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Modern Language Association:Research Student Guide

Belleville East English Department

2012-2013

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Table of ContentsPlagiarism… 3Drafting a Research Proposal… 4Source Cards…5, 6Taking Notes…6, 7Note Cards…7, 8Outlining…8, 9Sample Topic Outline…10-11Sample Sentence Outline 12-14Common Works Cited Citations…15-19Sample Works Cited Page…20In-text Citations…21-24Formatting the Paper…24, 25Formatting the First Page…25, 26Research Checklist…27Example Papers…28-59

Additional Resources for MLA Style

The MLA Handbook, 7th edition

www.mla.org

www.owl.english.purdue.edu

Why We Use MLA

The Modern Language Association is designed to introduce novice writers to the customs of a community of writers who greatly value scrupulous scholarship and the careful documentation, or recording, of research. Learning the rules the MLA Handbook outlines will help young writers become writers whose work deserves serious consideration. Similarly, the study of these rules can make a writer a more discerning reader: knowing how an author is supposed to use sources is essential to judging a text’s reliability, and since research skills are a

necessity at college, this study will greatly enhance college preparation.

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Plagiarism: How to Avoid It

Plagiarism is a violation that is absolute. A writer cannot “kind of” plagiarize something. It is not something that someone can do part of the time or for 5% of a paper. A writer must NEVER plagiarize.

What is plagiarism? To plagiarize means that the writer has taken, used, or referenced another author’s work without giving him or her proper credit. Be careful: an author’s work might be his or her words, but an author’s work could be presented in a variety of forms: an article, a book, a pamphlet, a photograph, a video, an interview, a website, etc.

What are the consequences of plagiarizing? Plagiarism is a serious violation of academic integrity. If the work the writer has submitted has been plagiarized, he will more than likely lose all credit for any grades associated with the project or paper. This means a zero will be recorded for all work that he has done. Needless to say, the consequences are quite severe. This is only meant to reflect the severity of the offense.

What must the writer do to avoid plagiarizing? There are several things he can do to avoid plagiarizing in his writing:

1. THE WRITER MUST KNOW WHAT PLAGIARISM MEANS – It is not an excuse to say the writer did not know he was plagiarizing something or to say that he does not know what plagiarism means. If, at any point, the writer feels like he is uncertain whether or not he should cite another work, he must seek the advice of his teacher. This means he will need to plan ahead. Saving an assignment until the last minute could result in poor decisions, including intentionally or unintentionally plagiarizing another author’s work. The writer knows in advance the importance of avoiding plagiarism, so he will need to take the appropriate steps while he prepares his paper to do just that.

2. THE WRITER MUST KNOW HOW AND WHEN TO CITE SOURCES THAT HE USES WITHIN HIS PAPER – Consult the appropriate section of this packet to gain additional information about this.

3. WHEN IN DOUBT, CITE – The writer must never assume that information he has found does not need to be cited. If he has any doubt, he should make sure to cite the information. It is always better to be safe than sorry.

4. DO NOT JUST CHANGE A FEW WORDS – Changing the order of a sentence, or replacing one word with another does not make the sentence “your own.” Although it is not an identical copy to the original source, it still counts as plagiarism. Get comfortable with the skill of paraphrasing. Refer to the paraphrase guidelines to help develop that skill, or ask the teacher for assistance.

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Drafting a Research Proposal Before a writer can draft a research proposal on any topic, he must first familiarize

himself with the topic and its many aspects. The writer can do this initially by brainstorming for ideas related to it. Then he can begin

preliminary research, reading generally about the topic, its causes and effects, potential solutions (if it is a societal issue or problem), and the people and organizations involved.

After the writer has taken these first steps, he should be able to make a tentative plan to direct the research and eventual completion of the paper itself.

A research proposal is a short paragraph that identifies four essential aspects of the research and writing for this paper:

o Purpose – What the writer is trying to accomplish: to inform, to analyze, to persuade (Note: sometimes, the paper will actually use a combination of these purposes.)

o Audience – Whom the writer is trying to reach: general or specializedo Voice – Who the writer is in reference to the topic: informer or advocate (closely related

to purpose)o Preliminary (tentative) Thesis Statement – Included here is a statement that expresses

the main subject of the paper with a precise opinion expressed and a "blueprint" of how the writer will present ideas.

Eventually, the writer’s research will become more specific to his research proposal, and the draft proposal can be refined and revised into a final version that is representative of the paper the writer is actually writing.

Sample Research Proposal:

“At this point, I believe my purpose will be to advocate for new restrictions that will prevent young people from getting their drivers’ licenses until they are 18 years of age. In my reading so far, I am finding evidence that many young people are not prepared for the responsibilities of driving at the age of 16. Plus, with the new practice hour requirements, many students are not getting their licenses until they are over 17 anyway. My tentative audience is the lawmakers and voters who can make these restrictions happen. My voice is obviously that of both an informer and an advocate. Finally, my tentative thesis statement is as follows: Because of young people’s lack of readiness for driving and the new practice hour requirements for young drivers, the target age for young people to drive legally should be 18.”

Revising a Research Proposal After the writer has familiarized himself with his topic and has a better understanding of

the paper he intends to write, he should revise his initial research proposal to reflect a more detailed description of his plan.

Using his initial research proposal, along with his instructor’s comments about it, provide a specific purpose with proposed ideas or solutions to discuss. Be definite about his voice as an informer, an advocate, or both, in this document.

Finally, the writer should be sure to have refined his tentative thesis statement as much as possible, both in clarity and in diction. Allow the thesis to mirror his outline and, thereby, create the organization of his paper.

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Working Bibliography / Source Cards

The purpose of creating working bibliography cards is to organize the research, to focus the note taking, and to assist in creating the works cited page. Creating these cards correctly will save time in research note taking. To create the working bibliography/source cards, the writer will need to collect sources together and make sure he has all of the bibliographic information available for each source. He will then create a “Works Cited” entry on the lines of the note card. The entry should be double spaced. Each line after the first should be indented.

After the writer has created each entry on a separate note card for each of the sources, he should alphabetize the cards by the first MAIN word of the entry. After he has alphabetized the cards, he then numbers them in order. Place the number in the upper right corner of each card. This number then becomes the bib code number that he will eventually write on his note cards.

If the writer finds an additional source he wants to use after he have already numbered the cards, consider using a decimal number system to indicate where the card will appear on the works cited list.

Students often find it helpful to use colored cards for their working bibliography/source cards to differentiate them from their actual note cards.

Bibliography Card Samples:

1

Hardwig, John. "The Ethical Obligation to Consider the Spiritual Needs of the

Dying." Contemporary Issues Companion: Coping with Death. San

Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003: 227-229. Gale Group Databases.Web.

27 May 2009.

2

Kass, Leon R. "Defending Human Dignity."  Commentary. 124. 5 (Dec. 2007):

53(9). Print.

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Taking Notes Use 4-by-6 or 3-by-5 cards for taking notes—these accommodate longer notes. Write with ink—pencil often smudges and becomes unreadable. Write only a single idea on each note card. If notes require more than one card, staple them

together. Staple personal comment note cards to the source card to which they refer. Write the source of the note in the lower left corner and the slug listing on the first line. Use note cards for summaries, paraphrases, quotations, and personal comments. Label cards to indicate direct quotation, paraphrase, summary, or personal comment.

Three different types of notes  Direct Quotation

o used to record the exact words of the original material when those words will help to make an important point or give effective support to an important idea

o especially helpful when the tone of a passage is not able to be translated o language used is the exact wording (and punctuation) of the original sourceo *** use direct quotes sparingly

 The paraphrase note o used to record detailed notes when the exact wording is not important or remarkable o language used is the note-taker's; material is restated in his/her own words o The syntax (sentence structure) and word choices must also be different from the originalo ideas should be listed in the same order, maintain the tone, and reflect the length of the

original passage  The summary note

o used to record main ideas of large sections of material o language used is the language of the person taking the notes o ideas can be listed in any logical order

1. If there is an obvious error in the quoted passage, add (sic) (Latin meaning "thus") after the error, e.g., "The therapeutic (sic) remarks upset the patient immensely" (Morley 24).

3

Stolba, Christine. "Feminists' Support of Reproductive Technologies Is

Misguided." Current Controversies: Medical Ethics. San Diego:

Greenhaven Press, 2005: 341-345. Gale Group Databases. Web. 27 May

2009.

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2. To emphasize a passage, the writer may italicize, bold, or underline it, but he must add (italics mine) or (emphasis added) in parentheses after the passage emphasized, e.g., "My job is the best job (italics mine) there is" (Gates 147). Or, "My job is the best job (emphasis added) there is" (Gates 147).

