The Mdern Language Assciatin (MLA) style requires yu t cite yur surces within the text f yur paper. Cite the surce f all material yu paraphrase, summarize, r qute. This guide shws the mst cmmn scenaris fr MLA citing. Fr mre examples, see MLA Handbk fr Writers f Research Papers. 8th ed. (McPhersn Library Reference, call number LB2369 M53 2016) and the MLA Style Manual and Guide t Schlarly Publishing. 3 rd ed. (McPhersn Library Reference, call number PN147 G526 2008). Many publicatins used as examples in this guide are fictitius and created fr illustratin purpses. NOTE: Sme significant changes have been made fr the 8 th editin f the MLA Style Manual: MLA 8 takes a very different apprach t previus editins. Instead f ffering mdels fr all pssible surces, this handbk lays ut a set f principles fr users t fllw. As lng as yu are recrding the necessary infrmatin that will allw readers t find yur surce and presenting that infrmatin in a lgical way, yu are fllwing MLA style. The instructins belw ffer an verview f cnventins and best practices, but yu can use yur judgment (and perhaps cnsult yur instructr r librarian fr advice) when creating wrks cited lists and in-text citatins. MLA style is the predminant dcumentatin style used by schlars in English departments and by thse wh write abut literature written in mdern languages (such as French r Mandarin). MLA Wrks Cited List T allw yur readers t survey and access the surces yu have used, all wrks frm which yu take ideas r language must appear in an alphabetized list appended t the end f yur essay. In mst cases, yu will include nly surces frm which yu qute, paraphrase, r summarize (and thus need t cite), s yur list will have the title Wrks Cited. Sme assignments may require yu t list all surces that influenced yur thinking whether r nt yu cite them directly such a list shuld be titled Wrks Cnsulted. Infrmatin abut each surce must be presented in a bibligraphic entry that fllws a basic set f principles. Fr example -- An entry fr a shrt stry published in a cllectin accessed thrugh a web site: 1. Fr any surce, yu need t answer the fllwing questins: Wh is the authr f the surce? [Arthur Cnan Dyle] What is the title f the surce? [ The Adventure f the Red-Headed League ] Hw was the surce published? [The shrt stry was published in the secnd editin f the cllectin The Adventures f Sherlck Hlmes.] Where did yu find this surce? [I fund this surce nline in the HathiTrust Digital Library.] When was this surce published? [The shrt stry appeared in the printed cllectin in 1893, and HathiTrust Digital Library put it up as a digital file in 2016.] 2. Next, yu rganize this infrmatin with the fllwing template: Basic surce infrmatin: Authr r creatr: Arthur Cnan Dyle Title f surce: The Adventure f the Red-Headed League Infrmatin abut where and hw this surce was first published (cntainer ne): Title f cntainer: The Adventures f Sherlck Hlmes Other cntributrs: {Nne} Versin: 2 nd editin Number: {Nne} Publisher: Gerge Newnes Publicatin date: 1893 Lcatin: pp. 29-56 Infrmatin abut hw that published versin f the surce was made accessible (cntainer tw): 1
Title f cntainer: HathiTrust Digital Library Other cntributrs: {Nne} Versin: {Nne} Number: {Nne} Publisher: {Nne} Publicatin date: 2016 Lcatin: https://babel.hathitrust.rg/cgi/pt?id=ien.35556034075739;view=1up;seq=11 And s n. If yu need t rganize anther level f infrmatin, simply repeat the cntainer template, and fill in the blanks. 3. Then use this infrmatin t create an entry that ffers yur readers nly the infrmatin they will need t find the surce themselves. Nte that yu ffer infrmatin in the rder dictated by the template, usually separating each level with perids and separating items within levels with cmmas: Dyle, Arthur Cnan. The Adventure f the Red-Headed League. The Adventures f Sherlck Hlmes. 2nd ed., Gerge Newnes, 1893, pp. 29-56. HathiTrust Digital Library, 2016, https://babel.hathitrust.rg/cgi/pt?id=ien.35556034075739;view=1up;seq=11. Here are sme sample bibligraphic entries fr an MLA Wrks Cited list: Type f citatin Example Bk by ne Swrd, Helen. Stylish Academic Writing. Harvard UP, 2012. authr Bk by mre May, Steven W., and Arthur F. Martti. Ink, Stink Bait, Revenge, and Queen Elizabeth: A Yrkshire Yeman s than ne authr Husehld Bks. Crnell UP, 2014. Bk with an Wlfe, Heather, editr. The Literary Career and Legacy f Elizabeth Cary, 1613-1680. