WRIT 1301 W: University Writing (Section 175)
Essay Rubric (Paper2)
I. CONTENT (30)
Response to topic: The essay addresses the topic clearly and responds effectively to all aspects of the task.
Insight: The thesis argues a specific significance of the similarities & differences between the two pieces instead of just mechanically listing them. The essay analyzes textual devices as a means to proving the larger significance.
Insight: The essay demonstrates a critical understanding of the texts in developing an analytical response that is insightful, precise, and compelling rather than obvious, general, or superficial.
Logic: The essay demonstrates clarity of thought through effective explanations rather than a reliance on textual citations to forward an argument.
Logic: Reasoning and inferences are sound and present no gaps, errors, or logical fallacies.
II. ORGANIZATION (35)
Title: The title, which is appropriate for academic writing and relevant to the main idea of the essay, engages the reader’s interest.
Introduction: The introduction is tightly focused by establishing the grounds for comparison and frame of reference/angle immediately and then quickly moving to the thesis.
Introduction: The introduction provides a roadmap; in other words, it indicates the order of ideas and analysis in the body of the essay.
Thesis: The thesis indicates the precise relationship between the two texts, namely whether they extend, corroborate, complicate, contradict, correct, or debate one another.
Logical Progression: Each new section flows naturally from the section before and leads into the next section.
Flow: The essay is coherently organized compelling the reader through the text with ease. The writer incorporates transitional expressions of comparison and contrast to make links between A and B in the essay. Transitions are used at the beginning of body paragraphs before introducing topic sentences.
Topic Sentences: Topic sentences are narrow in focus and present one aspect of the argument being made by the thesis.
Unity: Each point made in the body of the essay is linked back to the thesis.
III. TEXT INCORPORATION (15)
Quotations are brief and used only to reinforce the writer’s established explanation.
The writer incorporates quotations fluidly into original sentence structures, following MLA guidelines when making necessary changes, such as ellipses or brackets, to the original text.
The writer leads into quotations by establishing their context—the speaker, the situation, or both.
All quotations are linked back to the author’s argument through effective commentary.
IV. MECHANICS/CONVENTIONS (10)
Sentences are very clear, efficient, and fluid because the full range of sentence structures is used purposefully, stylistic weaknesses (ineffective use of passive voice, wordiness, etc.) are not present, and word choice is precise.
There are virtually no errors in edited standard written English.
V. PROCESS/EFFORT (10)
The s.
WRIT 1301 W University Writing (Section 175)Essay Rubric (Paper.docx
1. WRIT 1301 W: University Writing (Section 175)
Essay Rubric (Paper2)
I. CONTENT (30)
responds effectively to all aspects of the task.
similarities & differences between the two pieces instead of just
mechanically listing them. The essay analyzes textual devices as
a means to proving the larger significance.
demonstrates a critical understanding of the
texts in developing an analytical response that is insightful,
precise, and compelling rather than obvious, general, or
superficial.
effective explanations rather than a reliance on textual citations
to forward an argument.
gaps, errors, or logical fallacies.
II. ORGANIZATION (35)
relevant to the main idea of the essay, engages the reader’s
interest.
establishing the grounds for comparison and frame of
reference/angle immediately and then quickly moving to the
thesis.
on: The introduction provides a roadmap; in other
words, it indicates the order of ideas and analysis in the body of
the essay.
the two texts, namely whether they extend, corroborate,
complicate, contradict, correct, or debate one another.
the section before and leads into the next section.
2. through the text with ease. The writer incorporates transitional
expressions of comparison and contrast to make links between
A and B in the essay. Transitions are used at the beginning of
body paragraphs before introducing topic sentences.
focus and
present one aspect of the argument being made by the thesis.
to the thesis.
III. TEXT INCORPORATION (15)
established explanation.
sentence structures, following MLA guidelines when making
necessary changes, such as ellipses or brackets, to the original
text.
context—the speaker, the situation, or both.
through effective commentary.
IV. MECHANICS/CONVENTIONS (10)
range of sentence structures is used purposefully, stylistic
weaknesses (ineffective use of passive voice, wordiness, etc.)
are not present, and word choice is precise.
English.
V. PROCESS/EFFORT (10)
work demonstrates an ongoing effort
through self-editing and revision to grow as a writer.
committed to challenging himself/herself.
COMMENT:
3. (TOTAL)/100
1
Name
Instructor Hyeryung Hwang
WRIT 1301
12 March, 2017
Embracing Technology
As we continue moving through the technologically-
advanced 20th Century, we find ourselves regularly inundated
with new forms of technology that seek to enhance our daily
lives. Naturally, with new technology comes inherent concerns
and potential risks associated with usage and consumption. In
their essays, “Smarter than You Think” and “Does Texting
Affect Writing?,” Clive Thompson and Michaela Cullington,
respectively, address existing concerns over technology used by
millions on a daily basis: texting and digital information
consumption.
By comparing these two texts, varying perspectives can be
gained about the influence of technology on our lives, proving
to us that, despite manageable drawbacks, technology is a
beneficial addition, ultimately enhancing our lives.
As both authors examine the effects of technology and
digital communication on the human brain and its functions,
both grant legitimacy to the well-founded fears and concerns
that many have about using and consuming these technologies.
While Thompson’s stance observes concerns over technology’s
negative effects on brain cognition from consuming too much
information, Cullington acknowledges how technology in the
4. form of texting is potentially damaging and limiting our writing
skills, a different yet key function of the brain. These differing
angles show that there are legitimate, complex concerns about
varying ways in which technology can negatively train and
reshape our brains. It is entirely logical to then look at other
technologies with suspicion and to wonder if any additional or
unknown risks are posed to users, consequently affecting other
important functions of the brain, such as motor skills. In order
to be responsible consumers, it is imperative for us all to be
informed and aware of the risks that different technologies may
pose to us, so that we can appropriately fit these into our lives.
Once risks involving the use of technology are identified,
adjustments can then in turn be made. As Thompson’s response
sees that negative consequences can occur and be damaging to
our brains if technology is overused, he offsets these concerns
by calling for moderation in usage as technology’s key role and
intention is to assist rather than to rule over us. This position
stresses that “one of the great challenges of today’s digital
thinking tools is knowing when not to use them, when to rely on
the powers of older and slower technologies, like paper and
books (Thompson 355).” Thompson’s tone is one that advocates
for restraint and logic to be exercised when using technology.
Tools such as computers and the Internet should be used
sparingly so that the brain is not trained to completely rely on
vast quantities of disposable information. This will ultimately
help us to not become completely consumed by digital
technology but rather allow us to healthily tap into its valuable
resources. As with everything in life, balance is always key and
technology is no different.
In a contrasting but related view, Cullington concludes,
after personally testing the effects of texting on users, that its
influence is neutral and not the destructive technology it is
made out to be, but instead a simple communication tool.
Speaking to denounce the speculations of many teachers, she
urges that “anecdotal experiences should not overshadow the
actual evidence … [that] experts and students themselves report
5. that they see no effect, positive or negative (Cullington 370).”
Cullington’s analysis shows that the relationship between
texting and formal, written English is not one of either-or but
rather one that is more inclusive, allowing users to be proficient
and engage in the benefits of both. Just as learning new
languages does not inhibit or deteriorate the proficiency of
one’s native tongue, learning new written languages, including
the texting language “textspeak,” does not inhibit the
capabilities of a deeply-engrained proficiency of formal, written
English. This expanded learning in fact bolsters and flexes the
capabilities of the brain opposed to reducing and limiting it.
As fact-based evidence and moderation proved to quell
concerns in these two cases, so too can we apply the same
principles to concerns over technology in our own lives, since
fear-based concern and speculation is often over exaggerated,
lacking factual evidence. When deciding what technologies to
use and to what extent, it is important to look at legitimate
research in order to determine what risks do in fact exist. As in
some cases, such as with texting, no harm is caused at all in
reality. In other cases, such as consuming online information,
moderation is, of course, key. Education, good judgement, and
common sense will ultimately lead to the healthy inclusion of
these technologies into our lives.
After the concerns over technology are refuted and the
light of fact-based reality is shone on them, it becomes apparent
that technology has a tremendous amount of good to offer us,
enabling assistance and enhancement in our lives. While she
retains an objective, neutral stance, Cullington does mention
how texting has added a convenient aspect to her own life,
suggesting that it is a positive communication and planning
companion for us. Thompson, on the other hand, goes further to
advocate for technology’s exciting potential in our lives, as it
currently offers the ability to access and store vast amounts of
information, ultimately helping lift the burdens of daily tasks
and allowing us to achieve and discover more. This gives us
room to consider what other technologies might be useful and
6. helpful to us today, especially those that are often criticized.
Take, for example, language-learning mobile apps. Often seen
as damaging, these have been proven through success to help
users learn languages in a swift, effective manner (Codrea-
Rado). While crucial in-person interaction can never be
replaced, users are able to practice their skills on the apps on
their own time — a valuable assisting tool. This, among
countless other examples, shows that most forms of technology
prove themselves to be useful aids to us when used in tandem
with reality, instead of replacing it.
As Thompson and Cullington have highlighted the benefits
of technology following thoughtful consideration and reasoned
countering of legitimate concerns, we are encouraged to do the
same with technology in our lives. While some risks exist with
usage and consumption, recognizing what hazards are legitimate
is important, followed by assessing how to manage these
implications. Ultimately, we find that amidst the occasional
manageable risks of technology, the benefits far outweigh any
potential negatives. These benefits seek to enhance and better
our lives, when used responsibly and in moderation, allowing us
to communicate, manage information, and engage with the
world in ways we have not been able to before. We are, after
all, not robots designed to be plugged into the digital world
non-stop, but rather humans that find convenience and ease in
responsibly using technology to assist and better our daily lives.
Works Cited
Codrea-Rado, Anna. “Can I successfully learn a language
online?” TheGuardian.com. Guardian, 21 Feb. 2014. Web. 13
Oct. 2016.
Cullington, Michaela. “Does Texting Affect Writing?" "They
Say/I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic
Writing, with Readings. By Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein,
and Russel K. Durst. 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company, 2014. 1-786. Print.
Thompson, Clive. “Smarter than You Think.” "They Say/I Say":
7. The Moves That Matter in Academic
Writing, with Readings. By Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein,
and Russel K. Durst. 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company, 2014. 1-786. Print.
MLA Style
Modern Language Association style calls for (1) brief in-text
docu-
mentation and (2) complete documentation in a list of works
cited
at the end of your text. The models in this chapter draw on the
MLA
Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition (2009).
Additional
information is available at www.mla.org.
