Week 11 — Readings & Resources · MLA Documentation

Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Objective 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.

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded, and there is nothing to buy.

This week is rule-bound, so these two sites are the ones you'll keep coming back to all term: the Purdue OWL (the most-used writing lab in the country) and the MLA Style Center (the only site authorized by the MLA itself). When a citation question comes up in any class, these are the authorities to check — including for catching a citation generator's mistakes. This week's load is 2 short readings + 1 video, plus the optional reference. Total time is roughly 30–40 minutes if you do everything.

Reading order that matches the lecture: ① in-text citation mechanics (author + page; the comma rule) → ② the works-cited entry + the core-elements / container model → ③ a quick video tour of citing sources.

A habit to start now: never paste a citation — from a generator or a chatbot — without checking it against the rules on these pages and against the real source. The tool drafts; you verify.

① In-Text Citations

Maps to Lecture Segments 2 & 3. MLA uses the author-page method. The line to carry out of this week: no comma between author and page — (Smith 42), not (Smith, 42).

Reading — "MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics" (Purdue OWL)
🔗 https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html
Why it's assigned: the clearest walk-through of the author-page method — both the signal-phrase form ("Wordsworth stated… (263)") and the parenthetical form ("…(Burke 3)"). Notice two things the lecture stressed: the parentheses hold the bare page number (no "p."), and what begins your in-text citation must match the first element of the works-cited entry. Updated to the MLA Handbook, 9th edition.
⏱ ~9 min

② The Works-Cited Entry & the Core-Elements / Container Model

Maps to Lecture Segments 4–6. One template builds (almost) any entry: Author. "Title of Source." Title of Container, Contributor, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

Reading — "Works Cited: A Quick Guide" (MLA Style Center)
🔗 https://style.mla.org/works-cited/works-cited-a-quick-guide/
Why it's assigned: this is from the only website authorized by the MLA, and it explains the two ideas the whole week rests on — the core elements (the facts common to most sources, assembled in a set order) and the container (when your source is part of a larger whole, that whole is the container). For real, correctly formatted sample entries by source type (a website article, a video, a book), follow the site's "Citations by Format" page: 🔗 https://style.mla.org/works-cited/citations-by-format/
⏱ ~8 min (plus a few minutes browsing the format examples)

Want the formatting rules in one place? The Purdue OWL's "MLA Works Cited Page: Basic Format" lays out the conventions we drilled — the centered "Works Cited" heading, alphabetical order by the first element, the hanging indent, and title-case capitalization. 🔗 https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_basic_format.html — optional, ~6 min.

③ A Quick Video Tour

Maps to the whole week. A short, first-year-friendly overview of why and how we credit sources.

Video — "Citations and Quotes | Study Hall: Composition #7" (ASU + Crash Course)
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02XdhmeFgH4
Why it earns the click: a lively, plain-language tour of when a reference needs only a quick mention versus a full citation, and how to give credit — exactly the in-text-plus-works-cited pairing from class. From the Study Hall Composition series (Arizona State University + Crash Course) we've used all term.
⏱ ~7 min

Optional one-stop reference (free online text)

If you'd like one optional reference to skim, the OpenStax Writing Guide with Handbook keeps its full text free to read online and includes a section on documenting sources — a reputable, currently-available college writing reference.
🔗 https://openstax.org/details/books/writing-guide
Why it's here: a free, returnable reference for the whole course — entirely optional this week. (Linked as a free reference; this course makes no open-license or copyright claim about it.)

Pick-one quick path (≈17 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Read "MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics" (group ①) — and burn in the no-comma rule.
2. Read "Works Cited: A Quick Guide" (group ②) — and learn the core elements and the container idea.

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Lindgren and use the MLA Style Center (style.mla.org) or the Purdue OWL (owl.purdue.edu) home page to find the equivalent page in the meantime. Nothing here is hosted by our course — these are all external resources, linked, not reproduced.