I love you guys so much.
Right now, I SHOULD be printing my sources, but it's the internet! I love the Compendium!
I'm not allowed to use Wikipedia. It's against MLA format or something like that. I've been examining varying types of literature. One is Dracula, another is The Vampire Lestat. He's nuts. Unfortunately, I have to look at... *shudder* TWILIGHT. *covers ears as fangirls shriek as loud if not louder than if Vincent Valentine walked into the room* ... ow...
What's pissing me off is that we need to do this report in half the time we normally would do it. Ugh... and we have to handwrite twenty pages of notes. I don't know if you guys have seen my handwriting, but it is deplorable. I'm faster with the keyboard than I am with the pen.
Plus, it hurts like hell!
Whoa, twenty pages of notes? Heck, I don't even take notes or do drafts for my papers, really. Like the ones I'm working on right now. They're 8000 words each, and I'm just writing them halt of notes or drafts.
So what's frustrating for me? Well, on one hand, that I have a 2000 word paper to write for tomorrow, an 8000 word one for Friday, and another 8000 word one for Monday, as well as my finals next week. The supreme joys of being a bit of a procrastinator in Graduate studies. Of course, having said that means that the frustration is entirely with my own self.
Oh, and to add a further frustration, I wish to quote Propertius: 'Huic misero fatum dura puella fuit.' That about sums things up.
PS
For any of you doing reports, the problem with Wikipedia isn't that it's against something like MLA... as far as I know, that's just a citing format, isn't it? Now, there is nothing technically wrong with using Wikipedia. As long as you properly cite your source, it's quite admissible, as is any other site on the internet. The problem arises in that it is not reviewed by professional peers, or at least doesn't have the assurance. While I've found most articles to be decent enough to be instructive, they only ever provide cursory glances, and as such are really not beneficial to writing a paper. That said, most articles do list sources at the bottom, and so if nothing else it can help point you in the proper direction.
Of course, this problem isn't just because it's online or Wiki. There are many published books that you have to approach with caution and scrutiny as well. All the same, as long as you are aware of this, there is nothing wrong with saying 'so says an article on wikipedia.' It might not provide a very strong source - and so won't endear you much to any teacher - but is technically allowable. And remember, you don't always have to quote, you just have to cite. That is, sometimes it's better to paraphrase what was said (especially in a long segment), then add a footnote saying 'see page such and such of this.' As long as you give proper credit, you don't technically need to do direct quotes.
As for printing out sources, I suppose that's because it's internet sources, right? I'm not too partial to them because they're wont to change. As it is, though, the internet can be a valueable source of stored articles from peer reviewed journals, such as at JSTOR.
By the way, how does MLA format work? I'm partial to Chicago style notation myself.
