MLA Refresher Course

1
MLA Refresher Course

• Presenters
• Emily Heady
• Jim Nutter

2
Mechanics, Format, Documentation Jim Nutter

• 1st Edition (1980)

• 6th Edition (2003)

3
The Basics

• Parenthetical documentation is used (Smith 100).
• The bibliography is called a Works Cited page
• No title page unless the professor requests it

4
Chapter 4 The Format of the Paper
5
Short Quotes vs. Long Quotes

• Short Quotes
• No more than 4 lines (prose)
• No more than 3 lines (poetry)

• Long Quotes
• More than 4 lines (prose)
• More than 3 lines (poetry)

6
Chapter 3Formatting Long Quotes

• Indent 10 spaces (2 tabs) from left margin
• Double space
• Remove quotation marks
• Period goes before parenthetical citation
• Introduce with a complete sentence followed by a
  colon (109)

7
Chapter 7 AbbreviationsPublishers Names
(273-74)
8
Chapter 5Works Cited Page
9
Chapter 5 DocumentationPreparing a List of
Works Cited

• BOOK
• Authors name. Title of Book. Publication
  information.
• Fukuyama, Francis. Our Posthuman Future
  Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution.
  New York Farrer, 2002.

10
Chapter 5 DocumentationPreparing a List of
Works Cited

• Citing the editor of an anthology
• McMichael, George, ed. Anthology of American
• Literature. 9th ed. Vol. 1. New York
  MacMillan, 2007.
• Citing a work in the anthology
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Toms Cabin.
  Anthology of American Literature. Ed. George
  McMichael. 9th ed. Vol. 1. New York MacMillan,
  2007. 1894-1958.

11
Chapter 5 DocumentationPreparing a List of
Works Cited

• JOURNAL
• Authors name. Title of the article.
  Publication information.
• Trumpener, Katie. Memories Carved in Granite
  Great War Memorials and Everyday Life. PMLA
  115 (2000) 1096-103.

12
Chapter 5 DocumentationPreparing a List of
Works Cited

• LECTURE
• Railton, Stephen. Christ Figures in Uncle Toms
  Cabin. The University of Virginia.
  Charlottesville, VA.
• 11 June 2007.

13
Chapter 3 The Mechanics of Writing

• Underlining vs. Italics
• If you wish to use italics rather than
  underlining, check your instructors preferences
  (94).

14
Chapter 3 The Mechanics of Writing

• Underlined Titles
• Books
• Plays
• Long Poems
• Pamphlets
• Periodicals
• Ships
• Films TV shows

• Titles in Quotation Marks
• Short stories
• Short poems
• Chapters
• Songs
• TV episodes
• Lectures
• Articles in newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias

15
Chapter 3 The Mechanics of Writing

• Citing Scripture
• Abbreviate books of the Bible (276-77)
• Use a period, not a colon, between chapter and
  verse John 3.16

16
Chapter 3 The Mechanics of Writing

• Ellipsis
• Old format sentence . . . sentence
• 6th edition format sentence . . . sentence

17
Paperclip vs. Staple

• Many prefer that a paper be secured with a
  simple paperclip, which may be easily removed and
  restored (138).

18
Citing Electronic PublicationsEmily Heady
19
General Information

• When citing an electronic source, try to keep
  your formatting as much like a print citation as
  possible.
• There are a few rules for citing electronic
  sources, but you may have to make judgment calls.
• You will often have inadequate information just
  use what you have.
• The goal is always clarity use whatever means
  necessary (within reason) to make it possible for
  someone reading your work to find the source you
  cite.

20
Web Pages

• Author. Title of Selection. Title of Print
  Publication
• and volume.issue (date) pages. Title of Web
  Page. Editor. Date of publication or latest
  update. Sponsoring organization or institution.
  Date of access .
• Smith, John. A Book Review. Im a Print
  Publication 8
• (1992) 4-10. Reviews of Philip Roths Work.
  Ed. Hieronymus Bosch. 2005. The Philip Roth
  Society. 6 Aug. 2007 y.org.

21
Some Other Examples

• A home page
• Spears, Britney. Home Page. 19 July 2007. 1 Aug.
  2007 .
• A whole web page
• Electronic Text Center. Ed. David Seaman. 2002.
  Alderman Lib., U of Virginia. 19 June 2002.
  .

22
E-Books

• Author or editor/translator (if no author).
  Title.
• Ed./Trans. name. City Press, date of
  publication. Online Source. Ed. Date of access
  .
• Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Henry
  Churchyard.
• 1996. Jane Austen Information Page. 6 Sept.
  2002 htm l.
• Ovid. Metamorphoses. Trans. Arthur Golding.
  London,
• 1567. The Perseus Digital Library. Ed. Gregory
  Crane. Apr. 2001. Tufts U. 16 May 2002
  upOv.Met.1.1.

23
Online Periodicals

• A scholarly article
• Teeshirt, Random. Do Be Do Be Do Sinatra and
  Socrates. The Journal of Clever Apparel 10
  (2007) 1-10. The Journal of Clever Apparel. 3
  Aug. 2007 .
• A news story
• Spears Accused of Making Death Threats.
  CNN.com. 2007. The Associated Press.1 Aug. 2007
  
  e.britneyspears.ap/index.html.

24
Library Subscription Services

• Some Rules
• For items that originally appeared in print,
  preserve the print entry as much as possible,
  omitting information not provided in the online
  version.
• Try to conclude with the URL.
• Pare down the URL to a workable size, and, if
  necessary, include a keyword.

25
A Subscription/Database Example

• This Is an Amazing Workshop! Thoughts from LU
• Faculty. The Secret Journal of Liberty Faculty
  35 (2007) 1-2. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.
  Liberty U, ILRC. 1 Aug. 2007 .edu/index.cfm?PID4929/ . Keyword Faculty
  Orientation.

26
Personal Communications

• An e-mail
• Heady, Emily. Your paper is late! E-mail to I.
  M. Slothful. 10 May 2006.
• Slothful, I.M. E-mail to the author. 13 May 2006.
• An online posting
• Bishop, Andrew. "Upcoming Event Mark Your
  Calendars!" Online posting. 16 February 2007. Dr.
  Prior's Book Clique. 7 March 2007
  .

27
MLA FormatFrequently Asked Questions

• http//www.mla.org/style_faq

28
Citing Your ResearchUseful Links

• http//www.liberty.edu/academics/graduate/writing/
  index.cfm?PID11859
• Graduate Writing Center
• MLA
• APA
• Turabian
• Chicago