A DIRECTORY TO MLA STYLE
In-Text Documentation 112
1. Author named in a signal phrase 113
2. Author named in parentheses 113
3. Two or more works by the same author 113
4. Authors with the same last name 114
5. Two or more authors 114
6. Organization or government as author 114
7. Author unknown 115
8. 8. Literary works 115
9. Work in an anthology 116
10. Encyclopedia or dictionary 116
11. Legal and historical documents 116
12. Sacred text 117
13. Multivolume work 117
14. Two or more works cited together 117
15. Source quoted in another source 118
16. Work without page numbers 118
17. An entire work or one-page article 118
Notes 119
109
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110 MLA STYLE
List of Works Cited 119
PRINT BOOKS 119
9. Documentation Map: Print Book 121
1. One author 120
2. Two or more works by the same author(s) 120
3. Two or three authors 122
4. Four or more authors 122
5. Organization or government as author 122
6. Anthology 123
7. Work(s) in an anthology 123
8. Author and editor 124
9. No author or editor 124
10. Translation 124
11. Graphic narrative 125
12. Foreword, introduction, preface, or afterword 125
13. Multivolume work 125
14. Article in a reference book 125
15. Book in a series 126
16. Sacred text 126
17. Book with a title within the title 127
10. 18. Edition other than the first 127
19. Republished work 127
20. Publisher and imprint 127
PRINT PERIODICALS 128
Documentation Map: Article in a Print Journal 130
Documentation Map: Article in a Print Magazine 131
21. Article in a journal 128
22. Article in a journal numbered by issue 128
23. Article in a magazine 129
MLA
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111A Directory to MLA Style
24. Article in a daily newspaper 129
25. Unsigned article 129
26. Editorial 132
27. Letter to the editor 132
28. Review 132
11. ONLINE SOURCES 132
Documentation Map: Work from a Website 134
Documentation Map: Article Accessed through a Database 138
29. Entire website 133
30. Work from a website 135
31. Online book or part of a book 135
32. Article in an online scholarly journal 135
33. Article in an online newspaper 136
34. Article in an online magazine 136
35. Blog entry 136
36. Article accessed through a database 136
37. Online editorial 137
38. Online film review 137
39. Email 137
40. Posting to an online forum 137
41. Article in an online reference work 139
42. Wiki entry 139
43. Podcast 139
44. Tweet 139
12. OTHER KINDS OF SOURCES 139
45. Advertisement 140
46. Art 140
47. Cartoon 140
48. Dissertation 141
49. CD-ROM or DVD-ROM 141
MLA
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112 MLA-a MLA STYLE
50. Film, DVD, or video clip 141
51. Broadcast interview 142
52. Published interview 142
53. Personal interview 142
54. Unpublished letter 142
55. Published letter 143
56. Map or chart 143
13. 57. Musical score 143
58. Sound recording 143
59. Oral presentation 144
60. Paper from proceedings of a conference 144
61. Performance 144
62. Television or radio program 145
63. Pamphlet, brochure, or press release 145
64. Legal source 145
65. MP3, JPEG, PDF, or other digital file 146
SOURCES NOT COVERED BY MLA 146
Formatting a Paper 146
Sample Research Paper 148
Throughout this chapter, you’ll find models and examples that
are
color-coded to help you see how writers include source
information
in their texts and lists of works cited: brown for author or
editor,
yellow for title, gray for publication information: place of
publication,
publisher, date of publication, page number(s), and so on.
MLA-a In-Text Documentation
14. Brief documentation in your text makes clear to your reader
what
you took from a source and where in the source you found the
information.
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113MLA-a in-Text Documentation
In your text, you have three options for citing a source:
quoting ,
paraphrasing , and summarizing . As you cite each source, you
will
need to decide whether or not to name the author in a signal
phrase —
“as Toni Morrison writes” — or in parentheses — “(Morrison
24).”
The first examples in this chapter show basic in-text
documenta-
tion of a work by one author. Variations on those examples
follow. The
examples illustrate the MLA style of using quotation marks
around
titles of short works and italicizing titles of long works.
1. AUTHOR NAMED IN A SIGNAL PHRASE
If you mention the author in a signal phrase , put only the page
number(s) in parentheses. Do not write page or p.
McCullough describes John Adams’s hands as those of someone
used to manual labor (18).
15. 2. AUTHOR NAMED IN PARENTHESES
If you do not mention the author in a signal phrase, put his or
her
last name in parentheses along with the page number(s). Do not
use
punctuation between the name and the page number(s).
Adams is said to have had “the hands of a man accustomed to
pruning his own trees, cutting his own hay, and splitting his
own firewood” (McCullough 18).
Whether you use a signal phrase and parentheses or parentheses
only, try to put the parenthetical documentation at the end of
the
sentence or as close as possible to the material you’ve cited —
without
awkwardly interrupting the sentence. Notice that in the example
above, the parenthetical reference comes after the closing
quotation
marks but before the period at the end of the sentence.
3. TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR
If you cite multiple works by one author, include the title of the
work
you are citing either in the signal phrase or in parentheses. Give
the
full title if it’s brief; otherwise, give a short version.
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16. 114 MLA-a MLA STYLE
author title publication
Kaplan insists that understanding power in the Near East
requires “Western leaders who know when to intervene, and do
so without illusions” (Eastward 330).
Include a comma between author and title if you include both in
the parentheses.
Understanding power in the Near East requires “Western leaders
who know when to intervene, and do so without illusions”
(Kaplan, Eastward 330).
4. AUTHORS WITH THE SAME LAST NAME
Give the author’s first name in any signal phrase or the author’s
first
initial in the parenthetical reference.
Imaginative applies not only to modern literature (E. Wilson)
but also to writing of all periods, whereas magical is often used
in writing about Arthurian romances (A. Wilson).
5. TWO OR MORE AUTHORS
For a work by two or three authors, name all the authors, either
17. in
a signal phrase or in the parentheses.
Carlson and Ventura’s stated goal is to introduce Julio Cortázar,
Marjorie Agosín, and other Latin American writers to an
audience of English-speaking adolescents (v).
For a work with four or more authors, either mention all their
names
or include just the name of the first author followed by et al.,
Latin
for “and others.”
One popular survey of American literature breaks the contents
into sixteen thematic groupings (Anderson et al. A19-24).
6. ORGANIZATION OR GOVERNMENT AS AUTHOR
Acknowledge the organization either in a signal phrase or in
paren-
theses. It’s acceptable to shorten long names.
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115MLA-a in-Text Documentation
The U.S. government can be direct when it wants to be. For
example, it sternly warns, “If you are overpaid, we will recover
18. any payments not due you” (Social Security Administration 12).
7. AUTHOR UNKNOWN
If you don’t know the author, use the work’s title or a shortened
ver-
sion of the title in the parentheses.
A powerful editorial in last week’s paper asserts that healthy
liver donor Mike Hurewitz died because of “frightening” faulty
postoperative care (“Every Patient’s Nightmare”).
8. LITERARY WORKS
When referring to literary works that are available in many
different
editions, give the page numbers from the edition you are using,
fol-
lowed by information that will let readers of any edition locate
the
text you are citing.
NOVELS. Give the page and chapter number.
In Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet shows no warmth toward
Jane and Elizabeth when they return from Netherfield (105;
ch. 12).
VERSE PLAYS. Give the act, scene, and line numbers; separate
them
with periods.
19. Macbeth continues the vision theme when he addresses the
Ghost with “Thou hast no speculation in those eyes / Which
thou dost glare with” (3.3.96-97).
POEMS. Give the part and the line numbers (separated by
periods). If a
poem has only line numbers, use the word line(s) in the first
reference.
Whitman sets up not only opposing adjectives but also opposing
nouns in “Song of Myself” when he says, “I am of old and
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116 MLA-a MLA STYLE
author title publication
young, of the foolish as much as the wise, / . . . a child as well
as a man” (16.330-32).
One description of the mere in Beowulf is “not a pleasant
place!” (line 1372). Later, the label is “the awful place” (1378).
9. WORK IN AN ANTHOLOGY
Name the author(s) of the work, not the editor of the anthology
—
20. either in a signal phrase or in parentheses.
“It is the teapots that truly shock,” according to Cynthia Ozick
in her essay on teapots as metaphor (70).
In In Short: A Collection of Creative Nonfiction, readers will
find
both an essay on Scottish tea (Hiestand) and a piece on teapots
as metaphors (Ozick).
10. ENCYCLOPEDIA OR DICTIONARY
Acknowledge an entry in an encyclopedia or dictionary by
giving the
author’s name, if available. For an entry in a reference work
without
an author, give the entry’s title in parentheses. If entries are
arranged
alphabetically, no page number is needed.
According to Funk & Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia, early
in
his career Kubrick’s main source of income came from
“hustling
chess games in Washington Square Park” (“Kubrick, Stanley”).
11. LEGAL AND HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
For legal cases and acts of law, name the case or act in a signal
phrase
or in parentheses. Italicize the name of a legal case.
21. In 2005, the Supreme Court confirmed in MGM Studios, Inc. v.
Grokster, Ltd. that peer-to-peer file sharing is illegal copyright
infringement.
Do not italicize the titles of laws, acts, or well-known historical
docu-
ments such as the Declaration of Independence. Give the title
and any
relevant articles and sections in parentheses. It’s okay to use
common
abbreviations such as art. or sec. and to abbreviate well-known
titles.
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117MLA-a in-Text Documentation
The president is also granted the right to make recess
appointments (US Const., art. 2, sec. 2).
12. SACRED TEXT
When citing sacred texts such as the Bible or the Qur’an, give
the
title of the edition used, and in parentheses give the book,
chapter,
and verse (or their equivalent), separated by periods. MLA style
rec-
ommends that you abbreviate the names of the books of the
22. Bible
in parenthetical references.
The wording from The New English Bible follows: “In the
beginning of creation, when God made heaven and earth, the
earth was without form and void, with darkness over the face
of the abyss, and a mighty wind that swept over the surface of
the waters” (Gen. 1.1-2).
13. MULTIVOLUME WORK
If you cite more than one volume of a multivolume work, each
time
you cite one of the volumes, give the volume and the page
number(s)
in parentheses, separated by a colon.
Sandburg concludes with the following sentence about those
paying last respects to Lincoln: “All day long and through the
night the unbroken line moved, the home town having its
farewell” (4: 413).
If your works-cited list includes only a single volume of a
multi-
volume work, give just the page number in parentheses.
14. TWO OR MORE WORKS CITED TOGETHER
If you’re citing two or more works closely together, you will
23. some-
times need to provide a parenthetical reference for each one.
Tanner (7) and Smith (viii) have looked at works from a cultural
perspective.
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118 MLA-a MLA STYLE
author title publication
If you include both in the same parentheses, separate the
references
with a semicolon.
Critics have looked at both Pride and Prejudice and
Frankenstein
from a cultural perspective (Tanner 7; Smith viii).
15. SOURCE QUOTED IN ANOTHER SOURCE
When you are quoting text that you found quoted in another
source,
use the abbreviation qtd. in in the parenthetical reference.
Charlotte Brontë wrote to G. H. Lewes: “Why do you like Miss
Austen so very much? I am puzzled on that point” (qtd. in
Tanner 7).
24. 16. WORK WITHOUT PAGE NUMBERS
For works without page numbers, including many online
sources,
identify the source using the author or other information either
in a
signal phrase or in parentheses.
Studies reported in Scientific American and elsewhere show that
music training helps children to be better at multitasking later
in life (“Hearing the Music”).
