mla format

MLA FormatLearn now! This will be used for all writing pieces

during your high school career!

Why learn MLA?

• Creates a document format that is consistent with your peers’ work

• Professional way to format your work

MLA Regulations

• Document format

• In-text citations

• Works-cited page

Document Format

• Every time you type a document, it must be formatted as follows:

• Times New Roman

• Size 12 font

• Double spaced

• Indent each paragraph

• If a title is used, it is centered and NOT underlined or in BOLD.

Document Format (continued)

• Whether you type or handwrite a document, include the following:

• In the top left hand corner:

• Your name, your teacher’s name, the course (English 9 or English 10), and the date

• The date should be written with the day first, then the month, then the year with NO punctuations in between

• 27 August 2014

Document Format (continued)

• In the top right hand corner, include the following:

• Create a header with your last name and the page number

• Do not use punctuation between the name and number

• Do not write “page” or “pg”

How to create a header

• Go to the “Insert” tab at the top of the document

• Click on the “Page Number” tab which you’ll see below the “Header” and “Footer” tabs.

• Choose the option with the number in the top right hand corner

• Click the cursor before the number and type your last name. Be sure to capitalize your name.

• Close the Header/Footer

• Your last name will now appear on each page and the page number will be updated automatically

Sample of Proper Document Format

Terminology

• Source: book, magazine, internet website, etc. where you get your information

• Direct quote: word for word sentence(s) that you take from a source

• Citing: When you use a direct quote from a text

• In-text citation: where credit is given to the source in your paper

What information should you cite?

• Words or ideas presented in a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium

• Information you gain through interviewing or conversing with another person, face to face, over the phone, or in writing

• When you copy the exact words or a unique phrase

• When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures, or other visual materials

• When you reuse or repost any electronically-available media, including images, audio, video, or other media

When do you not have to cite? • Writing your own lived experiences, your own observations and

insights, your own thoughts, and your own conclusions about a subject

• When you are writing up your own results obtained through lab or field experiments

• When you use your own artwork, digital photographs, video, audio, etc.

• When you are using "common knowledge," things like folklore, common sense observations, myths, urban legends, and historical events (but not historical documents)

• When you are using generally-accepted facts, e.g., pollution is bad for the environment, including facts that are accepted within particular discourse communities, e.g., in the field of composition studies, "writing is a process" is a generally-accepted fact.

In-Text Citations

• Whenever you quote a line from a book, magazine, interview, etc. you must give credit to the person/author who said it.

• These quotes provide PROOF to support your argument or claim.

• You will list the majority of that source information in your Works-Cited page

• In the actual paper, it is much simpler.

In-Text Citations (continued)

• Creating a strong citation:

• When you add in your quote, begin with a lead-in, followed by the quote, and then the citation.

• Lead in + quote + citation

• Example: One outstanding piece of advice is “…a man is rich in proportion to what he can afford to let alone” (Thoreau 67).

• Which is the lead in (underline)? Which is the quote (circle)? Which is the citation (highlight)?

What does the citation do?

• One outstanding piece of advice is “…a man is rich in proportion to what he can afford to let alone” (Thoreau 67).

What does the word “Thoreau” indicate?

What do you think the 67 indicates?

Citation Punctuation

• Period goes AFTER the citation

• Put the quotation marks BEFORE the parenthesis for the citation

• Do NOT put a punctuation mark in between the author’s name and the page number

• “To be or not to be, that is the question” (Shakespeare 54).

Create one of your own!

• Quote: “Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?”

• Author: Henry David Thoreau

• Page #: 76

• Underline the lead in and highlight the citation

Hmmm….what if?

• What if there isn’t an author?

• Put the first two or three words of the title of the source in your citation

• What if you mention the author in the lead-in?

• Only put the page number in the citation

• What if there is more than one author?

• Write both authors’ names as listed on the Works-Cited page

Connection between In-Text and Works-Cited Page

• The author that you added to the citation shows the reader where to look on the Works-Cited page.

• The Works-Cited page gives bibliographic information about the source including publisher, date of publication, etc.

Works-Cited Page Format

• Your Works-Cited page should come at the end of your paper but start on a fresh page

Works-Cited Page Format

• Step 1: Enter down from the conclusion of your research paper to a fresh page

• Step 2: Check your header which should have your last name and the page number that correlates with the end of the paper

• Step 3: Create a title: Works-Cited. Title should be centered and be in the same font (TNR) and size (12) as the rest of the paper. Should not be underlined or bold

Works-Cited Page Format

• Step 4: Enter source information in alphabetical order based on the first word of the citation (typically author’s last name)

• Step 5: The second line and any additional lines of the citations should be indented

• Called a “hanging indent”

Practice

• Take your three source cards from “Who are Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists”, “India: Hanged woman…”, and “Two Decades Later…” (from your test), and create a works cited page on lined paper.

Sample Works-Cited Source

Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 21-23. Print.

Formative Assessment

• 1. What is the purpose of an in-text citation?

• Create a citation using the following information:

• Quote: “In the blink of an eye, life passes you by.”

• Author: Bryan McKinney

• Page: 22

Which of these should be cited?

A.On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked by hijacked airplanes.

B.Atta, Binalshibh, al Shehhi, and Jarrah had lived in Germany and were chosen over more established Al Qaeda members due to their exposure to the West and ability to speak English.

Which of THESE do you need to cite?

A. “The science labs at East St. Louis High School are 30 to 50 years outdated.”

B. When public schools were segregated, conditions were not equal.

A! It is very specific, even w/ out quotes!

Use the Works-Cited information and create an in-text citation on a post-it, starting with the end-quote. Choose a page number based on Works-Cited information.

In the Works Cited:

Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 21-23. Print.

In-Text Citation

•……..” (Kozol 27).