Govt Bill tracking and Presentation(ppt)
Research Tips
When you evaluate a website for research information, you should consider:
Authority
Purpose
Currency (Age) -
The best strategy when you find too much information is to narrow your question.
Writing Tips
The Thesis
Your paper should have one main topic (the "thesis") that is clearly evident in the introduction and conclusion.
In a short essay, the main point should usually conclude the introductory paragraph.
The reader should never be in any doubt about what your thesis is.
Introductory Paragraph
When in doubt, use the recipe:
introduce
expand/justify
conclude
Introduce
Write one or two sentences about:
The legislative process
OR
Your bill topic
Expand/ Justify
Write one or two sentences that puts your broad concept into a transition to your thesis statement.
This provides the groundwork or background for your thesis statement.
Conclude
Write a direct thesis statement.
Remember, you are taking a position on your bill assignment.
Style Notes
Avoid using first-person expressions in analytical and persuasive writing. Readers will know that they are reading your thoughts, beliefs, or opinions, so you do not need to write in the first person. If you omit these expressions, you will be left with stronger sentences.
Style Notes -2
Avoid cliché phrases such as “throughout history” or “to this very day”. Your writing will be stronger without them.
Do not use contractions. They are usually not acceptable in formal writing.
Style Notes - 3
Stay on topic
Write concisely and avoid redundancy
Use complete sentences. Sentences should include a subject and a verb.
Avoid ambiguous references – “it”, “this”, “these” etc.
MLA 8th Edition Formatting and Style Guide
Purdue OWL Staff
Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab
Welcome to “MLA Formatting and Style Guide“. This Power Point Presentation is designed to introduce your students to the basics of MLA Formatting and Style. You might want to supplement the presentation with more detailed information available on the OWL’s “MLA Formatting and Style Guide“ at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Designer: Ethan Sproat
Based on slide designs from the OWL “APA Formatting and Style Guide “powerpoint by Jennifer Liethen Kunka and Elena Lawrick.
Contributors: Tony Russell, Alllen Brizee, Jennifer Liethen Kunka, Joe Barbato, Dave Neyhart, Erin E. Karper, Karl Stolley, Kristen Seas, Tony Russell, and Elizabeth Angeli.
Revising Author: Arielle McKee, 2014
13
MLA (Modern Language Association) Style formatting is often used in various humanities disciplines.
In addition to the handbook, MLA also offers The MLA Style Center, a website that provides additional instruction and resources for writing and formatting academic papers. https://style.mla.org/
What is MLA?
The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 8th ed. supersedes both the 7th edition handbook and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd ed. The style of documentation outlined in the 8th edition serves the needs of students who are writing research papers, as well as scholars who publish professionally. This presentation will mostly focus on MLA formatting and style concerns that affect writing research papers.
MLA style is often used in the following disciplines: humanities, languages, literature, linguistics, philosophy, communication, religion, and others.
MLA format provides writers with a uniform format for document layout and documenting sources. Proper MLA style shows that writers are conscientious of the standards of writing in their respective disciplines. Properly documenting sources also ensures that an author is not plagiarizing.
14
MLA regulates:
document format
in-text citations
works-cited list
What does MLA regulate?
This slide presents three basic areas regulated by MLA students need to be aware of—document format, in-text citations, and works cited. The following slides provide detailed explanations regarding each area.
15
An MLA Style paper should:
Be typed on white 8.5“ x 11“ paper
Double-space everything
Use 12 pt. Times New Roman (or similar) font
Leave only one space after punctuation
Set all margins to 1 inch on all sides
Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch
Not have extra space between paragraphs (Double-space everything)
Format: General Guidelines
The entire document should be double-spaced, including the heading, block quotations, footnotes/endnotes, and list of works cited. There should be no extra space between paragraphs.
Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).
Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides
Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times.
16
The first page of an MLA Style paper will:
Have no title page
Double space everything
List your name, your instructor's name, the course, and date in the upper left-hand corner
Center the paper title (use standard caps but no underlining, italics, quote marks, or bold typeface)
Create a header in the upper right corner at half inch from the top and one inch from the right of the page (list your last name and page number here)
Formatting the 1st Page
･Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested
･In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
･Double space again and center the title.
Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
･Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in “After Apple Picking“
･Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
･Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow instructor guidelines.)
17
Sample 1st Page
･Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested
･In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
･Double space again and center the title.
Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
･Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in “After Apple Picking“
･Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
･Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow instructor guidelines.)
18
An in-text citation is a brief reference in your text that indicates the source you consulted.
It should direct readers to the entry in your works-cited list for that source.
It should be unobtrusive: provide the citation information without interrupting your own text.
In general, the in-text citation will be the author’s last name (or abbreviated title) with a page number, enclosed in parentheses.
In-Text Citations: the Basics
Basic In-Text Citation Rules
The source information in a parenthetical citation should direct readers to the source’s entry in the works-cited list.
The in-text citation should be placed, if possible, where there is a natural pause in your text. If the citation refers to a direct quotation, it should be placed directly following the closing quotation mark.
Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the works-cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text, must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry in the works-cited list (so the author’s last name or the title, usually, with no punctuation in between)
19
What are the differences between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?
Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.
What are the differences between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?
Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.
Differences between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?
Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.
In-text Example:
Corresponding Works Cited Entry:
Author-Page Style
Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. Oxford UP, 1967.
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263). Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263). Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
In-Text Citations: Author-Page Style
MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear in your works-cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence.
The both citations in the in-text examples on this slide, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by the author, William Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the works-cited list, where, under Wordsworth, they would find the information in the corresponding entry also shown on this slide.
23
How to cite a work with no known author:
We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has “more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change…” (“Impact of Global Warming” 6).
With Unknown Author
In-text Citations for Print Sources with No Known Author
When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (e.g. articles) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire websites) and provide a page number.
In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title of the article appears in the parenthetical citation which corresponds to the full name of the article which appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry in the works-cited list. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the works-cited page. See comments from previous slide.
24
Corresponding Entry in the List of Works Cited:
“The Impact of Global Warming in North America.” Global Warming: Early Signs. 1999. www.url-of-the-source. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.
With Unknown Author
25
Adding/Omitting Words
Adding or Omitting Words In Quotations
If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text. This is illustrated in the first example on this slide.
If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or words by using ellipsis marks, which are three periods ( . . . ) preceded and followed by a space. Please note that brackets are not needed around ellipses unless adding brackets would clarify your use of ellipses. This is illustrated in the second example on this slide.
26
The End
MLA 8th Edition Formatting Style Guide
Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab