What to do??

I swear that every time I went to write a paper in high school there was some new format or citation method that I had to do. One professor would mark me down if I had punctuation in the citation, while another would indicate it was correct to have it there. No two papers were the same! I think I even played around with footnotes for one particular paper. Why wasn't there one way to do things? Looking back, I think my English teacher my junior year was on the right track with MLA, but how was I supposed to know what it was? It was never consistent enough with other teachers for me to learn it properly. College was better though. I became aware that there actually was a proper way to cite and format papers, that it wasn't just dependent on the whims and preferences of my current professor. It seemed as if my confusion would end! Hooray! And yet... my confusion came back when I began my zoology classes. There wasn't "One Citation Method to Rule Them All." The citation for these papers was different... again! I felt I was back to the ways of not knowing how to cite my paper unless I was shown by my professor what s/he wanted. The light dawned this semester when the words "MLA" and "APA" came face to face. So there are TWO Citation Methods to Rule Them All! Who knew? Then I wondered, “Why had I not known about this before?” I think along the way, these words were mentioned to me, but never explained properly. I cherish those little brochures. They explain so much!  The madness and confusion of why I did some things for this class one way and some things in another class this other way has now dissipated. There’s still so much I don’t know, but at least now I understand the basics.

Bad English

When I was first learning how to write in the MLA format, my instructor would always say, "Parenthesis, Last Name, Page, and page number, end parenthesis. (Rees, Page #). Crazy, I know! Then there was the inevitable problem of me interpreting that in my own unique way, which led to the Emma School of Formatting. Within this school, the Works Cited Page, was a Bibliography, the citations were last name of author, combined with the web page address. Thankfully, this has been remedied by Dr. Rogers!

P-U!!! Something Stinks!

Let me raise my hands in submission to the double indent myth... I also had no idea that you could abbreviate University and Press as P and U. I always thought that you just had to spell things out so that a visually challenged sloth could figure out exactly where you received all of your information from. One of the biggest shifts in understanding came from realizing that, no, you do not need to underline the titles of books. I did that all through High School, and no one ever corrected me on it. Talk about making the walls of my citation religion crumble! That was one of its fundamental precepts! So, after the wicked priests of JoshLA were scattered and deposed from their unrighteous reign, I was baptized with the fire of MLA, and emerged a purified teacher of its principles. I actually prefer MLA to APA... I have no idea what Chicago might have in store for me, or Turabian for that matter. Perhaps Kyle, the Prime Minister of Citations and Turabian Advocate, can set me straight... Anywho, I feel that I have become all the wiser with regards to MLA, and I am looking at investing in the MLA Bible... Amen.

Lack of Education

My biggest problem with MLA was a lack of education. In high school, the teachers didn't really tell you how to do the citations, just that they needed to be done. Sure, they gave you a book and told you where you could find examples. The biggest problem, though, was the onset of technology. With the internet and Microsoft providing stencils for MLA, you never actually had to do a citation. Just plug in the info and all would be dandy! Unfortunately, I now know how sadly outdated and incorrect most of these citation "machines" are. Now that I know how to do MLA, sort of, papers will be easier to cite....hopefully.

I love MLA as much as Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!

I am another witness to being taught to double space block quotes. This was corrected my freshmen year of college. For me, it has been adjusting to some of the new requirements in the Works Cited page that has been the trickiest. Honestly, I had an amazing tenth grade teacher that had us memorize MLA basic formats. MLA has been part of my life for a long time. It is like a good friend. In fact, I don't know if I will ever be able to accept APA. I think title pages are a waste of space. I have some friends who are editors, and they keep telling me that I will fall in love with Chicago. We will see, but I am not ready to let go yet. Disclaimer: This does not mean I am perfect at MLA. I just love the format and guidelines. After following MLA so long and never hearing that Press and University are abbreviated P and U, I was shocked to find I had missed this fact! I am constantly learning in MLA because I keep using a variety of sources. MLA, you are my hero!

To space or to double space--that is the question!

I was also taught the double indent on block quotes (one from the left and one from the right). There was also a very confusing time in my life that caused many headaches over whether or not to single space or double space after periods in the works cited page. Commas in my in-text citations were another problem (although that may or may not have actually been taught to me, it might be that I made it up myself). It it's not there (for works cited), don't worry about it. Pick whatever city you want out of the publishing cities because it doesn't matter. Pick the most recent date (for copyright date). I should just invest in an MLA guide.

Blocking

The only citation myth I remember being taught is that block quotes should be indented on the right and the left. For several semesters I did my block quotes that way without any correction or consequences from my professors. Aesthetically speaking, I think the dual indentation looks better. But I don't do it any more. I walk the line like Johnny Cash now days.

R.

Citation Myths

After our discussion of MLA, I'm curious: what kind of weird/wrong things were you taught about citation?

Energy

I've been thinking about how each person seems to have a signature energy, a value almost numerical in its tangibility, one that is sometimes imperceptible one on one, but becomes clearer in groups. I'm writing in the abstract; one need not fear that I am seeing serial numbers associated with people or anything creepy like that. I'll give a few examples to illustrate my point.

For many years I played in bands of different sorts, stylistically ranging from power-pop to prog rock to fusion with one sad country group marking the low point in the middle. A few of those bands were basically the same band with one member or another switched out. We would always have this idea that when some goof decided to quit to get a job or some other lame excuse we could just bring in so-and-so and carry on as we had. But every time it morphed into something else. It was like a math problem where the sum or product of the group changed when a number was switched out.

I've found the same thing happens in writers' workshops and in the workplace, at family gatherings and in the classroom. The classroom angle is the one I've had most on my mind of late. Teaching for Upward Bound is always an adventure, and seeing how that group of students functions as a whole or broken up into grades is fascinating. Broken up into their classes, the students can be either volatile or apathetic just depending on what combination of students is present. It is not as simple as having a few bad seeds; seeds sprout and wither depending on who is present in the group.

That's what's been on my mind.

Buck

Getting healthy and getting on track is what's on my mind. I've worried myself, I've worried my parents, and I've worried my boss a lot lately. I'm doing my darndest, and I'm going to win.