Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Module: Week 11 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objective covered: Objective 6 — Document sources in MLA style — in-text citations and a works-cited list built on the core-elements / container model — and apply MLA formatting conventions accurately.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 11 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday session pattern with Week 11 meeting Tue Nov 10 and Thu Nov 12, and end-of-week work due Sunday Nov 15, 11:59 p.m. Note the holiday: Veterans Day is Wednesday, Nov 11 — campus is closed that day, but our Tue/Thu sessions are unaffected; adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 11 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 11: MLA Documentation

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

You can now find sources (Week 9) and integrate them without plagiarizing (Week 10). This week you learn the system that tells your reader exactly where every source came from: MLA documentation. It has two matched halves — the in-text citation (a short pointer inside your sentence) and the works-cited entry (the full description at the end of the paper) — and one idea that makes the whole thing learnable: the core-elements / container model, a single template you fill in for almost any source.

This is the most rule-bound week of the term, and here's the honest reason the rules matter: a citation is a promise that your source is real and checkable. Sloppy or wrong citations read as carelessness — and, at the edge, as hiding something. So this week we get it exactly right, and we check every model against the authorities (the MLA Style Center and the Purdue OWL).

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 you'll write a correctly formatted in-text citation, build a works-cited entry from raw source details using the MLA template, and catch the formatting mistakes a citation generator makes.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all four out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Write an in-text citation correctly — author + page, in both the signal-phrase form (page only in parentheses) and the parenthetical form — with no comma between author and page: (Smith 42), not (Smith, 42).
• [ ] Name the MLA core elements in order — Author. "Title of Source." Title of Container, Contributor, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location. — and explain the container idea.
• [ ] Build a works-cited entry from raw source details by walking the template, and format the list correctly (alphabetical by the first element, hanging indent, "Works Cited" heading, title case).
• [ ] Audit a citation generator (and an AI) — catch a mis-ordered or mis-punctuated entry, and verify every element against the real source, because a perfect-looking citation can still be wrong or invented.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Heads-up on the AI work: this is the week the chatbot is most dangerous. Ask one for "an MLA citation for [a source]" and it will hand you something that looks perfect — and may have the elements in the wrong order, the wrong punctuation, or details for a source that doesn't exist. The tool drafts; you verify every element against the real source.**

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. If life happens, reach out before the deadline — I'd much rather hear from you early.

How to succeed this week

• Learn the template once, not a hundred recipes. Modern MLA is built on one list of core elements in a fixed order. Walk that list top to bottom for any source and include only the elements it has.
• Memorize the order. "Author. Title of Source. Title of Container, Contributor, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location." Say it until it's automatic.
• Burn in the comma rule. In-text, there is no comma between author and page: (Smith 42). Not (Smith, 42), not (Smith, p. 42).
• Names, not numbers. Watch the labels: "Works Cited" (MLA), not "References" (APA) or "Bibliography" (Chicago). The list is alphabetical by the first element, not by the order you cited.
• Treat every generator as a draft. Citation generators and chatbots routinely mis-format — and chatbots will invent sources. Check every line against the MLA rules and the real source before it ships.

You don't need anything memorized coming in — bring last week's habit of checking the source, because this week we make the citation checkable too. Come ready to build a real entry from scratch. See you Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 11

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Nov 9, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Nov 9."

Subject: Week 11 — say "here's exactly where I got that" in MLA 📑

Hi everyone,

You can already find good sources and fold them into your writing without plagiarizing. This week we add the last piece: MLA documentation — the standard way to tell a reader precisely where each source came from, in a form they can go check.

This week — MLA Documentation — we tackle the big question: How do I show a reader, exactly and checkably, where each source came from? You'll learn the two halves — the in-text citation in your sentence and the works-cited entry at the end — and the one template (the core elements) that lets you cite almost anything.

Four things not to miss:
1. Lecture Tutorial 11 — work through in-text and works-cited mechanics with one approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) and submit the share link. Due Sun Nov 15.
2. Quiz 11, Discussion 11, and Assignment 11 also close Sun Nov 15 — the discussion ("Whose Fault Is a Botched Citation?") is a quick AI dialogue you summarize and post, so start early and leave time to reply to classmates.
3. Writing Studio 11 — "Cite It Right, Then Catch the Bot" — you'll build a correct MLA entry from raw details, then catch a citation generator getting it wrong. This is the heart of the week's skill.
4. Open the Start Here page first — it lays out everything in order with due dates.

A calendar note: Veterans Day is Wednesday, Nov 11, and campus is closed that day. Our Tuesday and Thursday sessions are unaffected — check the course schedule for your section.

One promise: by the end of this week, "I'll just paste whatever the generator gives me" stops being an option. You'll know the rules well enough to catch a generator's mistakes — and to know that a citation that looks perfect can still be wrong, or invented. That habit will protect your credibility in every paper you write.

Bring your MLA template (and maybe an opinion on whether the tool or the writer is to blame when a citation comes out wrong) to class on Tuesday.

See you soon,
Prof. Lindgren