MLA STYLE
MLA To avoid plagiarism, you must acknowledge any idea that is not your own original thought. This includes using direct quotations, paraphrasing another s wording, paraphrasing another s argument, paraphrasing another s line of thinking or taking a particularly apt phrase from another source (Gibaldi 71). MLA format is a system of commonly agreed-on rules that English students must use when they do their work.
MLA When following MLA style, you document your sources in two ways: (1) Within the body of the paper, using parenthetical citations. (2) At the end of the paper in a list of works cited
PARENTHETICAL REFERENCE: This gives the minimum information necessary to identify a source in the works cited and locate relevant material within it. Most often, this is the author s last name and a page number or numbers. No punctuation is required between the author s name and the page number.
EXAMPLE: In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical (O Brien 71).
SIGNAL PHRASE: This is the phrase that precedes or introduces a quotation. Usually a signal phrase provides introductory information to establish context for what follows. If the author s name is indicated in your signal phrase, you only give the page reference in the parentheses.
EXAMPLE: In the novel, O Brien writes at length about what defines a true war story; at one point he writes that a true war story is never about war (85).
QUOTATION IS FOUR + LINES: If a quotation runs more than four lines set it off from your text by beginning a new line, indenting ten spaces from the left margin, and typing it double-spaced without adding quotation marks. Use a colon to introduce the quotation.
EXAMPLE: The image of the young Vietnamese man he killed haunts O Brien: He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole. (130) Note: You do not use quotation marks (unless you are quoting conversation within the passage) and your punctuation comes before the parenthetical reference.
QUOTATION IS FOUR + LINES WITH PARAGRAPH CHANGES: The moment comes when Mark Fossie must accept that May Anne is no longer the girl in the pink sweater and culottes: In the darkness there was that weird tribal music, which seemed to come from the earth itself, from the deep rain forest, and a woman s voice rising up in a language beyond translation. Mark Fossie stood rigid. Do something, he whispered. I can t just let her go like that. Rat listened for a time, then shook his head. Man, you must be deaf. She s already gone. (112)
FIRST PAGE OF ESSAY Goodstudent 1 Jane/Joe Goodstudent Ms. Downie Pre-IB English 10 29 February 2012 The Title of Your Paper Goes Here This is where you begin your paper or essay. Make sure to double-space. Refer to an MLA guide for any other questions you might have on how to format your paper. A Times New Roman 12 point font is a recommended font to use for academic papers. NOTE: Last name and page number continue in top right corner throughout your paper even on Works Cited page.
WORKS CITED PAGE Goodstudent 6 Works Cited Fitch, Janet. White Oleander. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1999. Wilson, Frank R. The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture. New York: Pantheon, 1998. NOTE: Alphabetize entries in the list of works cited by the author s last name, using the letter-by-letter system.