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1. MLA citation

2. There are two parts to MLA citation… Parenthetical or in-text citations Works Cited Page But first things first…
3. Why use MLA citation? To give credit to your source To help locate the original documents To give your writing credibility To avoid plagiarism
4. What is plagiarism? Using any information that is not common knowledge from any source and not giving proper credit through citation. You must cite ideas or words that are not your own or…
5. face failure of the assignment or possible expulsion!
6. What needs to be cited in-text? Direct quotations Paraphrases Pictures
7. But quoting and paraphrasing can be tricky… Let’s play a game to see how well you know how to quote and paraphrase… NOTE: The following examples on paraphrasing are based on ideas from Doing Honest Work in College by Charles Lipson.
8. Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse in her home, but she occasionally ventured out to parties where she let her hair down and danced on tables.(From a book by Lola Boltjes) Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse. (no citation) NO! This does cite the source, the exact words are used, and they are not enclosed in quotation marks. Is this the proper way to cite? NO!
9. Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse in her home, but she occasionally ventured out to parties where she let her hair down and danced on tables.(From a book by Lola Boltjes) Jane Doe spend most of her life as a recluse in her home, but occasionally ventured out to parties where she let her hair down and danced on tables (Boltjes 259). NO! This does cite the source, the exact words are used, and they are not enclosed in quotation marks. Is this the proper way to cite? NO!
10. Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse in her home, but she occasionally ventured out to parties where she let her hair down and danced on tables.(From a book by Lola Boltjes) Jane Doe passed most of her life away as a hermit, but she sometimes went out to parties and boogied down on tables (Boltjes 259). NO! While the words are not exactly the author’s, they are very similar, and the sentence format is basically the same. Is this the proper way to cite? NO!
11. Direct Quotes If more than 20 percent of your paper is quotes, which is someone’s exact words, then that’s too much! You want your paper to contain your writing. Too many quotes in a paper take away from the writer’s voice.
12. Proper Citation for a direct quote in your paper is as follows: Example: “Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse in her home, but she occasionally ventured out to parties where she let her hair down and danced on tables” (Boltjes 259). Page Number Author’s Last Name
13. Another way to cite a direct quote is to use a signal phrase to mention the author in the paper According to Boltjes, Doe “spent most of her life as a recluse in her home, but she occasionally ventured out to parties where she let her hair down and danced on tables” (259). *NOTE: When the author is mentioned, you do not need to include the last name within the parentheses at the end of the quote. The page number is enough. Signal Phrase Author Name Page Number
14. What do you do when you don’t have a page number – such as with an internet source – to cite in parentheses? You may then use either the paragraph number (Lewis par. 5) or section name (Brooks “Introduction”) in place of page numbers.
15. Okay, what if there isn’t an author to cite? You will then cite the title (shortened if necessary) of the article, story, or book in-text along with the page or section number. Example: (“Traveling” par. 19) *NOTE: You will also use the title, along with the author’s name in-text if you are citing more than one work by an author in your essay. Example: (Frye, Double Vision 85)
16. For direct quotes that are longer than four lines, you will want to set the quote off from the rest of the paper with a block quote.
17. At the end of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator’s calm façade steadily disintegrates: The officers were satisfied. My MANNER had convinced them. I was singularly at ease. They sat and while I answered cheerily, they chatted of familiar things. But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wishing them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears; but still they sat, and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct: I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definiteness – until, at length, I found that the noise was NOT within my ears. (Poe 247) Page number(s) Author Punctuation 1” margin NOTE: Quotation marks are not used for block quotes
18. But remember, use quotes sparingly Most of your paper will be made up of paraphrases….
19. Paraphrases Paraphrasing is another way of handling quotations. When paraphrasing, the writer relays the meaning in his/her own words.
20. An example of paraphrasing Original quote: “Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse in her home, but she occasionally ventured out to parties where she let her hair down and danced on tables” (Boltjes 259). Paraphrasing: Although Jane Doe didn’t leave the house much, she did like to party every once in awhile (Boltjes 259).
21. Why is that a good paraphrase? While it conveys the meaning of the quote, it is not too close to the author’s original words, and it is cited correctly.
22. When paraphrasing… Read the passage and make sure you understand its meaning Think about how the passage relates to your paper Turn the paper over and write the main idea in your own words on a note card Reread the quote making sure you have not kept the same structure nor merely changed a few words
23. What is a Works Cited Page? A list of all sources that are referenced in your essay. It contains all the information that your reader needs to locate the sources cited in your essay.
24. What will your Works Cited page look like? Works Cited Brindle, Reginald Smith. “The Search Outwards: The Orient, Jazz, Archaisms.” The New Music: The Avant-Garde since 1945. New York: Oxford UP, 1975. 133-45. Burnett, James. “Ellington’s Place as a Composer.” Gammond 141-155. Duke Ellington’s Washington. 2002. Estate of Mercer K. Ellington. 3 June 2002 <http://www.dukeellington.com/>
25. Things to remember when making your Works Cited page… Center the words Works Cited – do not underline them - on a new page of your paper Double Space Alphabetize all of your citations, even if your listing starts with a title Start each new citation at the left margin; indent 5 spaces or a half inch for each subsequent line of an entry
26. One more thing to remember… Many students get frustrated when doing a Works Cited page if they can’t find a piece of information such as the author or other publication information (particularly with internet sources). In that case… Simply skip it and go on to the next piece of information.