MLA Format Guide:

Quick, picker-upper review!

A brief checklist:

Have you * Used standard, white 8.5 by 11-inch paper?

* Double-spaced and used an acceptable font?

* Created a header, numbering the pages consecutively?

* Italicized the titles of longer works?

* Reviewed your instructor ’ s formatting directions???

Okay, enough with the preface!

* Differing from other essays, a research paper requires you to, of course, research and cite sources. So let’s start with MLA in-text citations…

*

Parenthetical citations

: If you don ’ t mention the writer ’ s name in your sentence, at the end, place the author ’ s name and the source ’ s page number inside parentheses (Dupr é 1).

* When you mention the author ’ s name in the sentence, then place only the relevant page number(s) in parentheses.

Examples

: 1.) Zeus, that codger, “ bemoaned his aching back ” (Homer 89).

2.) In his autobiography, Melville writes that his “ favorite hue is a gentle, undulant rouge ” (45).

3.) If the work has no author, then substitute the source ’ s shortened title for the anonymous author.

Irregular Citations: A Brief and Close Look * Authors with same last name?

distinguish: (A. Goody 159) (B. Goody 157) Use first letter of first name to * Multiple works by same author?

citation (Miller, Cancer 469).

Include shortened title in * Indirect source else -- then follow this format example: (qtd. in Comeaux 259).

-- you quote the author quoting someone

Formatting Quotations!

* P eriods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation.

* Question marks and exclamation points?! Inside the quotation marks if part of passage, but outside parenthetical citation if part of your text. * Mark breaks in short quotations of verse with a slash, /, at the end of each line of verse: * Cullen concludes, "Of all the things that happened there / That's all I remember" (11-12).

Loooooong Quotations?

* Quotation longer than four typed lines? Block it as such: Begin the block quotation on a new line, indenting one inch. The parenthetical citation follows the quotation, and you should omit the quotation marks. (Boo 2)

Say What?

* Need to omit or add word(s)?

Then use brackets to indicate textual additions: According to Robertson, “ Dr. Wily [who is actually a robot] is up to no good ” (23). * If omitting words, then use ellipses: The dubious character explained “ the reason we wear these bandanas is because [ …] we are zombies ” (Bradstreet 90).

Excited about Works Cited!

* Your in-text citations refer readers to the Works Cited page, usually last in your manuscript, and give a source ’ s information.

* Since you can research many resources, MLA thus provides various types of citations.

Quick reminders: * Refer to instructor ’ s formatting directions for the Works Cited page!

* Alphabetize your entries!

* 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: The Complete History of a Paperclip , Why Dinosaurs and Ninjas Are Awesome , There’s No Preposition I’d End a Sentence With.

* Use italics for longer works, like books, but quotation marks for shorter ones, such as poems. * After the first line, indent all other lines of the citation.

Books: * One author?

Then use this example: Last name, First name. Title of Book . Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

* More than one author?

Rodrigue, John, and Nick Comeaux. Poetic Geriatrics . New Orleans: Red Herring, 2007.

* If more than three authors, after listing the first author, you may type “ et al, ” indicating other unmentioned authors. Coyne, Amanda, et al.

* Two or more books by the same author?

the additional ones, substitute “ -- ” Write one regular entry, and for for the author ’ s name. List the author ’ s books alphabetically by title under his or her named entry.

Books: * Corporate author?

Jutz ’ s Café.

” Italian-American Association. “ The History of Thibodaux: Random, 2009.

* No author at all?

List work alphabetically by title, and follow this example: Encyclopedia of Indiana. New York: Somerset, 1993.

• Translated book?

Derrida, Jacques. Sovereignties in Question . Trans. Lindon Stall. Opelousas: Ditto Press, 2004.

* Republished book?

Insert the original publication date before the newer one: Falgoust, Kristina. On Blinking.

1981. Vacherie: Coin Books, 2002.

Books: * Anthology or collection?

List by editor. Melvin, Clay, ed. The Harrowing Lyrics of Early Dylan . New York: Viking Press, 2004.

* If you have multiple editors, then use “ eds.

” * Work in an anthology of collection?

Work.

” Title of Anthology . Ed. Editor Publication: Publisher, Year. Pages.

Lastname, Firstname. “ Title of ’ s Name(s). Place of

Periodicals: * Article in a magazine?

Author(s). “ Title of Article.

” Day Month Year: pages.

Title of Periodical . * Article in a newspaper?

Cheramie, Janie. “ Sudden Beaver Attack, Mayor Rothbard blames Wikipedia.

” The New York Times . 23 June 2004: 10.

* Article in a Scholarly Journal? Author(s). “ Title of Article.

” Journal Volume. Issue (Year): pages.

Title of * Journal with continuous pagination?

Allen, Emily. "Staging Identity: Frances Burney's Allegory of Genre." Eighteenth-Century Studies (1998): 433-51. Non-continuous pagination?

issue.

31 Then you must include the

Electronic Sources: Find these common features before you cite a web page: * Author and/or editor names * Name of database & title of project, book, or article * Any available version numbers * Date of version, revision, or posting * Publisher information * Date you accessed the material * Electronic address, printed between the carets ([< , >])

Electronic Sources: * An entire website? address].

Name of Site. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (often found in copyright statements). Date you accessed the site. [electronic * The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. 26 Aug. 2005. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. 23 April 2006 .

Electronic Sources: * A page on a site? ”Boudreaux’s Paste.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 28 April 2006. 10 May 2006 .

* Short work from site? Heidegger, Martin. “Let’s Get Metaphysical.” Anthology of Stuff. London: A. Bell, 1996. Online Cool Stuff. 17 May 2000. University of Importance. 09 November 2007 .

More Electronic Sources

 An article in a web magazine? Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Online Publication. Date of Publication. Date of Access .

 An article in an online scholarly journal?

Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases 6.6 (2000): 33 pars. 8 May 2006 .

One More Electronic Source, I Promise: * Article from an electronic subscription service?

Grabe, Mark. "Voluntary Use of Online Lecture Notes: Correlates of Note Use and Note Use as an Alternative to Class Attendance." Computers and Education 44 (2005): 409-21. Science Watch. ScienceDirect. Nicholls, Thibodaux, Ellender Lib. 28 May 2006 .

And there you have it!

Oh, one more thing. Here’s the citation for this presentation: The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. 26 Aug. 2005. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. 23 April 2006 .