DearDiary Logo
Public DiariesHomeLogin

Calling All English Teachers and/or Writers
Thu Apr 27 2006

I've got a question for you...

When writing a paper using the MLA style, how are figures and tables labeled? Can all figures and tables be included in the back with a glossary or does it have to be in with the body of the paper?

While I do have two "handbooks" for MLA, neither has this information! They are geared towards short papers of only a few pages. I'm trying to do a 20 page paper and can't find any guidelines on this.

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

6 Comments
  • From:
    Yetzirah (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Apr 27 2006
    Wow... I didn't even know what MLA WAS!

    The extent of my ignorance is beginning to trouble me....

    Good luck. Hope someone else knows your answer!
  • From:
    Energy (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Apr 27 2006
    Not sure how much detail you require. This is what I learned in 2 quarters of technical writing.

    All figures/pictures/illustration are to be numbered and captioned underneith the illustration. All tables/charts are to be numbered and titled above the title. (Open up any text book on any topic and you'll find examples of this.)

    In refrancing in the text, you must refer to the number and location such as "Table four on the next page shows that data collected..."

    The number systems are unique between figures and tables. You will have a Table 1 and a Figure 1. Not "fig 1, table 2, table 3, fig 4..." instead correct would be "fig 1, table 1, table 2, fig 2..."

    If you have quite a lot of tables and/or figures then a list of figures and a list of tables (always seperated from eachother) is a good idea along with your table of contents at the begining of the paper. If the paper isn't long enough to warrent a table of contents, then the list of figures isn't needed.

    I have a good short referance book on the topic that I'd recomend, and of course the name escapes me right now. I'll check when I get home from work for you if you like.
  • From:
    Energy (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Apr 27 2006
    One more> If you want to put all the tables and figures in the back, I'd call that an appendix. If the reader is expected to refer to the charts while reading then they should go in the text. If the charts contain back up or supporting data then the appendix is often the way to go. In that case be sure to mention that its there "data leading to this conclusion can be found in appendix A". Also, if you have one appendix for your figures, then its a good idea to call the glossary and appendix as well for the sake of consistancy.
  • From:
    Pragmatist (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Apr 27 2006
    I Googled MLA style and found a lot of information, but nothing specifically about charts and graphs. However, on the right side of the page I clicked on MLA Formatter. There's a wealth of information there, but without looking at *everything* listed I didn't see anything specifically about graphs and charts.

    Way-way down, several pages, there was a comment about asking the teacher.

    It's been many years since I've done a research paper, and the rules have probably changed. However, the style then was to incorporate the items in the body of the paper, and label them Fig.1, etc.

    Any help?

    Shalom
  • From:
    Energy (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri Apr 28 2006
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0205318738/ref=sib_rdr_dp/002-8763201-7610445?%5Fencoding=UTF8&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER&no=283155&st=books&n=283155

    This book got me through countless lab reports and proposals...
  • From:
    Dananarama (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri Apr 28 2006
    I find law firms have the most unimaginative company names out of anyone. All associates want their name in the title, which makes coming up with an original name tough ;o)