In the MLA Handbook, however, Gibaldi finds that it is rarely appropriate to use italics for emphasis in writing research papers (95) and that "In research papers and manuscripts submitted for publication, words that would be italicized in print are best underlined" (94).

3. To quote 1 or 2 lines of verse, poem, or poetry, the writer may use a back slash (/) to mark the end of the first line, e.g., In "Logan Braes," John Wayne writes: "Revered by friends, and far frae faes, / We'd live in bliss on Logan Braes" (363).

4. To quote 4 or less lines of prose, include the passage within quotation marks as part of the text, e.g. Dick Oliver concludes that "all communication industries [. . .] are moving rapidly toward exclusively digital technology" (24).

5. To quote 5 or more lines of prose, or 3 or more lines of verse, begin on a new line, set the quoted passage off from the text of the essay by indenting 1" (2.5 cm) or about 10 spaces from the left margin, double-space between lines, without using quotation marks.

6. To omit part of a quoted passage, indicate the omission by the use of three spaced dots (an ellipsis) enclosed in square brackets, e.g., "The local politicians believe welfare [. . .] should all be paid for through income taxes" (Stewart 1).

7. If the omission is at the end of the sentence, i.e. with an ellipsis at the end, there will be a total of four dots (3 spaced dots enclosed in square brackets followed by a period immediately outside the square brackets and no period at the end of the parentheses), e.g., "Africa is more than warlords and tyrants [. . .]." (De Villiers and Hirtle 15).

8. To add a word or a remark to a quotation, or to replace a word or remark in the quotation, the writer must place his word or remark in square brackets [ ], e.g., "The child [Adam] was left miserably abandoned" (Price 206).

Sample Note Cards:

Original Passage: “Unfortunately, however, bioethics has succumbed to the agendas of physicians. Physicians face ethical concerns about treatment decisions-when to offer, withhold, and when to withdraw various treatments. But the issues that most trouble patients and their families at the end of life are not these. To them, the end of life is a spiritual crisis.”

Physicians’ role in bioethics

Many people, including physicians, believe that the dying patient’s biggest concern is his or her treatment. However, most patients judge the ending of their lives as a predicament of the spirit.

1 n. pag. P (paraphrase)

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Original Passage: “Despite being hailed as important scientific advances and having succeeded in allowing many infertile couples to have children, the next generation of theses technologies offers us a power that could prove harmful to our understanding of what motherhood is.”

Original Passage: See exact words below

OutliningAn outline for an essay, research paper, or a speech can serve as a helpful writing tool for the writer and his instructor. Not only will it help the writer determine his topics for his paragraphs, but it will also help focus his subtopics and supporting details, eventually providing him with the skeleton of his paper or speech. When outlining, remember four important components:

Parallelism

Each heading and subheading should have parallel structure. If the first heading is a verb, the second heading should be a verb Examples of common parallel structure: gerund phrases, infinitive phrases, present-tense

verbs, nouns, or complete sentences.

Reproductive rights in bioethics

The future of reproductive advancements, while beneficial to childless couples, will negatively impact the accepted role of the mother.

2 p.53 S (summary)

Negative Impact of bioethical technology

“Indeed as we become more and more immersed in a world of biotechnology, we increasingly sense that we neglect human dignity at our peril, not least in the light of our gathering power to alter human bodies and minds in ways that affect our very humanity”

3 n. pag. Q (quotation)

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I. Choose a Pet(Choosing, to choose, pets, the choice of picking a good pet is a challenge).

II. Prepare Home (Try to change the form of the verb)

Coordination All of the information contained in Heading 1 should have the same significance as the

information contained in Heading 2. All of the information contained in the subheadings should also be of the same

significance (which are less significant than the headings). Example:

I. Visit and evaluate different pet breedersA. Examine the environmentB. Check housing conditions

II. Visit and evaluate different petsA. Note alert petsB. Look for health problems

(Roman numeral I and II are equally as important. A and B are equally as important, but less important than I and II).

Subordination The information in the headings should be more general, while the information in the

subheading should be more specific. Example:

I. Describe influential peopleA. Explain the influence from a teacherB. Explain the influence from a grandparent

Division Each heading should be divided into two or more parts.Example:

I. Select the desired petA. Prepare home B. Purchase necessary supplies

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Student Name

Teacher

Class Name

5 May 2009

Sample Topic Outline

Thesis: Although the careers orthopedic surgeon and radiologist have many similarities, the job

description, the training and education, and the salary and benefits also contrast.

I. Job description

A. Medical field

1. Orthopedic surgeon: surgeries

2. Radiologists: medical images

B. Musculoskeletal system

C. Amount of interaction

1. Orthopedic surgeon: office personnel

2. Radiologist: technicians

II. Training and education

A. College education

B. Required tests

C. Residency training

1. Orthopedic surgeons: five years

2. Radiologists: two residencies

a. Internal medicine

b. Radiology

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D. Board certifications

1. American Board of orthopedic surgeon

2. American Board of Radiology

III. Salary and benefits

A. Job outlook

B. Annual salary

1. Orthopedic surgeon: $320,000

2. Radiologist: $421,000

C. Annual benefits

1. Employer

2. Self-employed status

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Student Name

Teacher

Class Name

5 May 2009

Sample Sentence Outline

Thesis: Although the careers orthopedic surgeon and a radiologist have many similarities, the job

description, the training and education, and the salary and benefits also contrast.

I. Even though the orthopedic surgeon and radiologist’s job description contrast, they

also have many similarities.

A. The most obvious similarity between an orthopedic surgeon and a radiologist is

that they both work in the medical field.

1. Orthopedic surgeons perform minor surgeries such as hip and knee

replacement and diagnose patients in their office (“Orthopedic Surgeon”

1).

2. Radiologists interpret X-rays, CAT scans, MRIs, and mammograms to

deliver a diagnosis and rarely meet their patients (“Radiologist” 1).

B. Both careers work with the musculoskeletal system, but a radiologist works with

other systems such as the gastrointestinal system while an orthopedic surgeon

only concentrates on the musculoskeletal system.

C. An orthopedic surgeon and a radiologist also have to work with other personal.

1. An orthopedic surgeon works office personal and assistants as well as

other doctors during surgery (“Orthopedic Surgeon” 2).

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2. A radiologist instructs the technicians that capture the images and must

work with other physicians to make the right diagnoses (“Radiology” 1).

II. Even more similar than their job description is the training and the education required

for a radiologist and an orthopedic surgeon.

A. Both careers require a four-year bachelor and four years in medical school.

B. A radiologist and an orthopedic surgeon also needs to take and pass the MCAT,

Medial College Admission’s Test, before being able to apply to medical school

(3).

C. Once medical school is completed, an orthopedic surgeon and a radiologist have

to go through a period of residency.

1. Orthopedic surgeons need five years of residency training (“Orthopedic

Surgeon” 3).

2. Radiologists require two periods of residency (“Radiology” 3).

a. The first residency focuses on the general field of internal

medicine for one year.

b. The second residency concentrates on radiology for four years.

D. Both medical doctors have to pass a written and oral test to become certified on

their specific field after their residency is complete.

1. Orthopedic surgeons are certified by the American Board of Orthopedic

Surgeon (“Orthopedic Surgeon” 4)

2. Radiologists are certified by the American Board of Radiology

(“Radiologist” 4).

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III. Two other aspects of an orthopedic surgeon and a radiologist’s career that compare

and contrast are the job outlook and the salary and benefits.

A. In both careers, the job outlook is good because as the population grows, the need

for doctors increases also.

B. Also, both an orthopedic surgeon and a radiologist have a six digit pay check.

1. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeon, the average

salary for an orthopedic surgeon is $320,000 (“Orthopedic Surgery” 4).

2. However, the high salary for a radiologist is $421,000 with a starting salary

of $57,417 (“Radiologist” 4).

C. If these two doctors are employed by a hospital, they receive benefits such as

health and dental insurance, sick days, and re-compensation for tuition.

1. However, if the doctor is self-employed, he must pay for office expenses,

malpractice insurance, and staff salaries.

2. Usually, orthopedic surgeons are self-employed while many radiologists are

hired by hospitals.

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Works CitedWhen writing a research paper, the writer must give full credit to his sources. This includes a Works Cited page at the end of the paper. As the name indicates, this is a list of sources that the writer cited, or gave credit to, throughout the paper. Title this page “Works Cited” centered an inch from the top of the page and begin the entries flush with the left margin. If the entry takes more than one line, begin the subsequent lines with a half-inch indent. Because each type of source has different formatting and required information, a list of only some of the most common types of citations is provided below.

A recent change in MLA documentation requires that ALL entries show the source type, meaning the writer referenced the source in print form or from the web, indicated below by “Print” or “Web.”

