Well, as I said yesterday plagiarism is bad, it's a bad habit, something that has to be avoided because it is definitely unfair. the solution is citing whatever you didn't write but that you feel interesting for the work you're working on. I've already spent a semester some years ago "fighting" against bibliographies and quotations and I lost my battle. that experience was anyway very useful, because after I got burned I started being more accurate in writing down the entries in a bibliography.
mrs Ackerley helped me a lot while I was writing my BA thesis and she gave me clear instructions on how to compile a good bibliography. I think I did a good job. in my opinion what really matters is being coherent: each entry has to be written in the same way, with the same style.
I took a look at MLA and APA and I got struck! there are so many examples of style in the MLA! are they really needed? there are seven pages full of descriptions of ways you can write down an entry. I really think that it's a good job, very useful, too... but isn't it a bit exaggerated? I do believe that so many (slighty, it has to be said!) different manners of writing down a list of quotation may be confusing. I don't want to limit anyone's inventive or choice, but personally I got lost among all those charts!
While MLA focuses more on bibliographies (it dwells just a little on in-text quotations), APA is more generic and discusses on different kind of quotations and references. APA is also less schematic in its explanation, but it is divided in different sections.
APA goes beyond the simple explanation on how to point out the source someone uses, but it gives also suggestion on how to adapt or fix the quotation to make them look better in the whole text. The amount of information in these pages is huge and I think it is better organised thanks to the hypertextual links that take you straight to the point you need.
AND HERE IT IS...MY PERSONAL MINDMAP!!!!
14 anni fa
Hello Mario, this is Federica again!
RispondiEliminaI am in my little rainy town and I haven't got anything more interesting to do than posting comments...just joking!!! I have to do this!!! Well, I was trying to take notes from the examples of MLA and APA styles provided on the web but it is a hard challenge! I really don't understand why there are so many examples!! In my opinion every kind of text should have three main characteristics.
A text should be:
- cohesive
- coherent
- well-organized
By these three characteristics I mean that a text should be written using the same layout, in the sense that if there is a minimal visual organization the reading would appear esaier to read and prettier. Sentences should be cohesive and coherent in the sense that the topic should be expressed in the best way possible, avoiding misunderstandings, losses of information or confused sentences.
Talking about quotations I don't think a writer should give so much importance to the format he uses...The web sites the teacher gave us are very interesting and if we really learn all the examples that they provided I think we won't have doubts anymore! But I also think that it would be more interesting to focus attention on the contents of a text rather then on its layout!
Hello Mario!
RispondiEliminaThis is Federica again and again...I am supposed to provide linguistic feedbacks!
First of all I would like to remind you to pay attention to capital letters after full stops!
- "has to be avoided" I think it would be better to use "should" in this case
- The second sentence in my opinion is a bit confused...you'd rather write "citing the source of information if you are not the author" or "to cite whatever was not written by yourself"
- In the third sentence I would wrote "anyway, that experience..." and "was very useful for me"
- "need" expresses a physical need; it would be better to say "are they really necessary?"
- "descriptions of ways you can write down". You missed the preposition! "ways in which you can write..."
- "I really think that it's a good job, very useful, too.." are those commas necessary in your opinion? Maybe you should reformulate the sentence "it is a good job which is also very useful"
- "(slighty, it has to be said)"The meaning here it's not very clear...Did you mean "slightly"? (=leggermente?)
- "discuss on different kinds..." "discuss" doesn't require prepositions "discuss different kinds of..."
- "APS is also less schematic, but it is divided in different sections" "but" has a contrastive meaning and here it is not linked to what comes before. Maybe a concessive preposition would be better (for example "it is less schematic although it is divided into"
- "APA goes beyond..." I dont know if this can be considered a mistake, but I think it would be better to simplify the sentence and say "APA doesn't explain simply how to use the source..."
- "to make them look better" maybe "fit better" is more correct
I hope my corrections will be useful for you!
See you!!
Bye bye