Week 11 — Lecture Outline · MLA Documentation

Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Objectives covered: Objective 6 — Document sources in MLA style (in-text citations and a works-cited list on the core-elements / container model) and apply MLA formatting conventions accurately.
SLOs touched: B (source-based research & academic integrity — accurate documentation) · A (composition — citations serve a real reader)
Meeting pattern: 2 sessions × 75 min = 150 min. Segment minutes below total ~150; scale to your own pattern. Calendar note: Veterans Day (Wed, Nov 11) — campus closed midweek; Tue/Thu sessions unaffected.

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Week at a Glance

The week's big question	"How do I show a reader — precisely, and in a form they can check — exactly where each source came from?"
By the end of the week, students can…	(1) write an in-text citation correctly in both the signal-phrase and parenthetical forms, with no comma between author and page; (2) name the MLA core elements in order and explain the container model; (3) build a works-cited entry from raw details and format the list (alphabetical by first element, hanging indent, "Works Cited," title case); (4) audit a citation generator / chatbot — catch the format error AND verify every element against the real source.
Key vocabulary	MLA (Modern Language Association), 9th edition, documentation, in-text citation, parenthetical citation, signal phrase, author-page method, works-cited list, "Works Cited," core elements, container, contributor, version, number, publisher, publication date, location, hanging indent, alphabetical order, title case, citation generator
Materials	slides (Deck 11), the week's readings (Purdue OWL MLA + MLA Style Center) + the Study Hall "Citations and Quotes" video, one approved chatbot (Gemini / Claude / ChatGPT) for the AI-critique moment and the tutorial
Timing note	8 segments, ~150 min total. Session 1 = Segments 1–4 (~75). Session 2 = Segments 5–8 (~75).
Integrity note (load-bearing this week)	Every MLA model in this outline — in-text and works-cited — is correct MLA 9 and built from a real, verified source, checked against the MLA Style Center and the Purdue OWL. Where a works-cited entry appears, the source is real and its details are accurate. Don't swap in a fabricated example.

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Segment 1 — Hook & the Promise (8 min) · Session 1 opens

Hook. Put a single quoted sentence on a slide with no citation attached — e.g., "Humans are 'symbol-using animals.'" Ask the room: "How would you check this? Who said it? Where would you go to read it in context?" They can't — there's nothing to go on.

Then: "That's the entire job of documentation. It answers two questions a careful reader always has: 'Says who?' and 'Where can I find it?' MLA answers the first inside your sentence (the in-text citation) and the second at the end of your paper (the works-cited entry). The two are a matched pair."

The promise (write it on the board): "By Friday you'll write a correct in-text citation, build a works-cited entry from scratch, and catch a citation generator making a mistake."

Why it matters line (memory hook): "A citation is a promise that your source is real and that anyone can check it. Get it right, and your reader trusts you."

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Segment 2 — In-Text Citation: The Author-Page Method (22 min)

Plain language first. An in-text citation is the brief note inside your sentence that points to a source. MLA uses the author-page method: the author's last name and the page number. There are two forms, and you choose based on whether you've named the author in your sentence.

• Signal-phrase form — name the author in the sentence; put only the page in parentheses.
• Parenthetical form — put both the author and page in parentheses, at the end, just before the period.

One fully worked example (do it out loud — these are REAL, from the Purdue OWL's MLA page, citing Kenneth Burke's actual book):

• Signal phrase: Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as "symbol-using animals" (3). → Author is in the sentence, so the parentheses hold only the page.
• Parenthetical: Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3). → Author not in the sentence, so both go in the parentheses.
• Both point to the same works-cited entry, which begins with "Burke" so the reader can find it:
  Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. University of California Press, 1966.

The rule that makes the matched pair work (say it): whatever begins your in-text citation (here, "Burke") must be the first thing in the matching works-cited entry. That's how the short pointer leads the reader to the full description.

Memory hook (put it on a slide):

"In-text = author + page. Name the author in the sentence? Then just the page."

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Segment 3 — The Comma Rule & Web Sources With No Page (20 min)

Plain language first. This is the single most-tested mechanical rule of the week, so it gets its own segment.

The comma rule (drill it):

Inside the parentheses there is NO comma between the author and the page number.
✅ (Smith 42) ❌ (Smith, 42) ❌ (Smith, p. 42) ❌ (Smith: 42)
Don't add "p." or "page" either — the bare number is the MLA in-text convention.

(Verified against the Purdue OWL: their examples are "(Wordsworth 263)" and "(Burke 3)" — author then space then number, no comma.)

Web sources with no page numbers (the other half of the rule):

Many web pages have no page or paragraph numbers. MLA's answer: give the author's last name alone — e.g., (Lee) — or simply name the author in the sentence and use no parenthetical at all.
Never invent a paragraph number from your browser's print-preview. If there's no stable number in the source, there's no number in your citation.

