MLA Documentation Guidelines



MLA Documentation Guidelines

Online handout

 

The MLA documentation style consists of parenthetical in-text citations and a list of works cited at the end of the paper.  In the humanities, specific sources and page numbers are more important than the recency of the work.  Thus, in-text citations show the author's name and the page number of the source rather than the name and date, as in the sciences and social sciences. 

 

Internal Citation

Both the author cited and the page number of the source are important for the internal citation.  Observe the following principles in your internal citations. 

1. Generally, introduce any paraphrase or direct quotation with the name of the author.  Then, indicate the page number of the source in parentheses at the end of the material:

French observes that one night Cal becomes angry with Aaron and takes him to visit “Kate's circus” (146). 

2. When you do not use the author's name to introduce the quoted or paraphrased matter, place the author's name along with the specific page number in parentheses at the end of the material:

However, unlike his mother, Cal has “recognized the evil in himself, and is ready to act for good” (Cooperman 88). 

3. Indicate every instance of borrowed material for the reader.  You can indicate a paragraph taken from a single source by mentioning the author's name at the beginning of the paragraph and giving the parenthetical citation at the end:

Judging from Steinbeck's description, Cathy Ames is a beautiful, yet demon-like child.  She has an innocent heart-shaped face, golden hair, wide-set hazel eyes, a delicate and thin nose and high, wide cheekbones.  She has a child's figure—narrow hips, straight legs, delicate arms and tiny hands.  Her voice is “soft and husky—so sweet as to become irresistible, fascinating, and horrible” (Steinbeck 73). 

4. When you have two works by the same author, identify them by the author, abbreviated title, and page number of the source:

According to Lisca, Samuel, who has been working in the field all day, “associates the buried meteorite (falling star, hence Lucifer), which wrecks his well drill with Cathy” (Wide World 269).  After her children's birth Cathy is once again compared with a serpent.  Lisca comments that “Cathy gives birth to the twins as easily as a snake lays eggs” (Nature and Myth 168). 

5. When it is apparent that your citations refer to the same work, you need not repeat the author's name.  The page number is enough:

Steinbeck says it is “easy to say she was had, but there is little meaning unless we know why” (184).  The questions of Cathy's wicked and sinful existence “goes forever unanswered—just as the 'reason' for the presence of evil itself goes unanswered” (184). 

6. For a primary source requiring frequent in-text citations, you can add a content endnote:

[in-text] “irresistible, fascinating, and horrible.”1

[Endnote] 1All citations to Steinbeck's novel are to the Viking Press, 1952, edition. 

[Note: Subsequent in-text references need only the page number.]

7. Other content endnotes may be included for the following:

A.  Blanket Citations

2For further information on this point, see Lisca (168), French (56), and Hayashi (20). 

B.  Related Matters (not included in your paper)

3Though outside the scope of this paper, major themes in the novel are discussed by Hayashi and French. 

C.  Suggested Sources (and Related Topics)

4For an additional study of Steinbeck's fictional characters, see Hayashi's Dictionary of Fictional Characters. 

D.  Comparisons with Another Source

5On this point, see also the article by Stanley Cooperman, in which he discusses symbolism in other Steinbeck novels. 

[Note: If you have several content notes, type them on a separate endnote page, which will immediately follow your essay and be titled “Notes or Endnotes.”  Be sure any references listed in your endnotes are also listed on your works-cited page.]

 

The Reference List

The reference list, at the end of the paper, contains all the sources actually cited in the paper (titled “Works Cited”) or all the sources you used in writing your paper (titled “Bibliography”).  The purpose of the reference list is to help readers find the materials you used in writing your paper, so you must provide complete, accurate information.  You should follow these principles for your reference list:

1. Sources should be listed alphabetically by the last name of the author or (when there is no author given) by the first word of the title (excluding a, an, the).  Type the first word of the entry at the left margin.  Indent subsequent lines of the same entry five spaces.  You should double space the entire reference page both between and within entries. 

  

2. There are three parts of the entry for books and monographs.  First, list the author's last name in full form as it appears on the title page, followed by a comma, the first name, initial(s), and a period.  Second, give the complete title of the work, underlined and followed by a period; the first word and other important words in the title should be capitalized.  Third, list the city of publication (followed by a colon), publisher (followed by a comma), and year of publication (followed by a period):

Steinbeck, John.  Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters.  New York: Viking, 1969. 

[Note: Capitalize the first letter of a subtitle (“T” above).  Do not underline a title within a title.  If applicable, also include editor or translator, edition of the book, or number of volumes.]

3.  When you have more than one work by the same author, list the author's name for the first entry only.  For subsequent works by the same author, substitute three hyphens and a period for the author's name and arrange the titles alphabetically:

Hayashi, Tetsumaro.  A Dictionary of Fictional Characters.

               Metuchen: Scarecrow Press, 1976.

- - -.  John Steinbeck: A Concise Bibliography.  Metuchen:

               Scarecrow Press, 1967. 

4.  For articles, follow a similar order as for books: Author.  Title of the article.  Publication data.  The title of the article is in quotations marks; the periodical title is underlined.  For magazines that are published weekly, give the date only (no volume number) in order of day/month/year.  Write a comma before and after the date and give inclusive page numbers for the whole article.  For journal articles, if a volume number is provided, it goes after the title, followed by the date (including month or season) in parentheses.  Then, list inclusive page numbers after a colon. 