Another significant change is in citing Internet or Web sources. MLA now only requires the researcher to include the URL address if the reader probably could not find the source without it OR the instructor requires it. Most of the examples below from the web are completed without using the URL address.

Finally, MLA now requires the use of certain abbreviations when citation information is not available.

n.p. no place of publication givenn.p. no publisher given

n.d. no date of publication givenn. pag. no pagination

Common Citations

Print Source Samples

I. Book

Books-Single Author

Author’s Last Name, First. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Source type.

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999.

Print.

Books-Two or Three Authors

Authors. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Source Type.

Gilmer, Mark, and Margaret Peach. The Winning Storm. New York: Cassel,

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1996. Print.

Gilmer, Mark, Robert Smith, and Margaret Peach. The Winning Storm. New

York: Cassel, 1996. Print.

Books- More Than Three Authors

Author(s). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Source type.

Elmore, Michael, et al. Movement on the Forge. London: Longman, 2009. Print.

Books- No Author Identified

Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Source type.

Literary Market Place: Publishing History. Indianapolis: Penguin, 1989. Print.

II. Magazine Article

Magazine-Weekly or Bi-Weekly

Author. “Name of Article.” Magazine Title Publication Date: Pages. Source type.

Schuster, Angela. “Cotton.” Archeology 18 Jan. 1995: 40-45. Print.

Magazine-Monthly or Bi-Monthly

Author. “Name of Article.” Magazine Title Publication Date: Pages. Source type.

Schuster, Angela. “Cotton.” Archeology July-August. 1995: 40-45. Print.

Magazine-Yearly

Author. “Name of Article.” Magazine Title Publication Date: Pages. Source type.

Schuster, Angela. “Cotton.” Archeology 1995: 40-45. Print.

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III. NewspaperAuthor(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Source type.

Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times 21 May 2007 late ed.: A1. Print.

If the newspaper is local, include the city name in brackets after the title of the newspaper.

Behre, Robert. "Presidential Hopefuls Get Final Crack at Core of S.C. Democrats." Post

and Courier [Charleston, SC] 29 Apr. 2007: A11. Print.

IV. InterviewThere are two types of interviews- the first type is one the researcher completed and the other is one that is published / broadcast.

Interview-Personal

Name of person interviewed. Type of interview. Date of interview.

Marshall, Casey. Personal interview. 4 Aug. 2006.

Caudle, Moxie. Telephone interview. 29 Mar. 1997.

Interview – Published / Broadcast

Austin, Maria. E-mail interview. 6-18. Jan. 2004. Print.

Blanchett, Cate. “In Character with: Cate Blanchett.” Notes on a Scandal.

Dir. Richard Eyre. Fox Searchlight, 2006. DVD.

Interview-Television

Person Interviewed. Interview with Name of Interviewer. Television Network. Place of

Interview. Date of Interview. Television.

Marksman, William. Interview with Brandy Carr. NBC. Washington. 14 Feb. 2009.

Television.

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Interview-Periodical

Author. “Title of Periodical.” Interview. Interviewer. Periodical Name. Date ofInterview: pages used. Print.

Fields, Rick. “In Light of Death.” Interview. By Helen Tworkow. The Sun. Apr. 1998:

10-14. Print.

Web Source Samples

V. Entire Online Database

Title of Website. Name of Editor (if given). Publication date. Source Type. Date of

Access.

Survivors. Ed. Steven Willett. 2005. Web. 24 Sept. 2006.

VI. Online Article by Sponsoring Organization (no author)

Name of Site. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with

the site (sometimes found in copyright statements). Source Type. Date of Access.

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. 26 Aug. 2005. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue

and Purdue University. Web. 23 Apr. 2006.

VII. A Page on a Website

“Title of Webpage.” Website. Publisher. Date of Revision. Source Type. Date of Access.

“How to Make Vegetarian Chili.” eHow.com. eHow. n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2009.

VIII. Online Magazine Article

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Online Publication. Publisher. Date of Publication.

Source Type. Date of Access.

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Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who

Make Websites. No.149. n.p. 16 Aug. 2002. Web. 4 May 2006.

X. Journal Article in an Online Database

Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Publication Number of volumes. (Date of

Publication): Page Number or n. pag. Title of the database. Source Type. Date of

Access.

Kass, Leon R. "Defending Human Dignity."  Commentary 124. 5 (Dec 2007): 53(9).

Gale Student Edition. Web. 27 May 2009.

XI. Periodical Article in an Online Database

Author. "Title of Article." Periodical Name Volume Number (if necessary) Publication

Date: page number-page number. Database name. Source Type. Date of access.

Smith, Martin. "World Domination for Dummies." Journal of Despotry Feb. 2000: 66-

72. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale Student Edition. Web. 19 Feb. 2003.

XII. Encyclopedia Articles from a Database

Author(s) of article. "Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia. Ed. Name of Editor(s). Edition if available.

Volume number. City of publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Name of Database. Medium

consulted. Date of access.

Zeiler, Thomas W. "Globalization." Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy. Ed. Richard Dean Burns,

Alexander DeConde, and Fredrik Logevall. 2nd. ed. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,

2002. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 Aug. 2009.

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XIII. E-books

Author(s). (last name, first name). Title of Work. Edition. City of publication: Publisher, Year of

publication. Name of Database or Website. Medium consulted. Date of access.

Hubbard, Merton R. Statistical Quality Control for the Food Industry. 3rd ed. New York:

Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2003. Knovel. Web. 16 Nov. 2009.

XIV. Government Publications Online

Author or Government Agency issuing the publication. Title of Publication. City of publication:

Publisher, Date of publication or last revision. Medium consulted. Date of access.

United States. Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook 2009. Washington: GPO, 2009. Web. 4

Mar. 2009.

XV. DVD/FILM

Title. Name of the director. Major Performers Listed. Distributor, Year of release.

medium consulted.

Ed Wood. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker,

Patricia Arquette. 1994. Touchstone, 2004. DVD.

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Works Cited

Cohen, Elizabeth. “It’s All About Him.” CNN.com. CNN, 27 Nov. 2008. Web. 9 Jan. 2009.

“Curbing College Massacres.” The Washington Times 29 June 2008: B 05. Gale Student Edtion.

Web. 9 Jan. 2009.

Grossman, Dave. “Violence in the Media Contributes to Juvenile Crime.” Opposing Viewpoints:

Juvenile Crime. Ed. Auriana Ojenda. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002: 116-26.

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 9 Jan. 2009.

Hardwig, John. "The Ethical Obligation to Consider the Spiritual Needs of the Dying."

Contemporary Issues Companion: Coping with Death. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,

2003: 227-229. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 27 May 2009.

Kass, Leon R. "Defending Human Dignity." Commentary 124. 5 (Dec. 2007): 53-62. Gale

Student Edition. Web. 27 May. 2009.

Kessl, Fabian, and Nadia Kutsche. “Why They Kill.” Social Work & Society 6.1 (2008): n. pag.

Web. 10 Jan. 2009.

Kleiner Butler, Carolyn. “Prime Time to Study Crime.” U.S. News and World Report 11 Apr.

2005: 62. Print.

Roland, Paul. In the Minds of Murders: The Inside Story of Criminal Profiling. Edison, NJ:

Chartwell Books, Inc., 2007. Print.

Stevenson, Matthew. Personal interview. 15 Jan. 2009.

Stolba, Christine. "Feminists' Support of Reproductive Technologies Is Misguided." Current

Controversies: Medical Ethics. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005: 341-345. Opposing

Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 27 May 2009.

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I. In-Text Citations: The Basics

Basic In-Text Citation Rules

In MLA style, referring to the works of others is done by using what is known as a parenthetical citation. Immediately following a quotation, summary or paraphrase from a source’s ideas, place the author's name followed by a space and the relevant page number(s).

Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it is a short work, or italicize it if it is a longer work. For example, a magazine article would be in quotes, while a book title would be in italics.

These symbols have led to new discoveries of man’s past (“The Lost Symbols” 7).

The in-text citation will correspond with an entry in the Works Cited page, which, for the Burke citation above, will look something like this:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: U

of California P, 1966. Print.

It is important to know that parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages allow readers to know which sources the writer consulted in writing the essay, so that the readers can either verify the writer’s interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

Multiple Citations

To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semicolon:

...as has been discussed elsewhere (Burke 3; Dewey 21).

When Citation is not Needed

Common sense and ethics should determine the need for documenting sources. Writers do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations or common knowledge. Remember, this is a rhetorical choice, based on audience. If writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, they will have different expectations of what constitutes common knowledge.

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II. In-Text Citations: Author-Page Style(Adapted from owl.english.purdue.edu)

The author's last name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) where the information is found should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of the 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).

If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford U.P., 1967.

