To the editor: With every paper assigned at Barrington High School, students are faced with the task of formatting them using the MLA Formatting Guide.
MLA stands for the Modern Language Association and is used by schools nationwide to format papers. Students of Barrington High School access the guide through the Purdue University website, which gives an organized, but somewhat unclear description of the format. It requires that all papers include double spaced lines, a 12 point font size, page numbers, and one inch margins on all sides of the text. Smaller papers require a four line heading on the first page with the author, teacher, class, date, and title in that order. Longer papers require cover pages. In addition, students must be aware of changes to the formatting process each year.
There are three negative aspects about the format that need to be brought up.
First, the valuable time and effort spent on formatting a research paper should actually be used to edit and improve on the contents of the paper. Each paper must pass a specific “Yes Test” administered by the schools English department to ensure that its format is flawless. The requirements also change yearly and the student must sacrifice time revisiting the Purdue University website to check for changes.
Next, a large portion of a research paper’s final grade is deducted for simple formatting mistakes. These at many times stem from confusion and are challenging to catch. For example, if a student forgets to put a period before a citation and instead places it after the citation, then points are taken from their grade. Academic points should only be subtracted for errors involving the actual contents of the paper and how it corresponds to the school rubric.
Most importantly, MLA formatting requires excessive quantities of paper, which is a waste of money and a threat to the environment. The high school library is constantly low on paper because students must print their research papers in this format. As a result, students are asked to print from home, which leaves families to pay for their own paper.
MLA also has a negative impact on the earth because forests are stripped in order to manufacture more paper, leaving the land in a state of significant depletion. Money and trees can be saved if only the text were single spaced and printed on both sides of every sheet.
There must be an alternative formatting procedure that does not change yearly and requires less paper.
Existing alternatives, such as APA have similar outline procedures, so it would be illogical to use them. Therefore, the high school should create a new format that is easier to understand, does not change every year, and uses less paper. This will in turn benefit the school budget, its reputation as a greener school, future students, and the earth.
Sid Griffin
Barrington
Two big lessons in life that can and should be learned and perfected in high school:
1. Show up. The author sounds like he did that a lot, and congratulations. Many people don't even show up.
2. Follow directions. You get a lot of credit for doing what is asked of you on many levels. Form and substance are both measurable, and it sounds like they are both being taught, hopefully learned and tested.
Regarding the environmental issue - good point. I wonder if students could maybe print to .pdf and email certain assignments to teachers, which could be viewed and graded by teachers on computer and emailed back to student. Maybe one or some of the teachers would be willing to give that a shot?
There will be many times in life when time and effort expended on format equals or exceeds time and effort expended on content. There will also be times when the required formats change periodically and one is expected to be aware of and adapt to those changes. Putting the time in on accurate formatting should be supplemental to, rather that at the expense of, time used for research and content development. For the environmentally and cost conscious, Staples sells 100% recycled paper at less than two cents per sheet. Certainly this should be within the budget of most students.
MLA is a standard formatting system throughout the country. It is not an exclusive BHS system. If BHS created their own system, it would do students a disservice as graduates would leave and attend universities lacking the skills necessary and required by higher education institutions.
Even though kids may have some problems with the nuances of MLA, it is a formatting system that is a necessary evil when writing academic papers.
Sorry!
