MLA at Frederick County Public Schools OverviewMLA格式弗雷德里克公立学校的概述

1、mla formatwhat should my notes look like? 3x5 notecards loose leaf paper post-its/sticky notes highlight underline organize!- outline!so what should i write down? anything and everything that relates to the question! be short and sweet! but! dont rely too heavily on memory, because you may forget! w

2、rite down source information, too! remember that its fine to copy down duplicating facts. you may need them later on to defend your thesis. for major issues, having more than one person who agrees with you strengthens your point. just make sure to record who said what each time. its also okay to cop

3、y down contradictory information. counterpoints and opposing views sometimes strengthen an argument!whatever you take notes on, be sure to take them from more than one or two key sources. variety is the key! the final piece of data to record is a working “works cited.” begin jotting one down as soon

4、 as you begin- so you dont forget when it comes time to draft a paper! (a common error and stress-inducer). youll need: author, title, (editor, translator, and/or edition number if there is one), publisher, city of publication, year of publication, issue number, volume, and page numbers). the search

5、 terms you entered into any database and any urls (web site addresses) for online information come in handy for easy re-access to a resource should something come in question later on. in short, throw out nothing! take care to distinguish between: background or commonly known facts in the field that

6、 you can assume your audience already knows (e.g., radio has evolved into an incredibly portable and music-based medium). your own knowledge acquired from a course makes you a great source of such background data!other not-so-commonly-known facts such as some unbelievable statistic you found that yo

7、ull have to cite at the point of discussion (e.g., research has shown that 95% of students listen to the radio while they study)opinions which are usually the most contentious of all. if dr. z believes something is the case, then record that he believes it.though you should limit this, if you absolu

8、tely must take a direct quotation, (1) change to a different colored pen, (2)put huge quotation marks around it, (3) dont forget the page number and source. dont count on remembering later that it was copied down word for word; you might accidentally believe you paraphrased it in which case careless

9、 plagiarism will probably take place.the gist of being critical is not to criticize, but to question, to not take anything you read at face value. structure, purpose, audience, and author are four important dimensions of the text to pay close attention to: when evaluating- look for: structure- what

10、parts relate to my research? purpose- what is the author saying? audience- who are they talking to? author- is my sources writer credible?structure if youre starting with a book, look at the table of contents to see if it relates!skim the preface or introduction to see the authors reason for writing

11、 the piece, and if it relates!for a journal article, read the abstract for a summary. if it seems to address your question or thesis. or read the background or introduction section which will normally have some kind of literature review or summary of what others have said. conclusions or discussions

12、 are a great place to turn to next before getting bogged down in minute detail. did the author answer the research question or support the thesis? starting with the intro and conclusion is a good strategy for analyzing essays as well, online or otherwise. purposeexamine the title and first few parag

13、raphs.what is the author trying to do? what is his or her bias? look at the publisher or institutional/organizational affiliation of the author. does the person have a vested interest in swaying you one way or another? a book on management style will be markedly different if it comes from some corpo

14、rate management committee compared to union representatives. it would even be different presented by a professor of economics rather than a professor specializing in human relations and organizational psychology. audience who does the intended audience appear to be? how narrow or broad is it? to ans

15、wer this, look at stylistic choices such as diction and tone. for instance, are there a lot of technical words? if so, look them up. and finally, what stake does the target audience have in the issue? in other words, why would the audience be reading the text? who would you be imagining yourself tal

16、king to in your paper?authorwho is the author? is it someone your professor has mentioned or whom youve come across in your course readings? has the person been mentioned in other texts or bibliographies of other texts? presence in the scholarly community is one of the ways to establish authority. a

17、nother is education and/or expertise. is the person a teacher or researcher from a reputable academic institution? does the person have considerable knowledge of what he or she is talking about? is the author respected and well-received? you wouldnt let just anyone off the street walk into your home

18、, so make your sources establish rapport and trust with you before you just let them walk on into your research paper.evaluation quiz after reading and analyzing your works, you should answer yes to each of the following three questions: does the date of the source match the level of currency you ne

19、ed for your paper? a source from the late 1970s wouldnt be appropriate for an examination of current multi-media issues or the latest microsurgery techniques, but it would still be appropriate for a study of homer. currency is more important in subject areas that are frequently researched (where the

20、ories are frequently rejected and updated); therefore, the physical and social sciences need more current sources than subjects like literature.is the author a credible source? in other words, has authority and expertise been established? there arent ulterior motives colouring the text?is the source

21、 relevant to your thesis or question, i.e., useful? if the source argues thoughtfully and logically, helps you look at something differently, and gives you possible answers for your question or evidence for your thesis, then its a keeper!exercise 5: evaluating sourcesyoure writing a paper with the f

22、ollowing research question: has the modern womens movement forced the roman catholic church to consider allowing women to take leadership positions within the church? which of the following sources would you initially evaluate as useful to you? the international encyclopedia of the social sciences,

23、1968. an article entitled the history of women and the church in a 1992 copy of the journal church and society. a book, growing up catholic: an infinitely funny guide for the faithful, the fallen, and everyone in-between. a book entitled feminist theory: the intellectual traditions of american femin

