1. Hey! What’s all this about the MLA?

2. In your English classes, you are expected to follow the format designated by the MLA in all your formal writings.
The MLA, or Modern Language Association, is an organization founded in 1883 to discuss and formalize the use of modern languages in education.
For over 50 years, the MLA has been publishing guidelines for writers of research papers. These guidelines govern the appearance of papers as well as how writers incorporate research into their writing.
MLA

3. Research
Nearly all research builds on previous research. As you research your topic, you will draw on other people’s research and ideas.
Whenever you use another person’s research or ideas, you must give that person credit. If you don’t, you are guilty of plagiarism.

4. Plagiarism
If you “kidnap” another person’s ideas, information, or expressions without giving him or her credit, you have committed academic theft.
“Plagiarism” is derived from the Latin word plagiarius, which meant “kidnapper.”
The Etymology Owl

5. Plagiarism
Whether it is accidental or intentional, plagiarism is a very serious offense.
It is a form of cheating and can be a moral, ethical, or legal offense.

6. Taking Notes
As you research your topic, it is very important to take notes. Your teacher will tell you how you should take notes since there are many different ways to do this, either by hand or on the computer.

7. Taking Notes
As you research your topic, it is very important to take notes. Your teacher will tell you how you should take notes since there are many different ways to do this, either by hand or on the computer.
Notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes notes

8. Taking Notes You might be asked to take notes
on paper or on note cards
by cutting and pasting Internet information on a diskette
or by photocopying your sources and highlighting the information you plan to use.
and highlighting the information

9. Taking Notes SUMMARIZE PARAPHRASE QUOTE
There are three main ways to take notes:
SUMMARIZE
PARAPHRASE
QUOTE
Write down the general idea of information in your own words.
Put more detailed information into your own words, capturing the meaning exactly without copying the author’s wording.
Copy down the original wording of a source: word for word, comma for comma. Use quotation marks!

10. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
Documentation
It doesn’t matter whether you summarize, paraphrase, or quote a source directly; you must keep an accurate record of where you got your information. When you use another person’s research, ideas, or opinions in your own work, you must give credit.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

11. Documentation If you’re in doubt, it’s safer to cite your sources.
There are instances when you don’t need to document your source:
common knowledge like “George Washington was the first President of the United States.”
a well-known
saying like “You
can’t judge a
book by
its cover.”
If you’re in doubt, it’s safer to cite your sources.

12. Documentation 1 There are two steps to correct documentation:
Provide the author’s last name and the page number in parenthesis directly after your summary, paraphrase, or direct quotation. This is called an Internal Citation or Parenthetical Documentation. 1
Example:
On the subject of writing, Joseph Gibaldi warns his readers, “Do not expect your first draft to be the finished product” (57).
(This writer quoted information by Gibaldi but did not need to put the author’s name in the internal citation because he stated it in the paper.)
Example:
Ancient writers attributed the invention of the monochord to Pythagoras, who lived in the sixth century B.C. (Marcuse 197).
(This writer paraphrased information she found on page 197 of a book by Marcuse.)
Example:
“Poems may make you laugh or weep or smirk; they may teach you something or deepen your experience” (Elizabeth 3).
(This writer quoted information he found on page 3 of a book written by Mary Elizabeth.)

13. Documentation 2 There are two steps to correct documentation:
Provide full citation information for the source on your Works Cited page.
The Works Cited page always goes at the end of your paper, project, or assignment. Entries on this page are double-spaced, in alphabetical order by the first word in each entry, and have Works Cited centered at the top.
The Works Cited page is a list of all the resources you quoted, summarized, or paraphrased in your assignment. You may have found more sources in your research, but unless the sources appear in your paper, they don’t go on the Works Cited page.

14. Documentation 2 1
This quotation came from page 225 of something written by McDonald. Let’s check the Works Cited.
A reader reading something like this in the paper. . .
. . .could look in the Works Cited under McDonald to find the source from which this quotation was borrowed.

15. the author (in this case, he’s the editor)
Documentation
A curious reader wanting more information could look at this Works Cited entry and know where this information came from. 2 1
the name of the book
the author (in this case, he’s the editor)
the date of publication
where it was published
the publisher
A reader reading something like this in the paper. . .
. . .could look in the Works Cited under McDonald to find the source from which this quotation was borrowed.

16. Works Cited? I thought it was called a bibliography!

17. A bibliography is a list of every source you consulted while conducting your research.
A Works Cited list contains only the works you actually used in your paper or project. Each item on the Works Cited page will appear in your paper or project in an Internal Citation.
All sources in the Works Cited would be included in a bibliography, but there are probably some sources in a bibliography that do not belong in the Works Cited.

18. Most of the time in English class, your teacher will only want you to complete a Works Cited list so your reader will know what works you actually used in your paper or other assignment.

19. Get used to it. The MLA format is all about DETAILS!
Titles must be underlined or in quotation marks, depending on what kind of source each is.
The MLA heading must be in the top left corner (double spaced like everything else).
The words Works Cited must be centered at the top of the page.
And, most importantly, every period, comma, and colon must be in the correct place!
All lines after the first one of each entry must be indented.
The sources must be listed in alphabetical order.
Get used to it. The MLA format is all about DETAILS!
The entries must contain the correct information.
The entire page must be double spaced.
The people at MLA are very picky about the format of your Works Cited page.

20. Let’s look more closely at different kinds of entries you might have to put on your Works Cited page.

21. An Entry for a Book the author, last name first
the name of the publisher
the title, underlined
the place of publication
the year of publication
Pay special attention to the punctuation.

22. An Entry for a Newspaper Article Found Online
the author, last name first
the name of the article, in quotations
the name of the
newspaper, underlined
the date the
article was published
name of
database
where the
article was
found
the date you found
the article online
the web address
Pay special attention to the punctuation and date formatting.

23. the name of the website, underlined
An Entry for a Website
With No Author Listed
the date the site
was last updated
the name of the website, underlined
the organization
sponsoring
the website
the date you viewed
the site online
the web address
Pay special attention to the punctuation and date formatting.

24. The MLA has guidelines for creating Works Cited entries for each type of source you might use in your research.
Consult the MLA Handbook or use the handout from your teacher or librarian.

25. Several excellent MLA resources can also be found online:

26. You’ve got the basic information now. It’s time to head to the library
You’ve got the basic information now. It’s time to head to the library. Good luck on your research.

27. Oops! I almost forgot what goes at the end of my presentation.
Works Cited
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers. 6th ed. New York:
MLA, 2003.