MLA documentation essay

This piece was an assignment in my Composition II class about the process of using MLA-style format to explain how to properly cite sources within a text which corresponds with the works cited page.

Citing Sources in MLA Format
​Research papers compiled by college students will need to include a source format. There are others, but the MLA system is the format used in most college papers. To implement this correctly when using words, information, phrases, or ideas that are not common knowledge, quotes from any source, or paraphrasing previously published work, a citation must be included (441).
​Two reasons for citing sources are, “to tell readers where your information comes from so that they can assess its reliability and, if interested, find and read the original source, and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas” (Hacker et al. 441). However, the obvious and arguably the biggest reason to cite your sources is to avoid plagiarism. Nothing ruins a college career like writing the perfect paper but forgetting to cite your sources, therefore ending your college career for plagiarizing someone else’s work.
​A great rule of thumb is if you have even a small amount of doubt as to whether to cite the source or not, just do it. For example, if summarizing a source, meaning the words are your own, but derived from the ideas of another, a simple page number enclosed in parentheses will suffice. This example is called an in-text citation.
​In-text citations containing a source word-for-word would require quotation marks enclosing as such, followed by the author’s last name and page number wrapped in parentheses. If the quotation happens to be particularly long, a colon preceded by an informative introductory sentence should be used, indenting the quotation that follows. The required quotations marks are irrelevant in this instance hence the indentation (449). Every in-text citation should have a corresponding, much more in-depth citing of the source in the works cited list at the end of any paper containing at least one cited source.
​The works cited page should be titled as such and should always be found at the end of a paper, beginning on a new page. Alphabetizing your works cited page along with indenting all but the first line one-half inch is a “technique which highlights the names of the authors, making it easy for readers to scan the alphabetized list” (Hacker et al. 516).
​All-in-all, it is very important to give credit where it is due, and citing any source within an essay containing words, ideas, etc. that are any other’s than your own is the way to avoid plagiarism. MLA-style is the preferred format for most colleges, and I hope after reading my essay you can better understand the format and some of the rules associated with it.

Works Cited
Hacker, Diana, et al. Rules for Writers. Bedford/St. Martins 2016, pp 441-525.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Relate to this being an English teacher at two community colleges.
And all true, except for "Work Cited" being in quotation marks...
But yes, credit to authors, and even work that is paraphrased needs the original author's name, either in the tag or in the parentheses with the page number.
Such a tricky undertaking with research papers. For the most part I dislike them immensely. Just a regurgitation of what others have said already.
And I also feel teachers and students over complicate the process.
thanks for this.
j.

[Kelli April]

I thoroughly enjoyed this class. This assignment was a hardship for many in my class. So much so, that against his own rules, the professor reopened the assignment to allow a one-half letter grade improvement to those who refused. I received one of the 4 As so I did not have to worry about that. However, I caught the same mistake you did after I submitted it! I like to think it makes me human, because I try my best, but sometimes things aren’t ALWAYS going to be perfect and I find it refreshing to be reminded of that from time to time. Thank you for taking the time to read my work! 😊I love love love to write and I wish there were more composition classes available for me to enroll in. Haha.