HOW TO FORMAT YOUR PAPER AND WRITE IN-TEXT CITATIONS According to MLA Standards

1. HOW TO FORMAT YOUR PAPER AND WRITE IN-TEXT CITATIONS According to MLA Standards Miss MackowskiLibrary Media SpecialistNorwalk High School

2. What is MLA? MLA (Modern Language Association) -Developed a universal way for scholars to research and write. -MLA style formatting is often used in various Humanities disciplines

3. FORMATTING 101 BASICS

4. #1 RULE******ALWAYS Find out your instructor’s guidelines for your paper before you start!

5. Formatting BASICS -Font size and type: 12 pt./Times New Roman -Paper size: 8.5” by 11” only (letter size)-Margins: 1” around paper; ½ inch indentation for 1st line of a paragraph -Spacing: Double-space all text -Title page: None unless your instructor requires one BEGINNING OF PAPER-Upper right hand corner of 1st page-type from ½” from top your last name and page number (continue this for every page)-Left hand corner of 1st page-type your name, your instructor's name, the course, and date-Center the paper title with standard capitalization-do not underline, bold, or quote

6. Sample 1st Page

7. FORMATTING SHORTCUTSINWORD

8. Spacing Font Size Font Type

9. HEADER AND FOOTER

10. Formatting Section Headings • Headings are generally optional • Headings in essays should be numbered • Headings in paper should be consistent in grammar and formatting but are otherwise up to you • Ask your teacher if you are unsure if you need section headings

11. Sample Section Headings Numbered (all flush left with no underlining, bold, or italics): 1. Soil Conservation 1.1 Erosion 1.2 Terracing 2. Water Conservation 3. Energy Conservation Unnumbered (by level): Level 1 Heading: bold, flush left Level 2 Heading: italics, flush left Level 3 Heading: centered, bold Level 4 Heading: centered, italics Level 5 Heading: underlined, flush left

12. HOW TO WRITE IN-TEXT CITATIONS IN YOUR PAPER ******* Two acceptable ways to use information (and give credit) from another source in writing: PARAPHRASE and QUOTE

13. SUMMARY VS.PARAPHRASE----What’s the difference?

14. Summary vs. Paraphrase A summary is when you take someone else’s ideas and put them into your own words. A paraphrase is when you take someone else’s ideas and put them into your own words BUT you ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT TO THE AUTHOR.

15. MLA in-text citations are made with a combination ofSIGNAL PHRASES and PARENTHETICAL REFERENCES -A signal phrase indicates that something taken from a source (a quotation, summary, paraphrase, or fact) is about to be used; usually the signal phrase includes the author's name. -A parenthetical reference which comes after the cited material, normally includes at least a page number. It may also include the author’s last name.

16. AUTHOR NAMED IN A SIGNAL PHRASEOrdinarily, introduce the material being cited with a signal phrase that includes the author's name. In addition to preparing readers for the source, the signal phrase allows you to keep the parenthetical citation brief. Christine Haughney reports that shortly after Japan made it illegal to use a handheld phone while driving, accidents from phone use decreased by 75% (8). The signal phrase — Christine Haughney reports that— names the author; the parenthetical citation gives the page number where the information was found. As Wendy Martin has suggested, Emily Dickinson firmly believed that we cannot fully comprehend life unless we also understand death (625). In his Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin states that he prepared a list of thirteen virtues (135-137).

17. AUTHOR NAMED IN PARENTHETICAL REFERENCE If a signal phrase does not name the author, put the author's last name in parentheses along with the page number. Most states do not keep adequate records on the number of times cell phones are a factor in accidents; as of December 2000, only ten states were trying to keep such records (Sundeen 2). The aesthetic and ideological orientation of jazz underwent considerable scrutiny in the late 1950s and early 1960s (Anderson 7). It may be true that “in the appreciation of medieval art the attitude of the observer is of primary importance…” (Robertson 136).

18. AUTHOR UNKNOWN Either use the complete title in a signal phrase or use a short form of the title in parentheses. Titles of books are italicized; titles of articles are put in quotation marks. As of 2001, at least three hundred towns and municipalities had considered legislation regulating use of cell phones while driving ("Lawmakers" 2).

19. PAGE NUMBER UNKNOWNYou may omit the page number if a work lacks page numbers, as is the case with many Web sources. Although printouts from Web sites usually show page numbers, printers don't always provide the same page breaks; for this reason, MLA recommends treating such sources as unpaginated. The California Highway Patrol opposes restrictions on the use of phones while driving, claiming that distracted drivers can already be prosecuted (Jacobs). According to Jacobs, the California Highway Patrol opposes restrictions on the use of phones while driving, claiming that distracted drivers can already be prosecuted.

20. HOW TO WRITE QUOTES IN YOUR PAPER

21. RULE 1: Introduce a quote with an introductory phrase and a comma According to Mr. Jake Smith, A New York Times editor, “The economy is beginning to show signs of recovery” (3). Joseph Conrad writes of the company manager in Heart of Darkness, “He was obeyed, yet he inspired neither love nor fear, nor even respect” (4).

22. RULE #2: Introduce a quote with a complete sentence followed by a colon Barbara Brehm believes that Americans cannot live without coffee: “Coffee is a part of every day American culture…[and] it seems to have become an American obsession” (10).

23. RULE #3:Use block quotes with a complete sentence and a colon and ALWAYS double indent the entire block quote. • In a study published in Health Magazine, Nancy Clark summarizes the side effects of coffee: • A woman who wants to start a family should be aware that consuming over 300 milligrams of coffee per day may increase the time it takes to get pregnant. The USDA recommends that pregnant women avoid caffeine-containing foods (11).

24. Adding/Omitting Words Adding words: [Brackets] Jan Harold Brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states: "some individuals [who retell urban legends] make a point of learning every rumor or tale” (78). Omit words: Ellipses… or ….Ellipsis dots indicate the omission of unused parts of a quotation -3 periods (. . .) indicate an omission within a sentence and -4 periods (. . . .) indicate an omission at the end of a sentence In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand notes that "some individuals make a point of learning every recent rumor or tale . . . and in a short time a lively exchange of details occurs” (78).In surveying various responses to plagues in the Middle Ages, Barbara W. Tuchman writes, “Medical thinking, trapped in the theory of astral influences, stressed air as the communicator of disease….” (16).