Parenthetical Citations

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Parenthetical Citations using the MLA Format
By L. Edwards, Library Media
Specialist, LCPS, January 2005
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Parenthetical Citations in MLA ARE
brief parenthetical references that directs
readers to the full citation in the list of Works
Cited. They indicate words or ideas borrowed from
another source-- any idea you didnt think up on
your own! You MUST use with direct quotations,
paraphrases, summaries.

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Parenthetical Citations in MLA Must
1. provide the author's name (or the title of the
work) and the page number of the work in a
parenthetical citation, then... 2. provide full
citation information for the work in your Works
Cited list
This allows people to know which sources you
used in writing your essay and then be able to
look them up themselves, so that they can use
them in their research.
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How Do I Do Parenthetical Citations? MLA
format follows the author-page method of
citation. This means that the author's last
name and the page number(s) from which the
quotation is taken must appear in the text, and a
complete reference should appear in your Works
Cited list.
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The author's name... may appear in one of
two places 1) in the sentence itself
or 2) in parentheses following the
quotation or paraphrase The page
number(s) MUST always appear in the
parentheses following the quotation,
summary, or paraphrase, not in the text
of your sentence.
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Parenthetical Citations Some Examples
Example 1 - Authors name in text, Page at
end In John Malams book, The Bombing of
Hiroshima, he quotes Robert Oppenheimers
statements following the explosion We waited
until the blast had passed, walked out of the
shelter and then it was extremely solemn (15).

Option to Example 1 You do not mention the
title, and the authors name and page number are
given at the end (This is very useful if you are
not quoting, but summarizing or
paraphrasing.) Robert Oppenheimer described the
world after the blast as extremely solemn (Malam
15).

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There is No Author

• When a source has no known author, use a
  shortened title of the work instead of an author
  name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's
  a short work, or italicize or underline it if
  it's a longer work.
• EXAMPLE
• The Holocaust was the worst genocide to ever
  occur (Genocide Kills 9)

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Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author

• If you cite more than one work by a particular
  author, include a shortened title for the
  particular work from which you are quoting to
  distinguish it from the others.

Format your citation with the author's last name
followed by a comma, follwed by a shortened title
of the work, followed by page numbers Never
shall I forget (Wiesel, Night 63).
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3 Ways to Borrow Information Quoting- easiest
way, but use selectively and quote only the
passages that deal directly with your subject in
memorable language. If you decide to omit part
of the passage, use ellipsis points () to
indicate omitted words from the original source
(Trimmer 22). Paraphrasing- restates the content
of a short passage phrase by phrase, rewriting
the authors words in your own words (Trimmer
24). Summarizing-condenses the content of a
lengthy passage, reformulate the main idea and
outline main points (Trimmer 24).
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Quoting (Author in text, page at end) John Malam,
in his book The Bombing of Hiroshima, recounts
statements of Albert Einstein, whose letter
encouraged the U.S. to build the atomic bomb. He
said I could burn my fingers that I wrote that
first letter to Roosevelt (27). OR (Author and
page at end) Albert Einsteins response after the
bombing of Hiroshima is telling of the horrific
aftermath and his guilt resulting from the event.
In reflecting on a letter he had once written to
President Roosevelt regarding uranium, he said,
I could burn my fingers for ever writing it
(Malam 27).
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A Comparison of Quoting, Summarizing, and
Paraphrasing the same information in the
following 3 examples.
Quoting (Author, Page at the end of the
quote) President Truman was pleased that the
testing of the atomic bomb had gone so well. In
his opinion, the atomic bomb could be used to
bring the war in the Pacific to a quick end and,
therefore, save American lives (Malam 18).
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Summarizing (Author, Page at the end of the
summary) Though a tough political situation,
President Truman thought it would be best to use
the atomic bomb to bring the war in the Pacific
to an end (Malam 18).
Paraphrasing (Author, Page at the end of the
paraphrase) President Truman was pleased that
the testing of the atomic bomb had gone so well
he felt the use of the bomb could bring the war
in the Pacific to an end, saving countless
American lives (Malam 18).

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Write these Tips!

• 1. Do not use pp. p. or anything else to
  indicate a page number!
• 2. Do Not use punctuation between the authors
  last name and page number!
• 3. The go around the words from the text and
  ONLY the words from the text!
• 4. If there is no author, use the title
• 5. If the speaker is different from the author,
  clarify!

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DONT FORGET Plagiarism is a serious offense
that strips individuals of their personal
accomplishments. It is basically stealing from
someone, so instead try borrowing and saying
thank you by citing your sources using MLA.
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Works Cited Gibaldi, Joseph, and Walter S.
Achtert. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers. New York Modern Language Association
of America, 2001. Malam, John. The Bombing of
Hiroshima. North Mankato, MN Smart Apple
Media, 2003. MLA. 10 January 2005. Modern
Language Association. 10 February 2005.
MLA Style Citations. 7 May 2004
University of California Berkley Library. 10
February 2005. Guides/MLAstyle.pdf Trimmer, Joseph F. A Guide
to MLA Documentation. Boston
Houghton Mifflin, 1999.