Mla-presentation

English 1301 - 1302

MLA Style: Citing Research

What we will learn today Our goal today is to learn how to: 

Correctly format your essay

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Create in text citations for sources

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Develop a work cited page

What does MLA mean? Modern Language Association

The style recommended by the association for preparing scholarly manuscripts and student research papers concerns itself with the mechanics of writing, such as punctuation, quotation, and documentation of sources. MLA style has been widely adopted by schools, academic departments, and instructors for nearly half a century. MLA guidelines are also currently used by over 125 scholarly and literary journals, newsletters, and magazines with circulations over one thousand; by hundreds of smaller periodicals; and by many university and commercial presses. MLA style is commonly followed not only in the United States but in Canada and other countries as well; Japanese translations of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers appeared in 1980, 1984, and 1988, and a Chinese translation was published in 1990. In a 1991 article on style manuals, Booklist cited MLA documentation style as one of the "big three," along with the guidelines published by the American Psychological Association and the University of Chicago Press.

What spacing does MLA require for a paper?

Double spaced through out the paper

How are pages number in MLA? In the top right on each page (first page is optional) with the author’s last name followed by the page number

Castro 1

How is the header set up for a paper requiring MLA format? Student’s name, instructor’s name, course title and number, date – Flush left Example: Joe Student T. Castro English 1302 15 September 2007

Sample of first page in MLA style Student 1 Joe Student T. Castro English 1302 15 September 2007

Paper Title Ready go

What is a parenthetical citation?

An acknowledgement of the original source and a reference to that source on the work citied page.

Where should you place a parenthetical citation?

Immediately after the quote or paraphrase

Sample parenthetical citation 

Author’s name in the sentence - Wordsworth stated that romantic poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263).



Author’s name not in the sentence - 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).

Sample parenthetical citations 

No author: - If the work you are making reference to has no author, use and abbreviated version of the work’s title. For non-print sources such as films, TV series, pictures or other media, or electronic sources, include the name that begins the entry in the work cited page.

- An anonymous Wordsworth critic once argued that his poems were to emotional (“Wordsworth is a loser” 100).

Citing a Film or Video Recording A film entry usually begins with the title, underlined, and includes the director, the distributor and the year of release. You may include other data that seem pertinent-such as names of the writer, performers, and producer-between the title and the distributor.

Citing a Film or Video Recording  Examples: It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barry, and Dennis Mitchell. RKO, 1964.  To Cite a video cassette or DVD: Alcohol Use and Its Medical Consequenses: A Comprehensive Teaching Program for Biomedical Education. Prod. Project Cork, Dartmouth Medical School. Slide Program. MilnerFenwick, 1982

Where should the MLA work cited page be placed? At the end of the essay on a separate page. Example:

Castro 1

Work Cited

How should the MLA work cited page be organized? Alphabetically, by author’s last name Axle, T Brown, M Smith, J.

(or by title if no author is known)

On the work cited page what do three hyphens indicate? A work by the same author as the one listed in the above entry Example:

King, Stephen. Black House. New York: Random, 2001. --- From a Buick 8; A Novel, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002.

Sample of work cited page Regular Book with Two Authors Zwerdling, Alex, and Richard Voorhees. Orwell and the Left. New Haven: Yale UP, 1974.

Regular Book with One Author. Publisher's Imprint Klier, Barbara. Education Reflecting Our Society. Information Plus Reference Ser. Detroit: Gale, 2000.

Book Online Millay, Edna St. Vincent. Second April. New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1921. Carnegie Mellon University Hillman Library. 12 May 1997 .

Samples continued Poem, Short Story, or Play in a Collection or Anthology Chekhov, Anton. The Cherry Orchard. Trans. Avraham Yarmolinsky. Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Maynard Mack. 4th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1979. 1192-1230.

Book from an Online Database Harris, Jim. Getting Employees to Fall in Love with Your Company. New York: AMACOM, 1996. NetLibrary. Richland Coll. Lib., Dallas. 25 Oct. 2001 .

Where can you find help? 

S.F Writer

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Writing Center located in the library

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On-line MLA resource (http://www.northharriscollege.com/28273/)

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Ask your instructor

What did you learn today?



Today you learned how to: Correctly format your essay



Create in-text citations for sources



Develop the Work cited page