In-text 01.16How to Write a Research Paper MLA in-text
In-text 01.16How to Write a Research Paper MLA in-text
1.4 Paragraphing
• Use a topic sentence for each paragraph; each paragraph should focus on and elaborate the
subject introduced in the topic sentence. Each topic sentence should relate to the topic of
your paper and develop the main argument.
• A paragraph is a unit of thought: It consists of several sentences that develop one line of
argument step-by-step, i.e. the sentences illustrate, specify, and exemplify the central issue
of the topic sentence.
• Avoid one- or two-sentence paragraphs.
• The last sentence of each paragraph should establish a link to the next one.
• Each new paragraph is either indented or separated from the preceding paragraph by a blank
line.
2.2 Style
Dos Don’ts
• Use the present tense when writing about • Avoid frequent use of the passive voice.
literary works, essays, paintings, etc. • Avoid clichés and slang.
• Avoid meaningless filler words.
2.3 Spelling
Spelling should be consistent throughout the research paper.
Dos Don’ts
• When you use quotations, you must • Do not mix American and British
reproduce all accents and other marks as English.
they appear in the original. • Avoid contractions (e.g. don’t, it’s).
• Use spell check.
• Proofread the paper.
2.5 Capitalisation
In a title, subtitle, or whenever you cite the title from a published work capitalise the first and
all following principal words including those that follow hyphens or compound terms.
Capitalise Do Not Capitalise
nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, articles, prepositions, coordinating
subordinating conjunctions: conjunctions, ‘to’ in infinitives:
The Flower of Europe, Save Our Children, Under the Bamboo Tree, The Merchant of
This Is Literature, The Ugly Duckling, Only Venice, Romeo and Juliet, How to Play
Slightly Corrupt, One If by Land Chess
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. The Female Cultural Sphere in the U.S. in the Second Half of the 19th Century 2
2.1 The Cult of True Womanhood 2
2.2 Female Social Reform and the Early Feminist Movement 3
3. The Female Sphere in 19th-Century Fiction 4
3.1 Local Color vs. Regionalism 4
3.2 Breaking with Literary and Cultural Conventions and Taboos 5
4. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman as Case Studies 6
4.1 Kate Chopin: Local Color Writing as Female Agenda 6
4.2 Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Social Reforms as Driving Force 9
5. Conclusion 12
Works Cited 13
Note:
All the headings on the contents page should be equivalent to the headings in the text.
Dos Don’ts
• The headings should tell a ‘story’ and • Avoid literal repetitions of headings (e.g.
give a first impression of how you 2. Women’s Liberation, 2.1 Women’s
develop your topic. Liberation and Counterculture).
• There is always an “Introduction” and a • Avoid filler words, one-worded headings,
“Conclusion”, although they do not generalisations, questions, and
necessarily have to be titled thus. specialised terms.
• Choose topic headings or sub-headings • Avoid more than three levels for the
which outline the content of your paper. structure of the paper (hence no 2.1.1.1
• Sub-headings serve the clarification of etc.)
main headings. • Do not use sub-headings if you only have
• Pagination: Start counting from the title one sub-item (e.g. if you write 2.1 you
page but start page numbering on the first must at least write 2.2).
page of the introduction. • Do not add a number before ‘Works
• Number all pages consecutively Cited’, which is also not part of the
throughout the research paper. chapter count und is thus not numbered.
Eidesstattliche Versicherung
Hiermit erkläre ich, dass ich die Hausarbeit/ Bachelorarbeit/ Masterarbeit mit dem Titel
Titel
selbständig verfasst und keine anderen als die angegebenen Quellen benutzt habe. Die Stellen
der Arbeit sowie evtl. beigefügte Zeichnungen, Skizzen oder graphische Darstellungen, die
anderen Werken dem Wortlaut oder dem Sinn nach entnommen sind, habe ich unter Angabe
der Quelle als Entlehnung kenntlich gemacht. Die Arbeit ist nicht bereits in einem anderen
Seminar vorgelegt worden.
Ort, Datum Unterschrift
4. Conducting Research
4.1 A Selection of Useful Research Sources
Library Open Shelves: sections for reserved works, reference works, key text
collections, textbook collection, periodicals
Examples:
• Mary Davies describes the animal at East Mountain Reservation as “unlike any known to
previous civilizations, strange and exotic to the human explorers” (176).
• The animals at East Mountain Reservation are “unlike any known to previous civilizations,
strange and exotic to the human explorers” (Davies 176).
