3. What is MLA’s purpose?
The object of the association shall be to
promote study, criticism, and research in
the more and less commonly taught
modern languages and their literatures.
4. Why do we use MLA style?
To prepare scholarly manuscripts and student
research papers and help with the mechanics
of writing, such as punctuation, quotation, and
documentation of sources.
MLA style has been widely adopted by schools,
academic departments, and instructors for
nearly half a century.
Because your teachers make you!
5. Research
Re- means again
You’ll be ‘searching again’ and reading a
ton of information you gather on your
topic
You won’t use everything you read in
your paper, but you’ll be all the more
informed on your topic
7. PROBLEM:
Plagiarism is use of material without documentation.
Plagiarism suggests intellectual dishonesty: practically
speaking, it undermines research by confusing or obscuring the
sources of information. There are two basic kinds of
plagiarism: intentional and unintentional.
TYPES:
Intentional plagiarism is easy to spot. It involves the copying of
sentences, paragraphs, even entire papers and calling them
your own. Paraphrasing without acknowledging the source
falls into the same category. Both are dangerous, dishonest
practices.
Unintentional plagiarism is different: it could arise from failure
to put quotes around material in your notes or from a lack of
understanding of what should be documented. Be very careful
in this area because your instructor has no way of knowing the
cause of plagiarism in a paper.
SOLUTION:
Give a parenthetic citation for anything in your paper that your
readers may believe came from a book or article, especially
every indirect quote, paraphrase, unconscious borrowing.
8. First step: Find your sources
and write your source cards
Secondary vs. Primary Sources
Print vs. Electronic Sources
9. What is print source?
Books
Magazines
Newspapers
Journals
Online database
10. What is an electronic source?
Internet sites (use .net, .org, .edu, .gov,
and be careful with .com)
Online periodical articles
11. What is a secondary source?
A secondhand account about people,
events, topics or places that is based on
what some other writer has experienced.
Good examples of secondary sources are
books, newspapers, pamphlets,
encyclopedias and other materials in
which information has been gathered for
you.
http://www.archives.state.al.us/activity/actvty06.html
12. What is a primary source?
The original material of a person.
Primary sources offer an inside view of a
particular event.
Good examples of primary sources are films,
music, photographs, documentaries, and
interviews.
When you use first-hand, eyewitness accounts
to help you write your paper, you are creating
a secondary source.
http://www.archives.state.al.us/activity/actvty06.html
13. Source Cards
Troy 1.0
HG132.R4S
Molina-Porter, Hope. The Joy of Dogs.
Long Beach: Great Books,
2009.
Home 2.0
Internet
Jones, Jill. “If You Could Be a
Shoe.” Shoe Space. 30 Jan
2006 <www.retailtherapy.org>.
Card #
Call #
Last, First Name.
Title.
city
Publishing Co.
year
14. Next step: Read the material
you’ve gathered and create
your note cards
Paraphrasing, summarizing, and
quoting
15. Paraphrasing Effectively
When you paraphrase, you restate an
author’s ideas in your own words.
The only reason to paraphrase is to
make the ideas in a source clearer,
both to your readers and to yourself.
You want to phrase them in a way
that suits the purpose of your paper,
but be careful not to distort the
author’s ideas.
16. Paraphrasing Effectively cont.
Simplify the complex sentence structure and
vocabulary into language you are more
comfortable with and helps you understand.
Use paraphrase when you need to record
details but not exact words.
Don’t use the same sentence patterns or the
same vocabulary as the original.
A paraphrase can run as long as the original
17. When to paraphrase in your paper
Clarity- make complex ideas clear to your
readers
Details- when you need to present
briefly certain details that an author or
speaker has described at greater length
Emphasis- when including an author’s or
speaker’s point suits the goals of your
own paper
18. The original passage:
Students frequently overuse direct
quotation in taking notes, and as a result
they overuse quotations in the final
[research] paper. Probably only about
10% of your final manuscript should
appear as directly quoted matter.
Therefore, you should strive to limit the
amount of exact transcribing of source
materials while taking notes.
19. A legitimate paraphrase:
In research papers students often quote
excessively, failing to keep quoted
material down to a desirable level. Since
the problem usually originates during
note taking, it is essential to minimize
the material recorded verbatim.
20. Summarizing Effectively
When you summarize, you distill the
main ideas of a passage and state
them in your own words.
Include only the essentials of the
original, not the specific details
The length of the original has no
bearing on the length of your
summary
Be sure to keep all the information
your readers need to understand
21. When to summarize in your paper
Main points- when your readers need
to know the main points from an
original source but not the
supporting details.
Overviews- to provide an overview or
an interesting aside without
digressing too far from your paper’s
focus.
Condensation- to condense lengthy
or rambling notes from your note
cards into a few effective sentences.
22. The original passage:
Students frequently overuse direct
quotation in taking notes, and as a result
they overuse quotations in the final
[research] paper. Probably only about
10% of your final manuscript should
appear as directly quoted matter.