How to cite when the above example will not work:

Anonymous Work/Author Unknown

If the work the writer is citing has no author, use an 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 Works Cited page). For example:

An anonymous Wordsworth critic once argued that his poems were too emotional ("Criticism" 100).

Citing Authors with the Same Last Names

Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in the citation. For example:

Although some medical ethicists claim that cloning will lead to designer children (R. Miller 12), others note that the advantages for medical research outweigh this consideration (A. Miller 46).

Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author

When citing more than one work by a particular author, the writer should include a shortened title for the particular work from which the writer is quoting to distinguish it from the others.

Lightenor has argued that computers are not useful tools for small children ("Too Soon" 38), though he has acknowledged elsewhere that early exposure to computer games does lead to better small motor skill development in a child's second and third year ("Hand-Eye Development" 17).

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Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, the writer would format his citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, followed, when appropriate, by page numbers:

Visual studies, because it is such a new discipline, may be "too easy" (Elkins, "Visual Studies" 63).

Citing a Work by Multiple Authors

For a source with three or fewer authors, list the authors' last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:

Smith, Yang, and Moore argue that tougher gun control is not needed in the United States (76).

The authors state "Tighter gun control in the United States erodes Second Amendment rights" (Smith,

Yang, and Moore 76).

For a source with more than three authors, the writer should use the work's bibliographic information as a guide for his citation. Provide the first author's last name followed by et al. or list all the last names.

Legal experts counter Smith, Yang, and Moore's argument by noting that the current spike in gun

violence in America compels law makers to adjust gun laws (Jones et al. 4).

Citing Indirect Sources

An indirect source is a source cited in another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source the writer actually consulted. For example:

Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social service centers, and they don't do that well" (qtd. in Weisman 259).

Citing Electronic Sources or Sources from the Internet

When creating in-text citation for electronic, film, or Internet sources, remember that the citation must reference the source in the Works Cited.

Miscellaneous Non-Print Sources

There is no in-text citation for a film:Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo stars Herzog's long-time film partner, Klaus Kinski

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Electronic Sources

For electronic sources, use n.pag.

One online film critic stated that Fitzcarraldo is "...a beautiful and terrifying critique of obsession and

colonialism" (Garcia, "Herzog: a Life," n.pag.).

Typing the Research Paper (Microsoft Word 2003)

FORMAT: Before typing anything, the writer should be sure to set computer’s word processor to the correct settings. These tips are designed for students using Microsoft Word 2003. If the writer uses something other than Microsoft Word ‘03 (such as Microsoft Works or Apple Pages), he will need to ask his teacher for advice.

FONT: The writer should always type in Times New Roman font (the same font this is typed in). Every word of the paper should be written in this font. Other fonts look neat; however, an academic writer should be more concerned with the meaning of the words than their physical appearance.

SIZE: The writer should always type the work using Size 12 (the same font this is typed in). Every word of the paper should be written in this size.

SPACING: Every line of the paper should be double spaced. In order to select double-spacing, go to the control bar at the top of the screen and click on “Format.” A drop-down box will appear; inside this box, click on “Paragraph.” Look in the middle of the window that opens to find a section labeled “Line spacing.” In the box below Line spacing, click and select “Double.” Finally, click OK to close the window and return to the paper.

MARGINS: The top and bottom margins should be set to 1” (one-inch). The left and right margins also should be set to 1” (one-inch). To check these settings, go to the control bar at the top of the screen and click on “File.” A drop-down box will appear; inside this box, click on “Page Setup.” A new window will open, revealing the margin settings. If necessary, adjust the margins.

HEADERS and PAGE NUMBERS: Creating a header will allow the writer to write his last name on each page. This is helpful in case any pages get separated from the paper after it has been turned in. In order to create a header, go to the control bar at the top of the screen and click on “View.” A drop-down box will appear; inside this box, click on “Header and Footer.” The paper will pop back up, but there will be a rectangular box at the top formed by a dotted line. This is the area to create the header. (This toolbar box is at the middle of the page, but it will be used this later). Select the correct justification so that the cursor appears at the right side of the paper (it is usually on the left). Now, simply type the last name and press the space bar once. Now go to the toolbar toward the middle of the page. First, find the icon that is at the far left (It should look like a piece of paper with a “#” in the middle). Just press this button, and the page numbers will

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be added to the header. As a last step, find and click the “Close” button on this box, and return to the paper.

If using Microsoft Word 2007, the directions are slightly different for spacing, margins, and headers and page numbers.

SPACING: On the Home ribbon, look to the Paragraph box. Click on the small box with an arrow in the lower right corner. Look in the middle of the window that opens to find a section labeled “Line spacing.” In the box below Line spacing, click and select “Double.” Make sure the “Before” and “After” are set at 0 pt. Finally, click OK to close the window and return to the paper.

MARGINS: Click on the Page Layout ribbon. In the second box labeled “Page Setup.” Click on the “Margins” tab and the first option is “Normal” with 1 inch all around.

HEADERS and PAGE NUMBERS: Click on the Insert ribbon. In the fourth box labeled “Header & Footer” click on the “Page Number” tab, then Top of Page, then Plain Number Three. Once the number has been entered, type the last name and hit space once. Then click “Close Header and Footer” in the upper right corner.

Creating the Title Page/Heading

HEADING: While a research paper does not require a title page, the instructor may ask for one. Typically, the writer only needs to include a heading for his paper. The writer should follow these instructions to ensure that he is submitting his paper according to MLA guidelines.

1. Double check that the paper is correctly formatted to begin. This includes checking the font, the type size, the margins, page numbers, and the spacing. (Don’t forget that even the heading of the paper should be double-spaced).

2. The top left of the paper includes information about the writer and the assignment:

First Line: The writer’s full name. Second Line: The teacher’s name (be sure to include Mr., Mrs., or Ms.).

NOTE: Be sure to spell the teacher’s name correctly! Third Line: The name of the English course. Fourth Line: Write the due date, not the date of composition in date

month year format (13 January 2009).

3. After the information addressed above, the next line will be used for the title of the paper. This title should be centered. The writer should not underline, italicize, or bold-face the title of the paper. Every word in the title (not including articles like “the”) should be capitalized.

4. The next line will be the first sentence of the paper. Before the writer begins typing, he must remember to change the justification so that the cursor starts at

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the left side of the paper. The tab button should be pressed once, and then the writer can begin typing the paper.

Sample Heading

This is what the heading for Jane Smith’s paper in Mr. Wright’s English 5-6 class might look like.

Note – margins should be one inch.

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Smith 1

Jane Smith

Mr. Wright

English 5-6

31 October 2009

Huck Finn: Moral Hero or Little Brat?

In Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the protagonist faces

numerous conflicts as he journeys with an escaped slave down the Mississippi River.

Research Paper Checklist

1. ______ Is it typed in size 12 font?

2. ______ Is the font Times New Roman?

3. ______ Are all four margins 1 inch?

4. ______ Is the page set double spaced?

5. ______ Does the heading include your name, teacher’s name, class, and due date in that

order?

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6. ______ Is the heading on the left side of the page?

7. ______ Does the heading only appear on the first page?

8. ______ Is the last name and page number in the upper right-hand corner of every page?

9. ______ Is the title centered without boldface or italics?

10. ______ Does the introduction have a thesis statement?

11. ______ Do the words I, Me, You, or Your appear in the paper? If, yes REMOVE THEM!

12. ______ Is it written in formal language?

13. ______ Are in-text citations included?

14. ______ Do they appear at least once in every paragraph?

15. ______ Are they properly cited? (Author pg#)

16. ______ Are they located in parenthesis at the end of the sentences, before the period?

17. ______ Are there transitions between ideas and paragraphs?

18. ______ Are the sources paraphrased instead of copied directly?

19. ______ Does the paper follow the outline?

20. ______ Does the paper have a conclusion?

21. ______ Is the Works Cited page the last page of the paper?

22. ______ Is it double spaced and with the sources arranged in alphabetical order?

23. ______ Is your last name and page number in the upper right-hand corner?

24. ______ Is Works Cited centered at the top of the page?

25. ______ Have the required amount of sources been used?

26. ______ Is the outline typed?

27. ______ Is it double spaced?

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EXAMPLE PAPER 1

English 1-2H

Last Name 31

Student name

Teacher name

Course/class

Date

A Dark Tuesday on Wall Street

Thesis: The Stock Market Crash of 1929 caused bank failures and foreclosures, which resulted in

wide-spread poverty, shantytowns, and a lack of market confidence that further escalated the

Great Depression.

I. The years leading up to the crash made the stock market fall so hard.

A. People would trade stock at prices that were above their real worth (Richardson

13).

B. In 1928, the amount that stock could be sold at reached a high level (McCollum

16).

