MLA Style Guide

First Page Format With a MLA style essay, you do NOT put a title page on your essay (unless, of course, the teacher asks you to) All of the information goes at the top of the first page of your essay: your name, teacher’s name, Course Code, date This is followed by an original and creative title that is underlined. The title is not put in bold, nor does the font size change (essays are ALWAYS size 12 and either Arial or Times New Roman font) The essay would then start on the line directly below

Example John Doe Mr. Doucette ENG 1D1 Wednesday October 18, 2006 Creative title that is underlined and NOT just a repeat of the topic Beginning of your essay.

In-Text Citation Writers no longer use footnotes or endnotes. Your parents may have, but you will not Immediately following a quotation from a source or a paraphrase of a source's ideas, you place the author’s name followed by a space and the relevant page number(s) When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author’s name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work, or italicize or underline it if it's a longer work If it is a website, use the author of the website, or an abbreviated title of the website

In-Text Citation and the Work Cited Page You use the author’s name or title of the published piece so that the reader can make a quick reference to your Work Cited Page The last name and/or title will correspond with the first word of the citation on the Work(s) Cited Page

When NOT to use a citation Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations or common knowledge.

Example The following is an example of an In-Text Citation and information that does NOT need to be cited “the play might have been written for an aristocratic wedding” (Answer.com) Note: this is the title of the website…not the web address A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedic love story rather than a fatal tragedy.

Long Quotations A long quotation is any quotation that is more than four TYPED lines Long Quotations are cited the same however they must be formatted differently A Long Quotation is not placed inside quotation marks; it begins on a separate line, is indented 1 inch, and is single spaced Some teachers want the 2 nd margin indented 1 inch as well

Example The 17-Point Agreement essentially looked to: stress that Tibet had a ‘long history within the boundaries of China’, outlining the aggressive imperialistic forces in Tibet that needed to be ‘eliminated’ and claimed that both parties…agreed to establish the agreement (Tibet File No. 2)

Work(s) Cited Page If there is only one citation, it is the Work Cited Page. If there are two or more citations, it is the Works Cited Page This is a title that is centered and at the top of a separate page that appears at the end of your essay This page is double spaced, appears in alphabetical order, the first line begins on the margin, but the second line is indented

Different Formats Depending on the type of source you received your information from (book with one author, two or more authors, internet, news paper, DVD/video/television, etc.), the information will be formatted a different manner Refer to your handout for information on how to cite these different sources

Academic Dishonesty (PLAGIARISM) If you do not cite information that you took from another source, that is PLAGIARISM and WILL result in a zero and/or suspension from school In University, you will be expelled At Bear Creek you receive a zero, you must redo the assignment for NO MARKS, and it goes on your record that Universities WILL look at More than one attempt at plagiarism will result in a suspension

How Do We Know We just do If that’s not enough, we know what kind of writer that you are and can tell when your writing hasn’t just improved…it is suddenly different Some teachers will check your references and subscribe to a website that will check your essay with the internet and in 24 hours report ANY websites that match sentences/phrases that appear in your essay. If you did not cite, you LIED…and liars are losers