MLA Guidelines &

Paper Editing

He believed, “Flowers could grow…”

(“Disasters” ¶9)

(Matthews 16)

Paper Editing

Your rough draft must be edited by two

different students.

You must also edit two different rough

drafts to receive your editing grade.

You must submit both edited rough draft

copies (with editor’s name) with your final

paper.

Follow this power point very carefully.

Editing

Introduction - 1st sentence = HOOK

Grabs readers attention

If it’s a quote it must be properly cited

Does it make sense?

Bridge – connects hook to thesis

Can be something from the books analyzed

THESIS = LAST SENTENCE

Must contain arguable point and something to do

with the writer’s novels of choice

Must have at least one literary element in it

Must not have author background in it

Body Paragraphs

Everything in each body paragraph must

support the THESIS of paper

Must contain

Topic sentence

Two pieces of support (at least)

Any information the reader needs to understand

the support being used

Solid explanations of how support proves topic of

paragraph and thesis of overall paper

Conclusion and transition sentence (can be one or

two)

Body Paragraphs

Topic Sentences –

Every body paragraph needs a sentence

explaining what that paragraph is about. It must

clearly support the argument made in the thesis.

Write a “T” by each topic sentence.

Topic Sentences can be a reverse hook or a

following sentence but must be at the beginning

of the paragraph

You must read the entire paragraph to make sure

there is nothing in the paragraph that does not

fall under the topic sentence.

Body Paragraphs

Quotes –

Is there at least one quote per body

paragraph?

Does the paragraph contain at least two

pieces of support?

Does everything in the paragraph

support the topic of the paragraph?

Conclusion –

Restates but does not repeat thesis

Summarizes main arguments

Does not contain:

Quotes

New information

Transitions –

Each paragraph must flow into the next.

As you edit you must ascertain whether or

not the writer connects each paragraph to

the next.

Circle the word(s) that allow the

sentences to flow from one to another

If you cannot figure out how the

sentences are connected you must write

that on the paper

Transitions Example–

(Last sentence in paragraph) In "The Tell-Tale Heart," a

careful reader can observe Poe's skillful

manipulation of the senses.

The sense of sight, the primary

sense, is particularly susceptible to

manipulation. (First sentence in next paragraph)

Paper Content

Must have 6 different sources used (does

not matter how- direct quotes,

paraphrasings, or summaries

Must contain literary criticism

Paper length = full 3 pages but no more

than 5 full pages

Parenthetical

Citations &

Quotations

Direct Quotes

First of all make sure no direct quotes

used in the paper are over 2 lines.

If there are mark the quote(s) as too long.

The writer must narrow down the evidence

they are using.

A three – five page paper may not use

block text

Embedding the Quote

There are bad kids on the island.

One of them is Roger. He drops a

boulder on Piggy and kills him.

"Roger, with a sense of

delirious abandonment, leaned

all his weight on the lever"

(Golding 180). This caused

Piggy's death.

Embedding the Quote

The truest form of wickedness on the

island is evident in Roger. He

demonstrates his true depravity when,

"with a sense of delirious

abandonment, [he] leaned all his

weight on the lever" (Golding 180).

Well aware of Piggy's place beneath

him, Roger willingly takes Piggy's life.

Ellipses

Dillard says that the weasel "bites his

prey at the neck . . . and he does not let

go.”

INSTEAD OF:

Dillard says that the weasel "bites his

prey at the neck either splitting the

jugular vein at the throat or

crunching the brain at the base of the

skull and he does not let go."

Ellipses

He said, "I am here. . . “ (Smith 2). -Ellipsis because the quoted words are a complete

sentence by themselves

-Why four "periods" instead of three?

Well, in this case, I am using an ellipsis (three periods) and a period for my own sentence (one period).

The author called George a “freak”

(Smith 2).

-No ellipses because only quoted a phrase

Brackets – Verb tense

Dillard concludes her essay by saying that she "think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it take you.“

CHANGE TO:

Dillard concludes her essay by saying that she "think[s] it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it take[s] you."

Brackets - pronouns

Use brackets when the original meaning of the message is unclear due to confusing pronouns.

Dillard was "stunned into stillness as he was emerging from beneath an enormous shaggy wild rose bush four feet away.“

CHANGE TO-

Dillard was "stunned into stillness as [the weasel] was emerging from beneath an enormous shaggy wild rose bush four feet away."