C. Stock brokers would buy stock that was worthless to make it look good

(Richardson 13).

II. During the stock market crash, people were in a panic to sell their shares.

A. Black Thursday was a day when people only wanted to sell stock, so prices

dropped (Richardson 13).

B. “On October 29, 1929, brokers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

received so many orders to ‘sell at the market price that the ticket tape couldn’t

keep up”(McCollum 16).

C. People were frantically selling stock, for they were unsure if it would be worth

anything the next day (McCollum 16).

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D. Many Americans had to find somewhere else to sleep because they had to give up

their house to the bank (McCollum 16).

III. The times after the crash made people poor and unable to trust banks.

A. People were not sure if their money was safe so a lack of spending set off a

domino effect of people being unemployed (Hiebert 58).

B. Americans began to save their money at home, for much of the money in the

banks disappeared (McCollum 16).

C. In July of 1932, the market hit its lowest point-under a million shares were traded

compared to the millions in the years before.

D. Many citizens mocked the president by calling the shantytowns they lived in

“Hoovervilles” (McCollum 16).

IV. A large amount of banks failed before the Great Depression hit, but once it did, the banks

started closing by the thousands (Walter 39).

A. The day of FDR’s inauguration, many hotels in the capital would not accept out-

of-town checks from the visitors, but once inaugurated, FDR declared a four-day

bank holiday (“Bank Failures, Then and Now” 6).

B. Many people were panicking during the “holiday” for the banks, not celebrating

(“Banking 1929-1941” 40).

C. Most of the bank failures happened after the “panic months”, and the ones that did

not close often lasted through the depression (Walter 39).

D. The bank closings in the twenties went hand-in-hand with the agriculture

problems of this time.

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1. Many of the rural banks closed instead of the larger ones away

from the farms (“Banking 1929-1941” 43).

2. There were a lot of “crop failures” in this time and farmers could

not pay the banks back what they had borrowed (Walter 39).

E. Bank “runs” happened a lot, and many people did not get what they had saved;

this often led to banks failing (“Banking 1929-1941” 45).

V. The shantytowns in America were inhabited by millions of homeless and unemployed

citizens and the towns were called “Hoovervilles” for the president at the start of the

Great Depression (“Hooverville” 445)

A. President Herbert Hoover said “the poor were lazy, and the wealth would trickle

down eventually”, but most did not have a job to help them out (Richardson 25).

B. “The Great Depression threatened the American Dream of homeownership,

practically extinguished the demand for residential home building, and

dramatically curtailed home improvements” (Szylvian 478).

C. The areas people were living in were often unclean and they made houses out of

the available materials (Szylian 474).

D. Many of the people living here were very poor, so they relied on soup kitchens

and rarely ate food warm (“Hooverville” 445).

VI. The Dust Bowl states, the Midwestern states of the U.S., was where a severe drought hit

in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s (“Dust Bowl” 11806).

A. For many months, powerful gusts of wind blew the dirt all over the place and

posed a threat to the people’s health.

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B. The area that was hit by the Dust Bowl was thought to have been able to survive

any type of weather (“A Promise for the Earth” 18).

C. There was not an effective way to keep loose soil down, so the storms lasted for

nearly a decade with the drought (“Drought” 6).

D. “The worst drought years were between 1934 and 1936 when driving dust storms

sand-blasted everything in their path, forcing farmers off their land” (“Drought”

6).

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Student name

Teacher name

Title of class

Date (ex: 13 May 2010)

A Dark Tuesday on Wall Street

Perhaps one of the most devastating economic disasters in American history occurred on

what seemed like a normal Tuesday. According to Ray Hiebert, author of The Stock Market

Crash, 1929: Panic on Wall Street Ends the Jazz Age, the stock market crash ended an era in

matter of hours. “The great bull market of the Roaring Twenties had crashed. It only remained

for workers to clean up the debris and straighten out confused records, while stricken spectators

tried to calculate their losses”(49). The Great Depression, a time during the 1930s when the

United States had severe economic problems, made 25% of Americans jobless and caused many

people to go without a home or food. The Stock Market Crash of 1929, one of the causes for the

Great Depression, would be the beginning of a long and difficult time in America. The Stock

Market Crash of 1929 caused bank failures and foreclosures, which resulted in wide-spread

poverty, shantytowns, and a lack of market confidence that further escalated the Great

Depression.

The years leading up to the crash made the stock market fall harder than it would have

otherwise. According to an article by Janine Richardson, in the earlier part of the twenties,

people would trade stock at prices that were above their real worth. Because of this, everyone

wanted to sell, and the market crashed. Many people “blamed Wall Street businessmen and

financiers for the crash.” Sometimes stock brokers would buy stock that was worth very little to

make the stock look like it was worth a lot. Then, investors would buy it from the brokers, which

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would cause the investors to be stuck with worthless stock. The government did not regulate

laws about trading stock, so this was able to happen (13). In Sean McCollum’s article “When

Confidence Failed,” in 1928, the year before the crash, the selling prices of stock reached an

extremely high level; however, despite the high price of stock in 1928, from the time before the

crash to the month after, the prices of these stocks had decreased by thirty-three percent (16).

Thus, the buying and selling of stock that was worth little caused a harder impact on the crash.

During the stock market crash, people were in a panic to sell their shares. John

Richardson explains that on Black Thursday, a few days before the stock market crashed, people

only wanted to sell stock. They did not want to buy it because the prices were very cheap (13).

According to McCollum, “On October 29, 1929, brokers on the floor of the New York Stock

Exchange received so many orders to sell at the market price that the ticket tape couldn’t keep

up.” Once the market crashed, people frantically began selling their stock since they did not

know if it would be worth anything the next day. The stock market that Americans had relied on

for money now made them unsure if they could trust it. Since they did not have much money,

many middle-class Americans found themselves giving up their homes to banks and had to find

somewhere else to sleep, either with relatives or in public places (McCollum 16). As a result of

the large number of stocks sold, the market crashed because there were not enough being bought,

causing the stock to sell at a lower value. The amount of losses made several people poor and

even pushed people out of their houses.

The days following the crash forced people into poverty and made them unable to trust

banks anymore. After the market crashed, people were unsure if their money was safe, so they

were not purchasing new items. Since the lack of demand caused fewer items to be made, fewer

materials were needed, so the supplying companies laid off workers. This domino effect made

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many people unemployed and left them without much money, causing them to withdraw all their

money from the bank (Hiebert 58). A few months after October 1929, nearly ten thousand banks

went out of business, and much of the money saved in the banks disappeared (McCollum 16).

Ray Hiebert argues that the lack of spendable money was most evident in the market itself,

which was plummeting. “On a hot day in July, 1932, the market hit its lowest point. Only

700,000 shares were traded that July 8, a poor showing compared with the millions on a typical

day in 1929” (Hiebert 61). This shows that the market crashing not only hurt the American

people financially but also mentally; not even a million shares sold that day, when there were

usually millions in one day. As more people lost their entire life savings and their homes, many

small towns created shacks called “Hoovervilles” to accommodate the need for shelter

(McCollum 16). The chain of events of laying off workers and the trading of minimal shares

forced people into poverty, causing many to lose their homes and diminish their spirits.

Meanwhile, thousands of banks were failing after 1929, despite a large number of banks

closing before the Depression hit. An article titled “Bank Failures, Then and Now” stated that

“By March 1933, concerns about banking insolvency were so acute that Washington, D.C. hotels

refused to accept out-of-town checks from the visitors who flocked to the capital for FDR’s

inauguration. The day after his inauguration, Roosevelt declared a ‘mandatory four-day bank

holiday’” (6). Therefore, at the beginning of the 1930’s, many banks had closed, calling it a

“bank holiday,” but people were not in festive spirits, fearing that they might lose all of their

savings (“Banking 1929-1941” 40). John Walter in an article in the Economic Quarterly explains

that although many of the banks closed after the stock market crash, more than one half of the

total failures of the time took place after the “panic months,” the months directly following

October 1929. Banks that survived the “panic months” lasted through the entire Depression

Last Name 38

(Walter 39). When people heard their bank was closing, whether the rumor was true or not,

people would make bank “runs”; this was when a hoard of people rushed to the bank at the same

time to withdraw their money. Everyone wanted to get his/her money out, but often only the

people in the front of the line succeeded since banks did not keep enough money for everyone to

withdraw at the same time. Banks did not keep all of the money deposited to them; they would

transfer the money to those asking for withdrawals or bank loans. As more and more people

withdrew money and defaulted on their bank loan, the bank had less money for people to

withdrawal and less to loan. Thus, runs often ended with a bank failure (“Banking 1929-1941”

45). According to John Walter, often these bank closings went hand-in-hand with the agriculture

problems happening throughout the Great Depression (39). In an article called “Banking 1929-

1941”, it stated that most rural banks closed instead of the larger ones, so when businesses went

bankrupt, people lost their jobs, farmers lost their land, and they could not pay back loans or

mortgages (“Banking 1929-1941” 43). Beginning in the 1920’s, small harvests instead of large

ones made the farmers receive less money, thus leading to farmers owing the bank money that

they could not pay (Walter 39). As a result of the many bank failures, America slipped deeper in

the Depression.

