1. ESSAY AND MLA REVIEW

2. ESSAY GUIDLINES Minimum of 7 original sentences in each paragraph
Multiple paragraphs
Introduction
Body Paragraphs
Conclusion
MLA formatted

3. INTRODUCTION Hook grabs readers attention
Background info information about text
Preview Main Points Introduce main points of essay
Thesis Statement

4. “They’re sort of shut in little boxes, aren’t they. ” (Wilder 204)
“They’re sort of shut in little boxes, aren’t they?” (Wilder 204). Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, is a play that is in three acts. Each act is a different stage of life. The first act is called Daily Life, and within this act, the reader learns about the little town they live in called Grover’s Corners. The reader is also introduced to the Webb and Gibbs family. These families are just like the typical, ordinary, small town family. Doc Gibbs is a doctor and loves his job and working hard for his family. Mrs. Gibbs stays at home and cooks every meal and does everything around the house. They have two children, George and Rebecca. Then there is the Webb family. Mr. Webb is the newspaper editor. Mrs. Webb also stays at home and cooks every meal and takes care of the kids, Wally and Emily. The second act is called Love and Marriage. In this act, George Gibbs and Emily Webb get married and move onto their own farm. The reader also finds out how Emily and George fall in love. Lastly, the third act is called Death. Nine years have passed since the second act and everybody is dying. Within the play there are many characters that believe in appreciating life. Emily was very bright and outgoing; she cared about others, and she took care of what she had. Doc. Gibbs enjoyed his job. His marriage meant a lot to him, and he worked hard for his family. Mrs. Soames knows that life is exactly what one makes of it. She believed that happiness was a part of life and she always cared about other people. Emily, Doc. Gibbs and Mrs. Soames appreciated life while living it.

5. THESIS STATEMENTS One sentence summary of the key point of the essay.
What you are trying to explain, prove, analyze
Subject + Opinion
Examples
Prevalent themes in Fahrenheit 451 are individuality and conformity.
Beowulf is a piece of literature that follows all epic poetry conventions.

6. BODY PARAGRAPHS
Topic Sentence: 1 topic—tells what the paragraph will be about
Transition word, Supporting point 1
Evidence Direct Quote from text
Explain How does this example prove/illustrate/connect to the topic sentence?
Transition word, Supporting point 2
Evidence  Direct Quote from text
Transition word, Supporting point 3
Closing Sentence: Reword topic sentence and TRANSITION to next body paragraph

7. Mrs. Soames appreciated life while she was living
Mrs. Soames appreciated life while she was living. First, she knows that life is whatever a person makes of it. Wilder wrote, “My. Wasn’t life awful, (sigh) and wonderful” (Wilder 203). After Mrs. Soames dies, she says that life was wonderful and awful at the same time. This shows that she appreciates life because she made it wonderful and dealt with the awful part of it. Next, Mrs. Soames believed that a part of appreciating life was being happy. Wilder wrote, “I always say: happiness, that’s the great thing! The important thing is to be happy!” (Wilder 199). Mrs. Soames believes that happiness is a key to life; it is important to her and a way to appreciate life. When she was at George and Emily’s wedding she was making nice comments about the wedding and them the whole time. This is showing that she appreciates life because she wants to see everybody happy. Finally, Mrs. Soames cared about other people. Mrs. Soames stated, “I just like to see young people happy.” (Wilder 198). This means that Mrs. Soames has a kind heart for other people. That shows that she cares about them are their feelings. Mrs. Soames appreciated life just as much as everyone else.

8. CONCLUSION Restate thesis not word for word
Review main points include conclusions from each body paragraph
Clincher quote or statement that connects or wraps it up

9. Emily, Doc Gibbs, and Mrs. Soames appreciated life while living it
Emily, Doc Gibbs, and Mrs. Soames appreciated life while living it. Emily appreciated life while living because she seemed to be very bright and outgoing. Also, even though she died, she was still thinking about other people. Emily took really good care of what she had and thought about everyone else. Doc Gibbs appreciated life while living because he always enjoyed his job, and his marriage meant a lot to him. He always worked as hard as he could for his family even if he was worn out or not. Last, but not least, Mrs. Soames appreciated life while living because she knows that life is whatever a person makes of it. She believed that a part of appreciating life was being happy, and she always cared about other people and their feelings. It’s safe to say that Emily, Doc Gibbs and, Mrs. Soames appreciated life and they were not shut up in little boxes like the other characters in Our Town.

10. MLA FORMATTING BASICS No title page Double space everything
In the upper left corner of the 1st page, list your
name, your instructor's name, the course, and date
Center the paper title (use standard caps but no underlining, italics, quote, or bold)
Create a header in the upper right corner at half inch from the top and one inch from the right of the page (include your last name and page number)

12. MLA FORMATTING—INTERNAL CITATIONS
MLA uses parenthetical citations
Parenthetical citations depend on the medium
(e.g. Print, Web, DVD)
Parenthetical citations also depend on the source’s entry on the Works Cited page
Signal word in the text is the first thing in the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page

13. DIRECT QUOTES
In general, just put quotation marks around the text that you would like to use and end it with an internal citation.
Lead into citation—don’t just start with quote.
Punctuation goes AFTER citation
No more than three typed lines
Poetry:
Put direct quotes around it and indicate the end of a poetic line with /
Example: “When he heard about Grendel, Hygelac's thane/ was on home ground, over in Geatland”(Beowulf 14).

14. MLA FORMATTING—INTERNAL CITATIONS FOR WORK IN ANTHOLOGY
(Beowulf #).
(Beowulf 11).
Example of internal citations from:
Mrs. Soames stated, “I just like to see young people happy” (Wilder 198).

15. MLA WORKS CITED—WORK IN ANTHOLOGY
A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection
Last name, First name. "Title of Essay or Text." Title of Collection. ` Ed. Editor's Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.

16. Works Cited
Wilder, Thornton. Our Town. Traditions in Literature. E.d. Helen Mcdonnell, et al. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman,
Print.

17. MLA FOR ONLINE DATABASE
Last name, First name. “Article title.” Publication name volume (year): Page Range. Database. Web. Date of access.
Inghamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal (2007): ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.
Internal Citation: (Inghamer 174).