If the source has paragraph or section numbers, use them with
the
abbreviation par. or sec.: (“Hearing the Music,” par. 2). If an
online work
is available as a PDF with page numbers, give the page
number(s) in
parentheses.
17. AN ENTIRE WORK OR ONE-PAGE ARTICLE
If you cite an entire work rather than a part of it, or if you cite a
single-
page article, identify the author in a signal phrase or in
parentheses.
There’s no need to include page numbers.
At least one observer considers Turkey and Central Asia
explosive (Kaplan).
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119MLA-c List of Works Cited
MLA-b Notes
Sometimes you may need to give information that doesn’t fit
into the
text itself — to thank people who helped you, to provide
additional
details, to refer readers to other sources, or to add comments
about
sources. Such information can be given in a footnote (at the
bottom
of the page) or an endnote (on a separate page with the heading
Notes
just before your works-cited list). Put a superscript number at
the
appropriate point in your text, signaling to readers to look for
the
note with the corresponding number. If you have multiple notes,
number them consecutively throughout your paper.
TEXT
This essay will argue that small liberal arts colleges should not
recruit athletes and, more specifically, that giving student
athletes preferential treatment undermines the larger
educational goals.1
NOTE
26. 1. I want to thank all those who have contributed to my
thinking on this topic, especially my classmates and my
teachers
Marian Johnson and Diane O’Connor.
MLA-c List of Works Cited
A works-cited list provides full bibliographic information for
every
source cited in your text. See p. 148 for guidelines on preparing
this
list; for a sample works-cited list, see pp. 156–57.
Print Books
For most books, you’ll need to provide information about the
author;
the title and any subtitle; and the place of publication,
publisher, and
date. At the end of the citation, provide the medium — Print.
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120 MLA-c MLA STYLE
author title publication
IMPORTANT DETAILS FOR DOCUMENTING PRINT BOOKS
• authors: Include the author’s middle name or initials, if any.
27. • titles: Capitalize all principal words in titles and subtitles.
Do
not capitalize a, an, the, to, or any prepositions or coordinating
conjunctions unless they are the first or last word of a title or
subtitle.
• publication place: If there’s more than one city, use the first.
• publisher: Use a short form of the publisher’s name (Norton
for
W. W. Norton & Company, Yale UP for Yale University Press).
• dates: If more than one year is given, use the most recent
one.
1. ONE AUTHOR
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Publication City:
Publisher,
Year of publication. Medium.
Anderson, Curtis. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is
Selling
Less of More. New York: Hyperion, 2006. Print.
2. TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR(S)
Give the author’s name in the first entry, and then use three
hyphens
in the author slot for each of the subsequent works, listing them
alphabetically by the first important word of each title.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title That Comes First
Alphabetically.
28. Publication City: Publisher, Year of publication. Medium.
---. Title That Comes Next Alphabetically. Publication City:
Publisher,
Year of publication. Medium.
Kaplan, Robert D. The Coming Anarchy: Shattering the Dreams
of
the Post Cold War. New York: Random, 2000. Print.
---. Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle
East, and
the Caucasus. New York: Random, 2000. Print.
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121MLA-c List of Works CitedDocumentation Map (MLA)
print book
Subtitle
Author
Year of publication
Publication city
Ekirch, A. Roger. At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past. New
York:
29. Norton, 2005. Print.
Title
Publisher
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122 MLA-c MLA STYLE
author title publication
3. TWO OR THREE AUTHORS
First Author’s Last Name, First Name, Second Author’s First
and Last
Names, and Third Author’s First and Last Names. Title.
Publication City: Publisher, Year of publication. Medium.
Malless, Stanley, and Jeffrey McQuain. Coined by God: Words
and
Phrases That First Appear in the English Translations of the
Bible. New York: Norton, 2003. Print.
Sebranek, Patrick, Verne Meyer, and Dave Kemper. Writers
INC: A
Guide to Writing, Thinking, and Learning. Burlington: Write
30. Source, 1990. Print.
4. FOUR OR MORE AUTHORS
You may give each author’s name or the name of the first author
only, followed by et al., Latin for “and others.”
First Author’s Last Name, First Name, Second Author’s First
and Last
Names, Third Author’s First and Last Names, and Final
Author’s
First and Last Names. Title. Publication City: Publisher, Year
of
publication. Medium.
Anderson, Robert, John Malcolm Brinnin, John Leggett, Gary
Q.
Arpin, and Susan Allen Toth. Elements of Literature: Literature
of the United States. Austin: Holt, 1993. Print.
Anderson, Robert, et al. Elements of Literature: Literature of
the
United States. Austin: Holt, 1993. Print.
5. ORGANIZATION OR GOVERNMENT AS AUTHOR
Organization Name. Title. Publication City: Publisher, Year of
publication. Medium.
31. Diagram Group. The Macmillan Visual Desk Reference. New
York:
Macmillan, 1993. Print.
For a government publication, give the name of the government
first,
followed by the names of any department and agency.
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123MLA-c List of Works Cited
United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Natl. Inst.
of
Mental Health. Autism Spectrum Disorders. Washington: GPO,
2004. Print.
6. ANTHOLOGY
Editor’s Last Name, First Name, ed. Title. Publication City:
Publisher,
Year of publication. Medium.
Hall, Donald, ed. The Oxford Book of Children’s Verse in
America.
New York: Oxford UP, 1985. Print.
32. If there is more than one editor, list the first editor last-name-
first
and the others first-name-first.
Kitchen, Judith, and Mary Paumier Jones, eds. In Short: A
Collection
of Brief Creative Nonfiction. New York: Norton, 1996. Print.
7. WORK(S) IN AN ANTHOLOGY
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Work.” Title of
Anthology.
Ed. Editor’s First and Last Names. Publication City: Publisher,
Year of publication. Pages. Medium.
Achebe, Chinua. “Uncle Ben’s Choice.” The Seagull Reader:
Literature. Ed. Joseph Kelly. New York: Norton, 2005. 23-27.
Print.
To document two or more selections from one anthology, list
each
selection by author and title, followed by the anthology editors’
names and the pages of the selection. Then include an entry for
the
anthology itself (see no. 6).
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Work.” Anthology
Editor’s
Last Name Pages.
33. Hiestand, Emily. “Afternoon Tea.” Kitchen and Jones 65-67.
Ozick, Cynthia. “The Shock of Teapots.” Kitchen and Jones 68-
71.
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124 MLA-c MLA STYLE
author title publication
8. AUTHOR AND EDITOR
Start with the author if you’ve cited the text itself.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Ed. Editor’s First and
Last
Names. Publication City: Publisher, Year of publication.
Medium.
Austen, Jane. Emma. Ed. Stephen M. Parrish. New York:
Norton,
2000. Print.
Start with the editor to cite his or her contribution rather than
the
author’s.
Editor’s Last Name, First Name, ed. Title. By Author’s First
and Last
34. Names. Publication City: Publisher, Year of publication.
Medium.
Parrish, Stephen M., ed. Emma. By Jane Austen. New York:
Norton,
2000. Print.
9. NO AUTHOR OR EDITOR
Title. Publication City: Publisher, Year of publication. Medium.
2008 New York City Restaurants. New York: Zagat, 2008.
Print.
10. TRANSLATION
Start with the author to emphasize the work itself.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Trans. Translator’s First
and
Last Names. Publication City: Publisher, Year of publication.
Medium.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Trans. Richard
Pevear
and Larissa Volokhonsky. New York: Vintage, 1993. Print.
Start with the translator to emphasize the translation.
Pevear, Richard, and Larissa Volokhonsky, trans. Crime and
35. Punishment. By Fyodor Dostoevsky. New York: Vintage, 1993.
Print.
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125MLA-c List of Works Cited
11. GRAPHIC NARRATIVE
Start with the person whose work is most relevant to your
research,
and include labels to indicate each person’s role.
Pekar, Harvey, writer. American Splendor. Illus. R. Crumb.
New York:
Four Walls, 1996. Print.
Crumb, R., illus. American Splendor. By Harvey Pekar. New
York: Four
Walls, 1996. Print.
If the work was written and illustrated by the same person,
format
the entry like that of a book by one author (see no. 1).
12. FOREWORD, INTRODUCTION, PREFACE, OR
AFTERWORD
Part Author’s Last Name, First Name. Name of Part. Title of
36. Book.
By Author’s First and Last Names. Publication City: Publisher,
Year of publication. Pages. Medium.
Tanner, Tony. Introduction. Pride and Prejudice. By Jane
Austen.
London: Penguin, 1972. 7-46. Print.
13. MULTIVOLUME WORK
If you cite more than one volume of a multivolume work, give
the
total number of volumes after the title.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Complete Work.
Number of
vols. Publication City: Publisher, Year of publication. Medium.
Sandburg, Carl. Abraham Lincoln: The War Years. 4 vols. New
York:
Harcourt, 1939. Print.
If you cite only one volume, give the volume number after the
title.
Sandburg, Carl. Abraham Lincoln: The War Years. Vol. 2. New
York:
Harcourt, 1939. Print.
14. ARTICLE IN A REFERENCE BOOK
37. Provide the author’s name if the article is signed. If the
reference
work is well known, give only the edition and year of
publication.
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126 MLA-c MLA STYLE
author title publication
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Reference
Book. Edition number. Year of publication. Medium.
“Kiwi.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed.
2003.
Print.
If the reference work is less familiar or more specialized, give
full
publication information. If it has only one volume or is in its
first
edition, omit that information.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Reference
Book. Ed. Editor’s First and Last Name. Edition number.
38. Number of vols. Publication City: Publisher, Year of
publication. Medium.
Campbell, James. “The Harlem Renaissance.” The Oxford
Companion
to Twentieth-Century Poetry. Ed. Ian Hamilton. Oxford: Oxford
UP, 1994. Print.
15. BOOK IN A SERIES
Editor’s Last Name, First Name, ed. Title of Book. By Author’s
First
and Last Names. Publication City: Publisher, Year of
publication. Medium. Series Title abbreviated.
Wall, Cynthia, ed. The Pilgrim’s Progress. By John Bunyan.
New York:
Norton, 2007. Print. Norton Critical Ed.
16. SACRED TEXT
If you have cited a specific edition of a religious text, you need
to
include it in your works-cited list.
The New English Bible with the Apocrypha. New York: Oxford
UP,
1971. Print.
39. The Torah: A Modern Commentary. Ed. W. Gunther Plaut. New
York:
Union of Amer. Hebrew Congregations, 1981. Print.
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17. BOOK WITH A TITLE WITHIN THE TITLE
When the title of a book contains the title of another long work,
do
not italicize that title.
Walker, Roy. Time Is Free: A Study of Macbeth. London:
Dakers,
1949. Print.
When the book title contains the title of a short work, put the
short
work in quotation marks, and italicize the entire title.
Thompson, Lawrance Roger. “Fire and Ice”: The Art and
Thought of
Robert Frost. New York: Holt, 1942. Print.
18. EDITION OTHER THAN THE FIRST
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Name or number of ed.
