Decoding MLA Format

There are some things you learn best in calm,

and some in storm.  ~Willa Cather

A Quick Review of the Basics

• Font Size: 12-point• Font Type: Legible, stick with Times

New Roman, Arial, Georgia, etc.• Margins: 1 inch• Spacing: Double The latest version on

Word has a default setting of 1.15. • Paper’s Title: Same font as your paper

—nothing special: no underlining, bolded words, “quotations” or italics

Reminder!When it comes to the basics of

MLA formatting—

keep it simple. Don’t Make

things overly complicated!

The Tougher Topics

• Author’s Name• Instructor’s

Name• Class• Due Date

MLA Headin

g

• Last Name• Page #• EX: Smith 1

Page #’s and

Headers

1 inch margin1

inch

mar

gin

double-spaced

Nothing fancy with the title

1/2 inch margin

The Tougher Topics

Italics

• Books• Movies• Newspapers

“Quotes”

• T.V. Show Episode

• Magazine/News Article

• Short Stories

Punctuation Pitfalls

Hint: Put in italics the big things, put in quotation marks the pieces of big things. I.E. –

We would put the name of a newspaper in italics, but an article in the newspaper would be

in quotation marks!

underlining

The Tricky Topics

Parenthetical Documentatio

n

Works Cited Page

MLA Formatting

The oh so confusing art of parenthetical documentation

Using Your Resources…

• Student Style Handbook• The OWL (Online Writing Lab)

• This Powerpoint

Plagiarism Caveat!Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work, or borrowing

someone else's original ideas. But terms like "copying" and "borrowing" can disguise the seriousness of the offense:

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own• to use (another's production) without crediting the source• to commit literary theft• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an

existing source.

In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.

Plagiarism Caveat!All of the following are considered plagiarism:• turning in someone else's work as your own• copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit• failing to put a quotation in quotation marks• giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation• changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source

without giving credit• copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the

majority of your work, whether you give credit or not

Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source, is usually enough to prevent plagiarism.

Frequent Sources

• Online News Articles• Online Journal Articles

• Websites and/or web pages

Less Frequent Sources

• Books• Interviews

• Movies, and TV Shows

Less Frequent Sources

• Books• Interviews

• Movies, and TV Shows

Don’t Forget Punctuation

Here is my smooth lead-in “into my amazing quote,” (Smith 3).

End punctuation always

follows the parenthes

es!

There is NOT a comma between the author’s last name and page

number!

Parenthetical Documentation

Direct Quote: frequently includes a lead in that introduces the original work and the author

EX: Lead in, “QUOTE” (pg #).

Paraphrase: Includes a citation at the end of the paraphrased sentence, phrase, paragraph Citation includes the author and pg. #

EX: Paraphrase (Smith 47).

Parenthetical Documentation

Direct Quote: frequently includes a lead in that introduces the original work and the author

EX: In John Smith’s article “Teens and Social Media: A Growing Concern” he writes, “Teens today, more than any other generation are always connected to social media. They cannot escape it,” (23).

Notice the citation includes ONLY the page number because the author is included in the lead-in.

Parenthetical Documentation

Direct Quote: frequently includes a creative lead in.

EX: It is evident that more and more teens are addicted to social media and the concern is, “Teenagers are not able to disconnect from social media. It is easily available all the time and a deliberate choice to avoid it can make one feel like a social outcast,” (Smith 23).

Notice the citation includes the author and page number because the author is not included in the lead-in.

Parenthetical Documentation

Direct Quote: frequently includes an exit out that references the original work and the author

EX: “Teens today, more than any other generation are always connected to social media. They cannot escape it,” (23) writes John Smith in “Teens and Social Media: A Growing Concern.”

Notice the citation includes ONLY the page number because the author is included in the exit out.

Parenthetical Documentation

Direct Quote: frequently includes a creative exit out.

EX: “Teenagers are not able to disconnect from social media. It is easily available all the time and a deliberate choice to avoid it can make one feel like a social outcast,” (Smith 23) which is further evidence that social media is doing more harm for society.

Notice the citation includes the author and page number because the author is not included in the exit out.

What should your citation look like?

Internal citations should include the author and a page number.

EX. Pop-culture heavily influences other art forms like literature (Smith 47).

Notice the FollowingNo punctuation between the author and

the page numberJUST the page number– no need to include ‘pg. #’ or ‘pg.’ or ‘page #’

No punctuation between the paraphrase and the citation

What should your citation look like?

What do you do if you have two authors?

Say, Jeff Smith and John Jones wrote an essay titled “Blue.” What would your in-text citation look like?

(Smith and Jones 22)

*You would still include both authors’ last names!

Works Cited Page

• Includes any works that you cited in your paper

• Alphabetical order by author’s or editor’s last name

• Must be its own page• First line of each entry is right justified, each

line under that entry is indented 5 spaces• Each entry must include the reference

(publication) medium, or type• Web resources: do not include full HTML

addresses

Final Draft Reminders

• Due Tuesday September 30, 2014 @ 7:30 AM to turnitin.com.

• Late papers = A zero• Intro, 2 body paragraphs, conclusion• Each body paragraph = 10-12

academic sentences.• Intro and conclusion = 4-6 sentences• No hardcopy required