MLA

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MLA

• Mrs. Ocasek
• Grade 9
• Room 318

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INTRODUCTION

• What does MLA stand for?
• MLA stands for the Modern Language Association
• A research paper is an extended writing piece
  that requires the gathering of pertinent facts,
  data and information to support that authors
  assertions.

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Why do we write research papers?

• Research writing is an essential element of
  education at the secondary and post secondary
  level. MLA style is the most commonly accepted
  form of research writing. The form shows that
  the writer has considered many sources of
  information before writing on a specific subject,
  and permits the reader to review the sources if
  he or she wishes.

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When will I use MLA?

• The Mount Pleasant Area School District has
  adopted the use of MLA format for ALL PAPERS
  across the curriculum. The MLA heading is to be
  used on all daily assignments. Graduation
  project papers will be evaluated using MLA and
  PSSA guidelines.

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Research and Writing

• In preparing to write a research paper, you must
• Select a topic with an appropriate focus
• and THESIS STATEMENT that clearly defines
  your subject.
• Conduct research identifying sources for
  your paper.

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• Compile a Working Bibliography which properly
  notes any information accumulated and examined.
• Evaluate sources for authenticity and
  currency.
• Take accurate and careful notes on
  material.
• Create an OUTLINE that organizes your
  piece.
• Draft your piece using the outline as a
  basis.

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The Steps of Research Writing

• Give credit to the sources that you have used in
  the writing of the paper.
• Revise, revise and REVISE!!
• PEER EDIT or PROOFREAD your first draft analyzing
  what you have written and HOW you have written
  it.
• Rewrite your outline.
• Prepare your final paper

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Researching your topic

• There is a wealth of information available and
  many sources to choose from when investigating
  material to support your paper and to answer your
  topic questions such as---
• books
• videos
• journals
• internet websites

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Research your topic

• When you find a source that you wish to use, you
  must document that source properly. If you use a
  source without giving credit to that source, you
  commit plagiarism.

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Plagiarism

• When someone elses ideas or phrasing are used
  and represented as those ideas or phrasing of
  your own, either on purpose OR through
  carelessness, a serious offense known as
  plagiarism has occurred.

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Getting Started

• Step One Choosing your subject
• You must choose a subject area that is
  appropriate for your assignment. Remember to
  select a topic that is not too broad or too
  narrow in scope. If you have a subject area
  selected, you should then formulate that area of
  interest into a question or statement.
• Write your THESIS STATEMENT or questions on a
  note card as follows

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Sample Thesis Card

• Smith, Bill
• Period 1
• Thesis questions
• What is the flu?
• How does flu spread?
• What are the effects?
• What are the treatments if any?

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Source and Note Cards

• When you locate a source that has information
  that you want to use, it is important to document
  where that information originated. A Source Card
  lists all of the information necessary for a
  reader to find that same source and view it him
  or herself. Each new source requires a new card.

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Source Cards

• Notice that the second line is indented five
  spaces, while the first line runs from left to
  right across the card. This is known as REVERSE
  INDENTATION. All source cards should be prepared
  using REVERSE INDENTATION. Also, you will use
  this form when organizing your Works Cited page.

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Book Source Card

• Mancuse, Sibyl. A Survey of Musical
• Instruments. New York Harper,
• 1975.
• NOTICE THAT THE CITATION IS WRITTEN USING REVERSE
  INDENTATION

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Book Article or Chaper

• Allende, Isabel. Toads Mouth. Trans.
• Margaret Sayers Peden. A Hammock
• beneath the Mangoes Stories from
• Latin America. Ed. Thomas Colchie.
• New York Plume, 1992. 83-88.

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Newspaper article on the Internet

• Achenback, Joel. Americas River.
• Washington Post 5 May 2002. 20
• May 2002
• post.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13425-
• 2202May1.html.

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Magazine Article on the Internet

• Brooks, David. The Culture of Martyrdom.
• Atlantic Online June 2002. 24
• Sept. 2002
• com/issues/2002/06/brooks.html.

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Magazine and Newspaper Source Card

• Wilcox, Rhonda V. Shifting Roles and
• Synthetic Women in Star Trek The
• Next Generation. Studies in Popular
• Culture 13.2 (1991) 53-65.

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Encyclopedia Article

• Sturgeon, Theodore. Science Fiction. The
• Encyclopedia Americana. International
• ed. 1995.

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Gale Reference Book

• Shayon, Robert Lewis. The Interplanetary
• Spock. Saturday Review. 17 June 1967
  46. Rpt in Contemporary Literary
• Criticism. Ed. Sharon R. Gunton. Vol. 17
• Detroit Gale Research, 1981. 403.

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ERIC Document

• Fuss-Reineck, Marilyn. Sibling
• Communication in Star Trek The
• Next Generation Conflicts between
• Brothers. Miami Speech
• Communication Assn., 1993. ERIC
• Document Reproduction Service
• ED364932.

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A note about media sources

• Movie titles, albums and TV shows should be
  UNDERLINED.
• Songs and episodes should be placed in quotation
  marks.

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Movie Source

• Father Goose, dir. Ralph Nelson, perf.
• Cary Grant and Leslie Caron, Republic
• Pictures 1964.

