How to Cite a Source in Your Paper and in the Bibliography, MLA Style

The Modern Language Association (MLA) Style is widely used for identifying research sources. In MLA style you briefly credit sources with parenthetical citations in the text of your paper, and give the complete description of each source in your Bibliography, which is a list of all the sources used in your paper, arranged alphabetically by author's last name, or when there is no author, by the first word of the title (except A, An or The).

FOR OUR PAPERS IN THIS CLASS, we are going to use the MLA style. MLA stands for “Modern Language Association.” Your citations in your bibliography for this paper must be in MLA style.

WEB ARTICLE CITATION, MLA STYLE:
Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Name of publication. Date of publication. Web Site Name. Date of access with day, then month, then year .

Batchelor, Bob. "Bootlegging." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Apr. 2010 .

Complete publication information may not be available for a Web site. Provide what is given.

Entire Internet Site: Scholarly Project or Professional Site

Title of the Site. Editor. Date and/or Version Number. Name of Sponsoring Institution. Date of Access .

Encyclopedia Mythica. 2004. 13 May 2004 .

Document from a Web Site

Author. "Title of Web Page." Title of the Site. Editor. Date and/or Version Number.
Name of Sponsoring Institution. Date of Access .

Sherman, Chris. "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About URL." SearchEngineWatch. Ed. Danny Sullivan. 24 Aug. 2004. 4 Sept. 2004 .

Interview Conducted by the Researcher
Person Interviewed. Type of Interview (personal, telephone, email, etc.). Date.
Nakamura, Michael. Personal interview. 23 July 2004.

TELEVISION PROGRAM:
"Title of Episode or Segment." Title of Program or Series. Credit (Performer, writer, etc). Name of Network. Call Letters (if any), City of Local Station (if any). Broadcast Date.

"Daddy Knows Best." Cold Case Files. Narr. Bill Kurtis. A & E. 6 Sept. 2004.

"Why the Towers Fell." Nova. PBS. KHET, Honolulu. 7 Sept. 2004.

WITHIN THE TEXT OF THE PAPER, YOU SHOULD CITE THE SOURCES LIKE THIS:

Abraham Lincoln's birthplace was designated as a National Historical Site in 1959 (National Park Service).

Note: Personal or corporate author and page number should be given if they exist on the website.

FOR YOUR FURTHER INFORMATION:
The other two common styles used for citing sources in papers are Chicago Style and APA (American Psychological Association) style. You may be required to use those styles for some courses in college, but for now, I just want you to see what they look like, and how they’re different from MLA.

Here are some examples of how these different styles look:

WEB ARTICLE CITATION IN A BIBLIOGRAPHY, CHICAGO STYLE:
Batchelor, Bob. "Bootlegging." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (April 26, 2010). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401800513.html

WEB ARTICLE CITATION IN A BIBLIOGRAPHY, APA STYLE:
Batchelor, Bob. "Bootlegging." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved April 26, 2010 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401800513.html

Due Dates and Further Details on Structure:

Your paper is due on Monday, May 3rd. Your paper should have:
1) An introduction, stating your research question and answering it briefly.

2) Body paragraphs that go into detail, in which you describe your understanding of the research you've done, and backing it up with evidence from the research sources that you've used and citing your sources.

3) A conclusion that reaffirms your initial answer to your research question.

Pacing and Deadlines

There are seven days left 'til the end of the cycle. Pace yourself wisely. Make sure you attend every day. By tomorrow, you should have your introduction and your first page. Next week will be spent completing the paper. We only have four days, because next Friday is the Health Fair. The paper, including the title page and bibliography, is due May 4th.

Identifying Your Research Sources

Use the Research URLs worksheet to indicate what web sites you have vetted and are using as sources for your paper. The Source Identification Sheet must be completed, and in your folder in order for you to proceed with your research.

Mid-Cycle Assessment

How well do you understand what you are reading? Together, we are going through your work, and the process with which you come to understand the materials you have gathered. In your folder is your Skills Assessment Checklist. We use that to both determine your current level of mastery, and to plan goals as we move forward in this class.

How Your Paper Must be Structured

Introduction: State your research question and answer it.

The rest of the paper uses evidence from your research to support your opinion, stated in the introduction.

The conclusion restates your opinion and summarizes the evidence.

EVERY PIECE OF EVIDENCE YOU USE MUST BE CITED!!!!!! THAT MEANS YOU MUST USE FOOTNOTES AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY AT THE END. ALSO, in the text you have to say, “According to…” or some similar phrase to indicate where you got your information.

Research Materials Due

Each student must have at least three research articles articles printed out, vetted (that means identified as reliable sources), and highlighted. Those articles should be in your folder by the end of the day.

Reading Your Research

As you look at the articles you find, use the reading strategies we practiced in the first semester to figure out the meaning of what you see before you. If you encounter words you don't know, what strategies can you use to figure out their meaning? Of course you can always use a dictionary, but there are other strategies that we have learned about in the past that can help you. Remember context clues, breaking the word down into parts (prefix, root word and suffix), and activating prior knowledge. Activating prior knowledge means using what you already know to help you understand what you are learning and reading now. For instance, an example of prior knowledge might be your knowledge of Spanish. You may recognize a root word as being similar to a Spanish word. That would most likely be because both the English and Spanish words have their root in a Latin word. In that way, your prior knowledge of Spanish can help you understand what you're reading in English today. Also, always evaluate what you're reading to make sure the source is reputable.

Gathering Your Research

Make sure you have a copy of the "What Does Good Internet Research Looks Like?" handout. Begin your research using the standards and practices outlined in the handout.

REMEMBER: Your topic must be approved by me and then signed by you on your Research Paper Planning Worksheet.

Evaluating Work

In each of your folders you will find the ELA Skills Checklist, that evaluates your reading, writing and listening skills. Your ability to express yourself, along with your comprehension, interpretation and analysis of materials will be measured on this checklist. You can use the checklist's criteria to evaluate your research. Are you able to understand, interpret and analyze the research material that you have gathered? If you cannot, you will have to continue to search and find more useful material for your research paper.