City College English Center

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We provide a community-based learning environment to help City College students become more effective, confident and independent readers, writers and critical thinkers. In support of this mission, the English Center offers assistance for all disciplines through:

• One-on-one peer tutoring sessions
• Group tutoring
• Supplemental instruction
• Workshops for students and faculty
• One-unit refresher courses
• Orientations
• Consultations for faculty
• The opportunity for qualified students to gain experience as peer tutors and mentors

The English Center is dedicated to providing innovation in tutoring strategies, pedagogy, and quality training in all areas of tutoring, as well as ongoing collaboration with faculty, staff, administration, and other tutorial/learning centers.

Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab

MLA Formatting and Style Guide

MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.

Go to Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab

A thesis statement…

is a complete sentence.

 

• My negative experiences in elementary school
• My negative experiences in elementary school pushed me to give up on education at an early age.

 

is a statement, not a question.

• What are the effects of radiation?
• The effects of radiation are often unpredictable.

expresses an opinion, attitude, or unique idea.

It does not just announce the topic.

It does not just express a fact.

• The United States is a country of immigrants.
• The United States has a complex and confusing immigration history, at times celebrating immigrants, and at other times , rejecting them.

The thesis is about one topic.
The thesis provides a good “preview.”

How to Find the Thesis Statement

Talking points

 

A talking point in debate or discourse is a succinct statement designed to support persuasively one side taken on an issue. Such statements can either be free standing or created as retorts to the opposition's talking points and are frequently used in public relations, particularly in areas heavy in debate such as politics and marketing: Wikipedia

In class, we use talking points to organize the discussion of articles, books, movies and other materials. Talking points might be:

·         A point that key to support the author´s thesis statement

·         A point that is a subject of debate

·         A point that is a question to the author, either for clarification or for disagreement

·         A point that is meaningful, challenging or puzzling to the reader

·         A question for clarification

MLA Format Chicanao Style

Works Cited Page

Books

Last name, First name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.


Examples:

Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.

LaBotz, Dan. Cesar Chavez and la Causa. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. Print

Bonfil Batalla, Guillermo. Mexico Profundo: Reclaiming a Civilization. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996. Print


A Work in a book, anthology, reference, or collection


Works in a book

Works may include an essay in an edited collection or anthology, or a chapter of a book. The basic form is for this sort of citation is as follows:

Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of book. Ed. “Editor's Name(s)”. City of Publication: “Publisher, Year.” Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.

Examples:

Gonzalez y Gonzalez, Luis. “The Period of Formation.” A Compact History of Mexico. Ed. Daniel Cosio Villegas. Mexico City: El Colegio de Mexico, 2000. 67-102. Print

Griswold del Castillo, Richard. “Natives and Settlers: the Mestizo Heritage.” Chicano San Diego. Ed. Richard Griswold del Castillo. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 2007. Print


Article in a Magazine

Article's author, title of the article in quotations marks, periodical title in italics; then date of publication (abbreviate the month). The basic format is as follows:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.

Examples:

Bigelow, Bill. “Repeat After Me: The United States Is Not an Imperialist Country—Oh, and Don’t Get Emotional About War.” Common Dreams.Org. 29 Dec 2011. Web

“The Legend of the Five Suns.” A Scattering of Jades: Stories, Poems and Prayers of the Aztecs. Translated by Thelma D. Sullivan. New York: Touchstone Books, 1994. Print

“Popol Vuh. Sacred Book of the Maya Quiche.” Metareligion. 10 Jan, 2012. Web < http://www.meta-religion.com>

Subcomandante Marcos. “Chiapas: El sureste en dos vientos, una tormenta y una profecía.” Cartas y comunicados del EZLN. 21 Jan 2012. Web 

Subcomandante Marcos. “Chiapas: The Southeast inTwo Winds, a Storm and a Prophecy.” The Struggle Site. 20 Jan 2012. Web < http://struggle.ws>



Internet Articles

Important Note on the Use of URLs in MLA
By OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/>

MLA no longer requires the use of URLs in MLA citations. Because Web addresses are not static (i.e., they change often) and because documents sometimes appear in multiple places on the Web (e.g., on multiple databases), MLA explains that most readers can find electronic sources via title or author searches in Internet Search Engines.

 

For instructors or editors who still wish to require the use of URLs, MLA suggests that the URL appear in angle brackets after the date of access. Break URLs only after slashes.

Articles

Author last name, first name. “Name of the article”. Date of access. Complete information about the website. <Link> (optional)

Examples:

Vazquea, Sonia. “Malitzin: A Shifting Figure”. 16 September 2012. Women in World History Curriculum. 1985. Web. <http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/imow-Malitzin.pdf>



Websites:

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access. <Link> (optional)

Examples:

Women in World History Curriculum. 1985. Web. 15 July 2012. <womeninworldhistory.com>


Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.


Lectures and presentation

Davalos, Enrique. “Cemanuak.” Lecture, San Diego City College, San Diego, CA. Jan 25, 2012.

Davalos, Enrique. “Mexico Profundo today I.” Lecture, San Diego City College, San Diego, CA. Jan 30, 2012.



Artwork

Author. “Title of the Mural.” Chicano Park, San Diego. Park visited on Feb 6, 2012.