MLAThe Modern Language Association

A Quick Look at Citation

Caesar 100-44 B.C.E.

"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

Purpose

• The MLA provides writers a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.

• Proper MLA citation gives a writer’s work credibility by displaying and annotating source material, and it also protects against unintended plagiarism.

Common Sense and Ethics

Skip the Cites

“Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations or common knowledge” (Purdue).

Betty Page1923-2008

Page Layout

• Use one-inch margins;

• The first line of each paragraph should be indented a half inch (five spaces) from the left margin.

• In most cases, the default settings on your computer’s word processing program should automatically meet the MLA requirements.

Header

In the upper right-hand corner, flush with the right margin, insert a header containing your name and the page number.

(The next slide provides an example of the third page of an essay.)

Rorem 3

find out that he had not really been turned into a toad, but had instead “been incarcerated by the local authorities” (Adams 12).

Once the investigation began, Carter assumed control and brought in his won team of forensic scientists (Lincoln 2). But one member of the team, Jefferson, had moved

Technicalities

There are simple instructions for inserting headers into your paper using Word, if you know where to find them.

Jacked from Goldhammer’s Blue Sheet with Monkey

Formatting the Header for Last Name and Page Numbers

• Click View at the top of the page.• Select Header and Footer from the list.• When the header textbox pops-up, click inside of it. Align your

cursor/text to the right side.• Type your last name.• Use the spacebar to add 1 space after your name.• On the header toolbar (which also has popped-up), click the button

that has the # on it. This will add the appropriate number to each of your pages.

• Click the Close button on the header toolbar. You are done.

Using Quotations

• The manner in which you format quotations in your essay depends on the length of the quotation being used.

• Quotations may be short or long.

Short Quotations

• Quotations shorter than four typed lines (or three lines of verse) are enclosed in quotation marks.

• Provide the author and specific page citation (for verse, provide line numbers) in the text. (See example on the next slide.)

Short Quotations: Example

The novel ended with the protagonist asleep in

his shack. “He was still sleeping on his face

and the boy was sitting by him watching him.

The old man was dreaming about the lions”

(Hemingway 127).

Long Quotations

Quotations longer than four typed lines are set in a free-standing block of text without quotation marks. The entire quote is double spaced and indented one inch from the left margin. The first line of the quotation is indented. The parenthetical citation is placed after the closing punctuation mark. (See example on the next screen.)

Long Quotations: Example

It wasn’t long before the first shark appeared.

The shark was not an accident. He had come up from deep

down in the water as the dark cloud of blood had settled and

dispersed in the mile deep sea. He had come up so fast and

absolutely without caution that he broke the surface of the

blue water and was in the sun. (Hemingway 100)

Hemingway uses the shark’s attack to further establish the

idea that the most hard-fought victories can be lost to the systems of

the natural world. Later, we learn that the sharks in all of their

Adding Words to a Quote

If you add a word or words in a quotation, put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text.

e.g. Jan Harold Brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states: "some individuals [who retell urban legends] make a point of learning every rumor or tale" (78).

Omitting Words from a Quote

If you omit a word or words from a quotation, indicate the deleted word or words by using ellipses (three periods (...)) preceded and followed by a space. e.g. In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand notes that "some individuals make a point of learning every recent rumor or tale ... and in a short time a lively exchange of details occurs" (78).

Citations

Parenthetical Citations

• Parenthetical citations must be inserted immediately after using a quotation, or after paraphrasing a source's ideas;

• A citation includes the author's name followed by a space and the relevant page number.

• Ending punctuation follows the citation:

e.g. “. . . finally” (Hayes 4).

Citation Example

Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).

The example above includes three words taken from Burke’s work, so those words are placed within quotation marks and Burke is given credit through the parenthetical citation.

Unknown Author

If the author of a work is unknown, use a shortened title of the work: – Use quotation marks if referencing a short

work (e.g. (“Remarks” 4));– A longer work (book, play) should be

italicized or underlined (e.g. (Crime 32)).

Citing Multiple Sources

• When multiple sources must be cited in the same parenthetical reference,use a semi-colon to separate them;

• e.g. ...as has been discussed elsewhere (Burke 3; Dewey 21).

Works Cited Page (WCP)

• The Works Cited page follows the body of your essay paper. As the name indicates, it is a separate page.

• All entries in the Works Cited page must correspond to the works cited in your main text. A reader who sees a parenthetical citation in your essay must be able to turn to your Works Cited page and find the information necessary to look up the source cited.

WCP Format

Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper.

WCP Heading

Label the page Works Cited (do not underline the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks).

Center the words Works Cited at the top of the page.

WCP Online References

If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in print form but that you retrieved from an online database, you should provide enough information so that the reader can locate the article either in its original print form or retrieve it from the online database (if they have access).

WCP ExampleRorem 5

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Simon &

Schuster (First Scribner Paperback Fiction Edition), 1995.

Jobs, Steve. Word Processing for Students. New York: Apple Press,

2003.

Wozniack, Stephen M. “Why I Love the MLA.” The New York Times 18

Nov. 1999. 14 Mar. 2007

<http://www.newyorktimes.com/writing/woz/mlalove.htm>

There’s More?

WCP Capitalization

• Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalize articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle: Gone with the Wind, The Art of War, There Is Nothing Left to Lose.

• Use italics or underlining for titles of larger works (books, magazines) and quotation marks for titles of shorter works (poems, articles)

Now, Just Follow the Rules!

Sources

Goldhammer, Eric. “Blue Sheet with Monkey.” <http://www.penguinsandtoast.com/page9/files/>

Purdue University Website: <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/>