Learning Outcomes #5 and 6
When going into paper 2 I knew that there were a few MLA format and grammar mistakes I had made in my first paper that I should fix. For example, in paper 1 I formatted the date at the top of the first page wrong. Looking back it was a silly mistake, but it was one I could learn from. When it comes to MLA citations I had a lot of experience with it in high school so it was not foreign to me. The most helpful source this semester was the Little Seagulls handbook, which I’m sure will continue to be of use throughout my years in college. I often referred to pages 160-189 which contained information on how to make citations for all kinds of different types of sources, as well as how to create in-text citations. This book was especially helpful when we got to using videos, such as the TedTalks by Anne Hallward and Titus Kaphar or the YouTube video on Josiah Zayner, because I had never cited videos in MLA before. In addition to the Little Seagulls handbook, there were many times in class that Professor Spain would help us with our citations, which was very informative. Another helpful tool I began using was my past papers. If I was not sure on formatting I would refer back to my previous paper(s) to see how I did it or if Professor Spain had corrected anything. This was also a helpful tactic when I was editing my grammar. I relied heavily on spelling and grammar checks that Google Docs provides, but I would also look at my This Time/Next Time to make sure I did not have any grammar mistakes to fix in my next paper. Going into paper 3 my biggest focus was reducing run on sentences since it was a minor problem in my second paper. Throughout the semester the lessons provided in class as well as experience from past papers helped me improve my MLA citations and grammar, and I am much more confident in these abilities.