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. editr Pem r shrt Herrick, Rbert. T Daffdils. The Bradview Anthlgy f Seventeenth-Century Verse & Prse, edited by Alan stry in an Rudrum et al., Bradview Press, 2000, p. 317. edited cllectin (multiple Tip: Use et al. whenever there are mre than tw names (authrs, editrs, etc.) authrs/editrs) Review in a De Grazia, Margreta. Review f Hamlet in Purgatry, by Stephen Greenblatt. Mdern Language Quarterly, vl. jurnal 63, n. 4, 2002, pp. 539-42. Article frm a Kiser, Lisa J. The Animals in Chester s Nah s Fld. Early Theatre, vl. 14, n. 1, 2011, pp. 15-44. print jurnal Article frm an nline jurnal Eastwd, Adrienne L. In the Shadw f the Queen: The Early English Epithalamium and the Female Mnarch. Early Mdern Literary Studies, vl. 16, n. 3, 2013, pp. 1-23, https://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/jurnal/index.php/emls/article/view/69. Article frm a jurnal accessed thrugh a database with a DOI Lecker, Rbert. A Quest fr the Peaceable Kingdm : The Narrative in Nrthrp Frye's Cnclusin t the Literary Histry f Canada. PMLA, vl. 108, n. 2, 1993, pp. 283 293. JSTOR, di:10.2307/462598. Tip: A di (digital bject identifier) is a unique address assciated with a dcument available nline. Mre stable than URLs, many publicatins nw ffer this type f identifying cde, and yu shuld list a di whenever ne is available. 2
Article frm a jurnal accessed thrugh a database with a URL Online encyclpedia r dictinary entry Wang, Xiaping. Articulating the (Dis)Enchantment f Clnial Mdernity: Mei Niang's Representatin f the Predicament f Chinese New Wmen. Tulsa Studies in Wmen's Literature, vl. 34, n. 2, 2015, pp. 333-53. Prject Muse, http://muse.jhu.edu.ezprxy.library.uvic.ca/article/606170. chaste, adj. OED Online. Oxfrd UP, Mar. 2016. http://www.ed.cm.ezprxy.library.uvic.ca/view/entry/30895?rskey=nbplpo&result=1&isadvanced=f alse#eid. Website Siemens, Raymnd et al., editrs. A Scial Editin f the Devnshire Manuscript (BL Add 17,492). 2 Feb. 2015. https://en.wikibks.rg/wiki/the_devnshire_manuscript. Film r vide Bright Star. Directed by Jane Campin, perfrmance by Ben Wishaw, Pathé Renn Prductins, 2009. Lecture r ral presentatin Tip: MLA prvides flexibility n names t include in the citatin. Names f screenwriters, perfrmers and prducers culd be entered between the title and the distributr. Ladin, Jy. Diving int the Wreck: Feminism and Trans Feminism. Trans Petics and Feminism Panel. MLA Annual Cnventin, 8 Jan. 2016, Austin Cnventin Center, Austin TX. Paper presentatin. When yu prepare a Wrks Cited list, apply these general rules: List each wrk alphabetically based n whatever appears first in its entry (usually the authr s last name). Use a 1.25 cm hanging indentatin fr any entries that take up mre than ne line. Put qutatin marks arund titles f surces that appear within cntainers such as individual pems, shrt stries, and articles. Put titles f cntainers r stand-alne texts in italics fr example nvels, full-length plays, jurnals, anthlgies, and shrt stry cllectins. Capitalize all majr wrds in titles. Mst imprtantly, decide what infrmatin needs t be included by thinking abut yur readers what details will they need t find yur surce? Please cnsult the 8 th editin f the MLA handbk (published in 2016) fr additinal examples and guidance. MLA Citatins MLA dcuments the simple use f a surce (thrugh qutatin, paraphrasing, r summarizing) with a parenthetical citatin. The first part f the citatin directs readers t a specific item in the Wrks Cited list, and the secnd part tells readers where in that surce t find the material that has been utilized. SIMPLE CITATIONS Since the authr s last name is usually the first thing listed in a bibligraphic entry, yu usually begin yur citatin with that infrmatin s that readers can find the crrect item in yur wrks cited list. Mst texts yu cite will include page numbers, s yu indicate the page r pages n which the material yu have qute, paraphrased, r summarized appears. (Smith 215) (Jnes 15-17) If yu think yur readers will knw which item in yur wrks cited list is being referenced because yu just mentined the authr, yu can mit that infrmatin frm yur citatin. 3
