Bermudian Springs High School
MLA Research Writing Handbook
Complied By: Mrs. Bort and Mrs. Dengler
2008-2009 Version
MLA (The Modern Language Association) is an agreed upon style of writing, formatting, and documentation of a research paper used by the Humanities. When following MLA Format there are several areas we are concerned with making uniform. The areas are:
1. Works Cited Documentation Format for commonly used sources (pg. 5-9)
2. Referring to the works of others in the text of the paper (plagiarizing vs. paraphrasing, internal/parenthetical citations, in-text attribution, omitting or adding words to a quotation, ) (pg. 10-15)
3. General Paper and First Page Layout (pg.16)
In the following sections, each area will be discussed and examples will be provided. When writing in MLA format these formats MUST be followed accurately and completely.
First a review of note taking techniques is included.
Note Taking
After deciding on a topic you are ready to take notes. Below are two different note taking models. It is helpful to use one of these models to keep notes organized, which is KEY to writing a good research paper.
Method # 1 - A Note Card Note Taking Technique
Write all works cited (publication information) on a separate source card for each source you are using or taking notes on so it is handy to use for citations and your works cited page.
***Make sure you have the following publication information for a print source:
1. Author’s Name (first and last) or Editor’s name (s)
2. Title {book, article in a periodical, or an encyclopedia entry
(The title for an encyclopedia entry is whatever you looked up)}
3. Title of Magazine or Encyclopedia
4. City of Publication
5. Publishing Company
6. Date of Publication
7. Edition Number (encyclopedias, and periodicals only)
8. Pages Used
***Make sure you have the following publication information for an internet source:
1. Author’s name (last, first):
2. Title of the short work (in quotation marks):
3. Title of the site (underlined):
4. Date of publication, or last update (day/month/year):
5. Sponsor of the site:
6. Date you accessed the site: (day/month/year):
7. The URL (in angle brackets >):
(NOTE: Not all of the information will be available for every website. Include as much of the listed information as possible and skip those that your site does not provide.
Sample Source Card
What information you need from the source. Example of source card in proper
Works cited format.
Sample Front of Note Card
Information you will need on a note card. Example of a note on a note card.
Additional Tips on Note Card Taking Method:
· Make sure only ONE note goes on each card!
· Use different colored cards or ink for each source to keep them organized.
· When all notes are finished, organize your paper according to the brief topic description in the top left hand corner of each card.
· Prepare a separate source card (see above for set up and details on what to include on the source card) for each source with all the publication information you will need to complete a works cited entry on that source.
· When you have all your notes are taken, use the brief note topic description on each note card to organize your notes.
Method #2 - Single Sheet of Paper Per Source Note Taking Technique
1. Use a separate sheet of paper for each different source.
2. Cite the source information at the top of the page.
3. Write down the page on which you found a note you might want to use for your paper.
4. Write down a brief topic description so you can use this to organize your information for your outline and paper.
5. Then paraphrase information or copy down direct quotes you might use in your paper.
Model of Single Sheet of Paper Per Source Note Taking Technique:
Source Information for Works Cited page for an INTERNET source:
1. Author’s name (last, first): Waldron, Amanda
2. Title of the short work (in quotation marks): “How to Survive in the Wild”
3. Title of the site (underlined): Wild World Adventures
4. Date of publication, or last update (day/month/year): 11 January 2006
5. Sponsor of the site: Discovery Online Magazine
6. Date you accessed the site: (day/month/year): 12 January 2007
7. The URL (in angle brackets >): <http://www.discovery.com/WWA/article.waldron.html>
Pg. # / Brief Topic Description / Your paraphrased note or direct quote5 / Survival Tips / When alone in the woods make sure you have “food, shelter, and water; especially water. You can not live without it so it is a priority in any survival situation.”
6 / Survival Tips / For safety it is always best to hike, climb, camp, or do any outdoor adventure activity with a partner.
10 / Building a Fire / Dry wood or tinder is essential for staring a bow fire.
1. Works Cited Documentation Formats and Page Layout
Although the Works Cited page is the last page of your research paper, it is a good place to start when explaining basic MLA format. While note taking, it is KEY that you gather all the necessary publication and documentation information you will need from each source. If it is not collected at this point, you will have to return to the library and collect it later, which is a hassle, if you want to use that source in your paper. Therefore, make sure you have all the correct information right from the start.
Basic Rules for an MLA Style Works Cited Page[1]
Using the headings, locate the type of source you using and borrowing information from for your paper. Then follow the model list below the heading, substituting your citation information for the information in the model. You MUST follow the model EXACTLY, therefore, double check your version and make sure all spacing (double space entire entry), punctuation, and ordering of information are correct.
NOTE: If your source type is not on this abbreviated list please consults the master list in the Library. Just ask for the MLA Works Cited packet.
1. BASIC FORMAT FOR A BOOK - For most books, arrange the information into three units, each followed by a period and one space: the author's name; the title and subtitle, underlined; and the place of publication, the publisher, and the date.
Tan, Amy. The Bonesetter's Daughter. New York: Putnam, 2001.
Take the information about the book from its title page and copyright page. Use a short form of the publisher's name; omit terms such as Press, Inc., and Co. except when naming university presses (Harvard UP, for example). If the copyright page lists more than one date, use the most recent one.
2. Book with an UNKNOWN AUTHOR When the author of a work is unknown, begin with the work's title. Titles of articles and other short works, such as brief documents from Web sites, are put in quotation marks. Titles of books and other long works, such as entire Web sites, are underlined. Then continue with the entry as if it was a book with an author.
Introduction to Journalism. Chicago: Theory Press, 2008.
3. SOurce with MULTIPLE AUTHORS For works with two or three authors, name the authors in the order in which they are listed in the source. Reverse the name of only the first author. Then continue with the works cited.
