MLA 8: Updates and Changes

The New The Old Why are there changes again? So much information is now being taken, not only from print materials and databases, but increasingly from a wide variety of digital sources, that a streamlining was deemed necessary. The Modern Language Association uses the example of a song that you may have heard on vinyl years ago, can now be accessed online in any number of formats or downloads. Things change, so the Modern Language Association changes , too. The New The Old

The BIG Change The emphasis is now off of worrying how to cite something using a specific format. We used to look up every different source, like how to cite a book, a web page, or a database. Now, there is a basic template for all sources.

Step 3: Container is a new term that simply explains where the information is found or contained. (Title of book, title of magazine, title of website, etc.)

Sometimes Step 2 and Step 3 are the same, so it is only listed once, like when you are using a novel. Taylor, Theodore. The Cay. Delacorte Press, 1987.

Sometimes Step 2 and Step 3 are different, so they are listed separately, like when you are using a work in an anthology. In that case, you also need Step 9: Location, and you may need steps 4,5,6 as well. Bazin, Patrick. “Toward Metareading.” The Future of the Book, edited by Geoffrey Nunberg, U of California P, 1996, pp. 153-68.

(1) Bazin, Patrick. (2) “Toward Metareading (1) Bazin, Patrick. (2) “Toward Metareading.” (3) The Future of the Book, (4) edited by Geoffrey Nunberg, (7) U of California P, (8) 1996, (9) pp. 153-68. In this example, steps 5 and 6 are not needed. The former abbreviation for “Editor” is now spelled out as “edited by” in Step 4. A new list of what is still abbreviated is in the handbook. In Step 7, academic presses are still abbreviated, but other publishers are not. Step 9 uses “pp.” for page numbers. The in-text citation will still be only author’s last name and a number: (Bazin 158).

Journals Scholarly journals are still the backbone of most research papers, and they are usually accessed online through databases. Old Citation in MLA 7 Isokawa, Dana. "Academy of American Poets." Poets & Writers Magazine 44.4 (2016): 85. Academic OneFile. Web. 7 July 2016. New Citation in MLA 8 Isokawa, Dana. "Academy of American Poets." Poets & Writers Magazine, vol. 44, no. 4, 2016, p. 85. AcademicOneFile, go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.mvcc.edu/ps/i.do?id= GALE%7CA454485515&v=2.1&u=mvcc&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=6a8 2749caa48f5d0c09a0662b4ab80f8.

Also notice that 44.4 (2016): 85 is now vol. 44, no. 4, 2016, p. 85. This is a good example of where MLA 8, although trying to simplify, is making a change for the benefit of the reader. If this paper was submitted online, and the link to the article was clickable, the reader could go straight to the source. Isokawa, Dana. "Academy of American Poets." Poets & Writers Magazine, vol. 44, no. 4, 2016, p. 85. AcademicOneFile, go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.mvcc.edu/ps/i.do?id= GALE%7CA454485515&v=2.1&u=mvcc&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=6a8 2749caa48f5d0c09a0662b4ab80f8. Also notice that 44.4 (2016): 85 is now vol. 44, no. 4, 2016, p. 85. The word Web and the Date of Access have been replaced by the URL. It will take some time for the databases to be updated with citations for MLA 8, but when they do, students are able to save a lot of time by using the citation generators provided.

Online Works Just like with journals from databases, the URL is now given (Don’t use http:// ; Start with www if that is given.) The MLA suggests copying it directly from your browser. Placeholders for unknown information, like n.d. (no date), are now omitted. Deresiewicz, William. “The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur.” The Atlantic, 28 Dec. 2014, www.the atlantic.com/magazine/ archive/2015/01/the-death-of-the-artist-and-the-birth-of-the-creative-entrepreneur /383497/. Van Valkenburg, Kevin. “The nine lives of Bartolo Colon.” Espn.go.com, 07 July 2016, espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/16836891/the-nine-lives-mets-pitcher-bartolo- colon.

In-Text Citations Most citations will remain exactly the same. Examples: Book: (Hemingway 78) Web Page: (Johnson) Material from online database: (Williams 14) Some citations have been updated. Examples: An audio or video recording such as a DVD: ( “Star Trek” 01:03:41-49) *The title of the DVD is followed by the hour, minute, seconds of the material* Shorten titles when needed to as many words as necessary to locate it in the Works Cited: (Joyce, Portrait 17 ) (Joyce, Ulysses 96) Use the whole title if it is a noun phrase. (Faulkner’s Southern Novels 45) Abbreviate Faulkner’s Novels of the South: (Faulkner’s Novels 87)

Works Cited The same basic principles apply: alphabetize sources by author’s last name. If no author, use the title, but ignore the initial word if it is A, An, or The. Works Cited are double spaced, with the second line and subsequent lines of the same entry tabbed in. One change is to omit titles in the Works Cited. The author may be referenced as Anthony T. Boyle, Ph.D in the paper, but in the Works Cited he will be Boyle, Anthony T. In Source: In Works Cited: Sister Jean Daniel Daniel, Jean Sir Walter Scott Scott, Walter Trapper John, M.D. John, Trapper In contrast, when it is an essential part of the name, it needs to be listed: John D. Rockefeller IV Rockefeller, John D., IV Henry James Jones Jr. Jones, Henry James, Jr.

Quoting Less the Three Lines If you have a long quote of more than three lines, remember to double tab the entire block. For less than three lines, just use quotes and standard citations. The New Rule: When quoting poetry, use a forward slash with a space on each side ( / ) to indicate a line break. Use a double forward slash ( // ) to indicate a stanza break. Example: The Tao te ching, in David Hinton’s translation, says that the ancient master’s were “so deep beyond knowing / we can only describe their appearance // perfectly cautious, as if crossing winter streams…”

Let’s look at the Works Cited exemplar Then we’ll do an activity for practice

That’s All Folks!