Your Name



Your Name

Teacher’s Name

Class Title

Due Date of Assignment

Title Goes Here

An MLA style paper should fit certain standard layout guidelines. Set the font to 12-point Times New Roman. 1. From the menu, select “Format” and then “Font.” 2. Set the font for Times New Roman, Regular, and 12. 3. Click “OK,” or to reset the default, click “Default” and then “Yes.”

Margins must be one inch all around. To do this: 1. From the menu, select “File,” and then “Page Setup.” 2. Set the top, bottom, left, and right margins to one inch. 3. Click “OK,” or to reset the default, click “Default” and then “Yes.”

Next set the line spacing to double. In MLA, ALL text is double spaced, including quotations from other sources and the Works Cited list. 1. From the menu, select “Format” and then “paragraph.” 2. Then on the “Indents and Spacing” tab, set the “Line Spacing” to double. 3. Click “OK.”

The header is placed in the upper right hand corner of your document. It is formatted to appear ½” down from the top of the page. To add the header, 1. Click “View” at the top of the screen. 2. Click “Header and Footer.” The header section will appear inside a gray dotted square. Inside the square, you will see a flashing curser. 3. On the menu bar just above the ruler, click the Align Right icon (it looks like six lines aligned to the right). 4. Type your last name. 5. Add a single blank space after your name (this is VERY important). 6. On the floating menu bar, click the Insert Page Number icon (it looks like a number symbol in a page). It will automatically place the current page number on every page of your document. 7. Click “Close.” You will now see a faint header at the top right-hand corner of every page. When you print your paper, it will not appear faded.

The heading is placed in the upper left hand corner of the page. You type it on the first page of your document. The information is formatted as follows: 1. The first line is the writer’s first and last name. 2. The second line is the teacher’s name. The third line is the class title; for example, English I Pre-AP. 3. The fourth, and final line, is the due date of the assignment. It is NOT the date the student types the paper.

After the heading has been typed, hit “enter” ONE TIME ONLY. The next line is reserved for the title of the paper. MLA style does NOT have a separate title page. The title is centered. To center your title, do not space or tab to center the title. Instead, click the “center” icon at the top of your screen (it looks like six centered lines). Note: the title is not simply “Research Paper” or “Hamlet’s Madness.” Also: NEVER underline, enlarge, bold, or italicize your title. It should be in the same size 12, Times New Roman font as the rest of your document.

After you typed your title, hit “enter” only one time. Change your alignment back to left by clicking on the Align Left icon at the top of the page. Hit “tab” one time, and begin typing your document.

PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS

In the body of your paper, you must cite any source from which you borrowed an idea, summarized or paraphrased the author’s words, or quoted the material. MLA requires that you list the author’s name (or if there is no author, the title of the work) and a page number. Here are the “rules” and a few examples.

A WORK BY ONE AUTHOR

If you are referencing a work by one author, use the author’s last name and the page number from which you took the information. (Remember that the period goes AFTER the citation.)

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since (Fitzgerald 1).

TWO AUTHORS WITH THE SAME LAST NAME

If you have two authors with the same last name, also use the initial of their first name in the citation.

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since” (S. Fitzgerald 1).

This citation is for a quote from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

“The advice given to the main character in The Great Gatsby is excellent advice” (B. Fitzgerald 32).

This citation is for an article by Bert Fitzgerald about the work.

TWO SOURCES WITH THE SAME AUTHOR

If you have two books, articles, or other sources with the same author, you should include part of the title in the citation. (Remember to separate the author from the title with a comma.)

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since” (Fitzgerald, Great 1).

This citation is for a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald’sThe Great Gatsby.

There was the usual insincere little note saying: "I wanted you to

be the first to know" (Fitzgerald, “Bridal” 1).

This citation is for a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Bridal Party.”

A WORK BY MORE THAN ONE AUTHOR

If you have a book, article, or source by two or three authors, you must give all of the author’s names and the page number. If the source has four or more authors, you should list the first author’s name and then the words “et al,” which means “and others.”

“The novel and short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald are wonderful examples of life in the 1920s. The Jazz Age was a time of excess, and Fitzgerald’s descriptions of the lavish parties hosted by Gatsby give the reader an excellent view of life during that time” (O’Reilly and Clifford 31).