24、ism. an article entitled a symposium on the catholic ethic and feminism, in the international journal of politics, culture, and society published in 1995. an article entitled feminism corrupts the church in the catholic digest magazine published in 1995. what are the differences among quoting, parap

25、hrasing, and summarizing?these three ways of incorporating other writers work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. they must match the source document word for

26、 word and must be attributed to the original author.paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. a paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of t

27、he source and condensing it slightly.summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview

28、of the source material.why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. you might use them to . . .provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing give examples of severa

29、l points of view on a subject call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own expand t

30、he breadth or depth of your writing writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. as part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following e

31、xample:in his famous and influential work on the interpretation of dreams, sigmund freud argues that dreams are the royal road to the unconscious (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamers unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the dream work (page #). according to freud, actual but u

32、nacceptable desires are censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #s).how to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries1. read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.

33、2. summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is. 3. paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay. consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly. there are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. rem

34、ember that quoting should be done only sparingly! a paraphrase is.o our own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form. o one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source. o a more detailed restatement than a

35、 summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea. paraphrasing is a valuable skill because.it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage. it helps you control the temptation to quote too much. the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp t

36、he full meaning of the original. 6 steps to effective paraphrasing1. reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning. 2. set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card. 3. jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this m

37、aterial. at the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase. 4. check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form. 5. use quotation marks to identify any unique term o

38、r phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source. 6. record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper. students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse

39、quotations in the final research paper. probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. lester, james d. writing research papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 4

40、6-47. a legitimate paraphrase:in research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (lester 46-47). an acceptable summary:stud

41、ents should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (lester 46-47). a plagiarized version:students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. i

42、n fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. so it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes. short quotationsto indicate short quotations (fewer than four typed lines of prose or three lines of verse) in your text,

43、 enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. provide the author and specific page citation (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the text, and include a complete reference on the works cited page. punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the pa

44、renthetical citation. question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text. for example:according to some, dreams express profound aspects of personality (foulkes 1

45、84), though others disagree.according to foulkess study, dreams may express profound aspects of personality (184).is it possible that dreams may express profound aspects of personality (foulkes 184)?mark breaks in short quotations of verse with a slash, /, at the end of each line of verse: (a space

46、should precede and follow the slash)cullen concludes, of all the things that happened there / thats all i remember (11-12).long quotationsplace quotations longer than four typed lines in a free-standing block of text, and omit quotation marks. start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote

47、 indented one inch from the left margin; maintain double-spacing. only indent the first line of the quotation by a half inch if you are citing multiple paragraphs. your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. when quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (you shou

48、ld maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.) for example:nelly dean treats heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration:they entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and i had no more sense, so, i put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it woul

49、d be gone on the morrow. by chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to mr. earnshaws door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. inquiries were made as to how it got there; i was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house

50、. (bronte 78)in her poem sources, adrienne rich explores the roles of women in shaping their world:the faithful drudging childthe child at the oak desk whose penmanship,hard work, style will win her prizesbecomes the woman with a mission, not to win prizesbut to change the laws of history. (23)poetr

51、yadding or omitting words in quotations if you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text.jan harold brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states: some individuals who retell urban legends make a point of lea

52、rning every rumor or tale (78).if you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or words by using ellipsis marks, which are three periods (.) preceded and followed by a space. for example:in an essay on urban legends, jan harold brunvand notes that some individuals

53、make a point of learning every recent rumor or tale . and in a short time a lively exchange of details occurs (78).works cited! begin on a new page! arrange alphabetically! no author? no problem! arrange alphabetically by title! use a “hanging” indentation (see: format paragraph) follow each item in

54、 the works cited with a period, as if each were a separate sentence! type double space no extra spaces between entries necessary! lannon, john m. technical writing. boston: little, brown and company, 1982. endnote:1 john m. lannon, technical writing (boston: little, brown and company, 1982) 139. par

55、enthetical note: (lannon 139) or (lannon, 139)basic in-text citation rules in mla style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using whats known as parenthetical citation. immediately following a quotation from a source or a paraphrase of a sources ideas, you place the authors nam

56、e followed by a space and the relevant page number(s).human beings have been described as symbol-using animals (burke 3).when a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. place the title in quotation marks if its a short work, or italicize or underline i

57、t if its a longer work.your in-text citation will correspond with an entry in your works cited page, which, for the burke citation above, will look something like this:burke, kenneth. language as symbolic action: essays on life, literature, and method. berkeley: u of california p, 1966. (smith, 1) (

58、smith 1)multiple citations to cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:.as has been discussed elsewhere (burke 3; dewey 21).works cited page: basic format basic rulesbegin your works cited page on a separate page at the end of your research pa

59、per. it should have the same header as your paper. label the page works cited (do not underline the words works cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words works cited at the top of the page. double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries. list page numbers of sour

60、ces efficiently, when needed. if you refer to a journal article that appeared on pages 225 through 250, list the page numbers on your works cited page as 225-50. capitalization and punctuationcapitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalize articles, short prepositio