Greenfield, Meg.  “Accepting the Unacceptable.”  Newsweek,

               1 July 1985, 64-65. 

McDaniel, Barbara.  “Alienation in East of Eden: The Chart

               of the Soul.”  Steinbeck Quarterly 14 (Spring

               1981): 32-39. 

[Note: If a magazine article is not printed on consecutive pages, but skips—say from p.  27 to p.  29 to p.  32 to p.35—list just the first page and a plus mark: 27+]

  

Model References: Language and Literature (MLA)

Books

1.  One author:

Frohock, William Morill.  The Novel of Violence in America.

               Dallas: Southern Methodist UP, 1958. 

[Note: UP is the abbreviation for “University Press.”]

2.  Two or more authors:

Halliday, M.  A.  K., and Requaia Hasan.  Cohesion in English. 

               London: Longmans, 1976. 

3.  Book with editors:

Kunitz, Stanley J., and Howard Haycraft, eds.  Twentieth Century

               Authors.  New York: Wilson, 1942. 

4.  Book with editor and author:

Twain, Mark.  Letters from the Earth.  Ed.  Bernard Devoton. 

               New York: Harper & Row, 1962. 

5.  Essay, chapter or section in edited work:

Gray, James, “John Steinbeck.” American Writers, IV. 

               Ed. Leonard Unger.  New York: Scribner's,

               1974.  47-65. 

6.  Encyclopedia entry (signed):

Riddel, Joseph N.  “John Steinbeck.” The World Book

               Encyclopedia.  1983 ed. 

7.  Encyclopedia entry (unsigned):

“Paracelcus.” The Encyclopedia of Philosophy.  8 vols. 

               Ed.  Paul Edwards.  1976 ed. 

[Note: for a specialized encyclopedia, list the number of volumes and the general editor.]

Articles

1.  Journal article (one author):

Cox, Martha Heasley.  “Steinbeck's Family Portraits:

               The Hamilton's.” Steinbeck Quarterly 14

               (Spring 1981): 23-32. 

2.  Journal article (two or more authors):

Flower, Linda, and John R.  Hayes.  “The Cognition

               of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem.”

               College Composition and Communication 31

               (Feb.  1980): 21-32. 

3.  Magazine article (signed):

Will, George F.  “Machiavelli from Minnesota?”

               Newsweek, 16 July 1984, 88. 

4.  Magazine article (unsigned):

“It Started in a Garden.” Time, 22 Sept. 1952, 110-111. 

5.  Newspapers:

Engle, Paul.  “A Review of John Steinbeck's East of Eden.”

               Chicago Sunday Tribune 21 Sept.  1952: A3. 

[Note: A3 stands for section A, page 3.]

 

Other Sources

1.  Film or movie

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  Dir.  Steven

               Spielberg.  Paramount Pictures, 1984. 

2.  Dissertation (unpublished):

Balkema, Sandra.  “A Study of Revision Using Word Processing.”

               Diss.U of Michigan, 1984. 

3.  Interview:

Johnson, James, President, A-1 Mobile Homes, Inc.  Personal Interview.  12 March 1984. 

4.  Personal letter:

Reagan, Ronald.  Letter to author.  8 Sept. 1983. 

5.  Unpublished paper or manuscript:

Welter, William.  “Word Processing in Freshman English:

               Does it Compute?” Unpublished essay, 1985. 

6.  Television program:

“The Great Apes.”  National Geographic Special.  New York: PBS. 

               WGBH, Boston.  12 July 1984. 

7.  Record or Tape:

Sondhein, Stephen.  Sunday in the Park with George.  With

               Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters.  Cond. Paul

               Gemignani.  RCA, HBC 1-5042, 1984. 

  

(This handout has been adapted from Christine Hult, Researching and Writing Across the Curriculum, 2nd ed., 1990, pp.  256-62; and MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 3rd ed., 1988, p.  142.)

MLA In-Text Citation Tip Sheet

Okay, so you won't be hearing this Top Ten list on David Letterman's program, but it will help you document your paper with in-text citations.

10. In-text citations acknowledge online sources.

9. In-text citations should provide enough information (author's last name, page number, division heading) to lead the reader to complete information about the source on the Works Cited page.

8. In-text citations are needed for direct quotations.

7. In-text citations are needed for ideas, opinions, facts and information that cannot be considered common knowledge or that readers might want to know more about or question.

6. In-text citations for online sources follow the same basic format as citations for books, magazines, etc. In other words, use the author's last name and page number in parenthesis after the borrowed material. Ex. (Smith 8).

5. Remember there is no punctuation between the author's name last and the page number.

4. Remember to put the sentence punctuation (usually a period) outside the closing parenthesis. See tip #6 for an example.

3. If there is no page number, include the author's last name and the division heading in quotation marks. Ex. (Smith "Survey Results").

2. If there is no author or page number, include the division heading in quotation marks. Ex. ("Survey Results").

And the No. 1 tip..............(drum roll)

1. You can avoid using in-text citations if you include a signal phrase that names the author or describes the source well enough that the reader could find it on your Works Cited page. Ex. According to an online article by Mary Smith, 90 percent of college students said they party on weekends. (no citation needed)

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download