Walker, Janice R., and Todd Taylor. (then finish entry following the model for the type of source you are using)
Wilmut, Ian, Keith Campbell, and Colin Tudge. (then finish entry following the model for the type of source you are using)
For a work with four or more authors, either name all of the authors or name the first author, followed by "et al." (Latin for "and others"). See examples on the next page.
Sloan, Frank A., Emily M. Stout, Kathryn Whetten-Goldstein, and Lan Liang. (Then finish entry following the modeled for the type of source you are using)
Sloan, Frank A., et al. (then finish entry following the modeled for the type of source you are using)
4. Book with an AUTHOR and AN EDITOR Begin with the author and title, followed by the name of the editor. In this case the abbreviation "Ed." means "Edited by," so it is the same for one or multiple editors.
Plath, Sylvia. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. Ed. Karen V. Kukil. New York: Anchor-
Doubleday, 2000.
5. Book with an EDITOR An entry for a work with an editor is similar to that for a work with an author except that the name is followed by a comma and the abbreviation "ed." for "editor" (or "eds." for "editors").
Craig, Patricia, ed. The Oxford Book of Travel Stories. Oxford: Oxford UP,
1996.
6. ENCYCLOPEDIA OR DICTIONARY ENTRY When an encyclopedia or a dictionary is well known, simply list the author of the entry (if there is one), the title of the entry, the title of the reference work, the edition number (if any), and the date of the edition.
Posner, Rebecca. "Romance Languages." The New Encyclopedia
Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1987.
"Sonata." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
4th ed. 2000.
Volume and page numbers are not necessary because the entries in the source are arranged alphabetically and therefore are easy to locate.
If a reference work is not well known, provide full publication information as well.
7. ARTICLE IN A MAGAZINE List, in order, separated by periods, the author's name; the title of the article, in quotation marks; and the title of the magazine, underlined. Then give the date and the page numbers, separated by a colon. If the magazine is issued monthly, give just the month and year. Abbreviate the names of the months except May, June, and July.
Fay, J. Michael. "Land of the Surfing Hippos." National Geographic Aug.
2004: 100+.
If the magazine is issued weekly, give the exact date.
Lord, Lewis. "There's Something about Mary Todd." US News and World
Report 19 Feb. 2001: 53.
8. SHORT WORK FROM A WEB SITE Short works are those that appear in quotation marks in MLA style: articles, poems, and other documents that are not book length. For a short work from a Web site, include as many of the following elements as apply and as are available: author's name; title of the short work, in quotation marks; title of the site, underlined; date of publication or last update; sponsor of the site (if not named as the author or given as the title of the site); date you accessed the source; and the URL in angle brackets.
Usually at least some of these elements will not apply or will be unavailable. In the following example, no sponsor or date of publication was available. (The date given is the date on which the researcher accessed the source.)
With author
Shiva, Vandana. "Bioethics: A Third World Issue." NativeWeb. 15 Sept.
2004 <http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/shiva.html>.
Author unknown
"Media Giants." Frontline: The Merchants of Cool. 2001. PBS Online.
7 Feb. 2005 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/
cool/giants>.
NOTE: When the URL for a short work from a Web site is very long, you may give the URL for the home page and indicate the path by which readers can access the source.
"Obesity Trends among US Adults between 1985 and 2001." Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. 3 Jan. 2003. 17 Feb. 2003
<http://www.cdc.gov>. Path: Health Topics A-Z; Obesity Trends; US
Obesity Trends 1985 to 2001.
9. ONLINE DATA BASES-
EBSCO
Smith, Joseph. "But Who Says?" Economist 18 Oct. 2003: 29-30. PowerLibrary. EBSCOhost. Bermudian Springs HS
Lib., York Springs, PA. 29 Jan. 2007 <http://www.search.epnet.com>.
SIRS
Johnson, Harriet M. "Unspeakable Conversations." New York Times Magazine 16 Feb. 2005: 1-3. SIRS Bermudian Springs HS
Lib., York Springs, PA. 29 Jan. 2007 <http://proquest.com>.
10. ARTICLE IN A DAILY NEWSPAPER - Begin with the name of the author, if known, followed by the title of the article. Next give the name of the newspaper, the date, and the page numbers (including the section letter). Use a plus sign (+) after the page number if the article does not appear on consecutive pages.
Brummitt, Chris. "Indonesia's Food Needs Expected to Soar." Boston
Globe 1 Feb. 2005: A7.
If the section is marked with a number rather than a letter, handle the entry as follows:
Wilford, John Noble. "In a Golden Age of Discovery, Faraway Worlds
Beckon." New York Times 9 Feb. 1997, late ed., sec. 1: 1+.
When an edition of the newspaper is specified on the masthead, name the edition after the date and before the page reference (eastern ed., late ed., natl. ed., and so on), as in the example just given.
If the city of publication is not obvious, include it in brackets after the name of the newspaper: City Paper [Washington, DC].
11. WORK FROM AN ANTHOLOGY - Begin with (1) the name of the author of the selection, not with the name of the editor of the anthology. Then give (2) the title of the selection; (3) the title of the anthology; (4) the name of the editor (preceded by "Ed." for "Edited by"); (5) publication information; and (6) the pages on which the selection appears.
Example from one of our text book:
Bradford, William. “Of Plymouth Plantation.” Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. The American
Experience ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. 78-84.
12. PLAY – If the play is found in an anthology, then follow the anthology format for the works cited entry. If it is found in a book by itself, then use the book format.
13. POETRY - If the poem is found in an anthology, then follow the anthology format for the works cited entry. If it is found in a book by itself, then use the book format.
***The information in this document was adapted from: Hacker, Diana. “MLA List of Works Cited.” Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age.” 3rd Ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s Press, 2002. 137-62.