Pamuk s nvel intrduces its unusual use f different characters first persn narratin by pening with the illgical shcking phrase, I am nthing but a crpse nw (3). If yu are referencing the same surce mre than nce in the same sentence r within a paragraph, yu can leave ut the authr s name after the first citatin. The delightfully named Jhn Thmas Lney may have champined the Earl f Oxfrd as the true authr f Shakespeare s plays because f his prfund distaste fr mdernity (Shapir 170) althugh he explicitly argued that his dubts arse frm the sense that n ne wh wrte fr cmmercial gains culd have created such great plays (171). That said, it is better t cite and make clear t yur readers the surce yu are referencing than t make them puzzle it ut when in dubt, include full infrmatin. COMPLEX CITATIONS There are situatins in which frmulating a citatin might be a bit mre cmplicated. Fr example, what if the surce yu want t reference has n authr (perhaps because there is an editr listed first, because there is a crprate authr, r because the wrk is annymus)? Remember that yu are trying t guide readers t an item in yur wrks cited list, and it will seem lgical t pick the first wrd r wrds in the bibligraphic entry whether they are an editr s last name, an rganizatin s name, r part f a title. (Thmas 15) (Canadian Cuncil 29) (Bewulf 25) And what if there are n page numbers? If it is easy t ffer readers sme ther guide t help them find the place in the text yu are referencing, please use that infrmatin instead. Otherwise, simply list nthing yu are nt expected t cunt pages, paragraphs, r lines if ding s will be burdensme. (Smith par. 15) (Jnes ch. 2) (Thmas) If there is mre than ne text by the same authr in yur wrks cited list, yu will need t give yur readers a bit mre infrmatin than the authr s last name t help them find the surce being cited. Fllw the authr s last name with the first wrd f the title: (McKitterick, Old 25-26) (McKitterick, Print 200) Similarly, if there is mre than ne authr with the same last name in yur wrks cited list, just the authr s last name wn t be sufficient in a parenthetical citatin. Yu will need t prvide a first initial t distinguish between authrs and, in the case where authrs share the same first initial, first names. (A. Pattersn 15) (L. Pattersn 20-27) (Patricia Lake 11) (Peter Lake 2) If yu have taken an idea frm mre than ne surce, yu can reference multiple items in the same parenthetical citatin by separating yur references with semiclns. (If yur citatins get unwieldy, hwever, yu can turn them int bibligraphical endntes.) (Lake 15; Pattersn 25) (Enders 24-26; White 95; Wickham 1-5) 4
Yu can even acknwledge a surce yu haven t used yurself (and thus nt included in yur Wrks Cited list) by making explicit where yu fund it. (Dnne qtd. in Kuchar 52) (Bth qtd. in Cnnrs 15) SPECIAL TEXTS: POETRY, PLAYS, THE BIBLE, ETC. When the text yu are using ffers ways t find a specific part f the text ther than (r in additin t) page numbers, yu help yur readers by citing thse guides. Fr example, editins f petry ften include line numbers, s yu shuld cite lines f a particular pem rather than the page n which it appears. (Dnne 10-14) Editins f the Bible and ther religius texts usually have standard chapter names and bk and verse numbers. Offer that infrmatin in yur citatins as fllws: (Isaiah 29:3-15) Verse plays (like thse written by Shakespeare) include act, scene, and line numbers yu can cite like this: (Shakespeare 1.3.12-13) Fr plays withut line numbers, yu can still reference act and scene numbers alng with page numbers: (Miller 12; act 1) Ntes in MLA While MLA uses in-text, parenthetical citatins fr simple references t surces, mre cmplex references can be handled in endntes. Yu can use endntes t ffer a summary f existing schlarship n a subject, t cmment n anther schlar s argument, r t explain a pint that is, endntes are where yu put any use f surces that can t r shuldn t be handled in the text f yur essay. MLA endntes use shrt references t surces like thse that appear in parenthetical citatins: Sample bibligraphic nte: 2 Fr a sense f hw lng schlars have struggled t develp mre accurate terminlgy see Dbsn 25; Cllier 15; Malne 94; Greg 16; Chambers 24-26; Wickham 45; Happe 25; Bevingtn 46; and Walker 74. Sample nte fr a surce that can t be handled in a parenthetical citatin: 5 This infrmatin abut the difficulty f creating perfectly rund vessels derives frm my experience f spending a day bserving the wrk f master ptter Andrea Masn in her Lennx, Massachusetts studi. Sample explanatry nte: 3. Althugh there is disagreement amng editrs abut hw t render this character s name, I fllw the Oxfrd and Nrtn editins in calling her Inngen. This spelling makes sense since it is identical t the name f a wman frm Britain s mythical past, the wife f the suppsed Trjan funder f the natin Brutus. Adapted frm the UVic Department f English MLA Guide, 2016. 5