Misconception + cure:
- ❌ "A comma always separates items in parentheses, so it must be (Smith, 42)."
✅ Cure: not in an MLA in-text citation. Author and page are separated by a single space, nothing else. This is a fixed convention, not a judgment call.

Quick interaction (~5 min): flash four parentheticals — (Smith 42), (Smith, 42), (Smith, p. 42), (42) after a sentence that names Smith — and have students call out which are correct MLA. (Correct: the first; and the last only when Smith is named in the sentence.)

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Segment 4 — The Works-Cited Entry & the Core Elements (20 min) · Session 1 closes (~75)

Plain language first. The works-cited entry is the full description of a source, listed at the end of the paper so a reader can locate it. The modern way to build any entry is the MLA template of core elements: you look at your source, see which elements it has, and list them in a fixed order. One template replaces the old shelf of source-by-source recipes.

The nine core elements, in order (put them on a slide, with the punctuation):

#	Core element	What it names	Follows with
1	Author.	who created the work (last name first; the entry alphabetizes by this)	period
2	"Title of Source."	the specific work used — quotation marks for an article/talk; italics for a book	period
3	Title of Container,	the larger whole that holds the source (website, journal, anthology), in italics	comma
4	Contributor,	an editor, translator, director (if any)	comma
5	Version,	an edition or version (if any)	comma
6	Number,	a volume/issue or episode number (if any)	comma
7	Publisher,	who produced or released it	comma
8	Publication date,	when it was published or posted	comma
9	Location.	where it's found — a page range (pp.), a URL, or a DOI	period

The container idea (say it plainly): when your source is part of a larger whole, that whole is the container. A short story sits inside an anthology; an article sits inside a website or journal; a talk sits inside TED. The source goes in element 2; the container goes in element 3. (This is straight from the MLA Style Center: "a short story may be contained in an anthology. The short story is the source, and the anthology is the container.")

The freeing part (say it): you only include the elements your source actually has. A simple web article is usually just Author, "Title of Source," Title of Container, Publication date, Location — the middle elements (contributor, version, number) just don't apply.

Memory hook:

"Author. Title of Source. Title of Container, Contributor, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location."

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Segment 5 — Worked Move: Build an Entry From Raw Facts (22 min) · Session 2 opens

Hook back in: "Last session: the template. Today we use it — watch one real source become a correct entry, then you'll build one."

One fully worked example (do it at the board, thinking aloud — a REAL, verifiable TED Talk):

The raw facts I have:
- Speaker: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Talk title: The Danger of a Single Story
- Where it lives: the TED website
- Posted: July 2009
- URL: www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story

Now walk the template, element by element:
- Author. → Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. (last name first)
- "Title of Source." → "The Danger of a Single Story." (quotation marks — it's one talk within a site)
- Title of Container, → TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, (italics — the larger whole)
- Publication date, → July 2009,
- Location. → www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story. (drop the "https://"; end with a period)

The finished entry:
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. "The Danger of a Single Story." TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, July 2009, www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.

The matching in-text citation: (Adichie) — no page number, because a video has none.

(This format matches the MLA Style Center's own online-lecture example: "Allende, Isabel. 'Tales of Passion.' TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, Jan. 2008, www.ted.com/talks/…")

Then have students build one with you (guided): give the raw facts of a real web article — e.g., the Purdue OWL's "MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics" page — and walk the template together. A defensible entry (author is the organization → start with the title):

"MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics." Purdue OWL, Purdue University Writing Lab, owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Name the moves: chose the title as the first element (no individual author named); container in italics; dropped "https://"; added an access date because the page has no clear publication date. Real source, walked through one template.

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Segment 6 — Formatting the List + Before/After (18 min)

Plain language first. Four formatting conventions a grader notices in two seconds. (All four are checkable against the Purdue OWL's "MLA Works Cited Page: Basic Format.")

• Heading: Works Cited — centered, not italicized, not in quotation marks. (And not "References" — that's APA — or "Bibliography" — that's Chicago.)
• Order: alphabetical by the first element of each entry (usually the author's last name) — not by the order you cited them, not by date.
• Hanging indent: the first line is flush left; every line after it is indented half an inch. (This lets a reader scan the alphabetized names down the left margin.)
• Capitalization: title case — capitalize the principal words in every title.

Before/after (a generator's botch → the fix). Put both up:

❌ Before (typical citation-generator output for the Adichie talk):
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. "The danger of a single story." 2009. www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story. TED.
What's wrong (name each): title in sentence case (should be title case — "The Danger of a Single Story"); the container TED is dropped to the end and not italicized (it belongs right after the title); the date is bare "2009" with no month (the source shows July 2009); element order is scrambled (location before container).
✅ After (correct MLA 9):
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. "The Danger of a Single Story." TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, July 2009, www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.

