NOTE: WordPress dislike MS Word Formatting — I suggest dowloading the original document here in order to read both the tables and sample Works Cited and Consulted list that follow.
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WRT 105 | Citation Details, Examples, and Format for Long Essay
A) For our long essay, we will use the MLA citation format.
Like the unique discourse communities they form, each academic discipline uses its own citation format, and that format speaks to the needs of that group as a particular scholarly audience. As you move through your various courses at SU, and as you choose your majors, you’ll no doubt end up learning and mastering a citation format for that particular major; for now, the MLA will be the most straightforward and easiest to use.
Regardless of the format, citation formats have three (3) basic goals and criteria:
- To attribute—give credit—to the authors and sources whose ideas you incorporate into your arguments. Your argument, your essay, is part of the larger conversation surrounding your topic, and the most productive conversations are those that openly, freely, and fairly build on the ideas of other participants in that conversation. Inquiry is a shared endeavor, and it is only fair that you give credit where credit is due. Additionally, strong citation format conveys its own sense of ethos and assures readers that yours is a credible and trustworthy argument.
- To delineate your ideas from the ideas of another author or source as they appear on the page and within a sentence. Citation formats literally enable your readers to visually and conceptually distinguish where your thinking stops and where another’s ideas. Detangling your ideas from those of a source is no inconsiderable issue for you or your readers—strong arguments are complex arguments that depend on a clear sense of which ideas are yours, which come from a supporting source, and how those two sets of concepts interact with one another.
- To enable your readers to join the larger conversation about your topic by tracking down its participants—a.k.a. your sources. The in-text citation information you provide—often some form of parenthetical information that identifies that source on your bibliography / works cited. A typical bibliography /work cited list provides the publication information and source type for each entry (i.e. all the info an interested reader will need to find the sources you arguments uses).
B) What to include in your Works Cited and Consulted
Unit 3 draws on a number of different types of sources, from the scholarly articles you’ve found using the library’s SUMMON search utility to the other core sources listed on our unit calendar.
Use the following guidelines to help assemble your essay’s Works Cited and Consulted List.
- Cut and paste into your own Works Cited and Consulted any of our common Unit sources that you’ll find below. If you do quote, or draw upon, the concepts of any the sources, then you MUST include them in your list.
- Include in your list all four of the scholarly sources you found from our two (2) library research exercises. Remember that you must quote / use at least one (1) of these sources in your essay.
- Include in your list any works that you found in your research which serve as a significant source of consultation for your argument—that is, if this particular work helped you fashion, think-through, develop, or refine your thinking on your topic and/or essay argument.
- Include in your list any works from which you reference / use a significant concept or idea. Using a significant idea from a source is best illustrated by an example.
Digital literacies involve eight basic elements or modes (Belshaw), of which the cognitive, communicative, and the civic drive most Facebook activism. However, many cultural critics dismiss the strength of supporting social causes by way of accumulating “likes” and the minimal donation dollars that “liking” such causes generates; such support enables users to remain remotely involved when on-the-ground physical participation is required.
The example above, then, draws on Belshaw’s eight basic elements to make the point that three of them are integral to digital activism. Belshaw’s talk doesn’t address digital activism, or Facebook, but this writer’s argument wishes to connect the two concepts.
- Include in your list any works from which you do quote directly.
C) Formatting your Works Cited and Consulted list.
The MLA format uses a slightly different formats for different source types. The format serves as a way of distinguishing the type and format in which a source exists. However, regardless of type or format of a source, the MLA Works Cited and Consulted entry seeks to provide four (4) types of information: 1) author, 2) title, 3) publication /publisher, and in some instances, 4) date of access.
See the guide below: (Expressions Note: WordPress dislikes MS Word formatting — best to download the handout here to use the tables that follow.)