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Television or Radio Source Card

• Frankenstein The Making of the Monster,
• Great Books, narr. Donald Sutherland,
• writ. Eugenie Vink, dir. Jon Ward,
• Learning Channel, 8 Sept. 1993.

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Documenting a Website

• Include
• Title of the web page
• The name of the entire website
• The organization that posted it
• (this may be the same as the name of
• the website)
• Date the page was created or last up-
• dated (day, month, year if possible)
• Date YOU looked at it

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Website Source for Works Cited page

• Lynch, Tim. DSN Trials and Tirbble-actions
• Review. Psi Phi Bradleys Science
• Fiction Club. 1996. Bradley University.
• 8 Oct. 1997
• campusorg/psiphi/DS9/ep/503r.html.

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Internet Sources

• PRINT, PRINT, PRINT!!!!!
• Make sure you print copies of ALL internet
  sources for your documentation at the time of
  your researching. Never, NEVER assume that you
  can go back and get it!!!

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Note Cards

• Once you have found material that you wish to use
  in your paper, you must copy that information
  down using the note card format. Make sure to
  include the following
• ----Descriptive heading
• ----Information directly quoted
• ----Author or source and page

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Sample Note Card

• Purpose of transportation
• (this shows the descriptive heading on top,
  left hand side of card)
• To bring people or goods to places where are
  needed, not to support the automobile industry,
  nor increase unnecessary transportation but to
  offer a change of speed and mode to fit a
  diversity of human purposes.
• Mumford, 238
• (Source on the bottom of card)

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Using Quotations in Text

• Quotations that constitute fewer than FIVE lines
  in your paper should be set off with quotation
  marks ( ) and be incorporated within the normal
  flow of your text. For material exceeding that
  length, omit the quotation marks and indent the
  quoted language one inch from your left-hand
  margin.

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Using Quotations in Text

• If an indented quotation is taken entirely from
  one paragraph, the first line should be even with
  all the other lines in that quotation however,
  if an indented quotation comes from two or more
  paragraphs, indent the first line of each
  paragraph an additional one quarter inch.

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Outlining

• Step Two Putting the sources in order
• Now that you have gathered sources and created
  note cards that contain your information, you
  have to put them into an order. Using a logical
  order to deliver your content is essential to
  writing a solid and coherent paper.

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Outline

• I.
• A.
• 1.
• a.
• (1)
• (a)
• (b)
• (2)
• b.
• 2.
• B.
• II.

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Organize your note cards

• To create an outline, review your note cards and
  organize them by topic (this is why it is
  important to label your note cards as you gather
  information).
• You may place note cards that have similar
  information into piles, and then order them
  accordingly.

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Writing a rough draft

• Step Three Writing a rough draft
• Once you have note cards organized and in an
  order that you like, you can build your outline.
  Use the cards to construct your outline. From
  the outline, you are ready to write a rough draft.

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Rough Drafts

• Establish your thesis in the opening paragraph
• Use notes gathered to support your ideas
• Give credit to authors of the information you
  have gathered
• Use transitions to move from one topic to the
  next
• Never end a paragraph with a citationNEVER!!!!!

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Using information in text

• When you write your rough draft, you will include
  the information you have collected through the
  research process.
• All information collected must be cited at the
  point of insertion into your paper.
• (An example follows)

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An example of In-text Documentation

• The first two lines of this stanza, My little
  horse must think it queer/To stop without a
  farmhouse near, reminds us of a nursery rhyme.
• Frosts quote is taken from a source and NOT the
  writers own words!!

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Pause for this checklist

• You have reviewed the following steps
• You have source cards and note cards, organized
  according to subject matter. You have an outline
  created from the information from those cards.
  Now, create a list of all of your source cards in
  alphabetical order. This is a Works Cited page.

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Works Cited

• Once you have found the sources you intend to
  use, you will need to identify them for your
  reader.
• For each SOURCE you use, write a separate listing
  (on an index card, your notebook or use your
  computer) with the following information

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Works Cited

• The name of the author or authors
• Title
• Editor, translator, compiler if any
• Edition, if it is not the first edition
• Place and date of the books publication
• The name of the books publisher

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REMEMBER

• The source card corresponds to the note card.
• Source cards show where the information was
  gathered-------note cards contain the information
  you wish to use in your paper.

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Organization of Works Cited

• Double space throughout
• Reverse indent all sources

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HEADING FOR PAPER

• 
  Shaw 1
• Your name
  
• Teachers name
• Course, Period
• Day Month Year
• (Heading above is placed on the left hand side of
  your paper beginning 1inch from the top. ½ inch
  from the top on the right hand side you will
  place your last name and page number)
• SEE FORMAT SHEET GIVEN

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More on Paper Formatting

• Double space your paper.
• Your title should fall right below the heading,
  but centered on the page.
• Margins are 1
• Font should be Times New Roman Size 12. Black
  ink for typed work! This is not time to show
  off!!! It should be FORMAL.

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Final Checklist

• Proofread or Peer Edit work.
• Revise, REVISE, revise
• Save all work and make extra copies
• Make any corrections before moving to revising
  outline
• Print revised outline and final draft for the due
  date. Your packet includes the following

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• FINAL DRAFT
• WORKS CITED
• ROUGH DRAFT
• REVISED OUTLINE
• NOTE AND SOURCE CARDS

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• Have fun!
• Make it be the best you can do!!
• You have accomplished your masterpiece!!!