MLA Formatting I Intext Citation Denise Filipek M

MLA Formatting I In-text Citation Denise Filipek, M. A. Ed.

Always give credit to your sources! • Any time you use the ideas and words of someone else, you need to give credit to the author. • This applies EVEN IF you have changed some words around! • Quoting/Citing makes your paper stronger and your ideas more credible. • Your points will be reinforced or stated more clearly when you have others’ words to back you up.

What is MLA format? • The Modern Languages Association (MLA) is a group of scholars that meet regularly to discuss trends in language. • These are the “rules” of citing that they agreed upon and use. You will most likely use these “rules”, or this format, for your essays in your liberal arts classes (English, Spanish, history, philosophy, etc. ) • Other disciplines, like math, science, and psychology, use other formats, but it’s the same idea: “weave” your quotes with your points, and cite your sources properly.

HOW TO FIND QUOTES • Annotate as you read. Keep track of main/topic sentences, and where information is written in the work. • Flag/highlight anything you think might be important/pertinent to your chosen/assigned topic. • Flag/highlight anything that is thoughtprovoking/controversial for you. This can be especially helpful if you have to generate your own topic for your paper. • Flag/highlight interest-grabbing words, phrases, and passages. High-value adjectives, intriguing titles, and brilliant observations are always good to use.

Why should I use quotes? • provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing • refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing • give examples of several points of view on a subject • call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with • highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original • distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own • expand the breadth or depth of your writing

USE YOUR QUOTES! • Once you have your topic in mind, part of the prewriting process is outlining where you will incorporate your quotes. • Go back through your annotated text(s) and find ten or more passages that are usable for your topic. • Copy and paste them into a word processing document, note card, or sticky note. • It is important to copy them WORD FOR WORD and make sure to note the author and page number. • A good rule of thumb is to plan for no more than one or two quotes (or passages) per paragraph.

Don’t just “Plonk” them in! • Students often think that just using quotes in their work is enough. Indeed, it is a pretty great accomplishment. • However, HOW you use your quotes is what strengthens your paper. • You have many options for this… • Paraphrase • Summarize • Direct Quotation • However, you must always make sure that you mention the author and the page number. Documenting the title of the work when you introduce it is important too.

Parenthetical In-Text Citation • This simply means that there is information in parentheses ( ) • Remember what you MUST include: • AUTHOR • TITLE • PAGE NUMBER • An example: The Gettysburg Address takes place “Four score and seven years ago…” (Lincoln 76).

Notice a few things about this example. The Gettysburg Address takes place “Four score and seven years ago…” (Lincoln 76). 1: The quote is word-for-word from the source, and is in quotation marks “ ” 2: The writer of the paper only needed a portion of the sentence, so she used an ellipsis (…) to show where more information would go 3: The writer of the paper mentioned the title of the work [Gettysburg Address], the author (Abraham Lincoln), and the page number (76).

Other things to notice The Gettysburg Address takes place “Four score and seven years ago…” (Lincoln 76). • Punctuation: quotation marks go around the quote, not around the entire idea. If it’s not wordfor-word, then you don’t need quotation marks. • Do not put a period at the end of the quote– a comma or ellipsis is usually put before the quotation marks. • The final period of the sentence goes AFTER the parenthetical information.

Citation Formatting: Practice Part 1 • On your paper, place periods [. ], quotation marks [“ ”], and parenthesis ( ) where they should go.

More than just direct quotation: Paraphrasing … • As mentioned before, using quotes is just one option when incorporating sources. • Paraphrasing involves • putting a passage from source material into your own words. • A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. • Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

More than just direct quotation Summarizing… • Reminder, using quotes is just one option when incorporating sources. • Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). • Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. • Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material. • D. Filipek 2012

What’s the difference? Original • Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. • But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Paraphrased • Eighty-seven years ago, our leaders made the nation under God and liberty. They made this nation fair and the believed all men are created equal. Now, we have torn apart the nation fighting over a civil war. We were filled with love. Now, you would think we were filled with hate. It's amazing that our nation hasn't fallen apart, even though sometimes I believe it has. We now are standing in this field to give a part of it to make a graveyard for the people who died in this civil war. • But, in a larger sense, we cannot make this ground holy. The people who gave their lives here already did that, and better. People will forget this day and this speech, but they will never for get the people who died here.

What’s the difference? Original • Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. • But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Summarized • In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln effectively summed up the consequences of the Civil War in ten sentences. He highlighted the fact that liberty and equality were the core components for the emancipation of America. Lincoln urged the common person and politician to consider the lives lost in the attempt to save the nation from separation, and pay tribute to the unsung heroes. He emphasized the fact that the Gettysburg Address may be forgotten in time, but not the soldiers who willingly laid down their lives. He urged the gathering to take up the cause and complete the task at hand, to usher in a government 'of the people, by the people and for the people'.

Your Turn--Try it! • On your paper, underline/highlight two passages from the text. • Try to find important words, phrases, or points. • Then, paraphrase this passage into your own words: “…indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. ” • Summarize the entire passage in one sentence: The Pledge of Allegiance is a promise of loyalty to _______.

Paraphrase, Quote, or Summarize • Remember, whether you paraphrase, quote, or summarize, you still need to note the author and page number somehow. Three examples: Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263). 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).

Don’t “Plonk”– “Weave” the quote into YOUR sentences and words • • Introduce it (title, author, or point of view emphasized) • Colons [: ] can help here • Use the quote • Direct quotation, summary, paraphrase • Restate, sum up, or emphasize the part you wanted to show • Cite the source (author, page #)

Student Example In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln notes that the work of the soldiers resting in the fields is complete: “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. ” Lincoln challenges those left behind to peacefully continue the brave cause for national unity (76).

Tips to introduce quotes -Word Choice and Transitions • Use your “high value” verbs – instead of “said”, use “stated”, “voiced”, “related”, “opined” • Transition words and phrases can help you put ideas together: : “similarly”, “on the other hand…”

Try it! • The Pledge of Allegiance is repeated by schoolchildren every day, but few take the time to really think about what it means. Using a direct quote, or one of your paraphrased or summarized passages, write one strong sentence about one point of the Pledge that you find especially interesting or powerful. Cite author and page number properly.

Pledge of Allegiance • BACKGROUND: • According to John W. Baer’s book, The Pledge of Allegiance: A Short History (1992), Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, is credited with writing the original Pledge in August 1892. • In 1954, the Congress, after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, added the words, 'under God, ' to the Pledge. • "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. ” D. Filipek 2012

Resources • http: //owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resourc e/747/2/