MLA CITATIONS Published book: Basic Format The author s name or a book with a single author's name appears in last name, first name format. The basic form for a book citation is: Last name, First name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication. Book with One Author Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print. Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print. Book with More Than One Author The first given name appears in last name, first name format; subsequent author names appear in first name last name format. Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print. 1
Article in a Magazine Cite by listing the article's author, putting the title of the article in quotations marks, and italicizing the periodical title. Follow with the date of publication. Remember to abbreviate the month. The basic format is as follows: Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication. Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping Mar. 2006: 143-48. Print. Article in a Newspaper Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in a newspaper. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition following the date (e.g., 17 May 1987, late ed.). Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007: LZ01. Print. Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times 21 May 2007 late ed.: A1. Print. If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name and state in brackets after the title of the newspaper. Behre, Robert. "Presidential Hopefuls Get Final Crack at Core of S.C. Democrats." Post and Courier [Charleston, SC] 29 Apr. 2007: A11. Print. 2
Article in an online source: (not listed in textbook) * Author and/or editor names (if available). * Title of article in quotation marks. (if applicable) * Title website, project, or book in italics, (i.e.,.com or.net) Any version numbers, posting dates, volume or issue numbers. *Publisher Information (Name and Date). (or Np or nd) * Take note of any page numbers. (if available) * Medium of publication. (i.e., Web or CD-ROM) * Day Month Year accessed. * URL (if required) Article in an online source: (not listed in textbook) 3
India. Travel.State.Gov. Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State, 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 4 May 2010. Feinberg, Ashley. What s the Safest Seat in an Airplane? Gizmodo. Gawker Media, 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2013. 4
THE WORKS CITED PAGE Ø Prepare the list on a separate page headed Works Cited. Ø Double-space before typing the first entry. Ø Arrange the entries alphabetically, according to author s last name. 5
THE WORKS CITED PAGE Ø For entries without authors, use the first word in the title, eliminating articles. Ø When you cite two or more sources by the same author arrange works by title. Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic, 1973. Print. ---. Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretative Anthropology. New York: Basic, 1983. Print. THE WORKS CITED PAGE 6
Three types of notes: Ø Direct Quotation Ø Paraphrase Ø Summary Note Cards (4 x 6 ) Limit your subject and approach to it as soon as you can, so you can perform the job of note taking efficiently. 7
Note Cards (4 x 6 ) Three types of notes: Ø Direct Quotation Problems with internal 2 combustion engines In one year, the average gas-powered car produces five tons of carbon dioxide, which as it slowly builds up in the atmosphere causes global warming. (page 47) Note Cards (4 x 6 ) Three types of notes: Ø Paraphrase Problems with internal 2 combustion engines In the course of a year, automobiles emit five tons of carbon monoxide that is linked to negative environmental issues such as global warming. (page 47) 8
Note Cards (4 x 6 ) Three types of notes: Ø Summary Direct comparison of 3 combustion engines with electric engines Scientists conducted a series of tests with combustion engines in different environmental settings, gauging the performance of the engine and contrasted those results with electric engines. When to Quote, Paraphrase, or Summarize: Ø Direct Quotation when an idea is especially well stated in a source or when the exact wording is important historically, legally, or as a matter of definition. Ø Paraphrase use as your BASIC NOTE FORM the form that you always use unless you have a good reason to do otherwise Ø Summary use when you have a passage that is too long to be effectively quoted or paraphrased 9
EFFECTIVE NOTE TAKING * Notes should not be too long or short. * Note should contain fact, statistic, unique information, expert opinion, anecdote, or original ideas. The business of rodeo is now as legitimate as any other national sport. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most famous monuments in the world. * Slugs should be specific to the card (not too broad), yet not too specific (no classification in mind). EFFECTIVE NOTE TAKING Ø Keep your topic, controlling purpose, and audience in mind at all times. Ø Insure that summaries and paraphrases accurately express the ideas in your sources. Ø Be accurate with direct quotations use quotation marks. Ø Double check statistics and facts. Ø Distinguish between fact and opinion by labeling: Dr. Graves believes or According to Dr. Graves Ø Use ellipsis points to abbreviate notes as long as intent isn t changed. 10
Parenthetical Citations WORK BY ONE AUTHOR: Indeed, he grew so bitter about the plight of blacks that he rejoiced when his infant son died because the child would never have to experience the prejudice that he had felt (DuBoise 155). DuBoise recounts the story of one black man who was so bitter about his personal plight that he rejoiced when his infant son died because the child would never have to experience the prejudice that he had felt (155). Parenthetical Citations WORK BY TWO AUTHORS: A wide range of job opportunities is available to adventurous travelers (Krannick and Krannick 34). WORK BY THREE OR MORE AUTHORS: Teachers in all courses should determine the writing skills of their students (Anderson et al. 4). Et alia Latin for and others Anderson and her coauthors insist that teachers in all courses should determine the writing skills of their students (4). 11
Parenthetical Citations MORE THAN ONE WORK BY THE SAME AUTHOR: Once society reaches a certain stage of industrial growth, it will shift its energies to the production of services (Toffler, Future 221). Society has gone through two eras (agricultural and industrial) and is now entering another the informational age (Toffler, Third 26). Toffler argues in Third Wave that society has gone through two eras (agricultural and industrial) and is now entering another the informational age (26). Parenthetical Citations WORKS BY AUTHOR S WITH THE SAME LAST NAME: Critics have often debated the usefulness of the psychological approach to literary interpretation (Fredrick Hoffman 317). WORKS FOR WHICH NO AUTHOR IS GIVEN: Supporters of the polygraph test point out that to help alleviate possible nervousness, the subject is given access to the questions he will be asked during the test as long as he desires (What s It Like 8). 12
Parenthetical Citations MLA recommends placing parenthetical reference at the end of a sentence. The decade of the fifties is often seen as a period when nothing much was asked of us beyond reminding ourselves how good we were as a people (Hardwick 126). On some occasions you may need to place the reference within the sentence to clarify its relationship to the information. Although Hardwick suggests that in the fifties nothing much was asked of us beyond reminding ourselves how good we were as a people (126), the placid decade soon produced unexpected turmoil. Parenthetical Citations When the reference documents a direct quote of four or more typed lines, set the quote off from the text in block format. Elizabeth s Hardwick s memory of the fifties serves as an apt summary of the curiously familiar attitudes of the placid decade: Right after the war, the therapy for all our moral discomforts was the daily recital of the sins of Communism and the Soviet Union, and the subsequent healthy enjoyment of our own virtues or at least our absent sins. Nothing much was asked of us beyond reminding ourselves how good we were as a people and a system and that we did not need to suffer the infection of despairing selfcriticism. (126) 13