| 1) Author, 2) Title, 3) Publication /Publisher, and in some instances, 4) Date Of Access. | |
| A chapter, or essay inan anthology (i.e. a book with a collection of essaysby different authors and one (1) or more editors)… | Essay / chapter author lname, fname. “Essay/chapter title.” Anthology Title. Ed. (or Eds.2+). City of publication: publisher, year published. Page #s. Medium. |
| From book…Brown, John Seely. “Growing Up Digital.” Everything’s a Text. Eds. Dan Melzer and DeborahCoxwell-Teague. Boston: Longman, 2011. 280-285. Print.-OR-From pdf of book on web… (include URL in this instance)Keen, Andrew. “Why We Must Resist the Temptation of Web 2.0.” The Next Digital Decade:Essays on the Future of the Internet. Ed. Berin Szoka and Aaron Marcus. Washington D.C.: techfreedom.org, 2011. 51-56. Web. 15 Aug. 2014. http://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/papers/The-Next-Digital-Decade-Essays-on-the-Future-of-the-Internet.pdf. | |
| A scholarly journal article | Author lname, fname. “Article Title.” Periodical Title. Pub. Vol#.Issue# (i.e. N.n) (year): page#s.Medium [Print | or Dbase (i.e. EBSCO / Lexis-Nexis / Jstor etc.). Web.)] Date Accessed. |
| From an article accessed through a database…Katz, Raul L., Max Felix, and Madlen Gubernick. “Technology and Adolescents: Perspectives onThings to Come.” Education Information Technologies. 19.4 (Dec. 2014): 863-886. ProQuest. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.-OR-From an article accessed from a journal that exists only online…Head, Allison J., and Michael B. Eisenberg. “How College Students Use the Web to ConductEveryday Life Research.” First Monday 16.4 (2011): n.pag. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. | |
| An article in a popular publication orperiodical, as with a magazine… | Article author lname, fname. “Article Title.” Periodical Title. Issue publication Info (i.e.Month. Year. ). Medium. [Print, Dbase (i.e. EBSCO / Lexis-Nexis / Jstor etc.] or Web.] Date Accessed. |
| From web…Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Atlantic Monthly. Jul/Aug. 2008. Web.7 Jul. 2014.-OR-From database…Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic Monthly Jul2008:56, 58, 60, 62-63. ProQuest. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. | |
| A newspaper article … | Author lname, fname. “Article Title.” Newspaper. Date published, edition (early /late/ weekend).:section and pg#. Dbase. Medium. Date Accessed. |
| From database…Winfield, Nick. “Gauging the Natural, and Digital, Rhythms of Life.” New York Times. 20 Jun. 2013,late ed.:F15. Lexis-Nexis. Web. 17 Aug. 2014. | |
| A report… | Author lname, fname. “Title of Document.” Doc. Type (i.e. Report / Paper / Study / White Paper).Name of Organization Conducting/ Issuing the Doc. Place of Publication: Year. Medium (i.e. Print or Web). Date Accessed (if Web). |
| (include URL in this instance)Beasly, Stephen, and Annie Conway. “Digital Media in Everyday Life: a Snapshot ofDevices, Behaviors,and Attitudes. Part 3- Comfort and Confidence.” Report. Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Chicago: 2011. Web. 16 Aug. 2014. <http://www.msichicago.org/fileadmin/pdf/programs/digital_life/MSI_Digital_Life_2012_Part_3_-_Comfort_and_Confidence.pdf> | |
| A web video… | Note: There is no MLA standard for YouTube or TED talks, so cite either as if they were standard online sources. TED Talks: MacGregor, Neil. “26,000 Years of History in One Object.” Video. Ted.com. TED, Feb.
YouTube: Mau, Bruce. “Selected Interviews & TV Appearances.” Video. Youtube.com. YouTube, 8 August 2008. Web. 20 Feb 2012. Note: The title of the video should be what appears as the uploaded title. So, for example, if the title of the talk is not the title of the uploaded video, defer to the title of the uploaded video. |
| Belshaw, Doug. “The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies.” Video. Youtube.com. TEDx(Warwick),Mar. 2012. Web. 16 Aug. 2014.Broadbent, Stefana. “How the Internet Enables Intimacy.” Video. Ted.com. TED, Jul. 2009.Web. 17 Aug. 2014.Turk, Gary. “Look Up.” Video. Youtube.com. Youtube, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 16 Jul. 2014. | |
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D) Sample Work Cited and Consulted list (with Unit 3 common sources)
[Again, WordPress dislikes Word formatting – consult the download version for clear examples of formatting and a working Works Cited and Consulted List.]
Works Cited and Consulted[*]
Beasly, Stephen, and Annie Conway. “Digital Media in Everyday Life: a Snapshot of Devices, Behaviors, and Attitudes. Part 3- Comfort and Confidence.” Report. Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Chicago: 2011. Web. 16 Aug. 2014. <http://www.msichicago.org/fileadmin/pdf/programs/digital_life/MSI_Digital_Life_2012_Part_3_-_Comfort_and_Confidence.pdf>
Belshaw, Doug. “The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies.” Video. Youtube.com.TEDx(Warwick), Mar 2, 2012. Web. 16 Aug. 2014.
Broadbent, Stefana. “How the Internet Enables Intimacy.” Video. Ted.com. TED, Jul. 2009. Web. 17 Aug. 2014.
Brown, John Seely. “Growing Up Digital.” Everything’s a Text. Ed. Dan Melzer and Deborah Coxwell-Teague. Boston: Longman, 2011. 280-285. Print.
Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Atlantic Monthly. Jul/Aug. 2008. Web. 7 Jul. 2014.
Crystal, David. “2b or not 2b.” The Guardian. 4 Jul. 2008. Web. 7 Jul. 2008.