40. Publication City: Publisher, Year of publication. Medium.
Hirsch, E. D., Jr., ed. What Your Second Grader Needs to
Know:
Fundamentals of a Good Second-Grade Education. Rev. ed.
New York: Doubleday, 1998. Print.
19. REPUBLISHED WORK
Give the original publication date after the title, followed by the
pub-
lication information of the republished edition.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Year of original edition.
Publication City: Current Publisher, Year of republication.
Medium.
Bierce, Ambrose. Civil War Stories. 1909. New York: Dover,
1994.
Print.
20. PUBLISHER AND IMPRINT
Some sources may provide both a publisher’s name and an
imprint
on the title page; if so, include both, with a hyphen between the
imprint and the publisher.
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41. 128 MLA-c MLA STYLE
author title publication
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Publication City:
Imprint-
Publisher, Year of publication. Medium.
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York:
Levine-Scholastic, 2000. Print.
Print Periodicals
For most articles, you’ll need to provide information about the
author, the article title and any subtitle, the periodical title, any
vol-
ume or issue num ber, the date, inclusive page numbers, and the
medium — Print.
IMPORTANT DETAILS FOR DOCUMENTING PRINT
PERIODICALS
• authors: If there is more than one author, list the first author
last-name-first and the others first-name-first.
• titles: Capitalize titles and subtitles as you would for a book
(see
p. 120). For periodical titles, omit any initial A, An, or The.
• dates: Abbreviate the names of months except for May, June,
or
July: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
42. Journals pag-
inated by volume or issue need only the year (in parentheses).
• pages: If an article does not fall on consecutive pages, give
the
first page with a plus sign (551).
21. ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Journal
Volume.Issue (Year): Pages. Medium.
Cooney, Brian C. “Considering Robinson Crusoe’s ‘Liberty of
Conscience’ in an Age of Terror.” College English 69.3 (2007):
197-215. Print.
22. ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL NUMBERED BY ISSUE
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Journal
Issue (Year): Pages. Medium.
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Flynn, Kevin. “The Railway in Canadian Poetry.” Canadian
Literature
43. 174 (2002): 70-95. Print.
23. ARTICLE IN A MAGAZINE
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Magazine
Day Month Year: Pages. Medium.
Walsh, Bryan. “Not a Watt to Be Wasted.” Time 17 Mar. 2008:
46-47.
Print.
For a monthly magazine, include only the month and year.
Fellman, Bruce. “Leading the Libraries.” Yale Alumni
Magazine Feb.
2002: 26-31. Print.
24. ARTICLE IN A DAILY NEWSPAPER
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Name of
Newspaper Day Month Year: Pages. Medium.
Springer, Shira. “Celtics Reserves Are Whizzes vs. Wizards.”
Boston
Globe 14 Mar. 2005: D41. Print.
To document a particular edition of a newspaper, list the edition
(late
ed., natl. ed., etc.) after the date. If a section is not identified by
44. a letter
or number, put the name of the section after the edition
information.
Burns, John F., and Miguel Helft. “Under Pressure, YouTube
Withdraws Muslim Cleric’s Videos.” New York Times 4 Nov.
2010, late ed., sec. 1: 13. Print.
25. UNSIGNED ARTICLE
“Title of Article.” Name of Publication Day Month Year: Pages.
Medium.
“Being Invisible Closer to Reality.” Atlanta Journal-
Constitution 11
Aug. 2008: A3. Print.
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Documentation Map (MLA)
article in a print journal
Title of article
Author
Pages
Issue
45. Weinberger, Jerry. “Pious Princes and Red-Hot Lovers: The
Politics
of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.” Journal of Politics
65.2 (2003): 350-75. Print.
Volume
Title of journal Year
130
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Documentation Map (MLA)
article in a print magazine
Fox, Michael W. “The Wolf in Your Dog.” Bark Mar.-Apr.
2008:
85-87. Print.
Title of article
Author
Page
Month and year
Title of magazine
46. 131
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132 MLA-c MLA STYLE
author title publication
26. EDITORIAL
“Title.” Editorial. Name of Publication Day Month Year: Page.
Medium.
“Gas, Cigarettes Are Safe to Tax.” Editorial. Lakeville Journal
17 Feb.
2005: A10. Print.
27. LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title (if any).” Letter. Name
of
Publication Day Month Year: Page. Medium.
Festa, Roger. “Social Security: Another Phony Crisis.” Letter.
Lakeville
Journal 17 Feb. 2005: A10. Print.
28. REVIEW
47. Reviewer’s Last Name, First Name. “Title (if any) of Review.”
Rev. of
Title of Work, by Author’s First and Last Names. Title of
Periodical Day Month Year: Pages. Medium.
Frank, Jeffrey. “Body Count.” Rev. of The Exception, by
Christian
Jungersen. New Yorker 30 July 2007: 86-87. Print.
Online Sources
Not every online source gives you all the data that MLA would
like to
see in a works-cited entry. Ideally, you will be able to list the
author’s
name, the title, information about any print publication,
information
about electronic publication (title of site, editor, date of first
electronic
publica tion and /or most recent revision, name of the publisher
or
sponsoring institution), the publication medium, the date of
access,
and, if necessary, a URL.
IMPORTANT DETAILS FOR DOCUMENTING ONLINE
SOURCES
• authors or editors and titles: Format authors and titles as you
would for a print book or periodical (see pp. 120, 128).
• publisher: If the name of the publisher or sponsoring
48. institution
is unavailable, use N.p.
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133MLA-c List of Works Cited
• dates: Abbreviate the months as you would for a print
periodical
(see p. 128). Although MLA asks for the date when materials
were
first posted or most recently updated, you won’t always be able
to find that information; if it’s unavailable, use n.d. Be sure to
include the date on which you accessed the source.
• pages: If documentation calls for page numbers but the
source
is unpaginated, use n. pag. in place of page numbers.
• medium: Indicate the medium — Web, Email, Tweet, and so
on.
• url: MLA assumes that readers can locate most sources on
the
web by searching for the author, title, or other identifying infor-
mation, so they don’t require a URL for most online sources.
When users can’t locate the source without a URL, give the
address of the website in angle brackets. When a URL won’t fit
on one line, break it only after a slash (and do not add a
hyphen).
If a URL is very long, consider giving the URL of the site’s
home
or search page instead.
49. 29. ENTIRE WEBSITE
For websites with an editor, compiler, director, narrator, or
translator,
follow the name with the appropriate abbreviation (ed., comp.).
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Site. Publisher or
Sponsoring
Institution, Date posted or last updated. Medium. Day Month
Year of access.
Zalta, Edward N., ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language
and Information, Stanford U, 2007. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
PERSONAL WEBSITE
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Home page. Sponsor, Date
posted
or last updated. Medium. Day Month Year of access.
Nunberg, Geoffrey. Home page. School of Information, U of
California, Berkeley, 2009. Web. 13 Apr. 2013.
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50. author title publication
Documentation Map (MLA)
work from a website
Title of site
Title of article
Sponsoring institution
Callicott, J. Baird. “Environmental Ethics: An Overview.”
Forum
on Religion and Ecology. Yale School of Forestry &
Environmental Studies, 2000. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.
Author
Date posted or last updated
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30. WORK FROM A WEBSITE
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Work.” Title of Site.
Ed.
Editor’s First and Last Names. Sponsor, Date posted or last
51. updated. Medium. Day Month Year of access.
Buff, Rachel Ida. “Becoming American.” Immigration History
Research Center. U of Minnesota, 24 Mar. 2008. Web. 4 Apr.
2013.
31. ONLINE BOOK OR PART OF A BOOK
Document a book you access online as you would a print book,
adding
the name of the site or database, the medium, and the date of
access.
Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio. New York: B. W.
Huebsch,
1919. Bartleby.com. Web. 7 Apr. 2013.
To document a part of a book, put the part in quotation marks
before
the book title. If the online book is paginated, give the pages; if
not,
use N. pag.
Anderson, Sherwood. “The Strength of God.” Winesburg, Ohio.
New York: B. W. Huebsch, 1919. N. pag. Bartleby.com. Web.
7 Apr. 2013.
When documenting a book you’ve downloaded onto a Kindle,
iPad, or
other digital device, follow the documentation setup for a print
book,
52. but indicate the ebook format at the end of the reference.
Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Mayhem,
and
Madness at the Fair That Changed America. New York:
Vintage, 2004. Kindle.
32. ARTICLE IN AN ONLINE SCHOLARLY JOURNAL
If a journal does not number pages or if it numbers each article
separately, use n. pag. in place of page numbers.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Journal
Volume.Issue (Year): Pages. Medium. Day Month Year of
access.
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136 MLA-c MLA STYLE
author title publication
Gleckman, Jason. “Shakespeare as Poet or Playwright? The
Player’s
Speech in Hamlet.” Early Modern Literary Studies 11.3 (2006):
n. pag. Web. 24 June 2013.
53. 33. ARTICLE IN AN ONLINE NEWSPAPER
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Newspaper. Publisher, Day Month Year. Medium. Day Month
Year of access.
Banerjee, Neela. “Proposed Religion-Based Program for Federal
Inmates Is Canceled.” New York Times. New York Times, 28
Oct. 2006. Web. 24 June 2013.
34. ARTICLE IN AN ONLINE MAGAZINE
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Magazine.
Publisher, Date of publication. Medium. Day Month Year of
access.
Lithwick, Dahlia. “Privacy Rights Inc.” Slate. Washington
Post–
Newsweek Interactive, 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
35. BLOG ENTRY
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Entry.” Title of
Blog. Sponsor,
Day Month Year posted. Medium. Day Month Year of access.
Gladwell, Malcolm. “Enron and Newspapers.” Gladwell.com.
54. N.p.,
4 Jan. 2007. Web. 26 Aug. 2013.
If the entry has no title, use “Blog entry” without quotation
marks.
Document a whole blog as you would an entire website (see no.
29).
If the publisher or sponsor is unavailable, use N.p.
36. ARTICLE ACCESSED THROUGH A DATABASE
For articles accessed through a library’s subscription services,
such
as InfoTrac and EBSCOhost, give the publication information
for the
source, followed by the name of the database.
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137MLA-c List of Works Cited
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Periodical
Date or Volume.Issue (Year): Pages. Database Name. Medium.
Day Month Year of access.
Stalter, Sunny. “Subway Ride and Subway System in Hart
Crane’s ‘The
55. Tunnel.’ ” Journal of Modern Literature 33.2 (2010): 70-91.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 May 2013.
37. ONLINE EDITORIAL
“Title of Editorial.” Editorial. Title of Site. Publisher, Day
Month Year
of publication. Medium. Day Month Year of access.
“Keep Drinking Age at 21.” Editorial. ChicagoTribune.com.
Chicago
Tribune, 25 Aug. 2008. Web. 28 Aug. 2013.
38. ONLINE FILM REVIEW
Reviewer’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Review.” Rev. of
Title of
Work, dir. First and Last Names. Title of Site. Publisher, Day
Month Year posted. Medium. Day Month Year of access.
Edelstein, David. “Best Served Cold.” Rev. of The Social
Network, dir.
