M.L.A. Citation Style Guide



Table of Contents

Writing Essays in MLA Format

❖ How to Write an Essay Using the MLA Format………………………………..…2

❖ Sample First Page…………………………………………………………………3

In-text Citation

❖ How to Cite Within a Paragraph………………………………………………..…4

Creating a Works Cited Page

❖ Citing Books………………………………………………………………………6

❖ Citing Periodicals……………………………………………………………….....7

❖ Citing Electronic Sources……………………………………………………....…8

❖ Sample Works Cited Page……………………………………………………….11

How to Write an Essay Using the MLA Format

General Guidelines

• Type your paper on a computer, and print it out on white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.

• Double-space the text of your paper, and use Times New Roman 12 pt. font.

• Use 1-inch margins.

• Use the TAB key to indent paragraphs.

• Create a header that numbers all pages in order. (Usually, you do not number the first page.)

• Use italics (like this) for titles of longer works (ex. books, movies).

Formatting the First Page of Your Paper

• Do not make a title page for your paper unless your teacher has asked you to.

• In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Use double-spaced text.

• Double space again and centre the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters. Example: The Wizard of Oz (“of” is not capitalized).

• Double space between the title and the first line of the text.

• Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.

(See page 3 for a sample of the first page of a paper in MLA style.)

MLA Sample First Page of an Essay

How to Cite Within a Paragraph

You MUST cite ALL INFORMATION that you take from another source, whether you are putting it into quotation marks, “like this,” or putting it into your own words.

Citing Books

When citing a book, use the author’s last name followed by the page number. These go in parentheses () and go before the period.

NOTE: If you have already stated the author’s name, you only need to write the page number.

Example

Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful

feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

Citing Sources With No Known Author

If you do not know the author of the work, use the title (shortened if it is very long) followed by the page number.

When citing a book, use the author’s last name followed by the page number. These go in parentheses () and go before the period.

Example

We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has “more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change . . . ” (“Impact of Global Warming” 6).

Citing Online Sources

When citing online sources, use the whatever words come first on your works cited page. Generally, you will use either the name of the article or the name of the author.

Example

The Purdue OWL is accessed by millions of users every year. Its “MLA Formatting and Style Guide” is one of the most popular resources (Katz).

Creating a Works Cited Page

BOOKS

Basic Format

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.*

Examples

Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print.

Anthology**

Examples

Hill, Charles A., and Marguerite Helmers, eds. Defining Visual Rhetorics. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004. Print.

Peterson, Nancy J., ed. Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. Print.

* Medium of publication: where you found your source (ie/web, print)

**Anthology: a book with many stories/poems in it (an example would be Elements of English)

PERIODICALS

Article in a Magazine

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.

Examples

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.

Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping Mar. 2006: 143-48. Print.

Article in a Newspaper

The only difference between how a newspaper is cited and how a magazine is cited is how the page numbers are written.

Examples

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007: LZ01. Print.

Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times 21 May 2007 late ed.: A1. Print.

ELECTRONIC SOURCES

This is the information you should try to find for your website:

• Author and/or editor names (if available)

• Article name in quotation marks (if applicable)

• Title of the Website, project, or book in italics.

• Any version numbers available, including revisions, posting dates, volumes, or issue numbers.

• Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date.

• Page numbers (if available).

• Medium of publication. (ie/ “web”)

• Date you accessed the material.*

• URL** (if required, or for your own personal reference; MLA does not require a URL).

Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.

NOTE: Not all of the information listed will be available. Write down as much as you can.

*“date of access” means the date you found the information

**URL means website address

Citing an Entire Web Site

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

Examples

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2008.

Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.

A Page on a Web Site

Example

"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow. Demand Media, Inc., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009.

An Image (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)

Artist’s last name, First name. Title of Artwork. date. Museum, City where the art is found.

Name of the Website. Web. date of access.

Examples

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Museo National del Prado. Web. 22 May 2006.

Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive. Web. 22 May 2006.

An Article in a Web Magazine

Example

Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites. A List Apart Mag., 16 Aug. 2002. Web. 4 May 2009.

MLA Sample Works Cited Page

Walker 5

Works Cited

"Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Clinton, Bill. Interview by Andrew C. Revkin. “Clinton on Climate Change.” New York Times. New York Times, May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.

An Inconvenient Truth. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Perf. Al Gore, Billy West. Paramount, 2006. DVD.

Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming." American Economic Review 96.2 (2006): 31-34. Print.

---. "Global Warming Economics." Science 9 Nov. 2001: 1283-84. Science Online. Web. 24 May 2009.

Shulte, Bret. "Putting a Price on Pollution." . US News & World Rept., 6 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Uzawa, Hirofumi. Economic Theory and Global Warming. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.

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M.L.A. Citation Style Guide

Catlin 1

last name and page number

name

instructor name

course

date

title

indented paragraphs

in-text citation

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