Therefore, you should strive to limit the
amount of exact transcribing of source
materials while taking notes.
23. An acceptable summary:
Students should take just a few notes in
direct quotation from sources to help
minimize the amount of quoted material
in a research paper.
24. A plagiarized version:
Students often use too many direct
quotations when they take notes,
resulting in too many of them in the final
research paper. In fact, probably only
about 10% of the final copy should
consist of directly quoted material. So it
is important to limit the amount of
source material copied while taking
notes.
Taken from the Purdue Online Writing Lab
25. Quoting Accurately
Quotes cite an author’s or speaker’s exact
words
Too many quotes indicate that you haven’t
said and made it your own
Reserve direct quotations for places where
you cannot express the ideas better
yourself
Long quotations slow readers down and
invite them to skip something you think is
important
26. When to quote in your paper
Precision- when the words are
important in themselves or when the
author makes fine but important
distinctions
Clarity- when the author’s ideas are
complex and difficult to paraphrase
Power- when the words are especially
powerful and authoritative
Vitality- when the language is vivid or
unique to the writer or speaker
27. Original
However, although humans are
comparatively poor sprinters, they also
engage in a different type of running,
endurance running (ER), defined as
running many kilometers over extended
time periods using aerobic metabolism.
28. Paraphrase
Having limited success in sprinting
compared to other mammals, humans
perform better in endurance running,
which is a form of aerobic running over
extended distances and periods of time.
29. Original
In the current paper we will be
examining responses to a particular type
of imposter; the vegetarian who eats
meat. We chose this example because
the core norm of the vegetarian is very
clear (to not eat meat), and violation of
the norm is easily recognized.
30. Paraphrase
Hornsey and Jetten investigated group
responses to impostors. For the purposes
of their study, the impostors were
defined as vegetarians who go against
the norm by eating meat. The “violation
of the norm” in this particular situation is
easily noticed.
31. Original
In The Sopranos, the mob is besieged as
much by inner infidelity as it is by the
federal government. Early in the series,
the greatest threat to Tony's Family is his
own biological family. One of his closest
associates turns witness for the FBI, his
mother colludes with his uncle to
contract a hit on Tony, and his kids click
through Web sites that track the federal
crackdown in Tony's gangland.
32. Paraphrase
In the first season of The Sopranos, Tony
Soprano’s mobster activities are more
threatened by members of his biological family
than by agents of the federal government. This
familial betrayal is multi-pronged. Tony’s
closest friend and associate is an FBI
informant, his mother and uncle are conspiring
to have him killed, and his children are surfing
the Web for information about his activities.
• Taken from Duke University Libraries
33. Note Cards
Tag/Slug line 1.1
Paraphrase/Quote
(P.#)
Notes
Biographical Info. 1.1
Billie Holiday had a rough start in life
but was able to pull herself up and
achieve success (100).
*Notes for self
Make sure that the
paraphrase is in your own
words completely! If you
are using the author’s
words make sure you put
quotes around his/her
words. Even when you
paraphrase you must cite
your source in your paper!
34. The New Republic: Blog Entry
Plumer, Bradford. “Will Facebook Kill Off
the Automobile?”. The New Republic. 6
Jan. 2010. Web. 12 Feb. 2010
<www.tnr.com/print/blog>.
36. BBC News: Internet article with author
given
Shiels, Maggie. “Online time ‘is good for
teens’”. BBC News. 21 Nov. 2008. Web.
12 Feb. 2010
<http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk>.
44. What if there isn’t an author?
Always skip to the next bit of information in
your citation. Typically, it will be the title
of the piece you are citing. If the title is in
quotation marks on the works cited page,
it should be in quotation marks in-text. If
it is italicized on the works cited page, it
should be italicized in-text.
45. Web page (no author available)
“Shakespeare…”
Note: If you are citing a title and not an author in
text, you may shorten the title by including the
first word or two and an ellipsis. This will
indicate there is more to the title on your works
cited page.
If you use two or more articles of the same name
and there are no authors to cite, you will number
each entry on the works cited page. The
parenthetical citation will correspond to those
entries.
46. Within the body of the paper
(1 “Shakespeare”).
(2 “Shakespeare”).
47. On the works cited page
1 “Shakespeare.” Ms. Shakespeare and the
Shminternet. Web. 17 Feb. 2010
<http://shmaphne.edu>.
2 “Shakespeare.” Sir Vinny and his Royal
Hounds. Web. 23 Jan. 2010
<http.//academicjackrussels.edu>.
Note: keep in alphabetical order.
48. Note Cards
Tag/Slug line 1.1
Paraphrase/Quote
(P.#)
Notes
Biographical Info. 1.1
Billie Holiday had a rough start in life
but was able to pull herself up and
achieve success (100).
*Notes for self
Make sure that the
paraphrase is in your own
words completely! If you
are using the author’s
words make sure you put
quotes around his/her
words. Even when you
paraphrase you must cite
your source in your paper!