David Fincher. New York Magazine. New York Media, 1 Oct.
2010. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
39. EMAIL
Writer’s Last Name, First Name. “Subject Line.” Message to the
56. author. Day Month Year of message. Medium.
Smith, William. “Teaching Grammar — Some Thoughts.”
Message to
the author. 19 Nov. 2013. Email.
40. POSTING TO AN ONLINE FORUM
Writer’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Posting.” Name of
Forum.
Sponsor, Day Month Year of posting. Medium. Day Month
Year of access.
Mintz, Stephen H. “Manumission During the Revolution.” H-
Net List
on Slavery. Michigan State U, 14 Sept. 2006. Web. 18 Apr.
2013.
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author title publication
Documentation Map (MLA)
article accessed through a database
Title of article
Author
57. Title of
periodical
Database
Pages
Volume and issue
Ott, Brian L. “‘I’m Bart Simpson, Who the Hell Are You?’ A
Study in Postmodern Identity (Re)Construction.” Journal of
Popular Culture 37.1 (2003): 56-82. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.
Year
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139MLA-c List of Works Cited
41. ARTICLE IN AN ONLINE REFERENCE WORK
“Title of Article.” Title of Reference Work. Sponsor, Date of
work.
Medium. Day Month Year of access.
“Generation xerox.” Urban Dictionary. Urban Dictionary, 13
Sept.
58. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
42. WIKI ENTRY
“Title of Entry.” Title of Wiki. Sponsor, Day Month Year
updated.
Medium. Day Month Year of access.
“Pi.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Aug. 2013. Web. 2
Sept.
2013.
43. PODCAST
Performer or Host’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Podcast.”
Host Host’s First and Last Name. Title of Program. Sponsor,
Day
Month Year posted. Medium. Day Month Year of access.
Blumberg, Alex, and Adam Davidson. “The Giant Pool of
Money.”
Host Ira Glass. This American Life. Chicago Public Radio, 9
May
2008. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.
44. TWEET
Author’s Last Name, First Name (User Name). “Full tweet
text.” Day
59. Month Year, Time. Medium.
Stern, Michael (Roadfood123). “Ice creamorama: Dr. Mike’s is
now
open weekdays.” 21 Mar. 2012, 5:21 p.m. Tweet.
Other Kinds of Sources
Many of the sources in this section can be found online, and
you’ll
find examples here for how to document them. If there is no
web
model here, start with the guidelines most appropriate for the
source
you need to document, omit the original medium, and end your
refer-
ence with the title of the website, italicized; the medium (Web);
and
the day, month, and year of access.
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140 MLA-c MLA STYLE
author title publication
45. ADVERTISEMENT
Product or Company. Advertisement. Title of Periodical Date or
Volume.lssue (Year): Page. Medium.
60. Bebe. Advertisement. Lucky Sept. 2011: 112–13. Print.
ADVERTISEMENT ON THE WEB
Rolex. Advertisement. Time. Time, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
46. ART
Artist’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Art. Medium. Year.
Institution,
City.
Van Gogh, Vincent. The Potato Eaters. Oil on canvas. 1885.
Van
Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
ART ON THE WEB
Warhol, Andy. Self-Portrait. 1979. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los
Angeles. The Getty. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.
Document photographs you find online by giving the
photographer,
title, and date of the image, if available. If the date is
unavailable, use
n.d. For photographs you take yourself, see no. 65.
Donnell, Ryan. At a Pre-Civil War Railroad Construction Site
Outside
of Philadelphia. 2010. Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian.
com. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
61. 47. CARTOON
Artist’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Cartoon (if titled).”
Cartoon.
Title of Periodical Date or Volume.Issue (Year): Page. Medium.
Chast, Roz. “The Three Wise Men of Thanksgiving.” Cartoon.
New
Yorker 1 Dec. 2003: 174. Print.
CARTOON ON THE WEB
Horsey, David. Cartoon. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Seattle Post-
Intelligencer, 20 Apr. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.
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141MLA-c List of Works Cited
48. DISSERTATION
Treat a published dissertation as you would a book, but after its
title, add the abbreviation Diss., the institution, and the date of
the
dissertation.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Diss. Institution, Year.
Publication City: Publisher, Year. Medium.
62. Goggin, Peter N. A New Literacy Map of Research and
Scholarship in
Computers and Writing. Diss. Indiana U of Pennsylvania, 2000.
Ann Arbor: UMI, 2001. Print.
For unpublished dissertations, put the title in quotation marks
and
end with the degree-granting institution and the year.
Kim, Loel. “Students Respond to Teacher Comments: A
Comparison
of Online Written and Voice Modalities.” Diss. Carnegie
Mellon U, 1998. Print.
49. CD-ROM OR DVD-ROM
Title. Any pertinent information about the edition, release, or
version. Publication City: Publisher, Year of publication.
Medium.
Othello. Princeton: Films for the Humanities and Sciences,
1998.
CD-ROM.
To document only part of the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, name the
part
as you would a part of a book.
63. “Snow Leopard.” Encarta Encyclopedia 2007. Seattle:
Microsoft,
2007. CD-ROM.
50. FILM, DVD, OR VIDEO CLIP
Title. Dir. Director’s First and Last Names. Perf. Lead Actors’
First and
Last Names. Distributor, Year of release. Medium.
Casablanca. Dir. Michael Curtiz. Perf. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid
Bergman, and Claude Rains. Warner, 1942. Film.
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142 MLA-c MLA STYLE
author title publication
To document a particular person’s work, start with that name.
Cody, Diablo, scr. Juno. Dir. Jason Reitman. Perf. Ellen Page
and
Michael Cera. Fox Searchlight, 2007. DVD.
Document a video clip as you would a short work from a
website.
Director’s Last Name, First Name, dir. “Title of Video.” Title
64. of Site.
Sponsor, Day Month Year of release. Medium. Day Month Year
of access.
PivotMasterDX, dir. “Bounce!” YouTube. YouTube, 14 June
2008.
Web. 21 June 2013.
51. BROADCAST INTERVIEW
Subject’s Last Name, First Name. Interview. Title of Program.
Network. Station, City, Day Month Year. Medium.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. Interview. Fresh Air. NPR. WNYC, New
York,
9 Apr. 2002. Radio.
52. PUBLISHED INTERVIEW
Subject’s Last Name, First Name. Interview, or “Title of
Interview.”
Title of Periodical Date or Volume.Issue (Year): Pages.
Medium.
Stone, Oliver. Interview. Esquire Nov. 2004: 170. Print.
53. PERSONAL INTERVIEW
Subject’s Last Name, First Name. Personal interview. Day
Month Year.
65. Roddick, Andy. Personal interview. 17 Aug. 2013.
54. UNPUBLISHED LETTER
For medium, use MS for a hand-written letter and TS for a
typed one.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Letter to the author. Day
Month
Year. Medium.
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143MLA-c List of Works Cited
Quindlen, Anna. Letter to the author. 11 Apr. 2013. MS.
55. PUBLISHED LETTER
Letter Writer’s Last Name, First Name. Letter to First and Last
Names.
Day Month Year of letter. Title of Book. Ed. Editor’s First and
Last Names. City: Publisher, Year of publication. Pages.
Medium.
White, E. B. Letter to Carol Angell. 28 May 1970. Letters of E.
B.
66. White. Ed. Dorothy Lobarno Guth. New York: Harper, 1976.
600. Print.
56. MAP OR CHART
Title of Map. Map. City: Publisher, Year of publication.
Medium.
Toscana. Map. Milan: Touring Club Italiano, 1987. Print.
MAP ON THE WEB
“Portland, Oregon.” Map. Google Maps. Google, 25 Apr. 2013.
Web.
25 Apr. 2013.
57. MUSICAL SCORE
Composer’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Composition. Year
of
composition. Publication City: Publisher, Year of publication.
Medium. Series Information (if any).
Beethoven, Ludwig van. String Quartet No. 13 in B Flat, Op.
130.
1825. New York: Dover, 1970. Print.
58. SOUND RECORDING
Artist’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Long Work. Other
pertinent
67. details about the artists. Manufacturer, Year of release.
Medium.
Beethoven, Ludwig van. Missa Solemnis. Perf. Westminster
Choir and
New York Philharmonic. Cond. Leonard Bernstein. Sony, 1992.
CD.
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author title publicationauthor title publication
144 MLA-c MLA STyLE
Whether you list the composer, conductor, or performer first
depends
on where you want to place the emphasis. If you are discussing
a spe-
cific song, put it in quotation marks before the name of the
recording.
Brown, Greg. “Canned Goods.” The Live One. Red House,
1995. MP3
file.
For a spoken-word recording, you may begin with the writer,
speaker,
or producer, depending on your emphasis.
68. Dale, Jim, narr. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. By J. K.
Rowling. Random House Audio, 2007. CD.
59. ORAL PRESENTATION
Speaker’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Presentation.”
Sponsoring
Institution. Site, City. Day Month Year. Medium.
Cassin, Michael. “Nature in the Raw — The Art of Landscape
Painting.” Berkshire Institute for Lifetime Learning. Clark Art
Institute, Williamstown. 24 Mar. 2005. Lecture.
60. PAPER FROM PROCEEDINGS OF A CONFERENCE
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Paper.” Title of
Conference
Proceedings. Date, City. Ed. Editor’s First and Last Names.
Publication City: Publisher, Year. Pages. Medium.
Zolotow, Charlotte. “Passion in Publishing.” A Sea of Upturned
Faces: Proceedings of the Third Pacific Rim Conference on
Children’s Literature. 1986, Los Angeles. Ed. Winifred
Ragsdale.
Metuchen: Scarecrow P, 1989. 236-49. Print.
69. 61. PERFORMANCE
Title. By Author’s First and Last Names. Other appropriate
details
about the performance. Site, City. Day Month Year. Medium.
Take Me Out. By Richard Greenberg. Dir. Scott Plate. Perf.
Caleb
Sekeres. Dobama Theatre, Cleveland. 17 Aug. 2007.
Performance.
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145MLA-c List of Works Cited
62. TELEVISION OR RADIO PROGRAM
“Title of Episode.” Title of Program. Other appropriate
information
about the writer, director, actors, etc. Network. Station, City,
Day Month Year of broadcast. Medium.
“The Silencer.” Criminal Minds. Writ. Erica Messer. Dir. Glenn
Kershaw. NBC. WCNC, Charlotte, 26 Sept. 2012. Television.
TELEVISION OR RADIO ON THE WEB
70. “Bush’s War.” Frontline. Writ. and dir. Michael Kirk. PBS, 24
Mar.
2008. PBS.org. Web. 10 May 2013.
63. PAMPHLET, BROCHURE, OR PRESS RELEASE
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Publication.
Publication City:
Publisher, Year. Medium.
Bowers, Catherine. Can We Find a Home Here? Answering
Questions
of Interfaith Couples. Boston: UUA Publications, n.d. Print.
To document a press release, include the day and month before
the year.
64. LEGAL SOURCE
The name of a court case is not italicized in a works-cited entry.
