College Writing

College Writing Study Guide Page 11 of 42 name] argues.” In each case, you separate your words from the source’s words clearly and explicitly. 2. Quote or Paraphrase – Whatever you’re taking from the source is the second element of every citation. If you’re directly quoting from the source, be sure to quote it exactly and indi- cate the text you’re taking from the source with quotation marks. Misquoting a source is an example of academic dishonesty. Sometimes authors only need parts of the quote, and they indicate that text was omitted with […] – ellipses in brackets. Additionally, any changes you make to the quote, such as altering verb tenses or specifying pronouns, should be included in brackets as well. In the case of paraphrases, you should completely rewrite all the information you’ve taken from the source, leaving none of the original language. Paraphrases should not be cordoned off with quotation marks. 3. Parenthetical – The format for an MLA parenthetical is the author’s last name and the page or paragraph number – (Author’s Last Name #) or (Author’s Last Name par. #). Page numbers are used for books, and paragraph numbers are used for internet articles. On the test, for the Analysis and Response Essay, you should cite your quotations with the paragraph numbers. Notice that there is no comma in the parenthetical, and the terminal punctuation follows the parenthetical. If you use the author’s last name in the introductory comment, you do not need to repeat the author’s last name in the parenthetical. 4. Works Cited Entry – For full-length papers that you will write in other college-level classes, you will need to include a Words Cited page at the end. This Works Cited page should have an entry for every source that you included in the body of your paper, and the format for each entry can be found on a citation generator like easybib.com. The basic format for MLA is metaphorically similar to a light switch: the introductory comment turns the source on, and the parenthetical turns the source off. Here are multiple examples of correctly formatted MLA citations: According to Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” (par. 20). According to Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream that [… we] will not be judged by the color of [our] skin, but by the content of their character” (par. 20). Civil rights leaders expressed a hope to “live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” (King par. 20). In the �irst example, we kept the quotation intact and quoted it fully exactly as it appears in the orig- inal speech. In the second example, we shortened it and indicated all changes in brackets. In the last example, we integrated the quotation into the sentence, while also clearly indicating to the reader where the quote began; because we didn’t use the author’s name in the introductory comment, it needed to be included in the parenthetical. ©2020 Achieve