Following the stock market crash, those who were hardest hit soon found themselves both

unemployed and homeless. As a result, they began to occupy numerous shantytowns around the

nation. According to an article titled “Hoovervilles,” these towns were dubbed “Hoovervilles,”

after the president at the start of the Great Depression (“Hooverville” 445). According to

President Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression, “the poor were lazy, and the wealth

would trickle down eventually” (Hoover qtd. in Richardson 25). Nearly 1.5 million people were

living in shantytowns, and most did not have a job. America “slid further and further into

Last Name 39

despair” (Richardson 25). Kristin Szylvian in her article “Housing” discusses that Hoover

evidently thought that the nation could pull out of the depression rather easily but soon found out

that it was getting harder and harder to fix as more people lost jobs. After many people gave up

their homes to the bank, they found themselves living in Hoovervilles, towns made out of the

scrap materials people could find in the area. These areas were very unclean and had unsafe

drinking water. Often, people would build houses out of anything they could find like unwanted

items of cardboard or crates (474). The “shantytowns” were mainly situated in the “inner cities

of the country’s most populated metropolitan areas.” Many people living there were poor, so

they relied on soup kitchens and handouts from stores, such as “stale bread or gristly meat.”

Although most of the food was eaten cold, when it was warm, it was cooked in a can. These

poverty-stricken people even used newspapers as blankets, which were termed “Hoover

blankets” (“Hoovervilles” 445). These shantytowns go to show that the Great Depression had a

negative effect on a large amount of American people; when the market crashed and people lost

money, they had nowhere to go.

The Dust Bowl states, the Midwestern United States, Texas, Oklahoma, and New

Mexico, was where a severe drought hit in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, which made the

results of stock market crash even harder on the farmers and the families. According to an article

titled “Dust Bowl,” during World War I, farmers grew more wheat to feed the Allied troops and

were paid more to do this. The areas they farmed had before only been used for grazing. After

the war, grazing was then brought back to the area. Since the land had been used for crops for so

long, the hooves of the cattle stirred up the dirt, and powerful winds blew the dust all

everywhere. For many months, these gusts of wind came back and ruined the land. It also posed

a threat to people’s health, causing many families to move away, become poor, and suffer during

Last Name 40

this time (“Dust Bowl” 11806). The Dust Bowl hit an area that was previously thought to be able

to handle any type of weather. Besides being able to handle nature’s extremes, the Midwest was

known for its soddies, or sod houses. When farmers had to plant wheat for the war, most of the

area used for building houses was plowed. They then began to lose money, so they could not

plant as much, and the loose soil was blown away, “sometimes obscuring the sun along the

Atlantic seaboard” (“A Promise for the Earth” 18). This caused dust to be on the coast for nearly

a decade, and the dust was caused by a drought that spread across the Midwest. The dust would

whip up into storms because the farmers did not have an effective way to keep the soil compact;

therefore, the wind would carry the dirt all over. An article titled “Drought” said that “the worst

drought years were between 1934 and 1936 when driving dust storms sand-blasted everything in

their path, forcing farmers off their land. Soil from farms in the Midwest was blown 1,500 miles

to Washington DC” (“Drought” 6). Thus, with farmers producing less food and losing their land,

the nation did not have as much food to feed its people. This made it harder to find food for the

already poor citizens.

As a result of the Stock Market Crash of 1929, shantytowns, bank failures, and the Dust

Bowl caused major problems for Americans living during the Great Depression. All of these

factors made it hard to be able to pay and take care of one’s family because of the high

unemployment rates. It would have been miserable living in the Hoovervilles with no heat or

knowledge of where one might find his next meal. The crash shattered many people’s dreams of

becoming rich and showed them that the stock market is a risky game to play for one does not

always win. The 1929 stock market crash taught the nation that the economy of a country

depends on how much “trust and confidence the people have in it” (McCollum 16).

Last Name 41

Works Cited

“Bank Failures, Then and Now.” Dollars & Sense Jan.-Feb. 2009: 6. Infotrac Student Edition.

Web. 22 Apr. 2010.

“Banking 1929-1941.” Historic Events for Students: The Great Depression. Ed. Richard C.

Hanes and Sharon M. Hanes. Vol. 1. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2002: 40-65. Gale

Virtual Reference Library. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.

“Drought.” Farmers Weekly (2004): 6. Infotrac Student Edition. Web. 21 Apr. 2010.

“Dust Bowl.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000: 11806.

Infotrac Student Edition. Web. 21 Apr. 2010.

Hiebert, Ray. The Stock Market Crash, 1929: Panic on Wall Street Ends the Jazz

Age. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1970. Print.

“Hooverville.” Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Vol. 1. Detroit: Chartwell,

1999: 444-445. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.

McCollum, Sean. “When Confidence Failed.” New York Times Upfront 19 Mar. 2001: 16.

Infotrac Student Edition. Web. 21 Apr. 2010.

“A Promise for the Earth.” Christian Science Monitor 10 Apr. 2007: 18. Infotrac Student

Edition. Web. 21 Apr. 2010.

Richardson, John H. “The Only 100 Days that Mattered.” Esquire (Jan. 2009): 25.

Infotrac Student Edition. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.

Szylvian, Kristin M. “Housing.” Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Ed. Robert S.

McElvaine. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004: 474-478. Gale Virtual

Reference Library. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.

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Walter, John R. “Depression-Era Bank Failures: the Great Contagion or the Great Shakeout?”

Economic Quarterly 91.1. (2005): 39. Infotrac Student Edition. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.

Last Name 43

EXAMPLE PAPER 2

Developing Writing Skills

Last Name 44

Student’s Name

Mrs. Misselhorn

Developing Writing Skills

14 May 2009

Lowering the Minimum Age for Drinking Alcohol

Thesis: There are many privileges the law allows eighteen-year-olds, such as, getting married,

seeing any movie, and voting; therefore, the legal drinking age for alcohol in the U.S. should be

lowered to eighteen.

I. Minimum drinking age law

A. History

B. Reason for the law

II. Psychological effects

A. Attraction

B. Greater consumption

III. Adulthood

A. Rights of an adult

B. Maturity stage

Last Name 45

Student Name

Teacher Name

Developing Writing Skills

14 May 2009

Lowering the Minimum Age for Drinking Alcohol

“Salt makes things taste better. If you eat too much, it can kill you. But we don’t need a

law regulating salt. In an America without a minimum drinking age, we would shift our focus

from demon rum and car crash statistics to creating an environment where parents are expected

to supervise their children and alcohol would become for teens just another thing, like bicycles or

swimming pools, that can either make your day or take your life” (Wilkinson 28). The debate of

lowering the minimum drinking age has been going on for several years. It seems everyone has a

strong opinion either against or for it. For few reasons, advocates believe the legal drinking age

should remain at twenty-one, such as, car accident, statistics, and risk of brain damage. However,

there are facts that show advocates’ beliefs are debatable. Because eighteen year olds are

considered adults, the legal age should be lowered to eighteen. There is not any reasonable

explanation of why a person at eighteen is allowed to fight in war but not drink a beer. The law

allows many privileges to eighteen year olds, such as getting married, seeing any movie, and

voting; therefore, the legal drinking age for alcohol in the U.S should be lowered to eighteen.

In 1984, Congress established a law that gave each state the right to create its own legal

drinking age; however, if the state chose any age younger than twenty-one, 10% of its federal

highway funds would be taken away (Wilkinson 28). In other words, states felt obligated to

make the minimum drinking age twenty-one because they did not want to lose any highway

funds. The decision process of creating a drinking age should not have been based on highway

Last Name 46

funds but on the rights and maturity level of young adults. Eighteen year olds are considered

adults; therefore, they should be able to drink anything they choose. In addition to that,

opponents argue that teen drinking can result in brain damage. However, David Hanson’s

Moderate Drinking Does Not Impair Youth Development contends that the experiments to reach

this conclusion are not reliable because scientists test rats, not humans (n.pag). Because rats are

such small animals, of course, they are going to have internal damage when alcohol is given to

them. Since no study proves brain damage occurs when a small amount of alcohol enters a

teenager’s body, this is a myth. Yes, alcohol can cause brain damage and other health defects,

but this comes from heavy and long-term drinking. It has nothing to do with age. Changing the

drinking age to twenty-one has not done anything positive and has been decided on unrelated

circumstances.

