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Drew University Composition Program Writing in the Disciplines Guide.
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| Writing papers in English and Foreign Language classes |
THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION The Modern Language Association (MLA) is the association for professors of English and Modern Languages. The MLA sponsors a major conference every December, in addition to publishing books and--of most relevance to you--guidelines for writing papers and articles on literature. The two main publications you'll need to be concerned about are: Modern Language Association Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Sixth Edition, Ed. Joseph Gibaldi New York: Modern Language Association, 2003. The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, Second Edition, Ed. Joseph Gibaldi. New York: Modern Language Association, 1998. You can learn more about the MLA at its official website (www.mla.org/), and at the page entitled "What is MLA Style?" (www.mla.org/publications/style). One annoying thing about learning all these rules is that MLA changes them between editions. Some of these changes occur as a result of changes in sources as the Association tries to keep up with the ever-expanding on-line databases. Other changes occur because members suggest them or reject earlier changes (such as placing ellipses within square brackets, which the 5th Edition introduced and the 6th Edition abandoned). There is a committee that reviews proposed changes and rationale, and every few years a new edition is published that includes new rules. What is an English major to do? Luckily people care about your plight, and both the MLA's own website and other sites publish lists of changes. The MLA site is at http://www.mla.org/publications/style/style_faq/what_is_new_in_the_s Here is another site for the 6th edition: http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/MLA_changes_6ed.pdf MLA Citation When you write papers for classes in the departments of English, French and Italian, Spanish, German and Russian, and Classics, you will be expected to use MLA in-text citation, the method of text citation designed by the Modern Language Association. To learn everything you need to know about correct MLA citation, you should buy the official Handbook (the 6th Edition) listed above. (The Style Manual is mostly used by professors and graduate students. Most Writer's Handbooks cover all you will need to know about style.) There is a nice color-coded guide to the works cited list material from the 6th edition at http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm Other Guidelines for those writing English literature papers * For guidelines on how to write an English literature paper and correctly cite poems, songs, plays, and novels, check out: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/literature.htm * For general writing guidelines, see: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/index.html * For the ultimate revision advice, consult www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/12stepediting.htm * And for excellent proofreading advice, see: cal.bemidji.msus.edu/WRC/Handouts/ProofandEdit.html Thanks to Lauren Kane for pointing out some of these sites. Send me other suggestions and I will add them! |