Samples to demonstrate and/or model to students
1. Sample Note-taking Cards
2. Sample Outline
3. Sample Cover page
4. SAMPLE PAGES OF A RESEARCH PAPER
USING PARENTHETICAL NOTES
(MLA FORMAT)
5. Sample Works Cited
Note Cards
Now that you have completed your survey of resources and your Source Cards or Works Consulted page,
it is time to read about your topic and begin taking notes. An organizational tool for this phase of the
research process is a note card.
Suggestions for Note Cards
 Write on only one side of each 3x5 or 5x7 card.
 You will need a note card for quotations, an author’s ideas, statistics, graphs and charts.
 Make a separate note card for each idea or quotation you might want to use in your paper.
 Put quotation marks around material that is copied word for word.
 If you find the information in 3 or more sources and put it in your own words, it is common
knowledge and doesn’t require that you document the source. It will be difficult during the
early stages of reading and taking notes to determine what is common knowledge, so if you
write it on a note card, give the source.
Organization of Note Cards
MLA does not require a specific format for note cards, it is left to the discretion of the teacher, but the
WTHS Style Guide recommends using one of these formats.
Explanation of the Parts of the Note Card
Label - The label is used to categorize the notes you are taking under several descriptive headings.
Labels allow you to arrange your notes in some logical order according to the topics and subtopics in your
preliminary outline. You will arrange your cards according to their labels before you write your
page. You may not be able to label your note card as soon as you take the note. This may have to
be done after you’ve had time to reflect on your reading and note taking.
Page Number – The exact page number where you found the citation should be noted on the card. Keep
in mind that online databases and the Internet do not have page numbers.
The Source – This refers to where you found your information. It is always enclosed in parentheses.
Note Card #1 – This is the name of the author or editor of the book and the page number.
Note Card #2 – This number corresponds to the number you wrote on your bibliography card.
The Note – This can be a summary, a paraphrase, or a quotation from a book, a magazine article, an
online database, or the Internet. This is the information that you will use to write your paper; in fact, you
should be able to write your paper by using your note cards and not have to refer back to the sources of
information. Be sensible about note taking. You will have more cards than you need to write your
paper, but do not take down every detail and do not duplicate material.
Types of Note Cards – Quotation, Summary and Paraphrased
Quotations
Put quotation marks around material that you copy word for word.
When quoting a source that uses quotation marks, change the author’s double quotation marks to single
quotation marks.
According to Harold Bloom “‘the essence of The Great Gatsby is double vision’” (25).
When quoting lines of poetry, put the lines of poetry in quotation marks. You may use two or three lines
of poetry by separating each line with a slash (/).
Langston Hughes describes the realties of life in “A Dream Deferred”: “What happens to a dream
deferred? / Does in dry up like a raisin in the sun? / Or fester like a sore?” (10).
If you are incorporating a quoted question and a parenthetical citation, the question mark is followed by
the quotation mark and then the parenthetical citation, which ends with a period.
If you are going to alter the quote by adding your own thoughts, use brackets around your words.
If you are going to omit words or sentences from the quoted material, use ellipsis points
Words – use 3 dots …
Sentences – use 4 dots ….
“Dickens was a keen observer of life…he showed sympathy for the poor” (Magill 27).
Summary
A summary captures the key ideas of an author in a few words.
Paraphrasing
This is a restatement in your own words of the thoughts and ideas of a writer. Usually paraphrased
material is written in about the same number of words as the original.
When paraphrasing, read the material. Then close the book before you write the note card.
Sample Outline
Title "The Benefits of Running"
I.
II.
III.
Introduction
A. Running is becoming an extremely popular sport for all ages.
B. Running is a great form of exercise because it helps people control their weight,
develop muscles, and improves mental and physical performance.
Body
A. Weight control
1. Aids self-control
2. Burns calories
3. Encourages a healthy diet
4. Suppresses appetite
B. Muscular Development
1. Improves tone
2. Enhances contours
3. Increases strength
4. Improves endurance
C. Psychological well-being
1. Aids sleep
2. Inhibits depression
3. Intensifies vitality
Conclusion
A. Benefits of running make it an excellent exercise.
B. People who want to improve their health should consider running
Sample Cover Page
Cell Phones in the Hands of Drivers:
A Risk or a Benefit?
