3, (4)! I. Title Page or Heading II. Page Numbers III. Works Cited Page IV. Parenthetical Citations

I. Title Page VS. Heading 1) Choose One 2) Ask your teacher/professor 3) Double Space, 12 Font, TNR! (for entire paper) Smith 1 Title Professor’s Name Course Name Due Date Your Name Smith 1 Your Name Professor’s Name Course Name Due Date Title

II. Page Numbers Smith 3 A fair amount of research regarding information needs and uses has been conducted since the early seventies. At this time library and information scientists seem to have begun looking more closely at the user and his/her information behaviors Number your pages consecutively throughout the paper (including the first page). Place numbers in the upper right-hand corner of each page, one-half inch from the top Type your last name before the page number. TIP: You can create a running head by going to the view menu and choosing Header and Footer.

III. Works Cited Page A complete list of every source that you make reference to in your essay Provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any sources cited in your essay. Last Page (with a page number!) Double Spaced Listed Alphabetically by Author(s) Last Name 2 or more works by the same author …

Sample Works Cited Page Smith 12 Works Cited Dickens, Charles. Bleak House New York: Penguin, David Copperfield New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, Miller, J. Hillis. Charles Dickens: The World and His Novels. Bloomington: U of Indiana P, Zwerdling, Alex. “Esther Summerson Rehabilitated.” PMLA 88 (May 1973):

Time to put the list together… Example Sheet from MLA Book Practice!

IV. Parenthetical Citations Author’s last name and page number(s) of quote must appear in the text. The 2 ways to make this happen: Direct Quote: Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263). Paraphrasing: Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by strong feelings (263).

Parenthetical Citation Challenges! More than one author with the same last name (W. Wordsworth 23); (D. Wordsworth 224) More than one work by the same author (Joyce, Portrait 121); (Joyce, Ulysses 556) Different volumes of a multivolume work (1: 336) Citing indirect sources (Johnson qtd. in Boswell 2:450)

Challenges Continued… If the source has no known author, then use an abbreviated version of the title: Full Title: “California Cigarette Tax Deters Smokers” Citation: (“California” A14) If the source is only one page in length or is a web page with no apparent pagination: Source: Dave Poland’s “Hot Button” web column Citation: (Poland)

How to put a citation in my writing… Example Sheet from MLA Book Practice!

Now that I know you can do it yourself, here is a little help: Noodletools.com EasyBib.com