This citation is for a book with two authors.

“The character of Nick in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is as unbiased as a narrator can be when telling a story of events in his own life” (Randall et al. 4).

This citation is for an article with four authors.

A WORK WITH NO AUTHOR LISTED

If you have an article, book, or source with no author listed, you should use the title (or a few words of the title) and a page number.

You would think that many student would hate reading a story about the Jazz Age, but most find that they can connect to the characters in the story (“Reading Gatsby” 6).

This citation is for an internet article called “Reading Gatsby and Liking It.”

The life of Fitzgerald was not much different than the life of Jay Gatsby (Gatsby 635).

This citation is for a book called Gatsby: Fitzgerald’s Alter-Ego which was published anonymously.

PARENTHETICAL CITATION PRACTICE WS #1

Read each of the following descriptions and create a parenthetical citation for each.

1. An article called “Happy Days are Here Again” by Sally Michaels in Literature Review Magazine. The quote given is from page ten.

2. A book written by John Jameson and Billy Edelman called Tin Soldiers in the War. The summary is taken from pages five through eight.

3. A book called The Beast Within by Jones, Miller, Dover, and Shelley. The paraphrase is of page 63.

4. Information from an internet site called “Poets of the Renaissance.” There is no author listed and the page the information printed onto was page six.

5. This is a two part question regarding the same research paper :

Part 1: a book by Jonah Brown called Helm’s Deep and War Strategy; information gathered from page 16.

Part 2: an article by Leah Brown called Tolkien’s War Craft; information gathered from page 3.

6. This is a two part question regarding the same research paper :

Part 1: an article by Ben Leman called “Beowulf and Grendel;” information gathered from page 1.

Part 2: another article by Ben Leman called “Wiglaf’s Legacy;” information gathered from page 3.

7. A book written by Mark Twain titled “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The information was gathered from page 134.

Parenthetical Citation WS #2

Imagine that each of the following quotes are used in a research paper concerning J.R.R. Tolkien. If the quote appeared exactly as shown, how would the parenthetical citation look? The information in italics is not included in the paper, but should serve to help you write the citation.

1. “The next morning was a midsummer’s morning as fair and fresh as could be dreamed.” Information taken from Tolkien page 64.

2. “That is Mr. Baggins a hobbit of good family and unimpeachable reputation.” Tolkien, page 128

3. “That is why they were now riding in silence, galloping wherever the ground was grassy and smooth.” Page 145 by Tolkien

4. On page 160, Tolkien writes, “They were not far off the edge of the forest: and if Bilbo had had the sense to see it…”

5. Tolkien writes, “We are quote annoyed enough with you as it is.” Tolkien, from page 161.

Parenthetical Citation WS #3

Below, you have been given a works cited page from a research paper, as well as quotes, paraphrases, and summaries that will be used within the same paper. List the proper citation for each quote, paraphrase, and summary. (Hint: Remember the rules for citations and refer back to your guide.)

1. “…the hero goes forward in his journey until he comes to the ‘threshhold guardian’” ( ).

--From Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces, page 77

2. “The tension of opposites: love-hate, death-life” ( ).

--From Campbell’s The Power of Myth, page 55

3. “Most men wish for immortality. It is one thing that separates men from the gods” ( ).

--From Smith and Suris, Gods and Man, page 575

4. “When did man first question his place in the universe? ( ).

--From The Lives of Mortals, page 63

5. “There are many deities in the Greek pantheon ( ).

--From “Your Journey in Mythology,” page 1

-----------------------

Beyer 8

Works Cited

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New Jersey: Princeton UP, 1973.

___. The Power of Myth. New York: Doubleday, 1988.

Howard, Thomas. “Mythic Journeys.” Ed. David Solomon. Myths in World Literature. New York: O.G., 2008.

Smith, Charles. The Lives of Mortals. Ontario: Uptown Press, 2001.

Smith, Charles, and Kevin Suris. Gods and Man. Ohio: Ohio State UP, 2008.

“Your Journey in Mythology.” Mythology on the Web. Ed. Pam Angelus. 14 Feb. 2008.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download