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How would you put this into MLA formatting?


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Ds is writing a paper on "The Necklace" by Guy de Mauppasant. It's in Windows to the World by Lesha Myers. She isn't exactly an editor, since most of the book is her own instruction, not stories, and I'm not quite sure how to set up the entry on a works cited page. Is this right, or would you do it differently? (I realize the second line should be indented.)

 

Maupassant, Guy de. "The Necklace." Trans. Brander Matthews. Windows to the World: An Introduction to Literary Analysis. Ed. Lesha Myers. Locust Grove, OK: Institute for Excellence in Writing, 2008. Print.

 

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

 

 

ETA: Added publisher info.

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I would go to NoodleToolsand do it there.

Yep! Or www.easybib.com.

 

Maupassant, Guy de. "The Necklace." Trans. Brander Matthews. Windows to the World: An Introduction to Literary Analysis. Ed. Lesha Myers. Locust Grove, OK: 2008. Print.

 

I believe that the publisher name needs to be inserted, as well as the page number (I put in page 32 as an example). And as you noted, the second line would be a hanging indent. (BTW: if you only have one entry on the works cited page, you would make the title singular--Work Cited, not Works Cited--at the top of the page. <-- I just learned that recently. ;))

 

Work Cited

Maupassant, Guy de. "The Necklace." Trans. Brander Matthews. Windows to the World: An Introduction to Literary Analysis. Ed. Lesha Myers. Locust Grove, OK: Publisher Name, 2008. 32. Print.

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You're right! I did forget the publisher. Thanks!

 

I guess my main question is what to do about Lesha Myers, since she is considered the author of Windows to the World, not just an editor. It's mostly her writing, and only a little of it is stories by others. I don't find an entry in the MLA Handbook about this; it just shows how to do it with a collection of poems, stories, etc. with an editor. Maybe just leave off "Ed." when we write her name?

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I guess my main question is what to do about Lesha Myers, since she is considered the author of Windows to the World, not just an editor. It's mostly her writing, and only a little of it is stories by others. I don't find an entry in the MLA Handbook about this; it just shows how to do it with a collection of poems, stories, etc. with an editor. Maybe just leave off "Ed." when we write her name?

 

 

Boy, the MLA Handbook can be very unhelpful! There doesn't seem to be an example that completely fits a Windows to the World-type resource. The closest thing I can find (which I'm sure is what you are referring to above):

  • "Name of the editor, translator, or compiler of the book being cited. If all the works in the collection have the same translator or if the book has an editor or compiler, write Trans., Ed., or Comp. (“Translated by,†“Edited by,†or “Compiled byâ€), as appropriate, after the book title and give that person’s name."

  • I'm not sure about the definition of a compiler vs. an editor . . . :glare: It seems like Lesha Myers would be more of an editor than simply a compiler.

 

If it were me, I would include her as the editor. I'll be interested to hear if anyone else has a better suggestion!

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Boy, the MLA Handbook can be very unhelpful! There doesn't seem to be an example that completely fits a Windows to the World-type resource. The closest thing I can find (which I'm sure is what you are referring to above):

  • "Name of the editor, translator, or compiler of the book being cited. If all the works in the collection have the same translator or if the book has an editor or compiler, write Trans., Ed., or Comp. (“Translated by,†“Edited by,†or “Compiled byâ€), as appropriate, after the book title and give that person’s name."
  • I'm not sure about the definition of a compiler vs. an editor . . . :glare: It seems like Lesha Myers would be more of an editor than simply a compiler.

If it were me, I would include her as the editor. I'll be interested to hear if anyone else has a better suggestion!

 

This is what I would say. As my college professors told me, and I tell my students, the MLA book does not contain examples of every situation we can find. Sometimes you just have to cobble them together.

 

My only other suggestion would be to check the Purdue Owl.

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I would count her as the author of the book, not the editor for two reasons. First, she identifies herself as the author. Second, the primary content of Windows to the World is instructional (only a small fraction of the pages contain work that is not her own and it's purpose is instructional). The works that are included are there for instructional purposes, unlike a collection, where the purpose is to collect the selected works into one place.

 

Because she is citing the story, not something Ms. Meyers wrote, and Ms. Myers was neither the author or the editor of what I needed to cite and the situation isn't covered in the MLA Handbook, I would simplify the situation and look for another printing of it and use that for a citation.

 

I accessed the story on bartleby.com as part of an anthology. I am going to treat it as a story inside the anthology, but still credit bartleby.

 

For example, I just accessed the story on bartleby.com - a free cite. I then put the source into noodletools, with the work being a story in an anthology. You will note that the publisher is listed as bartleby.com, because they are the publisher of this edition. It's my understanding from another of Ms. Myers' books that citations no longer require full web addresses because they aren't constant.

I do note the date the work was accessed.

 

 

De Maupassant, Guy. "The Necklace." 2000. The Short Story: Specimens Illustrating It's Development.

Ed. Brander Matthews. New York: Bartleby.com. Web. [March 14, 2013].

 

Now, whether this is technically the right format, I'm not sure, because I still had to combine formats: that of the anthology and that of an internet resource. I think the MLA folks need to get up to speed on the wide uses of the internet! People are increasingly reading books on the internet, not just articles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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