Making the minimum drinking age for alcohol twenty-one has made alcohol more

attractive to teens. It is human nature for people to want something they cannot have. For

example, Dan Levine’s At Issue: Drunk Driving cites Dr. Steve Booth-Butterfield’s experiment

which included a child and two toys the child like equally. The professor set both toys a few feet

in front of him; however, Booth-Butterfield put a piece of Plexiglas in front of one of the toys, so

the child could see it but could not get to it. Instead of going for the toy which was clearly

tangible, he chose the one behind the Plexiglas. He tried to get it for a while but eventually

started crying when he realized reaching it was out of his power (Levine n.pag). This is how

eighteen through twenty-year-old people feel when they are restricted from something, such as

alcohol. As a result, young people become rebellious and drink anyway, especially college

students. Chafetz, a professor at Harvard says, “When you have been dependent on your parents

for your identity, college is about breaking loose. You want something to differentiate yourself.

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That’s why a don’t is a do” (qtd. in Levine n.pag). If alcohol were legal for eighteen year olds, it

would not be as attractive because they would be allowed to buy it.

Many college students under the age of twenty-one will consume alcohol regardless of

the law. A USA Today article entitled “Let Families Cultivate Responsible Drinking” discusses

lowering the legal drinking age. It argues that most students conceal alcohol from family

members and college faculty. If the drinking age were lowered to eighteen, students would be

able to drink under supervision (“Let Families” n.pag). Consuming more alcohol at one sitting

can create fatal accidents. For example, a couple who is twenty-one years of age or older

understand they can go at anytime to purchase alcohol. Therefore, if they were invited to a party,

they are less likely to drink to get drunk. College students under the age of twenty-one years of

age go to parties just for that reason, so it is more likely for them to get into car accidents. If it

were legal for eighteen-year-old college students to drink, there would be fewer car accidents

caused by alcohol.

Eighteen-year-olds are considered adults in many different respects. In college, faculty

does not force students to come to class, unlike high school faculty who are practically rushing

students out of the hallways to get to class on time. Also, parents give their children a lot of

responsibility as they reach the age of eighteen. They allow them to stay at home and babysit

younger siblings. Some parents even make their eighteen year olds work to pay bills. Court

systems are another group of people who perceive eighteen year olds as adults. For instance,

Michael Smith’s article explained that if a ten year old goes into a store and steals a CD, he or

she may get a slap on the hand or at most three days of juvenile detention. However, if an

eighteen year old steals a CD, he or she may have to pay a large fine or be sentenced to probation

at the least. Court systems feel that eighteen year olds know right from wrong and should suffer

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adult consequences. If eighteen year olds are considered to be adults by all these institutions,

the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. Also, eighteen year olds are allowed to purchase

and smoke cigarettes, which may cause more damage to the human body than alcohol. They can

enter taverns, which obviously sell alcohol. They can buy and sell property. They can also serve

in the military, where they are certainly treated as adults. Therefore, it is wrong to prohibit them

from drinking alcoholic beverages (n.pag).

In Minimum Drinking-Age Laws Are Ineffective, William Buckley says young people

ages eighteen through twenty years of age should be educated on how to drink moderately and

what the deadly results of drinking and driving are, instead of being prohibited from alcohol

completely. It should not be assumed that on someone’s twenty-first birthday, he or she

naturally will become more mature about drinking alcohol (n.pag). There are some eighteen year

olds who are just as mature as most twenty three year-olds. Many Americans think drinking

alcohol at an early age may cause drinking problems in young people. Ruth Engs explains that

the Chinese and Jewish cultures, however, believe drinking alcohol is acceptable, and most do

not have drinking problems. Alcohol is seen neither as a poison nor as a magic potent. It is

simply a drink that is consumed with each meal. These young people are educated by their

parents on how to drink responsibly (Engs n.pag).

The drinking legal age law was made to decrease traffic deaths. It is true that, with the

new law, there was a small decline in accidents, but it is not taking into account that there are

safer cars, improved driver education, and better medical technology also (Wilkinson 28). Who

is to say these are not the reasons for this small decline? If eighteen year olds could drink

alcohol, most likely they would not consume as much at one time. Because they would be

allowed to purchase alcohol themselves, they would not feel the need to become rebellious. In

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countries such as Germany, the legal drinking age is sixteen, and the country rarely has any

problems. So the question still remains: why isn’t the legal drinking age in the U.S lowered to

eighteen?

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Works Cited

Buckley, William. Minimum Drinking-Age Laws Are Ineffective, San Diego: Greehaven Press,

1998. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr. 2009.

“Current Drinking Age Shows Drop in Teens Who Drink.” Editorial. Victorian Advocate 30

Sept. 2008: n.pag. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 20 Apr. 2009.

Engs, Ruth. Current Controversies: Alcoholism. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing

Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr. 2009.

Hanson, David. Moderate Drinking Does Not Impair Youth Development. Detroit: Greenhaven

Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 21 Apr. 2009.

“Let Families Cultivate Responsible Drinking by Lowering Legal Age.” USA Today 21 Nov.

2005:14A. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 20 Apr. 2009.

Levine, Dan. At Issue: Drunk Driving. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Opposing

Viewpoints Resource. Web. 17 Apr. 2009.

Smith, Michael. The Drinking Age Should be Lowered to 18. San Diego: Greenhaven

Press, 2002. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 21 Apr.

2009.

Wilkinson, Will. “Bottoms Up!” Forbes Sep. 2008: 28. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center.

Web. 20 Apr. 2009

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EXAMPLE PAPER 3

Advanced Writing Skills

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Student’s Name

Mr. /Mrs. /Ms. Teacher’s Last Name

Course Name

Date of Submission

The Scream

I. Introduction

Thesis: Edvard Munch’s renowned expressionist painting The Scream is one of the most

recognizable paintings in the world, exposing Munch’s masterful interpretation of anxiety and

distress.

II. Background

A. The Artist

1. Family

a. Mother, Father, and sister

b. Childhood and adulthood

2. Impact of tuberculosis

B. Bereavement and depression

1. Death of loved ones

2. Impact of relationships

3. Impact on artwork

III. The Scream

A. Expressionism

1. Definition of art style

2. Other expressionist painters

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3. Style and emotion

B. Annotation and interpretation

1. Color and design

2. Theme and meaning

3. Inspiration and annotation

IV. Impact

A. Recognition

B. Theft

C. Commentary

V. Conclusion

A. Interpretation

B. Importance

C. Trends

D. Impact

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Student’s Name

Mr. / Mrs. / Ms. Teacher’s Name

Course Name

Date of Submission

The Scream

Edvard Munch reflected on his artistic style saying, “I painted the lines and colours that

affected my inner eye. I painted from memory without adding anything, without the details that I

no longer saw in front of me. This is the reason for the simplicity of the paintings, their obvious

emptiness. I painted the impressions of my childhood, the dull colours of a forgotten day” (qtd.

in Bischoff and Hulse jacket). As many artists express their emotions through their specific

work, Munch popularized the expressionist style through a replication of his own feelings.

Edvard Munch’s renowned expressionist painting The Scream is one of the most recognizable

paintings in the world, exposing his masterful interpretation of anxiety and distress.

The Norwegian artist’s development and growth as a renowned painter began when, at a

young age, he suffered the loss of the immediate members of his family. Many art critics say that

Munch’s interpretation of the distraught images he painted at a young age were unbelievably

real. Munch revealed authentic thought and emotion that a majority of novice artists could not

evoke. A significant biography of Munch reports the artist as saying, “I still remember lying on

the floor when I was seven years old and drawing blind people with a piece of charcoal…large-

format pictures. I recall how much pleasure I took in the work, and how I sensed a far greater

energy in my hand than when I drew on the backs of Father’s prescriptions” (qtd. in Bischoff and

Hulse 8). When Munch was only fourteen, his sister Sophie contracted tuberculosis, and nine

years earlier, he had lost his mother. The Sick Child, one of his first paintings, is an image of his

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sister dying and his distorted mother bowing her head next to Sophie’s bedside. Although many

painters in the late 1800’s produced images of sick children, Munch’s was different. An intense,

timely method of painting created a distressed image of an even more distressed idea. He grasped

a greater meaning of dying people by using shadow and light to create an emotional memory of

death. Munch, in regards to this painting, said, “I am convinced that there is hardly a painter

among them who drained his subject to the very last bitter drop as I did in The Sick Child. It was

not only I myself sitting there- it was all my loved ones…” (qtd. in Bischoff and Hulse 8).

Several years later, when he moved to Paris to study art, Munch’s father died. The family deaths

continued to haunt Munch’s life but developed a strong, affluent artist who painted his fear and

grief (8-12).