• “Remember that this sentence, like many others, is just an example.” (Müller 10).
• Müller stresses that “this sentence […] is just an example” (10).
• Author’s Name: Give the author’s name as it appears on the title page. Omit titles,
affiliations, degrees, etc.
• Title: State the full title of the book, including any subtitle. Use a colon between main title
and subtitle. Capitalise all titles (see 2.5). (1) Italicise books, plays, collection of poems,
pamphlets, periodicals, web sites, films, albums, dance performances, visual art. (2) Put
titles of articles, stories, poems, pages in a web site, episodes, songs, lectures in quotation
marks.
• Original Date of Publication: Give information of the first date of publication after the
title followed by a full stop.
• Publication Information: If several cities are listed in the book, give only the first. It is not
necessary to identify the state or country. Only cite the last name of the publisher. Omit
articles, business abbreviations, and descriptive words. When citing a university press use
the abbreviation UP.
• Common Abbreviations: n.p. (no place of publication); n.p. (no publisher); n.d. (no date
of publication); n. pag. (no pagination given).
• Cross-References: Citing two or more works from the same collection, you may create a
complete entry for the collection and cross-reference individual pieces to the entry.
Book by more than one First author’s last name, first name, and second author’s first
author name last name. Title of the Book. City of publication:
Publisher’s name, year of publication. Medium of publication.
Works Cited: Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the
Attic. New Haven: Yale UP, 1979. Print.
Guignery, Vanessa, and François Gallix, eds. (Re-)Mapping
London: Visions of the Metropolis in the Contemporary
Novel in English. Paris: Publibook, 2008. Print.
Introduction/ Preface/ Author’s last name, first name (of the Introduction, etc.).
Foreword/ Afterword Introduction/ Preface/ Foreword/ Afterword. Title of the book.
By name of the principal work’s author. City of publication:
Publisher’s name, year of publication. Inclusive page numbers.
Medium of publication.
Scholarly Edition Author’s last name, first name. Title of the Book. Year of first
publication. Ed. Name of editor. City of publication:
Publisher’s name, year of publication. Medium of publication.
Works Cited: Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the
American Civil War. 1895. Ed. Fredson Bowers.
Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1975. Print.
Newspaper Article Author’s last name, first name. “Title of the Article.” Name of
Magazine date of publication: Inclusive page numbers. Medium
of publication.
Works Cited: Cowley, Geoffrey. “I’d Toddle a Mile for a Camel.” Newsweek
23 Dec. 1991: 70-71. Print.
Review Author’s last name, first name. “Title of Review.” Rev. of Title
of Reviewed Text, by/ trans./ dir./ ed. Name of author. Title of
Periodical Date of Publication: Inclusive Page number.
Medium of publication.
Web Publications Last name, first name of the author/ compiler/ director/ editor/
narrator/ performer. “Title of the Work.” Title of the Overall
Web Site. Publisher or sponsor, Date of publication. Medium of
publication. Date of access. (URL optional).
Article from an online Author’s last name, first name. “Title of Article.” Title of
database Periodical volume number.issue number (Date of publication):
Inclusive page numbers. Title of database. Medium of
publication. Date of access. (URL optional).
Works Cited: Tolson, Nancy. “Making Books Available: The Role of Early
Libraries, Librarian, and Booksellers in the Promotion of
African American Children’s Literature.” African American
Review 32.1 (1998): 9-16. JSTOR. Web. 5 June 2008.
Works Cited: Ned Kelly. Dir. Tony Richardson. Screenplay by Ian Jones.
1970. MGM, 2005. DVD.
Works Cited: Holliday, Billie. “God Bless the Child.” The Essence of Billie
Holliday. Rec. 9 May 1941. Columbia, 1991. CD.
Simon, Paul. “Me and Julio Down by the School Yard.”
Concert in the Park. Warner Bros., 1991. CD.
Works Cited: The English Standard Version Bible: Containing the Old and
New Testaments with Apocrypha. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009.
Print.
New International Version. Colorado Springs: Biblica, 2011.
BibleGateway.com. Web. 3 Mar. 2011.
Citation in Text: (The English Standard Version Bible, 2 Cor. 5.17), (New
International Version, Gen. 3.15)
(In the text, books and versions of the Bible are not italicized.
In case of direct reference quote: abbreviation of book. chapter
number.verse number)
Work Cited:
The Modern Language Association of America. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers. 7th ed. New York: MLA, 2009. Print.