Jenkins, Henry. “Multitasking and Continuous Partial Attention: An Interview with Linda Stone (PartOne).” The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 19 Nov. 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
—. “Multitasking and Continuous Partial Attention: An Interview with Linda Stone (PartTwo).” The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 22 Nov. 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
Keen, Andrew. “Why We Must Resist the Temptation of Web 2.0.” The Next Digital Decade: Essays onthe Future of the Internet. Ed. Berin Szoka and Aaron Marcus. Washington D.C.: techfreedom.org, 2011. 51-56. Web. 15 Aug. 2014. http://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/papers/The-Next-Digital-Decade-Essays-on-the-Future-of-the-Internet.pdf.
Rives. “A Mockingbird Remix of TED 2006.”Video. Ted.com. TED, Feb. 2006. Web. 17 Aug. 2014.
Thompson, Clive. “Your Outboard Brain Knows All.” Wired. 15.10. Web. 7 Jul. 2014.
Turk, Gary. “Look Up.” Video. Youtube.com. Youtube, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 16 Jul. 2014.
Turkle, Sherry. “Connected but Alone?” Video. Ted.com. TED, Feb. 2012. Web. 17 Aug. 2014.
[*] Ordinarily, an MLA Works Cited and Consulted list would not contain active hyperlinks. I’ve done so only to help illustrate how the different entries vary by source-type rather than point of access.
E) In-text Citation Format | Examples
Quotations are more than just “evidence” that we insert into our essays to support a claim or assertion that we make about a short story, or a novel, or a poem; quotations are tools that allow us to enter into a conversation with the text and its author, and in this way quotations better enable us to engage the text’s deeper themes and issues.
At times, quotes provide factual information about the text, its author, or perhaps about the period in which the text was written or about which the text describes.
In other instances, quotations allow our analysis, our ideas, to engage with the critical, scholarly conversation surrounding the author or the text(s) we are writing about: in these instances, the thoughts and ideas we insert between those double apostrophes are literally the words of others and we enter into a dialog with those thinkers and writers. The way we quote, and what we quote, is how we participate in that conversation.
The Mechanics (in part)
For our purposes, there are three (3) main ways to engage in the conversation about an author or a text:
- The drop / block quote, wherein your paragraph and sentence overtly lead to a performative pause (think colon) to “drop in” a long passage or factual data.
- The integrated-into-an-argumentative-claim quotation, wherein you match the quoted material with the grammar and structure of your sentence.
- The meld-with-sentence-prose, wherein you balance a mix of sentence-level signal phrasing, contextual cues, and quoted material.
In each instance, the goal is to communicate clearly to readers three (3) important types of information: first, the actual content that you are quoting; second, the fact the information quoted is not your idea, but the work of another; and third, how the information connects with the claim / concept / idea that you are arguing.
A quick note about punctuation and MLA format for in-text citations: generally, place all punctuation inside the quotation marks with the exception of periods, exclamation points, semicolons, and colons – unless that punctuation is already part of the quoted material. Retain periods if the quoted material traverses adjacent sentences; retain semicolons and colons if the material you are quoting uses them to punctuate in the original; retain exclamation points if they appear in the original, as is usually the case with spoken dialog.
Ultimately, the best rule of thumb is to match the punctuation to the method used to introduce the quotation.
| Introduce the quotation with a … | then use | Example |
| a complete sentence (i.e. an independent clause ) | either a colonor a comma | Surprisingly, both John Seely Brown and Andrew Keen espouse views that are far more aligned than divergent, as when Brown admits “that no one fully knows what those [new media] transformations will be” (281), or when Keen despairs of “ the unintended consequences of Web 2.0” (55) creating legions of authors in search of an audience.Sherry Turkle sees the lack of in-person interaction endemic to social media and texting as a curious dance in which users reinvent, and continually reshape their sense(s) of self:“We get to edit, and that means we get to delete, and that means we get to retouch, the face, the voice, the flesh, the body — not too little, not too much, just right.” |
| a dependent clause (i.e. a clause that cannot stand on its own and which is not a complete sentence), so that the quotation completes (concludes) your sentence | a comma | As a lifelong reader of books, Nicholas Carr values “the kind of deep reading that a sequence of printed pages promotes… not just for the knowledge we acquire from the author’s words but for the intellectual vibrations those words set off within our own minds”-OR-As a lifelong reader of books, we must value “the kind of deep reading that a sequence of printed pages promotes… not just for the knowledge we acquire from the author’s words but for the intellectual vibrations those words set off within our own minds” (Carr). |
| If you integrate the quotation with your sentence | depends on the integration, the placement of the quoted material, and the material itself… | Fluency with digital media and devices does vary, but it is striking that for youth, particularly teens, “not having any devices did not seem to greatly affect their comfort with digital media in general” (Beasly and Conway 9). |