Temple College: We're here for a reason . . . IT'S YOU! Temple College: We're here for a reason . . . IT'S YOU! Temple College: We're here for a reason . . . IT'S YOU!


Lecture 7: MLA, Research, Documentation and Attributions to Sources

The purpose of this lecture is as follows:
  • Explain the degree to which we will use MLA Style Guidelines for formatiing your writings and for documenting sources.
  • The research requirements for this course.
  • What is meant by attributions, and how to handle them.
    •



    MLA Style Guidelines and Formatting:

    We will use MLA Style Guidelines only for formatting of your assignments, but not documentation and research. I have provided you with a few links to MLA Style Guidelines, and you are expected to engage them to the point where the formatting of your assignments follow MLA Style. Work with these links, and especially "Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words" and "Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing." It is also very important that you work with "Lecture 2: Formatting and Academic Prose: Read This Before Turning in Any Work," for the duration of the semester. Papers that negotiate MLA skills poorly will receive lower grades.
    Research—No Outside Sources Required—Attributions:

    In English Composition I, there is no research required, nor do I encourage it at all. Not only would your attempts at research and documentation fail to earn you a higher grade, they would also demonstrate that you have not followed this syllabus, the lecture materials, and the assignment prompts. In other words, there is no need to locate outside sources from search engines like Google, and even the Temple College Library. Still, some assignments require you to follow links and read about the subject that you have been assigned to write about. In these cases, you should not concern yourself with documenting the sources in your paper by using MLA-type in-text citations and works cited pages, but YOU MUST include an attribution to the author or source. See "Lecture 4: TurnItIn.com: Plagiarism Detection Software," which will make clear exactly what constitutes plagiarism and that I DO REQUIRE that you attribute information to its proper source by writing something like so: "The website www.cnn.com states that . . ."

    Moreover, if the words are not your own, they must be inside quotation marks. Remember, I do not require MLA style documentation in the form of parenthetial citations, and I do not require works cited pages. Do not include them. However, I DO REQUIRE that you pay attributions to your sources.

    The reasoning behind not documenting sources in this course is simply that I want your Composition I course to focus on the development of writing skills. The proper course in which to develop skills in research and documentation is the course you will hopefully take next semester: Composition II. Again, see "Lecture 4: TurnItIn.com: Plagiarism Detection Software." This is perhaps the most important aspect of the course, and no one should treat it lightly. Also see the Temple College Handbook for the Scholastic Integrity Policy.