Land the cure: the generator produced something plausible and wrong. The fix wasn't to throw it out — it was to check it against the template and the real source. That's the whole skill.

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Segment 7 — Technology Workflow + AI-Critique Moment (22 min)

Plain language first. A citation generator and a chatbot are both drafting tools, not authorities. Used well, they save keystrokes; used blindly, they put errors — and fabrications — into your paper under your name.

Technology workflow — the generator + the template, used the right way:
1. Generate or draft an entry if you like — paste the URL, get a starting point.
2. Check every element against the MLA template — right order? right punctuation? container present and italicized? title in title case?
3. Check every element against the real source — is the author's name spelled and ordered right? the date correct? the title exact?
4. Only then does it go in your list. You are responsible for every line.

AI-critique moment (students verify, not consume) — the most important one of the term:

Ask an approved chatbot: "Give me an MLA works-cited entry for [a real source you can open]."
Then audit its answer on two levels:
- Format: Is the element order right? The commas and periods? Is the container there and italicized? Is the title in title case? Compare it line-by-line to the template.
- Facts (the dangerous part): Does the source even exist? Are the author, title, date, and URL real and correct? Open the source and check.
Chatbots fabricate citations that look flawless for sources that don't exist, and invent details (wrong dates, made-up page numbers) for sources that do. Write 2–3 sentences naming at least one thing the AI got wrong or couldn't be trusted on. The rule for life: never put a citation in your paper that you haven't checked against the real source. A perfect-looking fake is still a fake.

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Segment 8 — Callback, Tease & Hand-off (15 min) · Session 2 closes (~75)

Callback + tease:
- Callback: "You can now find sources (Week 9), integrate them honestly (Week 10), and document them in MLA (Week 11). That's every mechanical piece of using sources well."
- Tease next week: "Next week we put all three together in the term's last major essay — the research-based argument. A thesis you actually argue, supported by credible sources, quoted and paraphrased cleanly, and documented correctly — because an argument with broken citations undercuts its own credibility."

Hand-off (the week's graded work):
- Lecture Tutorial 11 (AI tutor, share-link submission) — in-text and works-cited mechanics.
- Quiz 11 (end of week) and Discussion 11 ("Whose Fault Is a Botched Citation?").
- Assignment 11 ("Build a Works-Cited List") — a 3-source mini list (real sources) + matching in-text citations.
- Writing Studio 11 ("Cite It Right, Then Catch the Bot") — build a correct entry from raw details, fix a generator's mis-format, self-/peer-review, then coach and critique with a chatbot.

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Instructor FAQ — Common Stumbles

Student says / does	Quick cure
Writes (Smith, 42).	No comma in an MLA in-text citation — author then a single space then the page: (Smith 42). Highest-value mechanical rule of the week.
Adds "p." in-text: (Smith p. 42).	In-text uses the bare number — no "p." (The "pp." abbreviation appears in the works-cited entry for a page range, not in the in-text citation.)
Calls the list "References" or "Bibliography."	In MLA it's "Works Cited" — centered, not italicized. "References" is APA; "Bibliography" is Chicago. Wrong heading = wrong style.
Orders the list by when sources were cited.	The works-cited list is alphabetical by the first element (usually the author's last name), regardless of citation order.
Confuses the source and the container.	The source is the specific work (element 2); the container is the larger whole that holds it (element 3). A talk is the source; TED is the container.
Invents a paragraph number for a web page.	If the source has no stable page/paragraph numbers, your in-text citation has none — use the author's name alone (or name them in the sentence).
Pastes a generator's entry without checking.	Generators routinely mis-order and mis-punctuate. Check every element against the template and the real source before it ships.
Trusts a chatbot's citation.	Chatbots fabricate perfect-looking citations for sources that don't exist. Verify every element against the real source — a perfect-looking fake is still a fake.

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Scope flag

This outline stays within Objective 6 (MLA in-text citations; the works-cited entry; the core-elements / container model; MLA formatting conventions). It teaches the common source types a first-year writer meets (a web page, an online video/talk, a book) — not the full handbook of every edge case (multivolume works, translations, government documents), which students look up in the MLA Style Center or the Purdue OWL as needed. Finding and evaluating sources is Week 9; integrating them (quote/paraphrase/signal phrases, avoiding plagiarism) is Week 10; bringing research and argument together is Week 12. Every MLA model here is correct MLA 9 and built from a real, verified source (Adichie's TED Talk; the Purdue OWL MLA page; Kenneth Burke's and Wordsworth's actual works, per the Purdue OWL's own examples); no quotation, source, or citation is fabricated or misattributed.