Parenthetical Citations anything else = PLAGIARISM

•If the ideas didn’t come from your own

brain then you MUST CITE IT!

Example: (author’s last name pg #)

(Golding 117)

•You must cite = Direct Quotations,

Paraphrased Notes, and Summaries.

Parenthetical Citations

Usually you will cite author’s last name because it is the first

piece of info from the citation. However, there are different

possibilities –

Two sources with the same author- cite the next piece

of info (ie. Usually a title; must be punctuated the same as

in the citation)

No author- use whatever info comes first in the citation

(usually a title; must be punctuated the same as in the

citation)

If you are citing a website with no page numbers – you

need a paragraph number (Smith par 2) or (“Julia

Alvarez” par 27)

There Are Two Ways To Make

Parenthetical Citations

1.Put the author’s name in the stem of

your sentence, and the page number in

parentheses at the end of the sentence.

Example: Jones described his dog

as a “snarling beast” that day (117).

2. Put both the author’s name and the

page number in parentheses at the

end of the sentence.

Example: The dog was a

“snarling beast” that day (Jones

117).

Citation Punctuation

•If your sentence ends with a period, put the

period after the parentheses.

Example: “…beast” (Jones 117).

•If your sentence ends with a question mark

or an exclamation point, put it before the last

quotation mark.

Examples: “…beast?” (Jones 117).

“…beast!” (Jones 117).

Direct Quote

1. Golding reveals how "Roger, with a sense of

delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on

the lever“ (180). Well aware of Piggy's place

beneath him, Roger willingly takes Piggy's life.

or

2. The reader can see that “Roger, with a sense

of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight

on the lever“ (Golding 180). Well aware of

Piggy's place beneath him, Roger willingly takes

Piggy's life.

Paraphrased

1. Golding shows that Roger is wicked by making him happy and excited when he leaned on the lever with his entire weight (180). Well aware that Piggy is beneath him, Roger willingly takes Piggy's life.

Or

2. The reader knows that Roger is wicked because he was happy and excited when he leaned on the lever with his entire weight (Golding 180). Well aware that Piggy is beneath him, Roger willingly takes Piggy's life.

Summary

1. Golding lists Ralph’s rules: fire only on the

mountain top, the sea rocks are bathrooms,

and everyone must leave water in the coconut

shells (53).

Or

2. In chapter 3, Ralph lists his rules: fire only

on the mountain top, the sea rocks are

bathrooms, and everyone must leave water in

the coconut shells (Golding 53).

Editing

Embedding Quotes -

Is the quote embedded into the writer’s

sentence? Underline the writer’s words

attached to the quote. If you can’t it’s

not embedded.

Is the quote correctly punctuated? – You

must look at the original quote on their

outline to know. Ex. The narrator said, “’I

have the conch.’”

Editing

MLA Guidelines –

Do all of their quotes (including an opening

hook) have page numbers correctly cited? Ex.

He said, “’I have the conch’” (Golding 23).

Summarizing and paraphrasing must also be

cited. You must read their entire paper. If they

use information from the book (NOT FROM

THEIR OWN BRAINS) it must include a citation.

Highlight any plagiarized text blue or green.

Sources

Total Sources

Paper must have 6 different sources used

Two sources must be novels

Only once source (besides the novels)

may be used outside of the approved

databases; this source must be verified as

credible

All sources must actually be cited in paper

not just listed on the works cited page

Literary Criticism

Lit Crit

Addresses literary devices of the two

novels

Shows understanding of texts/topics

Show awareness of author’s purpose

Grammar &

Mechanics

Mechanics-

No grammatical, spelling, or

punctuation errors anywhere in the

paper

No run-on sentences or sentence

fragments

All sentences make sense to reader not just in the writer’s head when they wrote it at 3 in the morning.

Sentences structures vary

MLA &

Paper Formatting

Paper Formatting -

Must be double-spaced

Times New Roman

12 pt font

Must have original title

Heading must be in the “header”

Heading must be double-spaced in upper left-

hand corner (and not in the header):

NAME

Bush

ENGLISH II PreAP/MYP – Block

Due Date

Works Cited

Page & Citations

Works Cited Page

You must turn in a Works Cited Page with

your final research paper.

Directions are in the packet with an

example. Follow the directions carefully.

Citations

For further questions concerning MLA

formatting:

The Purdue Online Writing Lab

(OWL)

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/