Mla Handbook for Writers of Research Papers by Joseph Gibaldi (2003, Paperback)

The MLA Handbook is an excellent reference book that every student should own through high school and college. It gives exactness for bibliography papers, knowledge on citations within research papers, perfection in writing research papers and standards to grammar questions. As a teacher, I could not imagine any language arts classroom without the MLA Handbook as a reference guide.

Schools all over the nation have jumped onboard the MLA bandwagon, with mixed results. While this is fair treatise in terms of the technical competence portrayed in the constructs and standards outlined for research, the book stands woefully short on guidance for educators on how to judiciously and fairly apply its disciplinary aspects in a learning environment. The book jumps right from the strictures, to 'honor boards' as outcome resolutions, and in the process, overlooks the first requirement of education: wisdom.

Pseudo-plagiarism, the false accusation levied upon innocent students for committing dishonest theft of statements and ideas, when in fact no such event has occurred, is pandemic in high school education. Students are learning to hate literature under the threat of honor boards and an educational process which has been hijacked by uber-correctness enforced by an elite club, the MLA. The book has been misused by under-trained and overzealous educators, lacking understanding of the aspects of what constitutes theft and dishonesty, to make public accusations for policy violations, or taint college entry possibilities from over-reaction to honest young person mistakes in research.

Except for cases of clear intent to steal someone else's work, when you point a gun at a student's head, teach them under contracts and threats, or threaten their college and professional future (all threats are threats) - you have ceased to be an educator and have become a trainer.

MLA - Mein Kampf Learning Approach

A chapter on definitions, principles, ethics of leadership and learning, and applications of standards, how to avoid doing WRONG with the material, is way overdue in this onerous mantle of a work, which has been dropped onto the shoulders of high school students, without circumspection.

By the seventh edition you would have thought that some real world application would have struck the MLA by now, and some temperance would be added to the correctness - so that innocent people are not damaged in our Lemming rush to be correct at all costs.

This book is best for college usage where a lot of MLA formatting is needed. It really covers everything you ever imagine. Anything to do with MLA is in there. Many teachers require this book and it's a very good text book to keep as a reference for later on usage, especially if you’re a college student and a lot of writing is required in most of your classes.

This is the perfect guide to have in my home for my children's research reports. I is a well recognized guide as to the proper way to type up the names of books, authors, online websites, etc. that were used when writing a research report. I found this particular book to be the best available and it is not always available to check out at the library, as that so many students need this at the same time - research report time. It works for my forth grader, my tenth grader and I'm told, also used by college students.

Very good MLA reference for showing examples of the usage of MLA . Complete with details and examples. Great for beginners at research papers.