44 MLA Activity
MLA Form, Citation, and Documentation—Practice Exercise
Name:_______________________________________________________________
Section 1
On the next page, you will find a document in which there are ten MLA format issues noted with callout boxes (the boxes that read “comment.”) In the box, please note briefly the nature of the error for each.
Section 2
On the second page, you will find three sources that this person used for their paper. Please create a Works Cited page in proper MLA format on a new page. Please note that you will not need all of the information that is provided.
Please consult the MLA Guide at The Owl at Purdue (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/) to find the answers. Do not guess. This will be graded for accuracy.
John Doe
Professor Smith
ENG 111-05
February 2, 2016
The Negative Effects of Headphone Use
Have you ever asked a friend a question and gotten no response? Then you quickly realize that he or she is wearing earbuds and they have the volume up so loudly, that he cannot hear you at all? This probably happens to most of us on a regular basis. The question is, how bad is this for us? According to Virginia Heffernan’s article, Against Headphones, wearing earbuds can have detrimental effects on our hearing . Her article traces the beginning of headphones from 1910 to their present day use and popularity citing research and studies showing how bad headphone use is (“Against Headphones”) . I agree with Heffernan that headphone use is bad for our hearing and it also makes us antisocial.
One reason I agree with Heffernan that using headphones is a bad idea is because it is detrimental to our hearing. According to Heffernan, “a study published in August in The Journal of the American Medical Association” showed that “The number of teenagers with hearing loss—from slight to severe—has jumped 33 percent since 1994” (Heffernan 1) . It is believed that that is due to teenagers listening to loud music through headphones. I have experienced something similar with my nieces and nephews who are teenagers now and they are constantly wearing headphones. Whenever I go home to visit, I can barely have a conversation with them because they always have in their ear buds. Then when they take them out, I have to constantly repeat myself because they cannot hear what I’m saying. According to Virginia, “One in five teenagers in America can’t hear rustles or whispers” as stated in the same study mentioned earlier. I believe this is based on how often I have to repeat myself when speaking to my nieces and nephews. Because of this, I think that headphones should not be worn for long periods of time or at high volumes.
Another reason I agree with Heffernan that using headphones is a bad idea is because they also make people less social. As stated in the article, “…the downside is plain, too: it’s antisocial” (Heffernan pg. 1 ). The author goes on to quote Llewellyn Hinkes Jones from The Atlantic as telling us that music should be a shared experience—that it should be listened to with other people—like having dinner—not done alone (Heffernan, 3) . However, it seems these days, most people do it alone. As I step onto the orange line train headed to school in the mornings, I observe the people around me. I would say that nine out of 10 have on earbuds, and they are listening to something or staring at their phones specifically so that they do not have engage or socialize with others. Think about the interesting conversations that we miss out on because we are too involved in our music to look at what’s around us. Thus, I think we should take off the headphones and engage with real people in the real world, becoming more social in the process.
The popularity of earbuds is clear as evidenced in our everyday lives. However, what is the cost of wearing them? In the 30 years, will we all have to wear hearing aids because of the damage we have done in our teens and twenties? Not to mention, what relationships have missed out on because we were living in our own little bubble, listening to what’s on our headphones instead of engaging with others? I challenge you to listen to Heffernan’s argument and be aware of the detrimental of effects of headphones. Think about it the next time you go to pop in those earbuds. Is it worth it?
Section B
On a separate piece of paper, please create a complete MLA Works Cited Page for the following three entries. You should note that not all the information provided below will be used.
Resource 1—An article from a web magazine
Author: Heffernan, Virginia.
Article title: Against Headphones
Location: New York Times Magazine online
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/magazine/09FOB-medium-t.html
Date accessed: November 21, 2015
Date published: January 7, 2011
Resource 2—An article from an online database
Source: Occupational Health (OCCUP HEALTH), Jul2014; 66(7): 6-6. (1p)
Publication Type: Journal Article – pictorial
Language: English
ISSN: 0029-7917
Date of publication: 2015—07–12
Accession Number: 107868584
Database: CINAHL
Date of Access: December 1, 2015
Resource 3—A Page on a Web Site
Name of page: Hearing Loss and Headphones—Is anyone listening?
Date of access: December 1, 2014
Published by: American Osteopathic Association