5 (Document Work MLA) – Document their work using appropriate conventions (MLA)
Using MLA format is an important portion of writing essays because it helps the author bring in ideas that aren’t their own, and be able to cite them without taking credit for the ideas. Using MLA appropriately looks like using signal phrases, quotation marks, and a citation, as well as a properly cited works cited page. Below, I show an example of me correctly using MLA format within a quote.
Body / Barclay paragraph from Essay #3
In this example I used two different types of an MLA citation. The citations are at the end of the sentences, after the quote and before the period. For the first citation, I used the author’s last name and page number inside parenthesis to show who and where I got the information from. On the second one, I only used the page number inside the parentheses because I used the author’s name earlier in the sentence, so for sake of redundancy I did not list the authors name again.
Works Cited page from Essay #3
My Works Cited page from my third essay lists all the sources I used with the paper alphabetically. It is located solely on the final page of the essay with the correct formatting and page number. Using the proper formatting helps the reader understand where to get the information they are looking for, so that if they want to read more after finishing my essay, they can. Formatting looks like authors name, name of work, publisher, date created/published, and link (if there is one).
6 (Sentence-Level Error) – Control sentence-level error (grammar, punctuation, spelling)
Fixing sentence level errors has come fairly easily to me, as I just try to make the sentence make sense using as specific words as I can. My biggest issue is word choice, so I mostly go back to find stronger vocabulary, and also rearranging sentences so that they can be more concise and clear.
Rough Draft Introduction paragraph from essay #2
In the drafting stage, I really just try to get all my thoughts down on the page, not really worrying about how it sounds. In green here you can see my process of going back after rereading it to rearrange or reword sentences so that they sound better when being read. I want to focus on the second to last sentence where I am talking about David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech. I changed the word “around” to “regarding” because it was much more specific to what I was saying. Then I moved DFW to after introducing who he is so that the reader knows what he does before his name. Lastly I changed “change” to “break free from” because it has a more descriptive effect on how people change their perspectives on empathy.
Body paragraph from Essay #1
In this paragraph from my earliest essay this year, Mr. Brod left a comment on how I could integrate this quote better. Instead of just ending one sentence with a comma and going right into a quote, he suggested that I end the sentence with a period and introduce the quote with a signal phrase. I agree with these edits as it has a much better flow to it that just jumping from a sentence to a quote. Another edit he made was removing the comma from before the end of the quote, because I learned that it does not have to be there.