Names of the First Plaintiff v. First Defendant. Volume Name
Page
numbers of law report. Name of Court. Year of decision.
Source information for medium consulted.
District of Columbia v. Heller. 540 US 290. Supreme Court of
the US.
2008. Supreme Court Collection. Legal Information Inst.,
71. Cornell U Law School, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.
For acts of law, include both the Public Law number and the
Statutes
at Large volume and page numbers.
Name of Law. Public law number. Statutes at Large Volume
Stat.
Pages. Day Month Year enacted. Medium.
Military Commissions Act. Pub. L. 109-366. 120 Stat. 2083-
2521. 17
Oct. 2006. Print.
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author title publication
65. MP3, JPEG, PDF, OR OTHER DIGITAL FILE
For downloaded songs, photographs, PDFs, and other documents
stored on your computer or another digital device, follow the
guide-
lines for the type of work you are documenting (art, journal
article,
and so on) and give the file type as the medium.
Talking Heads. “Burning Down the House.” Speaking in
Tongues.
Sire, 1983. Digital file.
72. Taylor, Aaron. “Twilight of the Idols: Performance,
Melodramatic
Villainy, and Sunset Boulevard.” Journal of Film and Video 59
(2007): 13-31. PDF file.
Sources Not Covered by MLA
To document a source for which MLA does not provide
guidelines, look
for models similar to the source you have cited. Give any
information
readers will need in order to find your source themselves —
author;
title, subtitle; publisher and/or sponsor; medium; dates; and any
other pertinent information. You might want to try out your
refer-
ence note yourself, to be sure it will lead others to your source.
MLA-d Formatting a Paper
Name, course, title. MLA does not require a separate title page.
In the upper left-hand corner of your first page, include your
name,
your professor’s name, the name of the course, and the date.
Center
the title of your paper on the line after the date; capitalize it as
you
would a book title.
Page numbers. In the upper right-hand corner of each page, one-
half inch below the top of the page, include your last name and
the
page number. Number pages consecutively throughout your
73. paper.
Font, spacing, margins, and indents. Choose a font that is easy
to read (such as Times New Roman) and that provides a clear
con-
trast between regular and italic text. Double-space the entire
paper,
146 MLA-d MLA STyLE
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147MLA-d Formatting a Paper
including your works-cited list. Set one-inch margins at the top,
bot-
tom, and sides of your text; do not justify your text. The first
line of
each paragraph should be indented one-half inch from the left
margin.
Long quotations. When quoting more than three lines of poetry,
more than four lines of prose, or dialogue between characters in
a
drama, set off the quotation from the rest of your text, indenting
it one inch (or ten spaces) from the left margin. Do not use
quota-
tion marks, and put any parenthetical documentation after the
final
punctuation.
In Eastward to Tartary, Kaplan captures ancient and
contemporary
74. Antioch for us:
At the height of its glory in the Roman-Byzantine age,
when it had an amphitheater, public baths, aqueducts,
and sewage pipes, half a million people lived in
Antioch. Today the population is only 125,000. With
sour relations between Turkey and Syria, and unstable
politics throughout the Middle East, Antioch is now a
backwater — seedy and tumbledown, with relatively
few tourists. I found it altogether charming. (123)
In the first stanza of Arnold’s “Dover Beach,” the exclamations
make clear that the speaker is addressing a companion who is
also present in the scene:
Come to the window, sweet is the night air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! You hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling. (6-10)
Be careful to maintain the poet’s line breaks. If a line does not
75. fit on
one line of your paper, put the extra words on the next line.
Indent
that line an additional quarter inch (or two spaces).
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Illustrations. Insert illustrations in your paper close to the text
that
discusses them. For tables, provide a number (Table 1) and a
title
on separate lines above the table. Below the table, include a
caption
and provide information about the source. For figures (graphs,
charts,
photos, and so on), provide a figure number (Fig. 1), caption,
and
source information below the figure. If you give only brief
information
about the source (such as a parenthetical note), or if the source
is
cited elsewhere in your text, include the source in your list of
works
cited. Be sure to discuss any illustrations, and make it clear how
they
relate to the rest of your text.
List of Works Cited. Start your list on a new page, following
any
notes. Center the title and double-space the entire list. Each
entry
should begin at the left margin, and subsequent lines should be
indented one-half inch (or five spaces). Alphabetize the list by
76. authors’
last names (or by editors’ or translators’ names, if appropriate).
Alpha-
betize works that have no identifiable author or editor by title,
dis-
regarding A, An, and The. If you cite more than one work by a
single
author, list them all alphabetically by title, and use three
hyphens
in place of the author’s name for the second and subsequent
titles
(see no. 2 on p. 120).
MLA-e Sample Research Paper
The following report, “Against the Odds: Harry S. Truman and
the
Election of 1948,” was written by Dylan Borchers for a first-
year writ-
ing course. It is formatted according to the guidelines of the
MLA
Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition (2009).
148 MLA-e MLA STyLE
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Borchers 1
149MLA-e Sample Research Paper
Sample Research Paper, MLA Style
77. Dylan Borchers
Professor Bullock
English 102, Section 4
31 March 2012
Against the Odds:
Harry S. Truman and the Election of 1948
“Thomas E. Dewey’s Election as President Is a Foregone
Conclusion,” read a headline in the New York Times during the
presidential election race between incumbent Democrat Harry S.
Truman and his Republican challenger, Thomas E. Dewey.
Earlier,
Life magazine had put Dewey on its cover with the caption “The
Next President of the United States” (qtd. in “1948 Truman-
Dewey
Election”). In a Newsweek survey of fifty prominent political
writers,
each one predicted Truman’s defeat, and Time correspondents
declared that Dewey would carry 39 of the 48 states (Donaldson
210). Nearly every major media outlet across the United States
endorsed Dewey and lambasted Truman. As historian Robert H.
78. Ferrell observes, even Truman’s wife, Bess, thought he would
be
beaten (270).
The results of an election are not so easily predicted, as the
famous photograph in fig. 1 shows. Not only did Truman win
the
election, but he won by a significant margin, with 303 electoral
votes and 24,179,259 popular votes, compared to Dewey’s 189
electoral votes and 21,991,291 popular votes (Donaldson 204-
07). In
fact, many historians and political analysts argue that Truman
would have won by an even greater margin had third-party
Progressive candidate Henry A. Wallace not split the
Democratic
1”
1”
1
2
”
1” 1”
Title centered.
79. Author named
in signal
phrase, page
numbers in
parentheses.
Last name and
page number.
Double-spaced
throughout.
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150 MLA-e MLA STYLE
Borchers 2
vote in New York State and Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond not won
four states in the South (McCullough 711). Although Truman’s
defeat was heavily predicted, those predictions themselves,
Dewey’s passiveness as a campaigner, and Truman’s zeal turned
the tide for a Truman victory.
In the months preceding the election, public opinion polls
predicted that Dewey would win by a large margin. Pollster
Elmo
80. Roper stopped polling in September, believing there was no
reason
to continue, given a seemingly inevitable Dewey landslide.
Although
the margin narrowed as the election drew near, the other
pollsters
predicted a Dewey win by at least 5 percent (Donaldson 209).
Many
Fig. 1. President Harry S. Truman holds up an Election Day
edition
of the Chicago Daily Tribune, which mistakenly announced
“Dewey
Defeats Truman.” St. Louis, 4 Nov. 1948 (Rollins).
No signal
phrase; author
and page
number in
parentheses.
Paragraphs
indent 1–2 inch
or 5 spaces.
Illustration
close to the
text to which
it relates. Fig-
ure number,
81. caption, and
parenthetical
source docu-
mentation
included.
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151MLA-e Sample Research Paper
Borchers 3
historians believe that these predictions aided the president in
the
long run. First, surveys showing Dewey in the lead may have
prompted some of Dewey’s supporters to feel overconfident
about
their candidate’s chances and therefore to stay home from the
polls
on Election Day. Second, these same surveys may have
energized
Democrats to mount late get-out-the-vote efforts (“1948
Truman-
Dewey Election”). Other analysts believe that the overwhelming
predictions of a Truman loss also kept at home some Democrats
82. who approved of Truman’s policies but saw a Truman loss as
inevitable. According to political analyst Samuel Lubell, those
Democrats may have saved Dewey from an even greater defeat
(qtd.
in Hamby, Man of the People 465). Whatever the impact on the
voters,
the polling numbers had a decided effect on Dewey.
Historians and political analysts alike cite Dewey’s overly
cautious campaign as one of the main reasons Truman was able
to
achieve victory. Dewey firmly believed in public opinion polls.
With
all indications pointing to an easy victory, Dewey and his staff
believed that all he had to do was bide his time and make no
foolish mistakes. Dewey himself said, “When you’re leading,
don’t
talk” (qtd. in McCullough 672). Each of Dewey’s speeches was
well
crafted and well rehearsed. As the leader in the race, he kept his
remarks faultlessly positive, with the result that he failed to
deliver
a solid message or even mention Truman or any of Truman’s
83. policies. Eventually, Dewey began to be perceived as aloof and
stuffy. One observer compared him to the plastic groom on top
of a
wedding cake (Hamby, “Harry S. Truman”), and others noted
his
stiff, cold demeanor (McCullough 671-74).
Text quoted in
another
source.
Two or more
works cited
closely
together.
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152 MLA-e MLA STYLE
Borchers 4
As his campaign continued, observers noted that Dewey
seemed uncomfortable in crowds, unable to connect with
ordinary
people. And he made a number of blunders. One took place at a
84. train stop when the candidate, commenting on the number of
children in the crowd, said he was glad they had been let out of
school for his arrival. Unfortunately for Dewey, it was a
Saturday
(“1948: The Great Truman Surprise”). Such gaffes gave voters
the
feeling that Dewey was out of touch with the public.
Again and again through the autumn of 1948, Dewey’s
campaign speeches failed to address the issues, with the
candidate
declaring that he did not want to “get down in the gutter” (qtd.
in
McCullough 701). When told by fellow Republicans that he was
losing ground, Dewey insisted that his campaign not alter its
course. Even Time magazine, though it endorsed and praised
him,
conceded that his speeches were dull (McCullough 696).
According
to historian Zachary Karabell, they were “notable only for
taking
place, not for any specific message” (244). Dewey’s numbers in
the
85. polls slipped in the weeks before the election, but he still held a
comfortable lead over Truman. It would take Truman’s famous
whistle-stop campaign to make the difference.
