MLA Quiz

Guys,

Here is your MLA quiz for today's class. Go to: MLA 2009 Guide @ OWL Purdue to complete the assignment. Please write your answers on a piece of paper or type them and email them to me (benjamin.taylor@eku.edu). DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS ON THE BLOG. Do your own work--do not help each other on the quiz.

QUIZ

1) What information do you need in order to correctly reference a BOOK on your WORKS CITED page?

2) How do you organize sources on your WORKS CITED page?

3) What information goes in the HEADER of your document?

4) What information goes in the top left corner of the FIRST PAGE (only) of your document?

5) In what FONT SIZE should you write your paper?

6) Do you have to include a website's URL (example: www.blogger.com) in a reference on your WORKS CITED page?

7) What 8 points does OWL recommend you include when listing a WEBSITE on your WORKS CITED page?

8) What are PERIODICALS? List 3 examples.

For WEDNESDAY, December 1st

Jack and Ahmed,

I have linked you (below) to a .PDF file for you to read before class on Wednesday. It is about Instant Messaging, which doesn't relate to either of your essays, but it is in proper MLA style and will serve as a helpful guide as you edit your papers.

Please read this file and pay careful attention to the notes made with regard to style. Also, keep in mind that this is copyrighted material and should only be used for class purposes (otherwise we could get in legal trouble!).

If you have any questions, let me know.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF FILE

Ben

MLA Example

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20090701095636_747.pdf

Your In-class Assignment for Today (04 November)

Ahmed and Jack,

Today in class, you have an assignment that will help you improve your library-based research skills.

The first thing you will do is take today's class time to find two printed resources that will help you with your research topics. Get them from EKU's library before the end of class. The two sources must be printed, but they can be in the same book. That means if Jack finds a book called "A Collection of Awesome Essays about American Movies" and it has two interesting articles in it, he can use it for both sources. Same goes for you too, Ahmed; if one book has two good sources, it counts as both of them.

After you have your two sources, make a post on the class blog (Composition Research Source) with the title of each source.

The second thing you'll need to do is go to this website and browse around. The website is called the Online Writing Lab and is published by Purdue University. It is a very, very helpful source for learning how to document your essay. For now, just read it. We are going to be learning MLA style in class.

See you soon!

Ben

First Sources

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University is a tremendously useful source for anyone conducting research. Check it out here: Online Writing Lab .


The OWL is updated regularly and includes information on citing in APA style, MLA style, and Chicago style. For E. E. L. I. students, you will focus on MLA citation style for this term; my ENG 102 students will use whatever citation style best suits your discipline. For example, you should cite a health-related paper with APA style because APA style acknowledges the date a piece of research was published and therefore ensures a source is not obsolete. In the humanities, you use MLA style because new sources don't make older sources (from the early 1990s) obsolete quite as quickly. Citing news and other current-events documents are different; we'll talk about them in class.


I haven't had a chance to look over this site yet, but I think it will help you get started looking for online information. It's called The Free Library . They've got newer sources and older ones; if you decide to use any of these sources in your papers, you will need to cite the website (the online version of the source); we'll discuss that in class.


Don't forget about Eastern's Library . The inter-library loan (ILLiad) is indispensable while you research, as are the multitudes of other online resources. We'll discuss online resources in class. If you do choose to use ILLiad to help you find sources, I suggest you do it early; it often takes a little over a week to get a source from one university to another. Digital files don't take terribly long, but books do. Look around, I'm sure you'll find something helpful.




Happy Researching,
Ben