Library: Upper School English

General English Resources

According to Mr. Montas "technically speaking, MLA doesn't use footnotes to cite sources or to give bibliographical information; instead, it uses in-text citations and a works cited list. In MLA, footnotes are used to clarify or add further information that would otherwise digress from the point of a paragraph."

Use these resources for help formatting English papers: 

• The "Hacker" style (by Diana Hacker)
• The MLA formatting and style guide from O.W.L (Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.)
• Get tips for developing a Thesis Statement or Outline (OWL - Online Writing Lab.)

A great source for literary criticism can be found at GaleNET. Or use link on right. Be sure to search both the STUDENT RESOURCE CENTER and THE TWAYNE AUTHOR SERIES. Try to limit your results by TYPE (e.g. reference and/or primary documents.)

• Like studying the English language? Explore the Oxford English Dictionary
• Bookmark or tag Arts and Letters Daily to read current ESSAYS & ARTICLES from great writers(and link to media from all over the world.)
• Watch video of Shakespeare's plays

10th Grade

• Link to Mr. Montas' class blog 
• Link to English 10 Final paper assignment (GoogleDoc)
• Check to see if the MPH library has books on any topic.
• Get help with plot analyses, themes, quotes, photos and pictures to make your paper great!
• Find literary criticism from Twayne's Authors or the Internet Public Library
• Use online databases like ProQuest to find book reviews, author interviews and  more. (Also use online database link on right)

11th Grade

• Use the MPH Catalog to find books on themes like the AMERICAN DREAM and be sure to check RESOURCE LISTS (left column in catalog), PUBLIC LISTS tab to find books your teacher and I have preselected on a theme. To read a brief description/review of many books, click on the title and/or cover of the book.
• Facts about the life of Ben Franklin can be found at this Library of Congress website dedicated to his life. For more websites like this, use WEBPATH EXPRESS in the library catalog or see Mrs. Morrison.
• To learn about book trailers, check out the "how to" page on creating book trailers or view this librarian's link to book videos 
• Need a video camera for your book trailer? See Mrs. Morrison.
• Find out what the American Library Association says about banned books and view the most frequently challenged books of 2008

AP Lit and Lang Resources 

See tips and resources described above for using an Online Database. In addition,

• AP Lit and Lang resources from Web English Teacher
• JSTOR Advanced Search lets you search keywords of a title and the author's name, and narrow results by journal type e.g. "language and literature."
• Most databases will provide citations for articles you find. 
• Learn tips for GOOGLE Advanced Searching

Poetry Resources

Look for poetry in the MPH library, find background analysis on a poem (even listen to the poem) using the Gale Student Resource (online databases link) and find poetry and biographical info on poets at www.poets.org