I'm about to throw a fit

Thursday, September 10, 2009

I’m about to throw a fit

booksbooksbooks:

lemonadediary:

booksbooksbooks:

This morning my brother asks me to look over something he’s written for his English class (he just started college). So I read it, make a few adjustments, then inquire as to if it should be in MLA format. He says yes, so I put the paper into MLA format, which required rewriting his source citation and adjusting the heading and title.

A few minutes later, my brother returns to the computer and changes it all back. I ask him what he’s doing and he says he’s following the format his teacher used.

I WANT TO SHOOT HIS TEACHER IN THE FACE!

And all other English teachers that choose to have their students format their papers any which way they choose. I’m sorry, but it’s MLA or APA and that’s it. I don’t care what you want.

There’s also Chicago Manual, actually, in the social sciences especially. Don’t forget Chicago! Especially if it’s an entry-level writing class and he’s not an English major. Though I agree with you on the “different styles for different classes” thing. It’s annoying and confusing.

Fair enough. There are several options for acceptable formatting, but this teacher’s version was not one of them. My brother is also attending the same school I went to for the last two years, and I haven’t had any teachers or met any students who used anything but MLA—unless it was one of the crazies that make their own thing up because it’s a convenience for them to do so.

Mmmmmm….the new MLA 7 came out in the Spring, though most of those changes had to do with citations. What the prof could be doing is using a WAY outdated form of MLA, which I know some adjuncts at the local community college do. (Who really only cites once per paragraph? Lies! I say!)