Arthur Lubow’s “Edvard Munch: Beyond The Scream,” says that the artist produced

many prints, screens, sculptures, lithographs, watercolors, and sketches that evoke many

emotions, both virtuous and unscrupulous (n. pag.). Although Munch’s most famous paintings

are the ones in which the subject is suffering through a specific moment in time, he created

works that induced innocence and naivety. Art critics say that his most powerful and famous

pieces, however, are those which represent the terror any viewer can feel. The article, “A

Haunted Life” states that Edvard Munch’s intolerable bereavement was expressed in his work,

making him stand out for presenting such “edgy” subjects through his brilliant use of color,

space, and light, as well as his own abstract painting techniques; these traits also drew

contemporary criticism for him in Paris (2). His personal, private experiences were interpreted

through his work. Munch’s unique background inspired him to thrive on the hardest moments in

life through his expressionist approach, creating a style that has made an incredible impact on

modern art (“A Haunted Life” 2).

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Munch’s most famous artwork, unarguably, is The Scream. Simply put, the piece is

iconic; it is the single most famous image of modern art and expressionism (Lubow n. pag.). The

91 x 73.5 centimeter painting on cardboard depicts a distraught man centered in the lower half of

the image, with his hands over his ears and his mouth and eyes wide open. The cry that bellows

from the faint figure repeats in the sky and sea, where Munch used broad strokes to enhance the

significant terror. The expression on the subject’s face is a cry, scream, or look of inevitable fear.

The faint man, elongated and stretched vertically, is on a bridge in Oslo, Norway, and behind

him are two other men, his friends, walking closely together ahead of him, wearing faded black

suits and top hats. Filling the sky is a blood red and fiery orange, panoramic swirl, crawling into

the dark blue water under the bridge. At a distance, two simple sailboats sit at the shore of the

water. The entire piece is paradoxical: colorful, yet dark, abstract, yet clear. The image of the

anxious, deathly man is similar to a human skull, bone-colored and almost damaged-looking.

The combination of oil, tempera and pastel medias creates an expressionist piece that can be

summarized in one word: anxiety (Bischoff and Hulse 51-53).

The inspiration behind the piece is Munch’s own personal experience. He said, “I was

out walking with two friends--the sun began to set--suddenly the sky turned blood-red--I paused,

feeling exhausted , and leaned on a fence- there was blood and tongues of fire above the black-

blue fjord and the city- my friends walked on, and there I still stood, trembling with fear- and I

sensed an endless scream passing through Nature” (Bischoff and Hulse 53). In addition to

Munch’s own response, several art critics believe that the Mummy from the Musée de l’Homme

in Paris inspired Munch to create a distorted man. The hands of the mummy are caressing the

sides of its skull, which resembles the ghostly shape of the subject in Munch’s painting. The

striking tone of the piece continues to create a wide range of thoughts and opinions; many artists,

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art critics, and museum curators marvel at Munch’s extremely bold painting and at the mastery

of such feelings of true terror and anxiety (53-54).

As the end of the nineteenth century came to a close, Munch was inspired to create art

that related to the modern times of change and ambiguity. Social, technological, and political

changes in Europe and all over the world shook the world’s view on the upcoming century. The

article “A Haunted Life” asserts that the painting’s representation and reflection of anxieties of

modern life became symbolic and depicted an expression of what people were feeling about the

isolationism and alienation of the Gilded Age (2). During this time, Munch emerged as a

prominent expressionist in what was becoming the prevailing artistic style of the time. In fact,

Grace Glueck argues, “And yet, for all its roots in symbolism, the turn-of-the-century European

movement that sought to replace naturalism with the imagery of fantasy, dream and psychic

experience, The Scream apparently had little to do with what Munch saw as the real thrust of his

art” ( B36-37). These expressionist artists created distorted images that interpreted abstract views

of unreal, yet very emotional artworks. Furthermore, H.H. Arnason’s History of Modern Art

indicates that during the turn of the century, the French named the artistic movement art

nouveau, which was inspired by the applied and fine arts that the world had never seen before

(154-156). Paintings, architecture, poems, lithographs, and other art were revived from

traditional Victorian styles to a much more modern, risqué subject, using color, space, shadow,

and light. Munch pioneered the movement through his paintings of a variety of moods, sex,

violence, and death (154-156).

Munch’s unique style emerged from his own psychological experiences, therefore,

motivating contemporary expressionism through emotion. Using broad strokes, unique color

palettes, and audacious subjects, Munch stood apart from every other painter of the time. “In

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ways that antagonized the contemporary art critics, who accused him of exhibiting ‘a discarded

half-rubbed-out sketch’ and mocked his ‘random blobs of color,’ he would incorporate into his

paintings graffiti-like scrawls, or thin his paint and let it drip freely” (Lubow n. pag.). Munch

was known for leaving his paintings “rough and unfinished,” creating a tarnished, real approach

to painting. He left his works open-air or outside in any type of weather, creating a perfect

imperfection (n.pag.).

The Scream, also known as The Cry, was a piece in a collection called The Frieze of Life.

Berlin was hosting an exhibition in 1902, where Munch introduced a new world of expressionist

paintings (Lubow n.pag). Altogether, Munch created twenty-two original art pieces in a decade

for the exhibition, which made him well-known and very popular among European artists

(n.pag). Among The Scream, other familiar pieces included Madonna, Melancholy, Despair,

Anxiety, Jealousy, Death in a Sickroom, and Summer Night’s Dream. Those who viewed the

emotional paintings embraced them, creating replicated emotions from the art in the viewer.

Many critics and other artists positively received the collection of paintings, but that fact did not

content Munch with the outcome of his widely held work (n. pag.).

The collection included mysterious and quiet pieces, including landscapes, portraits, self-

portraits, and naturalist paintings and graphic arts. Each piece was symbolic and relative to the

life Munch lived and the lives he saw pass before him throughout his youth and later into

adulthood. Glueck says a painting like Madonna, can connect viewers with Munch’s sexless life

and desire for love and a sturdy relationship. The haunting, psychologically-influenced images

like The Scream are, however, what people remember and what make Munch a unique and

masterful artist (B36-37).

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Munch’s most famous image has created its own spot in international pop culture, where

manufactured “refrigerator magnets and inflatable dolls” are being found all around the world.

The symbolic image has become such a widespread, recognized one of modern art that the real

image and inspiration behind the work has become a genuine topic of study for many people

(Glueck B36). One of the most interesting features of the background of The Scream is that it

was stolen. In 2004, one image of The Scream (there were several types of the same image,

including prints, pastels, and two oil paintings, which are the most well-known versions) and

Madonna were stolen from Oslo’s Munch Museum in Norway (Lubow n. pag.). Domestic and

international media reported the notorious theft of the oil paintings, and “art sleuths” and highly

regarded art historians assisted international justices to search for the criminals. In 2006, M&M’s

launched a marketing campaign at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, in New York ,

offering two million dark chocolate M&M’s for the return of The Scream. The burglar

responsible for the theft would only return the artworks if he were promised the two million

candies, and, of course, Norwegian authorities paid the cost of the chocolate candies. The Mars

Candy Company, however, donated the money back to The Munch Museum, and the criminal

never received his candies but instead received twenty years in prison (“The Scream, the Thief,

and the Two Million M&Ms” n. pag.). The campaign through a well-known corporation focused

even more attention on Munch and his artwork and established The Scream as an even more

famous and historic artwork.

A Norwegian artist who lost his entire family, Munch produced unforgettable works that

embraced the notorious emotions any person feels. His poignant painting, The Scream, is an

iconic image that manages to deliver a viewer such extraneous emotions of a cry and true angst

trying to escape from within; Munch tried to escape through expressive and prolific art. In the

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future, students, critics, historians, and even everyday people will continue to study and

remember the legacy of Munch and his work. The Scream is timeless and memorable and will

endure the apprehensions of the modern world and the generations to come.

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Works Cited

Arnason, H. H. History Of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. 1st Ed. Englewood

Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., and Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Print.

Bischoff, Ulrich, and Michael Hulse. Edvard Munch. Los Angeles: Taschen America Llc, 2000.

Print.

Glueck, Grace. "Munch Was More Than a Scream." The New York Times 17 Feb. 2006: B36-37.

Print.

"A Haunted Life (The Life of Edvard Munch)." Scholastic Art 1996: 2. Print.

Lubow, Arthur. “Edvard Munch: Beyond The Scream.” Smithsonian Magazine Mar. 2006: n.

pag. Web. 19 Apr. 2010.

"The Scream, the Thief, and the Two Million M&M's." ARTnews Apr. 2008: n. pag. Web.

29 Apr. 2010.