MLA Style
MLA Handbook
Excellent academic writing is built upon the work of others. Each researcher adds his/her unique contributions and analysis. Citation provides the vehicle which allows us to acknowledge how the scholarship of others has contributed to our own work, to distinguish for our readers ideas which are our own and those which are not, and to give readers a path by which they can track the development of the ideas we present.
To fail to distinguish our original ideas from those of others constitutes plagiarism, "the act of appropriating the literary composition of another author, or excerpts, ideas, or passages therefrom, and passing the material off as one's own creation." (West's Encyclopedia of American Law)
To find the correct way to cite sources for all your classes, go to the Library's page on Citing Sources.
Some of the materials you will use for this assignment are not published books or articles so you need to consult the 7th edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers for instructions on how to cite them properly.
CITING MANUSCRIPTS OR TYPESCRIPTS
To cite unpublished manuscripts or typescripts, give the name of the author, tht title or a description of the material (for example, Scrapbook), the date of composition (at least the year - if the year is unknown, write N.d.),and the for mo the material. Use MS for a manuscript, TS for a typescript. Then give the name and location of the library that houses the material. Here is an example:
Watson, Richard L. "Be Like Sisyphus." 22 Oct. 2009. TS. NC Wesleyan College Archives, Rocky Mount, NC.