College Paper...Help!

[Barb Gordon]

Thought I'd appeal to the other college students there, or the graduated ones for that matter, for a bit of help. Just what are the MLA Guidelines? I've seen that mentioned for a lot of papers, and I believe I know the basics, because my papers always do well, but I've never actually looked at the book...or even have it,lol.
Also, any suggestions for someone writing a paper? Do you notice that instructors in general like to see particular things in a paper? I'm used to being able to produce 4 page papers, no sweat, but I've got an 8 page one due that's got me just a little stressed.

~Barb

[RZetlin]

Just what are the MLA Guidelines?


(Looks at Barb Gordon)

You have written papers and you haven't encountered the MLA guidelines yet?

MLA guidelines are rules on how to quote material from other sources, how to write up the bibliography, footnotes, etc.

For example if you mention a title of the book you have to italicize the title. (Though that rule could have changed by now.)

You can look up the guideline here (http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/MLA/bibliographymla.htm).



Also, any suggestions for someone writing a paper?


What do you mean? Are you talking about the essay format? (Introduction, Body, Conclusion)

I apologize if my statement is offensive, but shouldn't you have learned this in English class?



I'm used to being able to produce 4 page papers, no sweat, but I've got an 8 page one due that's got me just a little stressed.


You have it easy. I have written 15-20 page reports before.

[RogueMartian]

The MLA guidelines would take a whole novel to tell. That's why there is a published MLA handbook that almost every college freshman is told to buy in their first english class, and most of them keep the book for future reference. I've had mine for three years now. If you don't have the book, then just go online and look up the format, because the format of a bibliography entry depends entrely on the source, and there are literally hundreds of different types of sources. Books with one author, 2 authors, compilation books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, internet, etc.

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/MLA/bibliographymla.htm

That should be a decent site for whatever you need. That's just for the bibliography though, for within the paper, whenever you use a quote, or non-common-knowledge fact then you have to reference it. The reference is usually:

I love dogs. Dogs have four legs(Doe, p5). That's why I love dogs.

[zmanjz]

MLA Guidelines...

Ugh.


There are many different style guidelines

MLA (Modern Language Association) Used Primarily by Reporters, and English students

APA (American Psycological Association) Used by Social Work oriented professions, Psycologists, Political Scientists, Criminologists, etc

Chicago Style (My Favorite) Used Primarily by Historians, and the easiest to use. Relies on internal consistency as opposed to Uniform consistency (I.E. once you decide how you wish to write, you stick with it forever.)

CBE (Council of Science Editors (Used to be Biology Editors)) used for scientific papers.

If you're writing reports and the like, the above styles are excellent. however remember that if you write fiction, it's not formal style as much as it is artistic rtyle that matters. (James Joyce made single paragraphs that outlast most other books... he also violated EVERY MLA rule at lest once)

[Arkangel]

The reference is usually:

I love dogs. Dogs have four legs(Doe, p5). That's why I love dogs.

Actually it would be: I love dogs. Dogs have four legs (Doe 5). That's why I love dogs.

Otherwise everything you said is correct.

[Barb Gordon]

Yes I know, it's probably bizarre for a college student...let alone an English Lit. Major, to not have the MLA Guidlines. I do know the basics of them, just never went and picked up an actual copy of them. We spent times in the library during high school learning all about writing papers. We would be given assignments on citing works correctly, and all that sort of fun stuff. So yes, I have been taught it, I do know it. I knew it wonderfully in high school, but now minor details of it that I used to know, I no longer do. Thanks for the links, I found another on my own that looked promising, and these other two look helpful.
As far as when I asked about suggestions, I was mostly interested in seeing what other college students do when they write papers. What helps them relax, how they prefer to outline, if there are any particular things they like to tackle first. I love writing papers, outlining what I'm going to say, etc. Sometimes I'll have a nice opening, other times I can't think of one and will begin on the main body of my paper and then go back and write the opening later on -- those kinds of things.

~Barb

[Failure]

When I write, I usually keep a loose outline of what I want to write in my head. However, when I actually get down to it, usually it starts out very disjointed, I'll start a paragraph then leave it unfinished to move onto another idea and so on. It's kinda like working backward, only it's not even that linear. Eventually I go back and piece it all together. It's probably a terrible way to go about writing, but it's a system that's worked well for me throughout the years.

[Jor-El]

Barb, IM me anytime with any MLA questions. I'm such a nerd that I can answer them. That goes for all of you, actually.

Welcome to the exciting life of an English Ed major!!

[TimTwoFace]

Hey Barb, sorry I missed this thread a few days ago when you originally posted it. :p

I'm an English Lit grad as of...oooo, just 9 days from now (yay!)...and I'll admit that for the first year or two of university, I didn't know much about the MLA guidelines. My profs always handed out notes and guidelines on how to do the proper citations, and they were pretty easy when you had the formula with which to cite - but dang, I just hated it. Why there are different styles of citing are beyond me. Why can't everyone just stick to the same one (be it MLA, APA, or whatever)? It would make the world a helluva lot easier. At least for us writers.

What do I do to calm down? OK, here's how I used to write my big papers. I never did so at a desk. My desk is a huge mess, anyway, so I did all my writing on my bed. You're in a nice, relaxed, reclining position. Then, put on the radio in the background - not a channel you particularly like, but one with lots of songs you recognize. It puts your mind at ease and makes the creative juices flow better.

A nice breeze from my balcony is also nice - weather permitting. :)

As for the actual brainstorming...uhhh...for me, the brainstorming usually takes a day or two of taking notes. Write down ideas as soon as you think of them. I took the bus in to school each day of my high school and university life, and I spent much of that time either taking notes, doing my EASIER homework to get out of the way, listening to the radio to chill from the stresses of my day at school (or preparing for them), or just sleeping. That way, you're either refreshed once you get home, or you've gotten all the other work out of the way so you can focus on the bigger task at hand.

-Tim

[czyznyck99]

Living in the lovely world of mathematics, I rarely get to write extended essays. But when I do...

Usually, within the first fifteen minutes of the assignment I know exactly what I am going to talk about. Therefore, I take that idea and write away. Although it is far from perfect, it usually is passing on its own. Then I refuse to look at it for a few days, after which I look back on it and realize all of the mistakes I made while I was ranting. I get a kick out of criticizing and fixing my own work (ironic considering how ticked I get internally when someone else does it to me).

I am never a big fan of music. I like to work in silence. It's my personal engagement level meter. The more music I need, the less enthusiastic I am about my work. Now since I spend most of my time writing extended proofs, I am not really the best judge on how one should write papers. The "proofs" have a definite right and wrong, many English papers don't. But the concept of logic is still important in both, but you all already knew that, right? Just make sure that any half-brained person can get what's being said.

Later.