Formatting Sucks
The first time I encountered MLA was in a junior high English class. We were given the assignment to write a five page research paper, which was to include a minimum of ten sources to be cited correctly in MLA format. Not only was this an overwhelming assignment for a junior high student, but I find this experience still haunts me to this day. After hours and hours of class instruction about MLA and even a Thanksgiving break to work on this assignment I was still completely clueless as to what I was doing. Without hope of any further explanation, I was forced to learn MLA citations by following examples provided in a handbook. I did well on the assignment, yet today I still expereince some mild shell shock at the thought of it. Little did I know that this experience with MLA would be one that I would repeat several more times throughout high school and in college.
Was all this worry and fret really necessary in order to learn MLA? I have always thought it was my fault I hadn’t learned MLA the first time. Now, after seeing all of the different handbooks used to reference MLA along with the different editions and new rules added with the passing years—I refuse to blame myself. Could it be that none of my teachers knew the real rules of MLA formatting? Is it possible that since they had varying views of MLA I was affected? I have concluded that this must be the reason so many of us are confused by this “uniform” format. I am relieved that I am not the only poor student who has experienced confusion with this topic. This is what I propose as a solution to avoid this mess in the future.
If teachers aren’t going to know and follow MLA formatting exactly they shouldn’t even bother telling us that we are learning MLA. Instead, it would be better if they explained that there is a format called MLA, but to just do your assignment this way for points. This would eliminate so much confusion and frustration on everyone’s part. I don’t honestly believe that any of my previous English teachers wanted to confuse their students. However, I do know that there has been a serious lapse in the way MLA has been taught, and now the students are the ones who suffer.
What are some of the weird ways I have been taught to format citations? I can’t think of any specific oddities, but I do remember following several different handbooks as I was instructed to “do it just like this.” I guess this means there is not an easy way to fix this problem. When I am faced with explaining MLA to a student I will offer the knowledge and pamphlets we have, but I will also be sure to tell them to follow what their teacher has instructed because as we all know they might have their own set of rules to follow.
Was all this worry and fret really necessary in order to learn MLA? I have always thought it was my fault I hadn’t learned MLA the first time. Now, after seeing all of the different handbooks used to reference MLA along with the different editions and new rules added with the passing years—I refuse to blame myself. Could it be that none of my teachers knew the real rules of MLA formatting? Is it possible that since they had varying views of MLA I was affected? I have concluded that this must be the reason so many of us are confused by this “uniform” format. I am relieved that I am not the only poor student who has experienced confusion with this topic. This is what I propose as a solution to avoid this mess in the future.
If teachers aren’t going to know and follow MLA formatting exactly they shouldn’t even bother telling us that we are learning MLA. Instead, it would be better if they explained that there is a format called MLA, but to just do your assignment this way for points. This would eliminate so much confusion and frustration on everyone’s part. I don’t honestly believe that any of my previous English teachers wanted to confuse their students. However, I do know that there has been a serious lapse in the way MLA has been taught, and now the students are the ones who suffer.
What are some of the weird ways I have been taught to format citations? I can’t think of any specific oddities, but I do remember following several different handbooks as I was instructed to “do it just like this.” I guess this means there is not an easy way to fix this problem. When I am faced with explaining MLA to a student I will offer the knowledge and pamphlets we have, but I will also be sure to tell them to follow what their teacher has instructed because as we all know they might have their own set of rules to follow.
posted by Danae at 9:07 PM
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