MLA Workshop

Modern Language AssociationWriting Style

Presented by: Carolina Lorenzo-Romeu

Provided by:Prof. Erick Dominicis & Prof. Vivian Perez

What is MLA?

• Modern Language Association• Writing and document style used for:

– Humanities– English Literature– Arts and Architecture– Linguistics– Music– Philosophy – Religion– Theater, Dance, and Film

General Document Guidelines

• Standards– Use Time New Roman, font 12

– Use only 8 ½-by-11 inch white paper of good quality.  Print on one side of the paper.

General Document Guidelines - II

• Margins– Set one inch margins at the top, bottom, and on both

sides.

– Indent the first word of each paragraph one-half inch from the left margin.  When using a word processing program, you may use the Tab key to indent for each paragraph.

Example

1 inch

General Document Guidelines - III

• Spacing

– A research paper must be double-spaced throughout,

including quotation, notes, outline, and the list of works

cited.

– See the sample pages of a research paper in the

Library Handbook or Hackers’ site.

General Document Guidelines - IV

• Heading and Title– A research paper does not need a title page.  If your teacher

requires a title page, format it according to the instructions you are given.

– Beginning one inch from the top of the first page and flush with the left  margin, type on separate lines and double space between each line

• 1. Your name• 2. Your teacher’s name• 3.  The course number• 4. The date (Day Month Year)• C. Double space again and center the title.

– Double space between the title and the first line of the text.– Do not underline your title or put it in quotations marks or type it

in all capital letters.– If you include an outline with your paper, it should precede the

paper itself.

Example

Personal Information

General Document Guidelines - V

• Page numbers– Number all pages consecutively throughout the research paper in

the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.

• 1. Type your last name before the page number.• 2. Do not use the abbreviation p. before a page number.• 3. Do not add a period, a hyphen, or any other mark or symbol.

– Position the first line of text one inch from the top of the page.– When using a word processor, create a running head that consists

of your last name followed by a space and the page number.  The word processor may automatically insert your running head on every page of your paper if you do not specify otherwise.

– Number your outline pages with lowercase Roman numerals beginning with “i”.

Example

Your Last Name Page #

General Document Guidelines - VI

• Tables and illustrations– Place tables and illustrations as close as possible to the

parts of the text to which they relate.

– Label the tables and illustrations as follows.

• 1.  A table is usually labeled Table, given an Arabic numeral,

and captioned.

• 2. Any other type of illustrative visual material – for example,

a photograph, map, line drawing, graph, or chart – should

be labeled Figure (abbreviated Fig.)

• 3. Musical illustrations are labeled Example (abbreviated Ex.)

Example

General Document Guidelines – VTables and Illustrations continued

• 4. Type both label and caption flush left on separate lines

above the table.

• 5. Capitalize the label and caption as you would a title.  Do

not use all capital letters.

• 6. Give the source of the table and any notes immediately

below the table.

• 7. Designate notes to the table with lowercase letters

rather than numerals.

• 8. Double space.

Modified from Pleasant Valley High School Library and Diana Hacker Online

In Text Citation

• An in-text citation names the author of the source, often in a signal phrase, and gives the page number in parentheses.

Matt Sundeen notes that drivers with cell phones place an estimated 98,000 emergency calls each day and that the phones "often reduce emergency response times and actually save lives" (1).

NOTE: If your cited material runs to more than one page, give the range of pages (such as 235-36 or 399-400).

Another way of in-text citations

• The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a

"spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).

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).

In Text Citation of Multivolume

• Multivolume work

If your paper cites more than one volume of a multivolume

work, indicate which volume you are referring to, followed

by a colon and the page number in the parentheses.

Terman's studies of gifted children reveal a pattern of

accelerated language acquisition (2: 279).

Long Quotation

When a quoted passage takes up more than four typed

lines of prose or three lines of verse in your paper, set it

off from the text by indenting the entire quotation one inch

(or ten spaces) from the left margin. Double-space the

indented quotation, and don't add extra space above or

below it.

Quotation marks are not needed when a quotation has

been set off from the text by indenting.

Example

Block

Citation

Web Addresses

When a Web address mentioned in the text of your paper must be divided at the end of a line, do not insert a hyphen (a hyphen could appear to be part of the address).

http://www.mdc.edu/iac/learning-resources/libraries/guides/resourcefinder/pathfinder/index/3207

Works Cited Page

• Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper.

• Label the page Works Cited (do not underline the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page.

• Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalize articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle: Gone with the Wind, The Art of War, There Is Nothing Left to Lose

• Use italics or underlining for titles of larger works (books, magazines) and quotation marks for titles of shorter works (poems, articles)

Example of Works Cite Page

Acknowledgement

• Most of the examples in this PP were gathered from:

• Diana Hacker

• Online Writing Lab at Purdue Univ. (OWL)

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

www.dianahacker.com/resdoc

HUMA 1020

• Use MLA 2009 style in all your writing

• Do not exceed 2 pages of content.

• Provide a works cited page.

• Remember to use the vocabulary terms for this course throughout your paper in logical and meaningful ways.

• Double check your work for grammar and spelling mistakes.

• Remember to print your paper out in black ink and to staple the pages together on the left hand top corner of the paper.

Paper #3

• Choose either film or theater

• Choose to write about a specific era, director, composer or playwright that affected the field you chose or about the field in general from its origins until today.

• Regardless of what you choose, be sure to address how this has affected American culture.

• Follow the literary criticism style of writing from www.enotes.com

Paper #4

• Write about the Immigrant/Minority experience in America and its affect on American culture.

• You may choose to describe the events of the 20th century or from the beginning of American history.

• This is not a literary criticism paper, but it needs to have sections to it: Introduction, Minority Experiences, Minority Influences, Criticism/Conclusion.

• Paper #3 is due Nov 23

• Late papers will not be accepted

• Papers not in MLA style or not stapled or will not be accepted.