/MLAWorkshop

How MLA Prevents Plagiarism

…format In-Text Citations.

…format my Works Cited page.

…determine if a source is valid.

For more help…

MLA  Allows readers to easily and

accurately cross-reference your sources.  Provides consistent style of documentation for research papers and projects in the humanities and English fields.

MLA protects EVERYONE against plagiarism and academic dishonesty.

According to Dictionary.com, plagiarism is “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work .”

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Books Anthologies Journals/Periodicals Magazines SOME Websites › Website extensions:  .org, .edu, .gov › News Sources:  CNN, NY Times, Orlando Sentinel

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Personal or Commercial Websites: › Blogs › Wikipedia › About.com › GeoCities.com › Personal Websites › Spark Notes Be Careful of Bias Sources!!!

Quoting a source word for word  Paraphrasing a source by putting another writer’s ideas into your own words  Summarizing the main points of a source in your own words 

Let’s say you find a quote from a text that supports your argument in your essay…

Here’s the selection of text: “She tore off the battered hat and shook out her dark pretty hair.”

Here’s the author: John Steinbeck Here’s the page number:197

Integrate your quotes smoothly.

Soon after meeting the peddler, Elisa “tore off the battered hat and shook out her dark pretty hair” (Steinbeck 197).

Your own words

Quote from text

Soon after meeting the peddler, Elisa “tore off the battered hat and shook out her dark pretty hair” (Steinbeck 197).

In parenthesis, indicate author’s last name and page #

As you can see, the citation has been smoothly incorporated into the sentence.

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If a quotation extends more than 4 lines, set it off from your text by beginning a new line, indenting 1”, and typing it double-spaced, without adding quotation marks.

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A colon ( : ) generally introduces the quote. The in-text citation comes at the end of the last line of the quotation.

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If the block quote is in the middle of the paragraph, continue the paragraph on a new line without indenting.

At the conclusion of Lord of the Flies, Ralph and the other boys realize the horror of their actions: The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (168)

The Basics The Works Cited page should be its own page at end of your essay Label the page Works Cited. Do not italicize, underline or put the words Works Cited in quotations.

Entries are listed alphabetically.

Double space all citations.

Indent the subsequent line of each citation five spaces, so you create a hanging indention.

From a Book Author last name, First name. Title of book. City of Publication: Publishing Company, Year Published.

Print.

Once you’ve established the format for each entry, it’s just a matter of plugging in the correct information.

Author’s last name and first name

Book title

Johnson, Roberta. Gender and Nation in the Spanish Modernist Novel. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2003.

Print.

City of publication

Publishing company

Year published

From an Anthology Selection Author last name, First name: “Title of Selection.” Title of Anthology. Editor of Anthology.

City of Publication: Publishing Company, Year Published. Page numbers of selection. Print.

Now, let’s plug in the information. Also, take notice the indentions in the entry.

Selection author last name, first name

Title of selection

Title of anthology

More, Hannah. “The Black Slave Trade: A Poem.” British Women Poets of the Romantic Era. Ed. Paula R. Feldman. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. 472-82. Print.

Editor of anthology Publishing company

Year published

Page numbers of selection

City of publication

From an Article on an Online Database Author Last name, First name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal. Version number and Issue Number (Year of Publication): Page numbers of Article. Title of Database. Web. Date Accessed.

Author last name, first name

Title of article

Tolson, Nancy. “Making Books Available: The Role of Early Libraries, Librarians, and Booksellers in the Promotion of African American Children’s Literature.” African American Review 32.1 (1998): 916. JSTOR. Web. 5 June 2008.

Title of journal

Page numbers of article

Title of database

Date YOU accessed article

Version # and Issue #

Year of publication

For a more comprehensive list about the various MLA documentation formats, go to the Valencia College Library website.

http://valenciacollege.edu/library/documentation.cfm Here, you will find style guides for both MLA and APA formats.

Once you’ve found your source guide, it’s just a matter of plugging in the appropriate information.

Works Cited Blocker, Clyde E., Robert H. Plummer, and Richard C. Richardson, Jr. The Two-Year College: A Social Synthesis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall, 1965. Print.

It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Thomas Mitchell. RKO, 1946. Film Picasso, Pablo. Guernica. 1937. Museum of Mod. Art, Spain.

Piper, Andrew. “Rethinking the Print Object: Goethe and the Book of Everything.” PMLA 121.1 (2006): 124-38. Print.

Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops Behind Enemy Lines.” CNN.com.

Cable News Network, 19 March 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.

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Text resources: › MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th Edition. › Brief McGraw-Hill Handbook 2009 MLA Update, Student Edition

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Valencia Communications Student Support (Click the link to find your nearest location)

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Online resources: › Valencia Library MLA Resource Page http://valenciacollege.edu/library/documentation.cfm

› OWL Purdue http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

 East

Campus, 4-120

http://valenciacollege.edu/east/academicsuccess/writing/

 Winter

Park Campus, Room 136

http://www.valenciacollege.edu/wp/cssc/

 West

Campus, 5-155

http://valenciacollege.edu/west/lss/communications/writing.cfm

 Osceola

Campus, 3-100

http://valenciacollege.edu/osceola/learningcenter/writing.asp