Informative Writing/ MLA Citations

How to write informative style essays with proper research technique

Writing Notes #5

REVIEWWriting Notes #1 contained the following definition and examples of informative writing:

Expository/Informative: presenting facts or data through a logical structure.

Examples:- How-To Guides, Recipes- Instruction Manuals- Newspaper: Articles, Info-graphics- Textbooks

What does this look like in academic and business settings?

Informative writing is any type of writing in which the purpose of the author(s) is to give reliable, factual information. The author’s opinion or bias should not be noticeable in the information presented, only in the manner and style with which that information is presented.In academic settings, this style of writing shows up in research, thesis and doctoral papers, lab reports, mathematical essays, etc.In business/political settings, this style of writing is used for presentation documentation, foreign policy reports, legal paperwork, etc.Depending on the area of research or setting of the informative writing, this style will use a specific type of notation for all sources of factual, reliable information.

MLA Style MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.

The above definition was taken from Purdue University’s Writing Lab website. Below is an example of what an MLA citation looks like:

Russell, Tony, Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 9 May 2012. Web. 10 March 2013.

Most of the information from the following slides is taken directly from the website, so I highly recommend visiting it when preparing any future documents that use MLA formatting.

MLA Style Con’t.

MLA citations are used to source all information used in works that use MLA formatting. Most (if not all) papers with a research requirement in English classrooms rely on this style.Let’s revisit the example from the previous slide and break it down into distinct sections.

Russell, Tony, Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 9 May 2012. Web. 10 March 2013.

Author

Russell, Tony, Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 9 May 2012. Web. 10 March 2013.

This first part of each citation is the author’s name of the resource your are citing. The above example has three names credited as being the author. Notice the style for listing the names. The first author’s name is listed first (last name, first name: Russell, Tony), followed by the next two (both first name last name: Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli). When one author is present for a source, the name is presented last name, then first name.

Title of source

Russell, Tony, Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 9 May 2012. Web. 10 March 2013.The next part of an MLA citation includes the name of the article, website page, book, or other resource you are using. In this case, the name of the specific website page is used.When using websites, the name used is of the specific page, not the entire website name (example: if you were citing an article about West Iredell’s JROTC program from WarCryNews.com, you would use the name of the specific article, not the name of the website).

Website, book, newspaper of origin

Russell, Tony, Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 9 May 2012. Web. 10 March 2013.

The third piece is the name of the origin of the source’s publication. This could mean the newspaper an article was found in, or the website that a graph or image was listed on. In the example above, the name of the website that specific article is found on is used.

Owner/Publisher and last edited/published date

Russell, Tony, Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 9 May 2012. Web. 10 March 2013.The fourth piece includes the owner of the website, or publisher of the print document. The Purdue OWL is the official website of Purdue University’s Writing Lab (listed with the MLA shorthand for university names).This name is followed by a comma and the date the source was last edited (web) or published (print).

Medium and access date

Russell, Tony, Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 9 May 2012. Web. 10 March 2013.

The final piece of an MLA citation includes a reference to the type of medium that the source was presented on. The word medium here means the method of communication. If the source was found on the internet, the medium type is listed as Web. If the source was found in a printed source (book, newspaper, etc), then the medium type is listed as Print.If the medium type is web, then the date that the source was found will need to be listed as well. In this case, I listed the date I authored this document.

HW Assignment

For tonight’s homework, create citations for two of the website resources and one of the images.Remember to use the specific information shown in the examples throughout this presentation.Also, use the proper formatting shown.Ex: click here to see web page usedNelson, Chase. “Making the Audition.” The War Cry. West Iredell High School, 20 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 March 2013.

The first line touches the margin.

All lines after the first are indented six spaces from the margin.