The Wonderful World of Citations!

1. The Wonderful World of Citations! MLA Edition ENGL 1301

2. MLA Style • MLA = Modern Language Association • Used mostly by those in the humanities (e.g., English, history, foreign languages, etc.) • Newest version of format was released in 2010 (cautiously use reference sources that predate the update)

3. Why do we cite? • To give credit to those who wrote the material you are using/avoiding plagiarism • To establish your ethos (citation shows that you know how to operate in an academic setting, and that you “play by the rules”) • Make work traceable • To show you aren’t the only one who holds your position (strength in numbers)

4. How to use other’s material Quotation • The exact words used by another • Uses quotation marks and a parenthetical citation to show that the work is not your own • In-text

5. Quotation

6. How to use other’s material Paraphrasing • An idea given entirely in your own words and sentence structure • Uses a parenthetical citation to show that the work is not your own • In-text

7. Paraphrasing

8. How to use other’s materials Summary • A condensed version of the main points in a paragraph or article given in your own words • Uses a parenthetical citation to show that the work is not your own

9. When to quote a source • The language of the original is striking • You will be analyzing the exact text of the original • The original was written or spoken by someone likely to be significant to your audience

10. Integrating other’s material • Introduce the work you will be using (orient the reader to the source) and the point you’re trying to support or make • Present the material (italicized and bolded in the following example to highlight the integration; do not italicize or bold integrated sources in your actual essays) • Explain the significance or meaning to the reader about how the material supports your claim or thesis

11. MLA Conventions • In-text citations: Last name of author and page number, no punctuation (Bauer 10) • Bibliographic page: Works Cited • Use italics to show book, movie, magazine, newspaper, music album, etc., titles • Double space entire essay, including bibliographic information • Header on each page in upper right-hand corner; last name no punctuation: Heilig1

12. MLA Citation: Online Sources • On Works Cited page, cite as Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Page.” Title of Site.Sponsor, Date posted or last updated. Medium. Day Month Year of access. • In essay, cite only author’s name or title of work; no page numbers for Web pages; include paragraph number if offered in text • Do not include hyperlink address for either the in-text citation or the Works Cited

13. MLA Example • On Works Cited page, cite as: Britt, Robert Roy. “Pluto Now Called a Plutoid.” Space.com.TechMediaNetwork.com, 11 June 2008. Web. 13 September 2012. • In essay, cite as (Britt) • If no author is named, consider the agency, company, or endorsing entity the author (e.g., the USEPA, Best Buy, United Way) • If citing entire Web site, skip page title

14. MLA Example The quotes that he chooses from the aforementioned Prince of Prescriptivists John Simon, lends a similar (hyperbolic) attitude: “no damsel was ever in such distress, no drayhorse more flogged, no defenseless child more drunkenly abused than the English Language today” (MacNeil 307).

15. BA 5 + 1.1: How to Cite • Cite the article as a chapter in the First-Year Writing Textbook Example: MacNeil, Robert. “Do You Speak American?” First-year Writing: Writing in the Disciplines. 3rd Custom ed. New York: Pearson Custom. 2010. Print.

16. Resources: MLA Citation • St. Martin’s Handbook: pgs. 233-237 • St. Martin’s Handbook: pgs. 402-451 • EasyBib: http://easybib.com