Few candidates in U.S. history have campaigned for the
presidency with more passion and faith than Harry Truman. In
the
autumn of 1948, he wrote to his sister, “It will be the greatest
campaign any President ever made. Win, lose, or draw, people
will
know where I stand” (91). For thirty-three days, Truman
traveled
the nation, giving hundreds of speeches from the back of the
Ferdinand Magellan railroad car. In the same letter, he
described the
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153MLA-e Sample Research Paper
Borchers 5
pace: “We made about 140 stops and I spoke over 147 times,
shook
86. hands with at least 30,000 and am in good condition to start out
again tomorrow for Wilmington, Philadelphia, Jersey City,
Newark,
Albany and Buffalo” (91). McCullough writes of Truman’s
campaign:
No President in history had ever gone so far in quest of
support from the people, or with less cause for the
effort, to judge by informed opinion. . . . As a test of his
skills and judgment as a professional politician, not to
say his stamina and disposition at age sixty-four, it
would be like no other experience in his long, often
difficult career, as he himself understood perfectly. More
than any other event in his public life, or in his
presidency thus far, it would reveal the kind of man he
was. (655)
He spoke in large cities and small towns, defending his
policies and attacking Republicans. As a former farmer and
relatively late bloomer, Truman was able to connect with the
public. He developed an energetic style, usually speaking from
87. notes rather than from a prepared speech, and often mingled
with
the crowds that met his train. These crowds grew larger as the
campaign progressed. In Chicago, over half a million people
lined
the streets as he passed, and in St. Paul the crowd numbered
over
25,000. When Dewey entered St. Paul two days later, he was
greeted
by only 7,000 supporters (“1948 Truman-Dewey Election”).
Reporters brushed off the large crowds as mere curiosity
seekers
wanting to see a president (McCullough 682). Yet Truman
persisted,
even if he often seemed to be the only one who thought he could
Quotations of
4 or more
lines indented
1 inch (10
spaces).
Parenthetical
reference after
final punctua-
tion.
Use the title if
88. no author is
given.
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154 MLA-e MLA STYLE
Borchers 6
win. By going directly to the American people and connecting
with
them, Truman built the momentum needed to surpass Dewey and
win the election.
The legacy and lessons of Truman’s whistle-stop campaign
continue to be studied by political analysts, and politicians
today
often mimic his campaign methods by scheduling multiple visits
to key states, as Truman did. He visited California, Illinois, and
Ohio 48 times, compared with 6 visits to those states by Dewey.
Political scientist Thomas M. Holbrook concludes that his
strategic
campaigning in those states and others gave Truman the
electoral
89. votes he needed to win (61, 65).
The 1948 election also had an effect on pollsters, who, as
Elmo Roper admitted, “couldn’t have been more wrong” (qtd. in
Karabell 255). Life magazine’s editors concluded that pollsters
as
well as reporters and commentators were too convinced of a
Dewey victory to analyze the polls seriously, especially the
opinions of undecided voters (Karabell 256). Pollsters assumed
that
undecided voters would vote in the same proportion as decided
voters--and that turned out to be a false assumption (Karabell
258).
In fact, the lopsidedness of the polls might have led voters who
supported Truman to call themselves undecided out of an
unwillingness to associate themselves with the losing side,
further
skewing the polls’ results (McDonald, Glynn, Kim, and Ostman
152). Such errors led pollsters to change their methods
significantly
after the 1948 election.
After the election, many political analysts, journalists, and
90. historians concluded that the Truman upset was in fact a victory
Work by 4
authors.
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155MLA-e Sample Research Paper
Borchers 7
for the American people, who, the New Republic noted,
“couldn’t be
ticketed by the polls, knew its own mind and had picked the
rather
unlikely but courageous figure of Truman to carry its banner”
(qtd.
in McCullough 715). How “unlikely” is unclear, however;
Truman
biographer Alonzo Hamby notes that “polls of scholars
consistently
rank Truman among the top eight presidents in American
history”
(Man of the People 641). But despite Truman’s high standing,
and
91. despite the fact that the whistle-stop campaign is now part of
our
political landscape, politicians have increasingly imitated the
style
of the Dewey campaign, with its “packaged candidate who ran
so
as not to lose, who steered clear of controversy, and who made
a
good show of appearing presidential” (Karabell 266). The
election of
1948 shows that voters are not necessarily swayed by polls, but
it
may have presaged the packaging of candidates by public
relations
experts, to the detriment of public debate on the issues in future
presidential elections.
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Borchers 8
Works Cited
92. Donaldson, Gary A. Truman Defeats Dewey. Lexington: UP of
Kentucky, 1999. Print.
Ferrell, Robert H. Harry S. Truman: A Life. Columbia: U of
Missouri P,
1994. Print.
Hamby, Alonzo L., ed. “Harry S. Truman (1945-1953).”
American
President: A Reference Resource. Miller Center, U of Virginia,
11
Jan. 2012. Web. 17 Mar. 2012.
---. Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman. New York:
Oxford UP,
1995. Print.
Holbrook, Thomas M. “Did the Whistle-Stop Campaign
Matter?” PS:
Political Science and Politics 35.1 (2002): 59-66. Print.
Karabell, Zachary. The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman
Won the
1948 Election. New York: Knopf, 2000. Print.
McCullough, David. Truman. New York: Simon, 1992. Print.
McDonald, Daniel G., Carroll J. Glynn, Sei-Hill Kim, and
Ronald E.
93. Ostman. “The Spiral of Silence in the 1948 Presidential
Election.” Communication Research 28.2 (2001): 139-55. Print.
“1948: The Great Truman Surprise.” The Press and the
Presidency.
Dept. of Political Science and International Affairs, Kennesaw
State U, 29 Oct. 2003. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.
“1948 Truman-Dewey Election.” American Political History.
Eagleton
Inst. of Politics, Rutgers, State U of New Jersey, 2012. Web. 19
Mar. 2012.
Rollins, Byron. Untitled photograph. “The First 150 Years:
1948.” AP
History. Associated Press, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2012.
Heading
centered.
Alphabetized
by authors’
last names.
Multiple
works by a
single author
listed alpha-
betically by
94. title.
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spaced.
Each entry
begins at the
left margin;
subsequent
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Borchers 9
Truman, Harry S. “Campaigning, Letter, October 5, 1948.”
Harry S.
Truman. Ed. Robert H. Ferrell. Washington: CQ P, 2003. 91.
Print.
Every source
used is in the
list of works
95. cited.
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Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In
A year ago, few folks were talking about Sheryl Sandberg. Her
thoughts on feminism were of little interest. More significantly,
there was next-to-no public discussion of feminist thinking and
practice. Rarely, if ever, was there any feminist book mentioned
as a bestseller and certainly not included on the New York
Times Best Seller list. Those of us who have devoted lifetimes
to teaching and writing theory, explaining to the world the ins
and outs of feminist thinking and practice, have experienced
that the primary audience for our work is an academic sub-
culture. In recent years, discussions of feminism have not
evoked animated passion in audiences. We were far more likely
to hear that we are living in a post-feminist society than to hear
voices clamoring to learn more about feminism. This seems to
have changed with Sandberg’s book Lean In, holding steady on
the Times bestseller list for more than sixteen weeks.
No one was more surprised than long-time advocates of feminist
thinking and practice to learn via mass media that a new high
priestess of feminist movement was on the rise. Suddenly, as if
by magic, mass media brought into public consciousness
conversations about feminism, reframing the scope and politics
through an amazing feat of advertising. At the center of this
drama was a young, high-level corporate executive, Sheryl
Sandberg, who was dubbed by Oprah Winfrey and other popular
culture pundits as “the new voice of revolutionary
feminism.” Forbes Magazine proclaimed Sandberg to be one of
the most influential women in the world, if not the most. Time
Magazine ranked her one of a hundred of the most powerful and
influential world leaders. All over mass media, her book Lean
96. In has been lauded as a necessary new feminist manifesto.
Yet Sandberg confesses to readers that she has not been a strong
advocate of feminist movement; that like many women of her
generation, she hesitated when it came to aligning herself with
feminist concerns. She explains:
I headed into college believing that the feminists of the sixties
and seventies had done the hard work of achieving equality for
my generations. And yet, if anyone had called me a feminist I
would have quickly corrected that notion…. On one hand, I
started a group to encourage more women to major in economics
and government. On the other hand, I would have denied being
in any way, shape, or form a feminist. None of my college
friends thought of themselves as feminists either. It saddens me
to admit that we did not see the backlash against women around
us…. In our defense, my friends and I truly, if naively, believed
that the world did not need feminists anymore.
Although Sandberg revised her perspective on feminism, she did
not turn towards primary sources (the work of feminist
theorists) to broaden her understanding. In her book, she offers
a simplistic description of the feminist movement based on
women gaining equal rights with men. This construction of
simple categories (women and men) was long ago challenged by
visionary feminist thinkers, particularly individual black
women/women of color. These thinkers insisted that everyone
acknowledge and understand the myriad ways race, class,
sexuality, and many other aspects of identity and difference
made explicit that there was never and is no simple homogenous
gendered identity that we could call “women” struggling to be
equal with men. In fact, the reality was and is that privileged
white women often experience a greater sense of solidarity with
men of their same class than with poor white women or women
of color.
Sandberg’s definition of feminism begins and ends with the
notion that it’s all about gender equality within the existing
social system. From this perspective, the structures of
imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy need not be
97. challenged. And she makes it seem that privileged white men
will eagerly choose to extend the benefits of corporate
capitalism to white women who have the courage to ‘lean in.’ It
almost seems as if Sandberg sees women’s lack of perseverance
as more the problem than systemic inequality. Sandberg
effectively uses her race and class power and privilege to
promote a narrow definition of feminism that obscures and
undermines visionary feminist concerns.
Contrast her definition of feminism with the one I offered more
than twenty years ago in Feminist Theory From Margin To
Center and then again in Feminism Is For Everybody. Offering
a broader definition of feminism, one that does not conjure up a
battle between the sexes (i.e. women against men), I state:
“Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist
exploitation, and oppression.” No matter their standpoint,
anyone who advocates feminist politics needs to understand the
work does not end with the fight for equality of opportunity
within the existing patriarchal structure. We must understand
that challenging and dismantling patriarchy is at the core of
contemporary feminist struggle – this is essential and necessary
if women and men are to be truly liberated from outmoded
sexist thinking and actions.
Ironically, Sandberg’s work would not have captured the
attention of progressives, particularly men, if she had not
packaged the message of “lets go forward and work as equals
within white male corporate elites” in the wrapping paper of
feminism. In the “one hundred most influential people in the
world” issue of Time Magazine, the forty-three-year old
Facebook COO was dubbed by the doyen of women’s liberation
movement Gloria Steinem in her short commentary with the
heading “feminism’s new boss.” That same magazine carried a
full page ad for the book Lean In: Women, Work, and The Will
to Lead that carried the heading “Inspire the graduate in your
Life” with a graduating picture of two white females and one
white male. The ad included this quote from Sandberg’s
commencement speech at Barnard College in 2011: “I hope that
98. you have the ambition to lean in to your career and run the
world. Because the world needs you to change it.” One can only
speculate whether running the world is a call to support and
perpetuate first world imperialism. This is precisely the type of
feel good declaration Sandberg makes that in no way clarifies
the embedded agenda she supports.