Paul Levi
English 101
Professor Baldwin
2 April XXX
SAMPLE PAGES OF A RESEARCH PAPER
USING PARENTHETICAL NOTES
(MLA FORMAT)
Doe 1
John Doe
Professor Smith
English 1302
5 February 2002
Just Sheer Naked Magic
What weighs about three pounds but has more parts than there are stars in the
Milky Way galaxy (Flieger)? What fills the space occupied by only three pints
of milk yet includes components that, laid end to end, would stretch several
hundred thousand miles (Diagram 19)? What looks like an oversized walnut
made of soft, grayish-pink cheese but contains the equivalent of 100 trillion tiny
calculators (Restak, Brain 27)? What, according to James Watson,
co-discoverer of the helical structure of DNA, is "the most complex thing we
have yet discovered in our universe" (qtd. in Begley 66)? To all four of these
intriguing questions there is but one surprising answer: the human brain. This
miraculous organ is remarkable in its structure, its function, and its chemical
Doe 2
composition.
What is the brain? According to Richard Restak,
the human brain is the master control center of the
body. The brain constantly receives information from
Doe 3
the senses about conditions both inside the body and
and J. Alex Becker have even placed "The Whole Brain Atlas," which
outside it. The brain rapidly analyzes this information
consists of dozens of images of the brain in normal, damaged, and diseased
and then sends out messages that control body
states, on the World Wide Web for anyone with access to the Internet to view
functions and actions. ("Brain" 561)
and study.
According to Tether, the brain is divided into three main parts: the cerebrum, the
One area of the new brain research reveals that the first three years of a child’s
cerebellum, and the brain stem (421). These parts, in turn, are largely made up of
life are crucial to the development of the brain. Proper stimulation of infants can,
nerve cells, called neurons, and helper cells, called glia. Researchers have
according to Kotulak, affect the development of language, vision, brain power,
discovered that there may be as many as 100 billion neurons in the brain and a far
aggression, emotions, touch, and education (9-11). An editorial in the New York
greater number of glia, possibly as many as one trillion (Kolb and Whishaw 1).
Times states that the importance of early stimulation--to promote the healthy brain
Important discoveries throughout the decade of the 1990’s in molecular biology
development in children--is a "compelling argument for the expansion of support
and genetics are revolutionizing our understanding of how the human brain works
for new parents and of quality child care programs" ("Nurturing"). North Carolina,
(Kotulak ix). Advances in imaging technology are allowing us to learn more about
Vermont, Colorado, and Ohio are implementing programs to offer support services
the human brain than ever before in human history (Kotulak x). Keith A. Johnson
to families with young children ("Nurturing").
SAMPLE WORKS CITED LIST
All entries should be double-spaced. Entries of two or more lines must be indented five spaces.
Click here to see The Basic Rules for the Works Cited List.
Doe 11
Works Cited
Begley, Sharon, et al. "Mapping the Brain." Newsweek 20 Apr. 1992: 66-70.
Berger, Bob. "Mapping the Mindfields." Omni Jan. 1992: 56-58.
Damasio, Antonio R. "Aphasia." The New England Journal of Medicine 326
(1992): 531-39.
Diagram Group. The Brain: A User’s Manual. New York: Putnam’s, 1982.
Flieger, Ken. "Memories Are Made of This." FDA Consumer Sep. 1989: 14-19.
Rpt. in Mental Health. Ed. Eleanor C. Goldstein. Vol. 4.
Boca Raton: SIRS, 1989. Art. 16.
Johnson, Keith A., and J. Alex Becker. "The Whole Brain Atlas." Harvard Medical
School. 1997. 3 Feb. 2002 <http://www.med.harvard.edu:80/AANLIB/
home.html>.
Kolb, Brian, and Ian Q. Whishaw. "Brain." Encyclopedia of Human Biology.
Ed. Renato Dulbecco. Vol. 2. San Diego: Academic, 1991.
1-10. 8 vols.
Kotulak, Ronald. Inside the Brain: Revolutionary Discoveries of How the Mind
Works. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1996.