Do the Research

1. List questions you need to answer to write your paper. Use these questions to guide your search.

2. Decide what sources you will use by looking at:

   1.  - your library Book Catalog to find books on your topic;

   2. - your library Research Computer Programs and the Internet to find electronic information on your topic. (Do this from the library IF you have a signed Internet Agreement on file. - IF you have the passwords, you can access these programs from any browser using a classroom computer, public library computer, and home computer.);

   3.  - reference materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, yearbooks, and atlases. Think about the validity and appropriateness of your sources.

3. 3) Make source cards.

   1. For books:
           write the author or editor's complete name, the title, the name and location of the publisher, and the copyright date.

   2. For magazines and newspapers:
           write the author's complete name, the article's name, the name and date of the magazine or newspaper, and the page number(s) of the article.

   3. For encyclopedias:
           write the author's complete name (if given), the entry title, and the name and copyright date of the encyclopedia.

   4. For Internet sites:
           Use rules for [MLA Citation Style Guide], (Modern Language Association).

4. Take notes from your sources on note cards. Make sure you look for information that suits your purpose and answers your research questions. Here are three ways to take notes:

   1. quotation - copy word for word with their punctuation with quotation marks;

   2. paraphrase - rewrite what the author says in your own words, but capture the main idea and supporting details;

   3. summarize - put in your own words the main or general idea of the passage.

   4. Note cards include:
      a heading of the main idea;
      the number of the source card in the upper right-hand corner;
      What type of material the card is:

      • 1.- quotation, 2.- paraphrase, 3.- summary, 4.- own idea; and at the end of the note, the page on which you found the material in your source.

Write Your Paper

1. Write a thesis statement, which states the main idea of your paper and suggests the organization and purpose.

2. Organize your notes, make a working outline, and begin writing - a process. You need to start and can change things if they need to be changed. Include an analysis of other people's ideas and share your own. Don't just string together facts.

3. Credit the sources of all direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries through parenthetical documentation. This means that next to the quotation or paraphrase you put in parenthesis (), the title of the book or author's name, and the page number where the information can be found. Don't plagiarize. You do not need to document you own thoughts and ideas.

4. Edit your paper. Make sure you have complete, accurate information, that you have met the requirements of the assignment, and that the writing is logical, well-organized, and clear.

5. Decide what changes you need to make and rewrite.

6. Proofread and correct grammar, spelling, and mechanics.

7. Prepare a Works Cited list. This used to be called the Bibliography. The format can be found in The Writer's Craft.(our district's English Dept. approved textbook). The basic format is also in a chart below.

8. Write your final draft making sure you have followed the formatting required by your teacher. If you have not received guidelines, the following is a typical standard. Type your paper in 12 point, letter-quality copy. If handwritten, use dark blue or black ink and write neatly and legibly. Use only one side of the paper. The paper should be double-spaced. Number your pages in the upper right-hand corner.

Traditional Sources

BOOKS

One Author

English, Carol. The Cliffs Won't Do: Read the Book. Philadelphia: McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Multiple Citations by the Same Author

Small, Chris. Please Help Me Carry My Keys! Topeka: Rand, 1993.

----. Don't Measure a Chemist by Her Size. New York: Feminist, 1993.

Two or Three Authors

Drucker, Darla, and Amy Jones. How to Survive Your Wedding. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.

Corporate Author

Wisssahickon Home Economics Department. Cooking with Spice. New York: Scribners, 1993.

Editor

Valenza, Joyce, ed. Bagels and Books: An Anthology. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Random House, 1991.

Work in an Anthology

Smith, James. "The Physics of Sushi." The Fabulous Physics Paper. Ed. Samuel Klein. Rome, GA.: Cambridge, UP, 1054.

Edition Other Than the First

Peters, Michael. Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Keeping Your Classroom Neat and Clean. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Lycol, 1995.

REFERENCE BOOKS

Signed Article

Copaset, Sandra. "Zen and the Art of Wearing Blue and Khaki." Encyclopedia Americana. 1996 ed.

Unsigned Article

"Best Beards of All Time." Encyclopedia of Anatomy and Hair. 15th ed. 1993.

JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS

Article in a Journal
with Continuous Pagination

Skater, Andrew. "Rollerblading on a Secondary Level." Secondary Education 54(1990): 113-25.

Article from a Monthly
or Bimonthly Periodical

Ramsey, Pamela. "Where's My Smiley Face?" MacWorld Sept. 1997: 86-94.

Article from a Weekly
or Biweekly Perioodical

Henry, Mary Ann. "Announcing Bus Changes with Flair." Time 4 July 1991: 71-76.

NEWSPAPERS

Signed Articles

Goldberg, Grace. "The Inside Track: Alumni Life."Trojan Times 10 Oct. 1991: 17.

Unsigned Articles

"Striking a Pose with Sally Miles." New York Times15 Oct. 1997, sec. 1,35.

FILMS AND RADIO AND TELEVISION PROGRAMS

"Starring the Other Peggy Lee," Slightly Off Broadway -- The Series. Prod. Sheldon Wang. PBS. WNET, New York. 6 Aug. 1995.

