Essay...

MLA Documentation in-text. We can go over the basics and look at examples.

Introduce your sources: the first time you use a source, give the name of the article/book and the author’s first and last name. After that, use just the last name.

Example: In “The Signifying Monkey,” Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discusses various language manipulations common in the writings of African Americans and what these usages of language mean.

I do not need a citation at this point because I just vaguely summarized Gates’ whole article.

If I use Gates’ work later, I refer to him by his last name and include an in-text citation for the information and words from his article. I do not need his name in the parenthetical documentation as I mentioned it in the sentence.

Example: Gates’ notes that “The Monkey tales inscribe a dictum about interpretation, whereas the language of Signifying address the nature and application of rhetoric” (85).

Always capitalize the words in a title of an article, poem, or any other work, as it is capitalized where you read it. Titles are never in all lower case unless printed that way, like for an e.e. cummings poem. His titles are purposely in lower case so we match that when we write about his work.

Example: When comparing e.e. cummings’ poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town” to Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” we realize that the two works have little in common!

Quotes MUST, MUST, MUST be connected to a sentence in some way. This can be as simple as a colon before a quote or the quote may be integrated into the sentence.

We have a handout on MyPima, that I also gave in class, that gives examples of how to connect quotes to sentences. Reference: Quotation handout on MyPima, the regular one and the poetry one. Look at these and take any questions on putting quotations into an essay.

Citations and Plagiarism

Ways to avoid unintentional plagiarism:

1) maintain a working bibliography: keep record of all sources you consult. This will help you keep up with all of your information and help you avoid accidentally forgetting to credit an author. It is very important to keep copies of Web sites in particular as they can change from day to day and you need to be able to say when exactly you found this information on a particular site.

2) As you take notes, make sure not to use too much of the language of your sources. Or if you do write things down word for word, use quotation marks, even in notes. P310 Rules for writers: how to avoid internet plagiarism.

3) Cite ALL quotations and borrowed ideas, such as summaries, paraphrases, statistics, specific facts, and visuals, like art works, cartoons, graphs, diagrams, etc. Even when you put it into your own language, you must indicate where the information came from.

4) Enclose borrowed language in quotation marks.

5) Put summaries and paraphrases in your own words. You cannot half-copy the writer’s sentences, using part of their language and sentence structure without using quotations.

“Three different acts are considered plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words” (Hacker 415).

Why should we care about plagiarism, even accidental misuse of someone else’s ideas and language? Plagiarism can have serious consequences academically, professionally, and even legally. Colleges and Universities can retroactively revoke credits and degrees, even if plagiarism or other academic dishonesty is discovered years later.

For example, there has been legal precedent set that colleges may revoke credits and degrees by the following cases: University of Michigan, Crook vs. Baker (1987) and Walgia vs. Board of Trustees (1986), among other cases.

Additionally, plagiarism robs authors of their work. It is considered by some as a form of identity theft.

The New York Times reporter Jayson Blair had to resign in 2003 due to well documented plagiarism within his news articles, including a number relating to injured war veterans. Blair is no longer a reporter and no longer works in media related industries.

The point is that it matters a great deal that you properly acknowledge outside sources and ideas, not only to your future, but also for the writers’ whose work you are using.

Works Cited

Hacker, Diane. The Bedford Handbook. 6th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin, 2012.