MLA Style Guidelines

1. MLA Style Guidelines (Name-Page Method)

2. MLA Style Guidelines • MLA: Modern Language Association • Widely used in Arts & Humanities

3. MLA Style • PLEASE NOTE: • Titles of poems, short stories, magazine or newspaper articles, essays, journal articles – basically anything that is a smaller part of a larger work – are put in “quotation marks” • Titles of novels, plays, magazines, newspapers, anthologies, journals, movies, television shows, etc., are underlined • If you are unsure which method the title you are citing requires, ask me.

4. In-text (Parenthetical) Citations • Mention the name of the author as you introduce the quotation • Citation comes in parentheses at the end of the sentence that contains the quotation • If the sentence is long or complicated, the citation may come directly after the quotation • When paraphrasing, place the citation at the end of the paraphrase

5. In-text (Parenthetical) Citations • If you state the name of the author as you introduce the quotation, the citation will consist of page number only • If you do not state the name of the author as you introduce the quotation, the citation will consist of name of author and page number

6. In-text (Parenthetical) Citations • Note: • no intervening punctuation comes between author name and page number • No “p.” before page number • End punctuation comes after the parenthetical citation • (if you have cause to put something in quotation marks that is not followed immediately by a citation, punctuation goes inside the quotation marks)

7. In-text (Parenthetical) Citations • Example: • The reaction in China to the end of World War I has been described by one historian as “popular rejoicing” – particularly among young people, who had “an uncritical admiration for Western democracy, Western liberal ideals, and Western learning (MacMillan 322).

8. In-text (Parenthetical) Citations • The reaction in China to the end of World War I has been described by historian Margaret MacMillan as “popular rejoicing” – particularly among young people, who had “an uncritical admiration for Western democracy, Western liberal ideals, and Western learning (322).

9. In-text (Parenthetical) Citations • If you are discussing multiple texts by the same author you also need to give the title in your citation • Example: • The reaction in China to the end of World War I has been described by one historian as “popular rejoicing” – particularly among young people, who had “an uncritical admiration for Western democracy, Western liberal ideals, and Western learning (MacMillan, Paris 1919 322). • (Note the comma after author name, but no punctuation between title and page number)

10. In-text (Parenthetical) Citations • When quoting several short passages from the same page in quick succession, leave the citation until after the final quotation • Example: Crane emphasises the harshness of the sea with his description of its “jagged” waves that shot up “like rocks” the colour of “slate” (918).

11. In-text (Parenthetical) Citations • When quoting a passage that itself contains a quotation, use double quotes for your quotation and single quotes for the internal quotation • Example: As Kelley points out, “To cope with their anxieties when lacking a man, many women become what Dowling calls ‘counterphobic’” (611).

12. In-text (Parenthetical) Citations • When quoting a passage of text written by another author and quoted in your source, quote as normal, but acknowledge in the citation that the passage is “quoted in” your source • Example: Colette Dowling explains that to counterphobic women, “Feeling helpless and frightened is so threatening . . . that they devote all their energies to constructing a life . . . calculated to throw everyone (themselves included) off the track (qtd. in Kelley 611).

13. In-text (Parenthetical) Citations • Citing electronic sources is the same as for print sources: include the last name of the author and, if available, the page number of the document • If there are no page numbers, include the paragraph number(s) from which you are quoting, and use “par.” (abbreviation for “paragraph”) • If neither page number nor paragraph number is available, use “n. pag.” (abbreviation for “no pagination”) • If there is no author listed, use a keyword from the title in place of author last name

14. Works Cited • For every source that you cite in your essay, you must include an entry at the end of your paper in a “Works Cited” • These entries are listed alphabetically by author; if there is no author named for a source, that source gets listed alphabetically by title

15. Works Cited • Basic Rules: • Begin with author last name, followed by author first name, followed by a period. • Titles of articles, book chapters, etc. are put in quotation marks, followed by a period within the quotation marks • Titles of books, journals, etc. are underlined, followed by a period that is not underlined

16. Works Cited • Please consult your writing guide for proper MLA Works Cited style guidelines for the type of source from which you are citing • Note that Works Cited information is always double spaced (as is your essay)