Making Creative Bookcovers. Dir. Tom Marvin. Videocassette. Clemens, 1997.

PERSONAL OR TELEPHONE INTERVIEW

Craig, John. Personal interview. 23 Sept. 1994.

CITING WORKS WITHIN TOUR TEXT

To document your sources, cite the author's name and the page number of the source in parentheses at the end of the sentence before the period. Like this:

Lowfat cream cheese can save you 300 grams of fat per year (Valenza 35).

If the author's name is used in your sentence, you may just refer to page numbers:

Copaset argues that "yellow simply does not interact well with khaki" (45).

If you are referring to the whole work rather than a specific section, you may omit any reference in parentheses.

Berger's main thesis is that by using motifs, organic unity is easier to achieve.

Electronic Sources

CD-ROMs

Non-Periodical

Name of author (if given). "Title of Part of Work." Title of Product. Edition or release, if given. Publication medium (CD-ROM). City of publication: Publisher, year of publication.

Wallechinsky, David. "Olympic Games."World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. 3.20b. CD-ROM. Chicago: World book, 1996.

Periodical

Name of author (if available). "Title of Article." Title of Journal or Newspaper publication information for printed source. Title of database. Publication medium (CD-ROM). Name of Vendor. Electronic publication date.

Nethead, Jane. "Email Rules." New York Times 15 November 1995, late ed.: B3. New York Times Ondisc. CD-ROM. UMI-ProQuest. Jan. 1996.

SIRS Researcher

Name of Author. "Title of article." Original Source date: pages. SIRS Volume. Ed.year. Article number. SIRS Researcher. CD-ROM. Boca Raton: SIRS, date.

Calvin, Michael. "Surfing the Web." Futurist Sept.-Oct. 1995: 20-27. Earth Science. Ed. Eleanor Goldstein. 1995. Art. 25. SIRS Researcher. CD-ROM. Boca raton: SIRS, 1995.

WORLD WIDE
WEB

Author (if known). "Title of Page or Document." Title of site or Larger Work (if applicable). Date of document. Online. Available http://address /filename. Date of access.

Cassutto, George. "Social Studies and the World Wide Web." 8 June 1996. Online. Available http://www.fred.net/nhhs/html3/article3.htm. 30 Aug. 1996.

"Graf Has Look of a Champion." ESPNET SportsZone. 29 Aug. 1996. Online. Available http://www.espn.com/gen/top/0108716001.html. 30 Aug. 1996.

FTP

Author. "Title of document or File." Date of publication (if available). Online. Available ftp: address, path/filename. date of access or download..

Kehoe, Brendan. "Zen and the Art of the Internet." Sept. 1996. Online. Available ftp: ftp.cs.widener.edu/ed/cd.pub/get. 9 Sept. 1997.

GOPHER

Author. "Title of Document or File." Date of publication (if available). Online. Available gopher: address, path. Date of access.

Allen, Gary. "Grants for Math and Science Education." 8 Nov. 1996. Online. Available gopher: enc.org/Professional Development Resources. 20 Dec. 1997

LISTSERV

Author. "Subject of Message." Date of post. Online posting. Name of listserve@E-mail address of list. Date of access.

Bookman, Emily. "Re: Bulletin Board Ideas." 5 Nov. 1997. Online posting. LM_NET@listserv.syr.edu 20 Nov. 1997.

USENET

NEWSGROUP

Author. "Title of Item." Date of post. Online posting. Newsgroup name. Usenet. Date of access

Brown, Carol. "Stress and Test Taking." 8 Mar. 1997. Online posting. k12.ed.research. Usenet. 28 Mar. 1997

ONLINE CHAT

Name of speaker (if available). Date of session. Online. IRC address, IRC channel name.

Yente, Ima. Online. 24 Oct. 1997. Online. telnet:IRC@kids.ccit.duq.edu, Channel #KIDCLU+

TELNET

Author (if available). "Title of Document." Date of publication (if available). Online. Available telnet:address, path. Date of access.

"Colorado Charter Schools." 15 Nov. 1996. Online. Available telnet: 140.226.1.8/The Schoolhouse. 4 Sept. 1998

JOURNAL MATERIAL FROM A COMPUTER SERVICE OR ONLINE DATABASE

Author. "Article Title." Periodical Title Date of print publication (if available). Edition (if any): pages. Database Name (if any). Online. Name of computer service. Date of access.

Keizer, Gregg. "Write the Perfect Paper." Family PC Sept. 1996. Online. America Online. 25 Nov. 1996.

EMAIL

Warning: Though many style sheets advise listing personal E-mail addresses in a citation, there is the danger of violating the privacy of the author or the recipient. The MLA Handbook does not recommend including addresses.

Author of E-mail message. "Subject line of message." E-mail to recipient's name. Date of message.

Valenza, Joyce. "What to wear at the conference." E-mail to Jane Nethead. 27 Sept. 1996.

EMAIL SENT TO YOU

Nethead, Jane. "Enjoying the Web." Personal E-mail. 29 Sept. 1996 .