Certainly, her vision of individual women leaning in at the
corporate table does not include any clear statements of which
group of women she is speaking to and about, and the “lean in”
woman is never given a racial identity. If Sandberg had
acknowledged that she was primarily addressing privileged
white women like herself (a small group working at the top of
the corporate hierarchy), then she could not have portrayed
herself as sharing a message, indeed a life lesson,
for all women. Her basic insistence that gender equality should
be important to all women and men is an insight that all folks
involved in feminist movement agree is a central agenda. And
yes, who can dispute the facts Sandberg offers as evidence;
despite the many gains in female freedom, implicit gender bias
remains the norm throughout our society. Patriarchy supports
and affirms that bias. But Sandberg offers readers no
understanding of what men must do to unlearn sexist thinking.
At no point In Lean In does she let readers know what would
motivate patriarchal white males in a corporate environment to
change their belief system or the structures that support gender
inequality.
Readers who only skim the surface of Sheryl Sandberg’s
book Lean In will find much they can agree with. Very few if
any professional women will find themselves at odds with a
fellow female who champions the cause gender equality, who
shares with us all the good old mother wisdom that one of the
most important choices any of us will make in life is who we
will partner with. And she shares that the best partner is one
who she tells readers will be a helpmeet – one who cares and
shares. Sandberg’s insistence that men participate equally in
parenting is no new clarion call. From its earliest inception, the
99. feminist movement called attention to the need for males to
participate in parenting; it let women and men know that
heteronormative relationships where there was gender quality
not only lasted but were happier than the sexist norm.
Sandberg encourages women to seek high-level corporate jobs
and persevere until they reach the top. For many individual
women, Sandberg telling them that they would not be betraying
family if they dedicated themselves to work was affirming. It is
positive in that it seemed to be a necessary response to popular
anti-feminist backlash, which continually suggests that the
feminist push to place more women in the workforce was and is
a betrayal of marriage and family.
Unfortunately her voice is powerful, yet Sandberg is for the
most part not voicing any new ideas. She is simply taking old
ideas and giving them a new twist. When the book Lean
In began its meteoric rise, which continues to bring fame and
notoriety to Sandberg, many prominent feminists and/or
progressive women denounced the work, vehemently castigating
Sandberg. However, there was just one problematic issue at the
core of the anti-Sandberg movement; very few folks attacking
the work had actually read the book. Some of them had heard
sound bites on television or had listened to her Ted Talk
presentation. Still others had seen her interviewed. Many of
these older female feminist advocates blatantly denounced the
work and boldly announced their refusal to read the book.
As a feminist cultural critic, I found the eagerness with which
Sandberg was viciously attacked disheartening. These critiques
seem to emerge from misplaced rage not based solely on
contempt for her ideas, but a rage bordering on envy. The
powerful white male-dominated mass media was giving her and
those ideas so much attention. There was no in-depth discussion
of why this was the case. In the book Sandberg reminds readers
that, “men still run the world.” However, she does not discuss
white male supremacy. Or the extent to which globalization has
changed the makeup of corporate elites. In Mark Mizruchi’s
book The Fracturing of the American Corporate Elite, he
100. describes a corporate world that is made up of a “more diverse
crowd,” one that is no longer white and male “blue chip dudes.”
He highlights several examples: “The CEO of Coca-Cola is
Muhtar Kent, who was born in the United States but raised in
Turkey; PepsiCo is run by Indra Nooyi, an Indian woman who
came to America in her twenties. Burger King’s CEO is
Brazilian, Chryslers’s CEO is Italian, and Morgan Stanley’s
CEO is Australian. Forget about influencing policy; many of
today’s leading US CEO’s can’t even vote here.” Perhaps, even
in the corporate world, imperialist white supremacist capitalist
patriarchy is ready to accept as many white women as necessary
to ensure white dominance. Race is certainly an invisible
category in Sandberg’s corporate fantasy world.
Sandberg is most seductive when sharing personal anecdotes. It
is these true-life stories that expose the convenient lies
underlying most of her assertions that as more women are at the
top, all women will benefit. She explains: “Conditions for all
women will improve when there are more women in leadership
roles giving strong and powerful voice to their needs and
concerns.” This unsubstantiated truism is brought to us by a
corporate executive who does not recognize the needs of
pregnant women until it’s happening to her. Is this a case of
narcissism as a potential foundation for female solidarity? No
behavior in the real world of women relating to women proves
this to be true. In truth, Sandberg offers no strategies for the
building of feminist solidarity between women.
She makes light of her ambivalence towards feminism. Even
though Sandberg can humorously poke fun at herself and her
relationship to feminism, she tells readers that her book “is not
a feminist manifesto.” Adding as though she is in a friendly
conversation with herself, “okay, it is sort of a feminist
manifesto.” This is just one of the “funny” folksy moments in
the book, which represent her plain and ordinary approach – she
is just one of the girls. Maybe doing the book and talking about
it with co-writer Nell Scovell provides the basis for the
conversational tone. Good humor aside, cute quips and all, it is
101. when she is taking about feminism that many readers would
have liked her to go deeper. How about just explaining what she
means by “feminist manifesto,” since the word implies “a full
public declaration of intentions, opinions or purposes.” Of
course, historically the best feminist manifestos emerged from
collective consciousness raising and discussion. They were not
the voice of one individual. Instead of creating a space of
female solidarity, Sandberg exists as the lone queen amid
millions of admires. And no one in her group dares to question
how she could be heralded as the “voice of revolutionary
feminism.”
How feminist, how revolutionary can a powerful rich woman be
when she playfully admits that she concedes all money
management and bill paying to her husband? As Sandberg
confesses, she would rather not think about money matters when
she could be planning little Dora parties for her kids. This
anecdote, like many others in the book, works to create the
personal image of Sandberg. It is this “just plain folks” image
that has been instrumental in her success, for it shows her as
vulnerable.
This is not her only strategy. When giving filmed lectures, she
wears clothes with sexy deep V-necks and stiletto heels and this
image creates the aura of vulnerable femininity. It reminds one
of the popular television advertisement from years ago wherein
a sexy white woman comes home and dances around singing: “I
can bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan and never let you
forget you’re a man…cause I’m a w-o-m-a-n!” Sandberg’s
constructed image is not your usual sexist misogynist media
portrayal of a feminist. She is never depicted as a man-hating
ball-busting feminist nag.
Instead, she comes across both in her book and when
performing on stages as a lovable younger sister who just wants
to play on the big brother’s team. It would be more in keeping
with this image to call her brand of women’s liberation faux
feminism. A billionaire, one of the richest women in the world,
Sandberg deflects attention from this reality. To personify it
102. might raise critical questions. It might even have created the
conditions for other women to feel threatened by her success.
She solves that little problem by never speaking of money
in Lean In; she uses the word once.
And if that reality does not bring to her persona enough I‘M
EVERYWOMAN appeal, she tells her audiences: “I truly
believe that the single most important career decision that a
woman makes is whether she will have a life partner or who that
partner is.” Even though most women, straight or gay, have not
seen choosing a life partner as a ‘career decision’, anyone who
advocates feminist politics knows that the choice of a partner
matters. However, Sandberg’s convenient use of the word
partner masks the reality that she is really speaking about
heteronormative partnerships, and even more specifically
marriages between white women and white men. She shares:
“Contrary to the popular notion that only unmarried women can
make it to the top, the majority of the more successful female
business leaders have partners.” Specifically, though not
directly, she is talking about white male husbands. For after
telling readers that the most successful women at the top are
partnered, she highlights the fact that “of the twenty-eight
women who have served as CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies,
twenty- six were married, one was divorced and only one was
never married.” Again, no advocates of feminism would
disagree with the notion that individual women should choose
partners wisely. Good partners as defined by old style women’s
liberation movement and reiterated by Sandberg (who makes it
seem that this is a new insight) are those who embrace equality,
who care and share. One of the few radical arguments in Lean
In is that men should come to the table – “the kitchen table.”
This is rarely one of the points Sandberg highlights in her media
performances.
Of course, the vast majority of men in our society, irrespective
of race, embrace patriarchal values; they do not embrace a
vision or practice of gender equality either at work or in the
domestic household. Anyone who acts as though women just
103. need to make right choices is refusing to acknowledge the
reality that men must also be making the right choice. Before
females even reach the stage of life where choosing partners is
important, we should all be developing financial literacy,
preparing ourselves to manage our money well, so that we need
not rely on finding a sharing partner who will manage our
finances fairly. According to More Magazine, American women
are expected to control 23 trillion dollars by the end of the
decade, which is “nearly twice the current amount.” But what
will this control mean if women lack financial literacy?
Acquiring money and managing money are not the same
actions. Women need to confront the meaning and uses of
money on all levels. This is knowledge Sandberg the Chief
Operating Officer possesses even if she coyly pretends
otherwise.
In her 2008 book The Comeback, Emma Gilbey Keller examines
many of the issues Sandberg addresses. Significantly, and
unlike Sandberg, she highlights the need for women to take
action on behalf of their financial futures. One chapter in the
book begins with the epigram: “A woman’s best production is a
little money of her own.” Given the huge amounts of money
Sandberg has acquired, ostensibly by paying close attention to
her financial future, her silence on the subject of money in Lean
In undermines the call for genuine equality. Without the ability
to be autonomous, in control of self and finances, women will
not have the strength and confidence to “lean in.”
Mass media (along with Sandberg) is telling us that by sheer
strength of will and staying power, any woman so inclined can
work hard and climb the corporate ladder all the way to the top.
Shrewdly, Sandberg acknowledges that not all women desire to
rise to the top, asserting that she is not judging women who
make different choices. However, the real truth is that she is
making judgments about the nature of women and work – that is
what the book is fundamentally about. Her failure to confront
the issue of women acquiring wealth allows her to ignore
concrete systemic obstacles most women face inside the
104. workforce. And by not confronting the issue of women and
wealth, she need not confront the issue of women and poverty.
She need not address the ways extreme class differences make it
difficult for there to be a common sisterhood based on shared
struggle and solidarity.
The contemporary feminist movement has not concentrated
meaningful attention on the issue of women and wealth.
Rightly, however, the movement highlighted the need for gender
equity in the workforce –equal pay for equal work. This
economic focus exposed the reality that race was a serious
factor over-determining women’s relationship to work and
money. Much feminist thought by individual visionary women
of color (especially black women thinkers) and white female
allies called for a more accurate representation of female
identity, one that would consider the reality of intersectionality.
This theory encouraged women to see race and class as well as
gender as crucial factors shaping female destiny. Promoting a
broader insight, this work lay the groundwork for the formation
of genuine female solidarity – a solidarity based on awareness
of difference as well as the all-too-common gendered
experiences women share. It has taken many years of hard work
to create basic understandings of female identity; it will take
many more years for solidarity between women to become
reality.
It should surprise no one that women and men who advocate
feminist politics were stunned to hear Sandberg promoting her
trickle- down theory: the assumption that having more women at
the top of corporate hierarchies would make the work world
better for all women, including women on the bottom. Taken at
face value, this seem a naive hope given that the imperialist
white supremacist capitalist patriarchal corporate world
Sandberg wants women to lean into encourages competition
over cooperation. Or as Kate Losse, author of Boy Kings:A
Journey into the Heart of the Social Network, which is an
insider look at the real gender politics of Facebook, contends:
“By arguing that women should express their feminism by