MLA DOCUMENTATION Writing Centre Workshop GENERAL OVERVIEW Why - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

MLA DOCUMENTATION Writing Centre Workshop

GENERAL OVERVIEW Ø Why Document? Ø Terminology Ø Formatting / Style Guidelines Ø First Page Ø Headings Ø Citations Ø Quotations Ø Works Cited Page

IMPORTANT TERMS • Bibliography: A list of the works you have used during the composition of your assignment (cited and uncited). • Works cited: A list of all the works you have cited in your assignment. • Citation: An indicator of the source of a quote, paraphrase, or summary (e.g., parenthetical citations, footnotes/endnotes). • Parenthetical citations: A quotation from a text that is cited in appropriate format directly after (e.g., Smith 16).

IMPORTANT TERMS • Paraphrase: The use of information provided in another document, but put in your own words. • Plagiarism: Claiming the words, ideas, images, or data of another person as your own. • Common knowledge: Non-specific knowledge likely to be known by the general public (e.g., Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, the dates of World War II). When in doubt, cite it.

WHY DOCUMENT? Ø In Canada, authors are considered the owners of their intellectual property – their ideas and writings. As an academic writer, when you use the words and ideas of another person, you are expected to follow the conventions of the academy. Ø Specifically, you must: Ø Set off any quoted material* using quotation marks (or indentation) and reference the source you took the quote from. Ø Provide a reference for any material from another source whose ideas you have summarized or paraphrased. *Including all the words you have taken verbatim from the work of another author Source (MLA Documentation Style): Lunsford, Andrea A. Easy Writer . 4 th Canadian ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. Print.

AVOID UNINTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM Follow these tips to avoid plagiarism: Ø PUT THE PASSAGE IN YOUR OWN WORDS: Identify the source of the theory/idea/fact, but putting it into your own words will make the information fit your writing style. Ø USE QUOTATION MARKS (“ “): Put them around any words and phrases that you have taken directly from the text. Keep the marks in if you adopt the words or phrases into your text, even if the rest of the sentence is in your own words; e.g.: Although writers sometimes think the internet is public property, Ø A Canadian Writer’s Reference says you should “treat web sources in the same way you treat print sources” (Hacker and Sommers, 363). Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers, A Canadian Writer’s Reference, 5 th ed. Instructor’s Edition. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2011 , 363 . Print.

USING QUOTATIONS • Quotations must be exact reproduction of the original text; if you must alter words, enclose the new words in square brackets to show the text has been changed. • Introduce quotations and relate the information to what you have written: use part of a quote (set off from your writing by quotation marks) and incorporate it into your own sentence. • Avoid over-quoting as it’s disruptive to your writing style

PARAPHRASING & SUMMARIZING • A paraphrase takes main ideas from another source, but puts the material into your own words. • Paraphrases are preferred to direct quotation because the writing style remains consistent. • You must always cite your source, even when you paraphrase. The prof will be looking to see you have done your research. • A summary is a less detailed rendering of the source material, but similar to the paraphrase, you must cite where you got your material.

EXAMPLES • Direct quotation of a full sentence : The social order is broken, but Lear’s madness also leads to insightful wisdom: “In this unstructured and disparate world Lear comes to know things he (and we) could not know in sanity” (Hunter 19). • Direct quotation of a partial sentence : Although Lear is mad, he reveals “things he (and we) could not know in sanity” (Hunter 19). • Paraphrase : Hunter suggests that during his madness, although his reality is fractured, Lear is able to perceive things that are not obvious to the sane (19). • Summary : Lear has gained insight through his episodes of madness (Hunter 19).

KEY POINT TO REMEMBER Always follow the guidelines given to you by your instructor (e.g, course syllabus, assignment outline)

MLA GENERAL FORMATTING / STYLE GUIDELINES Ø 8.5 x 11 paper Ø All text is double spaced Ø 12 point Times New Roman Ø 1” margins on all sides Ø Every new paragraph is offset with one indent Ø Titles of main works cited in the text are in italics Ø Header/page number in UPPER RIGHT corner (e.g., Donnelly 1, Donnelly 2, Donnelly 3)

HEADINGS Ø Headings are generally optional ( refer to instructor’s guidelines) Ø Headings, if present, should be numbered Ø Headings should be consistent in grammar and formatting Level 1 Heading: bold, flush left Level 2 Heading: italics, flush left Level 3 Heading: centered, bold Level 4 Heading: centered, italics Level 5 Heading: underlined, flush left OR Numbered (all flush left with no underlining, bold, or italics): 1. Soil Conservation 1.1 Erosion 1.2 Terracing 2. Water Conservation 3. Energy Conservation

IN-TEXT PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS AUTHOR-PAGE STYLE In-text Example: Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263). Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263). Corresponding Works Cited Entry: Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads . London: Oxford University Press, 1967. Print.

IN-TEXT PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS PRINT SOURCE WITH AUTHOR In-text Example: Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as “symbol-using animals” (3). Human beings have been described as “symbol-using animals” (Burke 3). Corresponding Works Cited Entry: Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life and Literature, and Method . Berkeley: U of California Press, 1966. Print.

IN-TEXT PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS UNKNOWN AUTHOR In-text Example: We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has “more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change . . .” (“Impact of Global Warming” 6). Corresponding Works Cited Entry: “The Impact of Global Warming in North America.” Global Warming: Early Signs . 1999. Web. 23 Mar. 2009.

OTHER PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS Ø Classic & Literary Works In-text Example: Although Lear is in an internal struggle while the storm crashes around him, he is determined to survive: “Pour on, I will endure” (III.iv.19). Ø Authors with Same Last Names In-text Example: Some medical ethicists claim that cloning will lead to designer children (R. Miller 12), but others note that the advantages for medical research outweigh this consideration (A. Miller 46).

OTHER PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS Ø Multiple Works by the Same Author In-text Example: Lightenor has argued that computers are not useful tools for small children (“Too Soon” 38), though he has acknowledged elsewhere that early exposure to computer games does lead to better small motor skill development in a child's second and third year (“Hand-Eye Development” 17). Ø Work by Multiple Authors In-text Example: Smith, Yang, and Moore argue that tougher gun control is not needed in the United States (76). The authors state “Tighter gun control in the United States erodes Second Amendment rights“ (Smith, Yang, and Moore 76).

OTHER PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS Ø Citing Indirect Sources In-text Example: Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as “social service centers, and they don't do that well“ (qtd. in Weisman 259). Ø Sources from the Internet In-text Example: One online film critic stated that Fitzcarraldo is “...a beautiful and terrifying critique of obsession and colonialism” (Garcia, “Herzog: a Life”). Corresponding Works Cited Entry: Garcia, Elizabeth. “Herzog: a Life.“ Online Film Critics Corner . The Film School of New Hampshire, 2 May 2002. Web. 8 Jan. 2009.

FORMATTING SHORT QUOTATIONS In-text Examples: According to some, dreams express “profound aspects of personality” (Foulkes 184), though others disagree. According to Foulkes's study, dreams may express “profound aspects of personality” (184). Cullen concludes, “Of all the things that happened there / That's all I remember” (11-12).

FORMATTING LONG QUOTATIONS In-text Example: Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration: They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house (Bronte 78).