Ok, so this is my first college paper ever, and happens to be for my Italian class. I have to analyze readings that she gave us in the form of handouts. I never had to cite things for Spanish papers in high school, but this is college, so am I expected to? And I don’t really know how I would because it was handouts (no external research.) There were no online sources or books. I do know the writers’ names, but for some of the works, I don’t even have a title. How do these kinds of papers usually work for foreign languages in college?
For context, citing sources wasn’t really a big thing for most of my classes in school, so for some reason, it stresses me out a bit. Like, I don’t feel that I can do it right, if that makes sense.
Does your professor have office hours between now and when the paper is due? If so I would go to her office hours and ask.
@DadTwoGirls unfortunately the paper was assigned today and is due Monday morning so no office hours. She might respond to an email, but I am worried that it will sound stupid if she thinks we should know that we have to cite something. Like how I just know it has to be in Italian cuz The Whole class is taught in Italian. But you think it won’t sound stupid?
I am only guessing: but personally I would add a citation, written entirely in Italian. If I didn’t know the title then I would google the text and try to find it. If you don’t find it, just list what you know.
I don’t know any Italian, but just as examples I just tried googling “l’etat c’est moi” and “vive le quebec libre” and “a map representing the sea without the least vestige of land” was able to find all on line quite easily. To try something more obscure, I even tried googling “Un petit d’un petit” and even found that quite easily.
This is the first paper of your university career. She is not going to expect perfection. Do the best that you can and next week you will find out whether it was exactly what she wants.
@DadTwoGirls Thanks. That last paragraph reminded me that I’m the only one in the class who has never taken an Italian class before (which she knows,) so I basically framed the question in that light, asking her if it’s different in Italian.
Just email and ask. Even my seniors still ask whether they have to cite things , and how, and the essays are in English.
She would rather you ask than plagiarize. I promise.
What Italian class is it? Italian 1 or Italian civilization? Do you understand Italian?
Can you translate the exact assignment (directions) for us here?
Email the professor (apologize for bothering her over the weekend ) and explain your problem, as well as what you’ve already done (ask if that’s she’s thinking of).
I concur: shed MUCH rather have you ask than plagiarize. (Note: since you’re not a native speaker, any plagiarizing will be very very obvious. Random note 2: there was a bit of dialogue in Italian in this Thursday’s Grey’s anatomy.)
@MYOS1634 it’s a 3rd year class. I understand Italian but have very little experience writing. I emailed her yesterday and she said no works cited, just mention the poem/story as you refer to it. 
Are you a native or heritage speaker?
Good for you to have emailed your professor.
Use an online citation maker and place in footnotes. Either use MLA or APA format (the specific format should be mentioned in the course syllabus). You shouldn’t be docked more than a couple of points for using the wrong format, especially if you were not told which to use. Cut and paste the citation into google translate to convert to Italian, but double check it afterwards as you may lose some of the formatting.
@MYOS1634 i self studied Italian during high school and took Spanish classes. Sadly my family only speaks English
Are you sure you should in in a third-year Italian class? It’d be impressive even for a student who took Italian in HS. That’s typically one class above AP (or two classes above AP, depending on your university).
I understand you may be gifted at languages, but it’s a huge step even from AP to 3rd year Italian. Do you feel that you’re doing okay? Did you take a placement test and get into that level? Just concerned that, as a freshman, you may be in the wrong class and discover it too late to drop. On the other hand, if you feel comfortable, good for you!
@MYOS1634 i was skeptical at first too cuz the prerequisite is 2 years of college Italian, a 4 on the AP, or the “equivalent” but there was a written and oral placement test and that’s where the prof put me. I understand the readings and participate in class some so I think it’s going ok.
I’m just worried about the writing part because I’ve never really written anything in Italian, so it’s kinda stressing me out that I have to write a 3 page paper and it’s my first college paper too. I just started brainstorming but nothing is in the format of an academic paper yet. Like I don’t even know what a college paper is supposed to look like and I have to figure it out in Italian
Bring the result of your brainstorming to the professor, explain you’re a freshman so this is literally your very first college paper.
But wow, this is impressive!
(And if you feel overwhelmed, ask if it’s okay to drop down one level and take the class just before 3rd year Italian. However it’s likely that class has more interesting content, with less of a focus on learning basic linguistic structures, even if in lower levels you’d have to use them in various setting and you’d have lots… so you’d have to weigh the interest level of that class v. easier, less interesting 4th semester college Italian.)
@MYOS1634 but the frustrating thing is that the paper is due in class on Monday and she assigned it on Friday so I kinda have to just do what I can and hope for the best.
Thanks I’m not a language prodigy but I work really hard with languages so its nice when that work pays off. Also, the way foreign language works here, the next level down is actually the beginning of second year (with people who have only studied Italian for one year) so it would probably be kinda boring. And the material in my class is pretty interesting. It is challenging in a good way for me because I am really not a humanities person (literature, history, etc) but that is what upper level language classes are all about. I like to read in Italian but things that are fun to me (like I started reading Harry Potter this summer), but I would never EVER read a poem for fun. But I think it is good for me to be forced to, if that makes sense, and the pieces she chooses for us are all in modern language, so it’s not like Shakespeare.
Also, it is a super small class (5 students) so I have to participate more than I would in the lower level class, which is good for my language skills.
Sounds like you’re in the right class then.
Well, how would you go about writing a textual analysis for AP English or an AP DBQ? Start like that.
DO NOT use online translators (those are horrible for full sentences) but rather try to think of simple ways to say what you mean in English - use synonyms, cut sentences into chunks… - and use that basis for your Italian sentences. Avoid run on sentences. Start with a strong thesis statement.
Do you have specific directions in your syllabus or is it just “Write three pages, double spaced, analyzing this poem”?
Have you read My brilliant friend?
Email your professor to explain you’ve never written a 3-page college paper in English, seeing you’re a freshman and have only been in college for a week, so does she have any tip compared to high school essays, in general, like is it like AP English essays…? Do apologize for bothering her over the weekend but I understand how you’d be confused if you’ve never written a paper in English…
@MYOS1634 I’ve written papers in English but it was more like the 5 paragraph bland kind. I was not in AP English, so I don’t really know how I’d do that. I was the kid who took all the science and math APs (plus AP Spanish) and ran frantically away from all english and history APs.
Yeah the guidelines given are more helpful than that. I have to do a compare and contrast for the different pieces with regard to how the different narrators view the city. This was discussed extensively in class so I do have some ideas to go off already. If anything, it’s hard to think of something that wasn’t already brought up in class. Also, she just posted a rubric so I will use that. This prof seems to do things kinda last minute (at least compared to my other profs.)
I think I’m just gonna give it by best shot. It only counts for 10% of the grade (and I won’t get a 0) so it won’t completely tank my grade, and if I don’t do so well, that will be a good starting point for improvement. There are 3 papers total, so if I use office hours to discuss what I did wrong on paper #1, I can (hopefully) do better on paper #2.
yeah, a five paragraph thingy isn’t a paper, it’s a basic essay. But you can already start working on the parts summarizing what’s been discussed in class and see if it covers about 2 pages. Then, you add an introduction at the start, one original idea of yours in the middle of the “2-page” body, and a conclusion, ci siamo! 
Your attitude is awesome, too.
Thank you!