| MLA Quick
Reference Guide
SECTION I
This section of the MLA Quick Reference Guide explains citations in text and how to cite
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Works with one author
MLA style uses the author-page method of citation. That is, the surname of the
author and the page of reference are inserted
at the immediate point in the text where an author's material begins. The author's
name can be provided at the beginning of
the sentence (textual citation) or at the end of the sentence (parenthetical
citation).
Example:
As indicated in the example above, if the name of the author appears in the beginning of the sentence, include only the
page number in the parentheses.
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Works with two or more authors
If a source has two or three authors, always cite all names every time the
reference occurs, as indicated in the example
below.
Example:
Standfield and Jasper contend that the author uses the hardship of African American
women to illustrate their "growth without choice" (221). This progression
occurs during different stages of the women's spiritual development. According to
Standfield and Jasper, even growth in the absence of choice can change the character.
As the example below illustrates, if the work has more than
three authors, provide the first author's last name followed by "et al." without
any intervening punctuation, or provide all of the last names.
Example:
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If a source has no author, use the first two or three words of the title
if referring to the source within the parentheses.
To mention the source within the text, provide the full title, as illustrated
in the example below. Underline the title if
it is a book, and place it in quotations if it is an article.
Example:
The reverence for the supernatural marks the uniqueness of the text ("Resurrecting" 475).
In "Resurrecting Hidden Images," the reverence for the supernatural marks the uniqueness of the text (475).
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Works with corporate author
The names of corporate authors are usually spelled out the first time they are
used, and the acronym form directly follows
in the parentheses, as indicated in the example below. For subsequent citations
of that corporate author, either the full
name or the acronym form may be used.
Example:
The National Research Council on Women's Issues (NRCWI) contends that Morrison and
Walker portray the women's relationships as unique to the African American women of the
20th century. The NRCWI also indicates that the relationships provide a
textual thread for the reader the identify the social issues that these women experience
(287-8).
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Authors with same surname
If a works cited list includes publications by two or more authors with the same surname, citations in text include their
initials to avoid confusion, even if the publication differs. See the example below.
Example:
A.R. Patterson (97) and R.C. Patterson (221) suggest that Morrison's trilogy connects
the unique experience that African American women have lived from the pre-civil war era to
the verge of the Civil Rights Movement.
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Multiple citations of an author
To cite one of two or more works by the same author(s), put a comma after the last name of the
author(s) and add a
shortened title of the work and the relevant reference page, as illustrated in the example below.
Example:
The narrative structure within the novel parallels the thought processes of the main
character (Faircroft and Lang, Conflicting Ideas Revisited 127).
As noted in the example below, to distinguish multiple citations of an author, underline the title if it is a book and place
it in quotations if it is an article.
Example:
Babcock identifies the novel's social commentary as intrinsically connected to
society's age-old tradition of blaming the woman for her misery (Social Commentaries 147).
Babcock argues that this tradition of assessing women's value according to their
productivity, both physical and biological, creates internal conflicts for the female
characters ("Blaming the Female" 488).
If you include both the author's name and the title of the work in the text, indicate only the pertinent page number in
parentheses.
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Two or more separate works by different
authors
When you cite two or more works by different authors within the same parentheses, separate the citations by semicolons, as
shown in the example below.
Example:
The uniqueness of women's relationships plays a key role in the portrayal of their values (Patterson 248; Larrison and Morecroft 342).
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Indirect (secondary) sources
Sources that are referenced by other authors are considered indirect sources. When possible, always try to locate the
original work. Otherwise, cite the original source (the primary source that made the observations) in the text and the
indirect source (the source where these observations are mentioned by another author) and the page number from the indirect
source in the parentheses.
Also use the words "qtd. in" (short for "quoted in") before the reference to the indirect source, as indicated in the example
below. The indirect source will then be listed in the works cited list.
Example:
According to Pierson, the apparition's tantrums represent the incessant inner turmoil
that the main character experiences after the tragedy (qtd. in Quiroga 183).
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Personal interviews
In citing a personally conducted interview, provide the name of the interviewee and the kind of interview (personal
interview, telephone interview, etc.) as noted in the example below.
Example:
D. C. Klinker notes the complexity inherent to the two authors' discourse styles (personal interview).
D. C. Klinker, in a personal interview, notes the complexity inherent to the two authors' discourse styles.
Note: In MLA, list interviews on the works cited page.
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Multi-volume works
When citing multi-volume works,
include the volume number and page number(s).
The volume number and page number will be separated by a colon and space.
Example:
The anthology contains The
Divine Comedy (1:851-1003) as well as Candide (2: 196-250).
If referring to an entire volume
of a multi-volume work, include “vol” in the citation.
Example:
Mackenzie offers a history of the
United States during the Vietnam War that shows the enormous political strife during the period (vol. 3).
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Poetry and Plays
If you’re
citing three lines or less of a poem or play, you can do so in text. Use
a slash (/) with a space on either side of the slash to separate the lines of poetry or the lines of the play and include
the line number(s) that you are citing.
Example:
Dante’s Paradiso begins, “the glory of Him who moveth
all that is / Pervades the universe, and glows more bright / In the one
region, and in another less” (1-3).
Notice
in the example that you attempt to reproduce the poem’s spacing as accurately
as possible. Also notice the ellipsis—the first period indicates the end of
your sentence, and the other three (with a space before each period) indicate
that the sentence goes on in the original source.
Example:
Hamlet charges his mother:
Look here, upon this picture, and on this,
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
See, what a grace was seated on this brow;
Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself;
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command.
(Shakespeare 3.4.54-9)
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Direct quotations
When directly quoting from a source, enclose the material in quotation marks. End punctuation follows parenthetical
citation, as shown in the example below.
Example:
Gilson identifies the relevance of women's roles as "analogous to those of serfs to lords" (44).
Quotations longer than four typed lines must be blocked and double-spaced. Omit the quotation marks and begin the quote on a
new line, indenting each quoted line ten spaces from the left margin only. (Do not indent the right margin.) End punctuation
follows the quoted material but precedes the parenthetical citation, as illustrated below.
Example:
Faircroft and Lange explain the apparition's role:
She floats in with a tremulous air and taints the wind with her gyrations straight from
the other world--that dark side that exists in our minds and forces us to deal with our
transgressions, both evil and supernatural. This ghost of a character represents all
that the main character shoves from her mind, the deleted horrors that were too terrible
to remain within the realm of conscious understanding. (45)
This unexamined territory places itself in the forefront of the reader's mind and causes at least one individual to accept
the truth.
Please
note that the example above should be double spaced.
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