Week 5: MLA Style Documentation and Formatting
Week of Mon, Sep 14 · week closes Fri, Sep 18
This week's items
Exact due times are in Canvas. Late out-of-class assignments accepted up to one week past the original due date. In-class process work and Discussion Board assignments cannot be made up.
Know these cold
- MLA 9th edition uses an author-page in-text citation system: the author's last name and page number appear in parentheses at the end of the sentence: (Torres 42). No comma between name and page number.
- If the author's name appears in the signal phrase, only the page number goes in parentheses: Torres describes the scene as 'terrifying' (42). The period follows the closing parenthesis.
- A Works Cited entry lists sources alphabetically by author's last name. Every entry follows the MLA nine-element container framework: Author. Title. Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
- For a book: Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year. For a website article: Last, First. 'Title of Article.' Website Name, Date, URL.
- Every essay must include a Works Cited page, even if you only have one source. Begin the page on a new page after the text of your essay. Title it 'Works Cited' (centered, not bolded).
- Block quotations (more than four typed lines) are formatted differently: start on a new line, indent one inch from the left margin, no quotation marks, citation after the period (not before). Block quotes are rare in undergraduate essays — use them sparingly.
- Format checklist for every essay: last name and page number in top right header; 'Name, Professor Upchurch, EGL 1010, Date' block in top left; centered title (not bolded or underlined); double-spaced throughout; 1-inch margins; indented paragraphs; 12-point Times New Roman.
- The hanging indent in Works Cited: the first line of each entry is flush left; every subsequent line is indented half an inch. Most word processors produce this with Format > Paragraph > Special: Hanging.
Discussion and forum — how to show up
Discussion post
- Create a Works Cited entry for one source you plan to use in the Synthesis Essay. Bring it to class to check against a partner's.
- What is the difference between a works cited page and a bibliography? When does MLA use each?
Netiquette from the syllabus: address ideas, not people. Complete sentences, correct spelling. Personal matters go to email, never the board.
Meerk's quiz — open the Week 5 gate
10 questions, no time limit. 85% on your first attempt in a 24-hour window opens the gate. Retakes inside the window are practice — they help you learn, they don't count. Work alone; the point is to know it, not to have seen it.
Dinner Table Question
Ask at home: Why does academic writing require exact documentation of sources, when in everyday conversation we rarely say where our information comes from?
En español: ¿Por qué la escritura académica exige documentar las fuentes con exactitud, cuando en la conversación cotidiana rara vez decimos de dónde viene la información?