MLA Cheat Sheet

MLA Format Cheat Sheet

This handout provides a quick reference to the basics of using MLA style. For complete guidelines, consult MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7^th ed., call number: LB2369 .G53 2009. 

Major Updates from the New (7^th) Edition

·       MLA no longer requires underlining. Titles, such as books and periodical titles, are now italicized rather than underlined.

·       All entries in a reference list, whether print or electronic, must now include the medium in which they have been published (Print, Web, DVD, Television, etc.)

·       URLs are no longer required in citations. MLA recommends that writers only include a web address if the audience is unlikely to find the source otherwise.

·       New Abbreviations: Some sources do not have a date, publisher or pagination. MLA advises, where applicable, to write n.d. for no date, n.p. for no publisher, and n.pag. for no pagination given.

Formatting Basics

·       Double space throughout paper, with no extra spaces between paragraphs.  

·       Do not right justify.

·       Top, bottom, and side margins should be one inch.

·       Indent the first word of each paragraph by ½ inch or 5 spaces.

·       Do not use a title page for the research paper: instead simply type your name, instructor’s name, course number, and date. This should be flush with the left margin. 

·       Center the title of the paper. Do not underline the title, or put in “quotation marks,” or set in ALL CAPITALS. 

·       Number all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, ½ inch from the top and flush with right margin.  Type your last name before the page number, and do not use “p.” before the number.

 

SAMPLE FIRST PAGE:

       

 Works Cited

MLA style requires that the list of Works Cited start on a new page at the end of your paper.  Formatting rules include:

·       Continue page numbering from the body of your paper.

·       Center the title “Works Cited,” one inch from the top.

·       Alphabetize entries by the author’s last name. If no author, alphabetize by the title (ignore A, An,The).

·       Use a hanging indent.

For books:

·       Name(s) of authors or editors.  If only citing one chapter within a book, the author and title (in “quotation marks”) of the chapter.

·       Title of book (including subtitle) italicized.

·       City of publication, name of the publisher, and year of publication.

·       Medium of publication.

·       Edition (only if 2nd ed. or later).

·       Volume number (if there is one).

·       If citing one chapter within a book, the page numbers of the chapter.

For print journal and magazine articles :

·       Names of authors.

·       Title of article in “quotation marks.”

·       Title of journal or magazine italicized.

·       Volume number (for a journal).

·       Issue number (for a journal, if available).

·       Date of publication (for journal article, note year only).

·       Page numbers of the article.

·       Medium of publication (Print).

For journal and magazine articles acquired using a library database:

·       Names of authors.

·       Title of article in “quotation marks.”

·       Title of journal or magazine italicized.

·       Volume number and issue number (for a journal).

·       Date of publication (for journal article, note year only).

·       Page numbers of the article as originally published in print journal.

·       Name of the database italicized.

·       Medium of publication (Web).

·       Date of access (day, month, and year).

For websites:

·       Name of author or editor (if given).

·       Title of the work italicized if the work is independent; in quotation marks if it is part of a larger work.

·       Title of the overall website italicized, if distinct from above.

·       Publisher or sponsor of the site; if not available, use n.p.

·       Date of publication (day, month, and year), if not available, use n.d.

·       Medium of publication (Web).

·       Date of access (day, month, and year).

Examples of Citations

Book with one author:

Steele, Timothy. The Color Wheel: Poems. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1994. Print.

Book with two or three authors:

Broer, Lawrence R., and Gloria Holland. Hemingway and Women: Female Critics and the Female

                  Voice. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 2002. Print.

Book with four or more authors:

Jones, Terry, et al. Who Murdered Chaucer?: A Medieval Mystery.  New York: Thomas Dunne Books,

2004. Print.

Chapter in a book:

Naremore, James. "Hitchcock at the Margins of Noir." Alfred Hitchcock: Centenary Essays. 

Ed. Richard Allen and S. Ishii-Gonzales. London: BFI, 1999. 263-77.  Print.

Translation:

Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of Genji .  Trans. Royall Tyler.  New York: Viking, 2001.  Print.

Print journal article:

Levine, June Perry. “Passage to the Odeon: Too Lean.” Literature Film Quarterly  

14.3 (1986): 139-50. Print.

Journal article acquired using a library database:

Letemendia, V. C. “Revolution on Animal Farm: Orwell's Neglected Commentary.” Journal of Modern Literature 18.1 (1992): 127-37. JSTOR . Web. 6 July 2009.

Website:

Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web.  7 July 2009.

Newspaper article:

Daker, Susan.  “No Happy Holiday for Refiners.” Wall Street Journal 3 July 2009: C10.  Print.

Film:

Chocolat.  Dir. Lasse Hallstrom.  Perf.  Alfred Molina and Juliette Binoche. 2000.  Miramax, 2003.  DVD.

Parenthetical Citations

•        References in your paper must clearly point to specific sources in your list of Works Cited.

•        In most cases, providing the author’s last name and the page number is sufficient: 

Medieval Europe was a place both of “raids, pillages, slavery, and extortion” and of “traveling merchants, monetary exchange, towns if not cities, and active markets in grain” (Townsend 10).

•        If you have several works by the same author, also include the title (abbreviated if long):

(Frye, Double Vision 85).

•        If no author is listed, use the title (shortened if long):

Voice of the Shuttle has many electronic sources.

•        If using the title, remember to use correct punctuation: italicize book titles, use quotation marks for journal articles, short stories, book chapters, etc.

•        The author’s name can be referred to within the sentence:

Tannen has argued this point (178-85).

