MLA Documentation

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MLA Documentation

• EH 1302
• Fall 2005

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What is MLA documentation?

• MLA (Modern Language Association) documentation
  is a style of citing your sources.
• Documentation is important and necessary in order
  to avoid plagiarismusing someone else's ideas
  without giving them credit.

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What is parenthetical documentation, and what
is its purpose?

• Parenthetical or in-text documentation refers to
  the citations found within your paper. The
  purpose of parenthetical references is to lead
  your reader to the source of your quotations,
  paraphrases, and summaries.

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What is parenthetical documentation, and what is
its purpose?

• MLA style uses parenthetical citation, which
  means that within the main body of your paper,
  you use parentheses to refer your reader to the
  sources you are using for your information.
• The references direct the reader to the full
  citation list called the Works Cited, located at
  the end of your paper, from which a reader can
  locate all of the information needed to find the
  sources.

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What information is needed within a parenthetical
citation?

• The information within the parentheses is
  generally the last name of the author and the
  page number upon which the quotation or
  information is found. This system allows the
  reader to quickly find the specific place from
  which you've drawn your information.

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When do you use a parenthetical citation?

• You should document anything that you use from an
  outside source.
• However, if the information is considered common
  knowledge, you do not need to use a citation.

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How do you decide what to include in a
parenthetical citation?

• Consider first what pieces of information about
  the source already exist in previous sentences or
  in the immediate context.
• All direct quotations must be integrated into
  your own prose. That is, you must make them a
  part of your own sentence, rather than leaving
  them to stand as sentences on their own.

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How do I do in-text citations?

• In general, an in-text MLA citation gives the
  author's last name and page reference in
  brackets (Miller 109).
• If you mention the author's name within the text
  preceding the reference, then only the page
  number is necessary in the citation (109).

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Author's name not mentioned in text

• When you do not include the author's name in the
  text, place the author's last name in the
  parenthetical citation before the page number(s).
  There is no punctuation between the author's name
  and the page number(s).
• (Miller 109).

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Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing without
the author's name in the text

• Although many of his ideas were idealistic,
  Rousseau held ambivalent feelings toward women
  (Pope 138).
• During World War I, British and American women
  could, for the first time, earn first-class pay
  for first-class work (Gilbert 236).

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Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing without
the author's name in the text

• As society continues to undergo rapid
  technological changes, people will undergo
  future shock (Toffler 42).

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Author's name mentioned in text

• If you mention the author's last name in the
  sentence, you do not need to include the author's
  last name in parentheses. Cite only the page
  number.
• (109).

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Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing with the
author's name in the text

• Pope was clear to point out that, although many
  of his ideas were idealistic, Rousseau held
  ambivalent feelings toward women (138).
• According to Gilbert, British and American women
  could, for the first time, earn first-class pay
  for first-class work during World War I (236).

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Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing with the
author's name in the text

• According to economists Robert Hahn and Paul
  Tetlock, Some studies say they hands-free
  phones would have no impact on accidents, while
  others suggest the reductions could be sizeable
  (2).

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Punctuation Notes

• In a normal quotation, paraphrase, or summary,
  the order of the parenthesis and periods are
  always the same parentheses, number,
  parentheses, period.
• Pope was clear to point out that, although many
  of his ideas were idealistic, Rousseau held
  ambivalent feelings toward women (138).

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Punctuation Notes

• In a normal quotation, paraphrase, or summary,
  the order of the parenthesis and periods are
  always the same parentheses, name, number,
  parentheses, period.
• Although many of his ideas were idealistic,
  Rousseau held ambivalent feelings toward women
  (Pope 138).

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Punctuation Notes

• In block quotations the order is different
  period, parentheses, number, parentheses
• Drucker states her specific definition of
  innovation
• Innovation is the specific tool of
  entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit
  change as an opportunity for a different business
  or a different service. Entrepreneurs need to
  search purposefully for the sources of
  innovation, the changes and their symptoms that
  indicate opportunities for successful innovation.
  (20)

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Reminders

• Make parenthetical citations brief and accurate.
• To avoid long parenthetical citations, place
  reference information, such as the author's name,
  in your sentence.

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Reminders

• Place a citation as close to the relevant
  material as possible without disrupting the
  sentence.

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Short in-text citation

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  was my favorite book as a child. When Alice says,
  "Curiouser and curiouser!" (Carroll 26), the
  reader is a bit shocked at the proper little
  girl's error in grammar. The explanation that
  "she was so much surprised, that for the moment
  she quite forgot how to speak good English" (26)
  is not sufficient.

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Reminders

• Do not wait until the end of your paragraph and
  dump all of your citations into a single set of
  parentheses .
• However, do use one citation at the end of a long
  section of material that comes from one source
  and the same pages(s).

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Reminders

• Parenthetical citations always go outside of a
  quotation and always before a punctuation mark,
  such as a period.
• Most states do not keep adequate records on the
  number of times cell phones are the factors in
  accidents as of December 2000, only ten states
  were trying to keep such records (Sudeen 2).

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Reminders

• Cite the author of the piece, not the editor.
• Cite anonymous works by title.
• Don't put a comma between the author and page
  number.
• Place the parenthetical citations in your essay
  as your write. Do not wait until the essay is
  finished.

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Works Cited Page

• MLA works cited (or reference list or
  bibliography page) is a list of references that
  you used in your paper. Anytime you use sources,
  you should have a reference list.
• In order to properly complete a reference list,
  you must know the type of source you are using
  and some very specific information about each
  source.

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Works Cited Page

• Your list of references should be placed on a
  separate sheet of paper and placed behind the
  last page of your paper.
• The order of the list should be in alphabetical
  order starting with the first letter on the
  left-hand side (this is usually the last name of
  the author).

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Works Cited Page

• All entries for your Works Cited must be in
  alphabetical order. If the authors name is
  unknown, alphabetize by the title, ignoring any
  initial A, An, or The.
• Indention - use hanging indent form. The first
  line of each reference is set flush left. Indent
  the second and all following lines of a citation
  5 spaces or 1/2 inch.
• The author should be the first element of a
  citation. If no author is present, use editor
  name. If no editor is present, start with book
  title or article title.

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Works Cited Page

• List the authors last name, followed by a comma,
  then the authors first and/or middle name.
• Underline or italicize titles of books, journals,
  magazines, and newspapers.
• Article titles are placed within quotation marks.
  Also use quotation marks for the titles of short
  stories, book chapters, poems and songs.
• Capitalize each word in the titles of articles,
  books, etc.
• Elements of a citation are separated by a period
  and one space

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Bibliography

• DeVoe, Kristina. MLA Reminders. The Write
  Place. St. Cloud State University. 14 Feb. 2001.
  
• mlaparen.html.
• Hacker, Diana. A Writers Reference. 5th ed.
  Boston Bedford/St. Martins,
• 2003.
• Kies, Daniel. MLA Documentation. Hypertextbook.
  1 Jan. 2003.
• ngl_103/citation.htm.
• Reber, Ed. Plagiarism How to Avoid It.
  DixieUniversity. 2001.
• le/Plagiarism.htmPLAGIARISM .