MLA FormatMLA

FormatWhat YOU need to know!What YOU need to know!

What IS it?• Modern Language Association

• Format for citing (giving proper credit for) information used in papers that IS NOT YOUR OWN INFORMATION!

• Most commonly used format in the liberal arts, humanities.

• Something you need to know if you don’t want to be accused of plagiarism!

Your Paper...

• Name, teacher, class, and date in the top, left corner.

• Last name, page number at top

right of each page (except the first

page).• Centered title

• Double-spaced

• Size 12-Font

Your Paper...Works Cited

"Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental

Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May

2007. Web.

24 May 2009. www.environmentaldefense.net

Ebert, Roger. "An Inconvenient Truth." Rev. of An Inconvenient

Truth, dir. Davis Guggenheim. Rogerebert.com. Sun-

Times

News Group, 2 June 2006. Web. 24 May 2009.

Mjadrah, Bro! Dir. Mister Palise. Perf. John Doe, Jane Doe.

Dearborn High

Productions, 2010. Film.

Palise, Mister. How to Get an A in 11th Grade English. Dearborn:

Rouge River Press: 2010.

• Centered “Works Cited” title

• Hanging Indent (indent on each line after the

first per entry)

• Double-spaced

• Entries in alphabetical order

• Size 12-Font

• MLA style date

•Last page of document

How does it all fit together? As of December 2000, twenty countries were restricting use of cell phones in moving vehicles (Sundeen 8). In the United States, it is highly unlikely that legislation could be passed on the national level, since traffic safety is considered a state and local issue. To date, only a few counties and towns have passed traffic laws restricting cell phone use. For example, in Suffolk County, New York, it is illegal for drivers to use a handheld phone for anything but an emergency call while on the road (Haughney A8). The first town to restrict use of handheld phones was Brooklyn, Ohio (Layton C9). Brooklyn, the first community in the country to pass a seat belt law, has once again shown its concern for traffic safety.

Works CitedHaughney, Christine. “Taking Phones out of

Drivers’ Hands.” Washington Post 5

Nov. 2000: A8. Print.

Layton, Lyndsey. “Legislators Aiming to

Disconnect Motorists.”

Washington Post 10 Dec. 2000: C1+

Print.

Sundeen, Matt. “Cell Phones and Highway

Safety: 2000 State

Legislative Update.” National

Conference of State Legislatures.

Natl. Conf. of State Legislatures, Dec.

2000. Web. 27 Feb. 2001.

Books with 1 author...

What information do you need?

NAME OF AUTHOR (Last name, First name. Followed by a period)

TITLE OF BOOK (underlined, followed by period)

PLACE OF PUBLICATION (followed by colon)

NAME OF PUBLISHER (followed by comma)

YEAR OF PUBLICATION (most recent, followed by period)

Where to find the info...

Publisher

Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York:

Del Ray Books, 1991.

Year of Publication

Place of Publication

Books with 2 or 3 Authors...

Works Cited

Mortenson, Greg, and David Oliver Relin. Three Cups

of Tea. New York: Penguin Group, 2006.

What information do you need?

NAMES OF AUTHORS First author: last name, followed by first nameSecond+ authors: first name followed by last name(each author separated by commas)

TITLE OF BOOK (underlined, followed by period)

PLACE OF PUBLICATION (followed by colon)

NAME OF PUBLISHER (followed by comma)

YEAR OF PUBLICATION (most recent, followed by period)

Movies...

What information do you need?

TITLE OF MOVIE (underlined, followed by period)

DIRECTOR (Dir., followed by name, followed by period)

PERFORMERS (Perf., followed by names, separated by commas, followed by period)

PRODUCTION COMPANY NAME(followed by comma)

YEAR OF PRODUCTION(followed by period)

FORMAT (Followed by a period)(Film? DVD? Video? )

The Crucible. Dir. Nicholas Hytner. Perf. Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, and Paul Scofield. Twentieth Century Fox, 1996. DVD.

Website...

Works Cited

Jenkins, Henry. “Bearings.” MIT Communications Forum.

19 February 2002. MIT. 16 June 2005

<http:/web.mit.edu/comm-forum/papers/bearings.html>.

What information do you need?

• AUTHOR (followed by period)• TITLE OF SHORT WORK (in quotations, with a period)

• TITLE OF WEBSITE (underlined, followed by

period)• DATE OF PUBLICATION (MLA style date, followed by period)

• SPONSOR OF SITE (followed by period)

• DATE OF ACCESS (MLA style date)

•URL (surrounded by carots, followed by a period)

Citations...When should I cite?

Paraphrasing = NO Plagiarism

YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CITE WHEN USING INFORMATION THAT IS NOT YOUR OWN!

Citation?Quotation

Marks?

My ideas & my words

Someone else’s ideas &

my words

Someone else’s ideas &

someone else’s words

NO NO

YES NO

YES YESCitations connect your

information to your works cited!

How to cite...

With Author:Signal PhraseThe author, Mr. Palise, believes that students who bring him pizza will receive an A in his class (10).

Non-Signal PhraseWhen students bring pizza for the teacher, they’re very likely to receive an A (Palise 10).

Without Author (from website or movie):Students that bring breakfast to their teacher, usually earn an A (Pizza, Bro!).

Without Author, With Signal-PhraseThe movie Pizza, Bro! explains that students who bring pizza to their teacher will earn A’s.

You’ll need...

An Author (or title, when no author exists)

A Page Number (if applicable)

(author page number)(Palise 22)

Practice...

Book Title: A Guide To Being an 11th Grader at DHS

Author: Mister Palise

Publisher: Outer Drive Press

Location: Dearborn

Year: 2010

Palise, Mister. A Guide To Being an

11th Grader at DHS. Dearborn:

Outer Drive Press, 2010.

Practice...

Book Title: How to Convince Your Parents to Buy You a Car

Author: Mister Palise and Missus Podsiad

Publisher: Outer Drive Press

Location: Michigan

Year: 2001 Palise, Mister, and Missus Podsiad.

How to Convince Your Parents to

Buy You a Car. Michigan: Outer

Drive Press, 2001.

Practice...Article Title: Top 10 Things to do Before You Graduate

Title of Website: Class of 2012

Date of Website Creation: January 1, 1994

Sponsor of Site: DHS Student Council

Date of Access: December 9, 2010

Site URL: www.dearborn.org “Top 10 Things to do Before You Graduate.”

Class of 2012. 1 January 1994.

DHS Student Council. 9 December 2010

<http://www.dearborn.org>.

Practice...

Movie Title: The DHS Highlight Reel

Director: Mr. Baughman

Actors: Mister Palise, Missus Podsiad, Mizz Polk

Production Company: Rouge River Productions

Year: 2010

The DHS Highlight Reel. Dir. Mr.

Baughman. Perf. Mister Palise,

Missus Podsiad, and Mizz Polk.

Rouge River Productions, 2010.

Homework...

FINISH PRACTICE EXERCISES

Complete an MLA format works cited page that includes each

of these sources.

Bellwork tomorrow?

QUIZ