Composition and Literature

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  MLA GUIDELINES
  CARD REPORT
  GRADE MATRIX

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English 1102
Composition and Literature

MLA GUIDELINES

*MLA Hints for Poetry and Fiction are first on this page. See the bottom of the
page for Card Report Format.

Review the following rules for and examples of MLA quotes.

*Remember to use literary present tense.

*Avoid excessive plot summary of the story.

*Aim to weave quotes into your own sentences:
Miss Emily admits to her father's death "just as they were about to resort to law
and force..." (Faulkner 82).

*Use block form for quotes four lines or longer. Note also my use of ellipsis and the
punctuation of this quote:
The townspeople are astonished at what they find when the upstairs bedroom is
is finally broken:
For a long while, we stood there, looking down at the profound and fleshless
grin. The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, but
now the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers the grimace of love, had
cuckolded him. What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the
nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay....
(Faulkner 86)

*Use single quotes for dialogue within a larger quote. Note also the final punctuation
for a quote that ends in a question mark:
Faulkner illustrates a battle between generations when the Board of Aldermen
disagree about how to handle the stench on the Grierson property: "'Damnit, Sir,'
Judge Stevens said, 'will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?'"
( Faulkner 82).

*Use three ellipses for omitting words or phrases within a single sentence. Use four
ellipses for omitting entire sentences. Be sure not to wrench from context the author's
meaning if you choose to use ellipsis. For clarity and to make quotes more smoothly
integrated into your own writing, use square brackets to change minor aspects such as
tense and pronouns:
The narrator reports the townspeople's reactions to Miss Emily's relationship with
Homer:
So [Miss Emily] had blood kin under her roof again and we sat back to
watch developments. At first nothing happened....[later] we learned that he
had bought a complete set of men's clothing, including a nightshirt, and we
said, "They are married." (Faulkner 84)

*When quoting two or three lines of poetry, put slash marks after each line. Provide
line number rather than page number:
Because of the last lines of the "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,"
some readers have actually believed the narrator to be Santa Claus: "The woods
are lovely, dark, and deep/ But I have promises to keep,/ And miles to go before
I sleep" (Frost 12-14).

*Give an abbreviated form of the title (or the complete title, if short) when quoting two
or more poems by a single author:
One of Frost's most disturbing poems describes the death of a farm boy who "saw
all--/ Since he was old enough to know..." (22-23).

*Block quotes for poetry are as for fiction, except that you should preserve the
structure of the poem, ending lines as the poet does.



*DO NOT use a complete quote as the subject of your sentence:
WRONG "Because he himself had remarked...that he was not a marrying man"
shows that Homer Barron is homosexual (Faulkner 82).
BETTER Homer's remark that he is "not a marrying man" leads some modern
readers to conclude that he is homosexual (Faulkner 82).
OR Homer's remark that he is "not a marrying man" (Faulkner 82) leads
some readers to conclude that he is homosexual.

*DO NOT have quotes that are not properly introduced:
WRONG The townspeople have mixed emotions about Miss Emily. "She was a
tradition, a duty, and a care" (Faulkner 80).
BETTER The townspeople have mixed emotions about Miss Emily; "she
was," the narrator explains, "a tradition, a duty, and a care"
(Faulkner 80).

CARD REPORT:

I will specify certain readings for which you'll need to provide the following information.  Please print a copy of this page to keep on hand.

Title of story:

Author:

Central Character:

Other Characters:

Setting:

Narrator:

Events in Summary (be concise):

Tone:

Style:

*Irony:

Theme:

*Symbols:

Evaluation:

Other:

(*Where applicable.  Not all stories will have important symbols or contain literary irony.)

GRADE MATRIX

Dr. Carol Jamison
Gamble Hall 202B
Armstrong Atlantic State University
11935 Abercorn St.
Savannah, GA 31419
Phone: 912.927.5237