The Writer’s Blueprint Ms. McNamara
English 9 Room E218
Section 1: The MLA Format What is MLA?
A system of citations developed by the Modern Language Association. MLA is most often used by English and humanities classes. Papers using the MLA format are based on sources (novels, articles, short stories, poems, etc.) and present three main challenges:
1. Supporting a thesis statement (the claim of your argument) 2. Citing your sources and avoiding plagiarism
3. Citing and explaining quotations to support your claim*
*Adapted from A Writer’s Reference: Eighth Edition by Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers
MLA Guidelines
When writing a word-processed paper, the following guidelines must be used:
1. Times New Roman
a. “Cute” or “fancy” fonts take away from your writing – do not use them!
2. 12 point font
a. This includes your title – titles that are larger than 12 do not “pop,” but take away from the formality of your paper
3. A heading
a. Your name (first and last) b. Teacher’s name
c. Class name
d. Date the assignment is due 4. Page numbers
a. Your last name must be typed in front of the page number 5. Double-spaced
6. 1-inch margins
7. When writing out the titles of various works: a. Minor Works: Quotation marks
i. Short stories, poems, articles, songs b. Novels/Plays: Italics
i. Novels, plays, albums, movies
The formatting of your writing is critical to its success. You want readers to focus on your ideas and the way they are conveyed – sloppy formatting takes away from their experience.
Section 1.1: MLA Guidelines Sample
Section 2: In-Text Citations Why do I need them?
In order to strengthen your ideas and claims in any written piece, it is
important that you incorporate appropriate quotations from the text you are working with for support. If you cannot support them with hard evidence from a text, your argument loses credibility. Without evidence, your ideas become biased; a biased opinion will lose your reader.
How do I cite my quotations?
To properly cite your quotations, use the I.C.E. strategy. When used, this three-step process is sure to create correct citations every single time. The three steps are:
1. Introduce 2. Cite 3. Explain
The I.C.E. Strategy
I. Introduce
No matter what genre of literature you are citing, all quotes must be set up with a proper introduction. This lead in must introduce the author and/or speaker of the quote. Introductions can also introduce the title of the work from which you are citing.
Shakespeare writes, …. Romeo says, ….
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare writes, ….
II. Cite
The formatting of your in-text citations will vary from genre to genre. How you cite a quote from a novel or short story will be much different from how you cite a quote from a play.
Citing from novels, short stories, and articles
When citing a quote from the above genres, your citations will include the author’s name and the page number on which you found the quote.
Example: If you wanted to cite text evidence from “The Right to the Streets of Memphis,” your properly integrated quote would look like this:
o Richard Wright says, “The hunger I had known before this had been no grim, hostile stranger; it had been a normal hunger that had made me beg constantly for bread, and when I ate a crust or two I was satisfied. But this new hunger baffled me, scared me, made me angry and insistent” (118).
If you have not introduced the author’s name in your introduction, you may place their last name in the citation.
o (Wright 118).
Citing from poetry and epic poetry
Your citations for a work of poetry will indicate the lines numbers you are quoting for support.
Example: If you wanted to cite three or less lines from “Fire and Ice,” your properly integrated quote would look like this:
o Robert Frost writes, “Some say the world will end in fire / Some say in ice” (1-2).
o Note: When using this format, you must use forward slashes in between each of the individual lines. You must also keep the capitalization and punctuation as it is in the original text. Example: If you wanted to cite four or more lines from “Fire and
Ice,” your properly integrated quote will look like this: Robert Frost writes:
Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
Note: When using this format, the period to mark the end of the quote comes at the end of the line rather than after the citation
Your citations for a work of epic poetry will indicate the book number from which you are citing the lines and the line numbers themselves.
Example: If you wanted to cite lines from Homer’s The Odyssey, your properly integrated quote would look like this:
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end,
after he plundered the stronghold
on the proud height of Troy. (1. 1-5) Citing from plays
Your citations for plays will look much different than those for novels and short stories. The punctuation remains the same, but rather than citing page numbers you will now cite the act, scene and line numbers you are citing. Page numbers cannot be used when citing lines from a drama.
Shakespeare writes, “I fear, too early; for my mind misgives/ Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,/ Shall bitterly begin his fearful date/ With this night’s revels and expire the term/ Of a despised life, closed in my breast,/ By some vile forfeit of untimely death” (1.5. 106-111).
When citing a conversation between two or more characters, your quote will look like this:
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare writes:
ROMEO: Thou chidst me oft for loving Rosaline
FRIAR LAURENCE: Not in a grave/ To lay one in, another ought to have (2.4. 81-84).
Here, notice the absence of quotation marks around the text. You can only leave off the quotation marks when using this format. This format can only be used when quoting a conversation between two or more characters.
III. Explain
After you have introduced and cited your quote, you must provide an
explanation for your chosen text evidence. You and I do not have the exact same ideas on everything, so you do not want to assume that your reader will be able to understand how your quote supports your argument; if they do not draw the same conclusion as you, your argument could lose
credibility. All explanations should be at least 2-3 sentences long
For example: Richard Wright says, “The hunger I had known before this had been no grim, hostile stranger; it had been a normal hunger that had made me beg constantly for bread, and when I ate a crust or two I was satisfied. But this new hunger baffled me, scared me, made me angry and insistent” (118). As a child, Wright was very familiar with the concept of “normal” hunger. At this moment in his life, however, the hunger he faced was new. The lack of food in his house created a hunger that could not be satisfied with a piece of bread. He was so hungry that he became confused, angry, and, most importantly, scared.
Section 3: The Dos and Don’ts of Academic Writing
Papers written at the high school level are academic and, therefore, must utilize a more formal style of writing. The language you use must reflect the formality of the assignment. The following is a list of items you should avoid in formal writing, as well as those you should incorporate into your work.
DO NOT… DO…
Use slang or text-speak: The way you talk to your friends is not the way to convey your ideas in a formal piece of writing. “Gonna,” “Wanna,” etc. are not real words.
“Going to” and “want to” are real; use them.
Use contractions: Contractions are
conversational. Spell out the entire phrase: “do not”; “cannot”; “should not”; “would have”
Use generic language: Words such as “basically,” and “definitely” are informal and make you sound unsure of your own ideas.
Use narrative writing: The use of any variation of the first and second person makes your writing biased. Your academic papers should be objective and based on hard facts, not personal feelings.
Use cliché phrases: All of
Explain your ideas
thoroughly: If you do not fully explain your ideas, your readers may not understand the conclusions you are trying to make.
Use specific language: Specific language brings a confidence to your writing that vague language cannot. Provide text evidence to
support your claims: Without evidence, your readers have no reason to trust your points.
Use verb tenses consistently: As a text can be read across many generations, the events and ideas are ever present and relevant. Therefore, your academic papers should be written in the present tense. Write creative titles for your
your writing should be original and unique.
Sample Works Cited resources
1) https://www.monmouth.edu/uploadedFiles/Resources_for_Writers/ Research_and_Documentation/CitingPoetry.pdf
