MLA FORMATTING FORMAT Your name Last Name Instructors

MLA FORMATTING

FORMAT Your name Last Name # Instructor’s Name Class Date Paper is Due Title of Paper Begin writing. Each paragraph should be indented and the paper should be double spaced. Your last name and the page number should be at the top of each subsequent page.

BODY PARAGRAPHS • • • In MLA Formatting, as in all academic writing, body paragraphs must be unified, coherent, balanced, and well developed. Unity is created when all sentences in each body paragraph support the topic sentence at the beginning. Coherence is created when all sentences in each body paragraph are related to one another and provide a clear explanation of the topic sentence. Balance is created when all body paragraphs are similar in length to one another. Ideally, body paragraphs should be twice as long or longer than either the intro and thesis or the conclusion. Well developed body paragraphs are created when quotes or paraphrases are included along with the analysis as supporting evidence for the topic sentence.

QUOTATIONS • Giving information at the end of a quote or paraphrase that tells the reader where the material was found is known as a parenthetical reference since the source is indicated in parentheses. • Quotations are any language taken word for word from the text. “ …” Quotation marks are then placed around the language to indicate that it has been lifted verbatim from the source material. • Quotations should never be dropped awkwardly into the paper; instead, they should be briefly introduced by giving the source, the author, or the context for the quote. • Quotations should be less than four typed lines when you type them; longer quotations must be set off from the rest of the text. • As a general rule, you should never quote extensively. One quote to a paragraph is sufficient. Numerous quotations interrupt your discussion and give the impression that your paper is simply a collection of other people’s ideas rather than your own.

…More… • In order to keep quotations short, ellipsis … may be used to indicate a missing word or words. However, the resulting quote should still be a complete sentence. At the end of quote, give the page number in parentheses (94). Never use p. , pp. or pg. • If you did not include the author’s name in the introduction to the quote, then in parentheses put the author’s last name and the page (Miller 94). If there is no author, use the title of the text instead. • If a reference to an electronic source uses paragraph numbers rather than page numbers, use the abbreviation par. or pars. followed by the paragraph number or numbers • If the electronic source has no page or paragraph numbers, cite the work in the discussion by using the author’s name or the title of the work • When citing a literary work, follow the page number with a semicolon, then add any other information that might be helpful, (151; ch. 25)

PARAPHRASE • A paraphrase does not quote a passage from a text word for word, but it does give a detailed restatement of the important ideas. • A paraphrase indicates the main points and retains the tone and emphasis of the author. Often, syntax and phrasing may also be retained to represent the voice of the original author. • When paraphrasing, it is necessary to indicate at the beginning whose language you are using, and then give the page number at the end. • It is important to reference the author at the beginning of the paraphrase so that the reader understands where the paraphrase begins and ends. Miller states……. (57). • Quotation marks “…” are not needed in a paraphrase.

AVOIDING PLAGIARISM • • • Speech communications Professor Stephen Lucas writes: The term “plagiarism” comes from the Latin word plagiarus, or kidnapper. To plagiarize means to present another person’s language or ideas as your own. When you plagiarize, you give the impression that you have written or thought of something yourself when you have actually taken it from someone else. And, when it comes to plagiarism, no subject poses more confusion or more temptation than the Internet. Because it’s so easy to copy information from the Web, many people are not aware of the need to cite sources (that is, to give credit to the author) when they use Internet materials in their research papers and speeches. To avoid plagiarism, you need to give credit to the authors of documents found on the Internet just as you need to give credit to the authors of print books and articles. When you do research in the library or use the World Wide Web to prepare essays, term papers or class presentations, it is your responsibility to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is a form of cheating just as inappropriate as cheating on a test. • • *Three Types of Plagiarism 1. Global Plagiarism: Stealing an essay, term paper, or speech from a single source and passing it off as your own. 2. Patchwork Plagiarism: Stealing ideas or language from two or three sources and passing them off as your own. 3. Incremental Plagiarism: Failing to give credit for particular parts of an essay, term paper, or speech that are borrowed from other people. • • Don’t imitate a source’s syntax or phrasing Differentiate your words and ideas from those of your source Document all statistics Cite all quotes and paraphrases by using parenthetical references

WORKS CITED PAGE • Each citation is double spaced in hanging indent form. Citations are presented in alphabetical order by author’s last name or by title of work if no author is given. • Each citation has its own method for citing: books and periodicals in print have separate methods as do books and periodicals online. • DVDs, film, and other visual sources have their own methods as well. • It is impossible to memorize all the different sources: A HANDBOOK IS NECESSARY. • You can also go online to http: //owl. english. purdue. edu for information.

SAMPLE WORKS CITED PAGE Works Cited Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Knopf, 1976. Print. Bowling for Columbine. Dir. Michael Moore. 2002. United Artists and Alliance Atlantis, 2003. DVD. Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Project Gutenberg e. Book, 2011. Kindle ebook file. “D-Day: June 6, 1944. ” History. com. History Channel, 1999. Web. 7 June 2002. Drabble, Margaret. “Expressionism. ” The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6 th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Print. Nelson, Cary, ed. Modern American Poetry. Dept. of English, U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2002. Web. 26 May 2008. Weiser, Jay. “The Tyranny of Informality. ” Time, 26 Feb. 1996. Web. 1 Mar. 2008.