         …or the author’s name can be referred to within the parenthetical reference:

This point has already been argued (Tannen 178-85).

For additional help

•        Consult Joseph Gibaldi’s MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7^th ed,
available at the Reference Desk and on Reserve.

•        Refer to the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/15/

•        Utilize bibliographic management tools such as…
                  -RefWorks - https://www.refworks.com/Refworks

                           - Zotero (Firefox only) - http://www.zotero.org/

         - Knight Cite - http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/

Assignment #1: What Lying Means To Me

Essay 1 – The Lies We Live

“We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize, we avoid confrontation, we spare people’s feelings, we conveniently forget, we keep secrets, we justify lying to the big-guy institutions. Like most people, I indulge in small falsehoods and still think of myself as an honest person. Sure I lie, but it doesn’t hurt anything. Or does it?” -- Stephanie Ericsson in “The Ways We Lie”

Write an essay of 4-5 pages using Stephanie Ericsson’s article, “The Way We Lie.” 

Ericsson breaks down lies into 10 separate categories. Your assignment is to do this: 

1. Based on Ericsson’s thinking, summarize the role lies play in our daily lives. You must personalize this, so that there is evidence you speak at least from some experience.
2.  Think of several of Ericsson's categories, and find one kind of lie you think plays a constructive role, one which plays a destructive role, and one which many people think is bad but which you yourself think is a good one to have available.
3.  Then you should think about lying in your own life: What lies do you rely on? Are the lies you tell harmful to others even if they serve your own ends? Do you try not to lie? What people or institutions taught you how to look at lying? Do you now or have you ever struggled not to lie? Could you make it through a week without telling a lie? What is the biggest lie you ever told? Why did you tell it? Have you ever regretted telling a lie?

To earn a passing grade, your essay should include:

1. A title!
2. An introduction that identifies your article and sets up your argument about the article.
3. A thesis that evaluates what you want to say in your essay.
4. Effectively organized paragraphs with strong topic sentences and transitions.
5. Examples from the article (summaries and paraphrases in your own words and sentence structure, as well as some brief, correctly integrated direct quotations).
6. A conclusion that provides closure to the essay and considers the implications of the argument. Remember that in your essay YOU MUST reference Ericsson's article at leasts once.
7. Consistent, correct use of MLA style, including
1. Proper MLA in-text citations for all paraphrases and direct quotations from the article.
2. A Works Cited page in correct MLA format (which does NOT count towards your page minimum) since you will be quoting from your article (see pp. 387-96). Your only source will be your article. No other research is allowed. 
8. Adherence to the conventions of standard written English.

Prewriting:

1. Read the article over carefully a few times. 
2. Freewrite on your thoughts.  Be specific.
3. Write a possible thesis statement for your essay.

Due Dates: 

Prewriting (5 points): Thursday, 9/25 - To receive full credit, you must bring your prewriting to class and participate in the prewriting/outline workshop. No credit for late prewriting!

Rough Draft (5 points): Thursday, 10/2 - Your rough draft must be typed and double-spaced (Be sure to save it somewhere you can easily find it. If you don’t have your own computer, email it to yourself!).  To receive full credit, you must bring your draft to class and participate in the draft workshop. No credit for late drafts!

Final Draft (90 points): A paper copy due in class Thursday, 10/9 and uploaded to Turnitin.com before class. Please put your final draft in this order: (1) clean, revised draft of your essay, (2) rough draft with peer comments on it, (3) the peer review sheets your group gave you, and (4) your prewriting. Please do not put your paper in any kind of folder. A corner staple will be fine. 

Before you turn in your essay, you will be given 5-10 minutes to write a brief cover letter for your paper (you may prepare your cover letter in advance, if you wish). In your cover letter, you should reflect on your writing process and identify what you were trying to achieve with your essay, what you feel you did well, and/or what you had trouble with.  A

Reading Analysis #2

Guidelines for Reading Analysis Presentation 1

Sign-up for one of two chapters on the presentation calendar. Make a note of the article title and presentation date that you sign up for below.

Reading analysis 1 article: __________________________  Presentation date: _______________

You will be presenting your analysis in class along with two to five of your classmates. The class will be counting on you to be on top of the chapters you are covering, so please be prepared!

This assignment is worth 40 points – to receive credit, you must participate in the presentation of your analysis. You will be graded primarily on your written analysis (breakdown of scoring below), but outstanding presentations will be rewarded.

Read the chapters that you will be analyzing carefully. If possible, read them twice. On your first reading, just try to identify the main idea(s) and get a feel for the writer’s approach and the flow of the chapter. On your second reading, go over the text more carefully; notice how the writer creates characters and tells the story.

To prepare your written analysis:

Identify the author’s name and the title of the book. Answer the following questions. Put your answers in outline form (see sample analysis on the reverse side of this sheet).

1.     What is the central theme of the selection? Your answer should be a complete sentence in your own words (not a quote!). Be as specific as possible, but remember that your claim should cover the whole chapter(s).

2.     Why is the subject of this story is a compelling theme for a writer to explore?

3.     Do you think this is a true story? In a certain way, could something like this happen?

4.     Is the central theme expressed explicitly or implicitly? The claim is explicit if the writer spells out what it is. The claim is implicit if the writer only implies the claim but does not state it outright.

5.     What is the tone – the feel – of the story?

6.     What things in the story give the most insight into human nature?

7.     Does the writer leave the opinions and feelings to the readers? If so, why? Is this approach effective?