1. Mastering MLA A Student Activity for Practicing MLA Documentation
Engl 101, Joanne Huffstutter

2. Works Cited Page/ Parenthetical Citations
OBJECTIVE: To give students the opportunity to actively practice academic standards for creating proper MLA documentation.
APPROACH:
Re-state purpose of using MLA documentation
Protect the writer against charges of plagiarism
Strengthen the writer’s credibility
Fairness issue (giving credit where credit is due)
Refer reader to sources for further study
Model exercise with an example on board (refer to student worksheet).
A Book by one author:
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of
Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Medium of Publication.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray New
York: Harper & Row, Print.
In-text citation: (Wilde 94).
Engage Student Participation

3. Student Participation
Give each student group of 3 a text from which to prepare a WC entry and an in-text citation (~5 minutes)

4. MLA Samples Worksheet BOOK BY ONE AUTHOR:
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
 BOOK BY TWO AUTHORS:
Lastname, Firstname, and Firstname Lastname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.   
EDITED BOOK:
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Ed. Editor's Name(s). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
 TEXT IN AN ANTHOLOGY:
Lastname, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection. Ed. Editor's Name(s). Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.
 ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL:
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Medium of publication.
 ARTICLE IN AN ON-LINE JOURNAL:
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Name of Database. Medium of publication. Date Accessed.
 ARTICLE IN A NEWSPAPER:
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Periodical [Location, if needed] Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.
 ARTICLE IN AN ON-LINE NEWSPAPER:
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Periodical. Publisher/Sponsor [Location, if needed], Day Month Year. Medium of publication. Date Accessed.
 ARTICLE IN A REFERENCE BOOK:
"Title of Article." Title of Collection. Edition. Year. Medium of Publication.
 ARTICLE IN AN ON-LINE REFERENCE BOOK:
"Title of Article." Title of Collection. Publisher/Sponsor (or n.p.), Date of Publication (or n.d.). Medium of Publication. Date Accessed.
 A WEB SITE:
Lastname, Firstname (of editor, author, or compiler, if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of sponsor or publisher (or n.p. if not given), date of publication (or n.d. if not given). Medium of publication. Date of access.
AN ARTICLE OR PAGE ON A WEB SITE:
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Website. Version. Publisher/Sponsor (or n.p.), Date of Publication (or n.d.). Page numbers (or n. pag.). Medium of Publication. Date Accessed. URL (if required; remove hyperlinks and break URL after slashes).

5. Student Participation (cont.)
Each group places both on board
Guide students through review of entry to determine correctness and to emphasize key points.
Instructor intercedes with discussions of on-line texts.

6. Student Participation (cont.)
After each entry has been completed, review the Works Cited entries generated and discuss arrangement, format, etc.
Works Cited Page generated from this exercise is posted on Blackboard

7. “Composition.” The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed. 1994. Print.
Jones 8
Works Cited
“Composition.” The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed Print.
Defoe, Daniel. “Roxana.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, Print.
Howarth, Peter. “Housman’s Dirty Postcards: Poetry, Modernism, and Masochism.” PMLA (2009): Print.
---. “Housman’s Dirty Postcards: Poetry, Modernism, and Masochism.” PMLA (2009): n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 5 Oct
Justicetalking.org. U of Pennsylvania, Web. 20 Oct
Kershner, Jim. “More like Misleading Indicators.” Spokesman-Review [Spokane, WA] 26 Sep. 2009: B1+. Print.
---. “More like Misleading Indicators.” Spokesman-review.com. The Spokesman-Review [Spokane, WA] 26 Sep Web. 16 Oct
Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics. New York: HarperCollins, Print.
"Remembering the Loma Prieta Earthquake." redcross.org. The American National Red Cross, Web. 18 Oct
menuitem.1a019a978f421296e81ec89e43181aa0/
?vgnextoid= VgnVCM f0870aRCRD.
“Satire.” Wikipedia.org. Wikimedia, 18 Oct Web. 20 Oct
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Ed. John Paul Riquelme. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, Print.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray New York: Harper & Row, Print.

8. Coming Soon…
Session continues with another exercise, titled “How to Avoid Plagiarism: a.k.a., How to Cite According to MLA.”
This exercise emphasizes exactness in quotations, use of quotation marks, paraphrasing, and in-text citations.

9. Immediate, drastic results!

10. Full class session, with overlap.
Too much instructor, not enough student?
Location within the course: earlier than mid-semester?