Making Sense of MLA Format Citation

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Making Sense of MLA Format Citation

• Krista Hoeksema
• Kalamazoo Valley Community College
• Writing Center

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MLA citation making you weary?
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• Well, help is on the way!

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There are two parts to MLA citation

• Parenthetical or in-text citations
• Works Cited page
• But first things first

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Why use MLA citation?

• To give credit to your source
• To help locate the original documents
• To give your writing credibility
• To avoid plagiarism

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What is plagiarism?

• Using any information that is not common
  knowledge from any source and not giving proper
  credit through citation. You must cite ideas or
  words that are not your own or

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face failure of the assignment or possibly
expulsion
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What needs to be cited in-text?

• Direct quotations
• Paraphrases

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But quoting and paraphrasing can be tricky

• Lets play a game to see how well you know how to
  quote and paraphrase

NOTE The following examples on paraphrasing are
based on ideas from Doing Honest Work in College
by Charles Lipson.
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Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse in
her home, but she occasionally ventured out to
parties where she let her hair down and danced on
tables. (from a book by Lola Boltjes)

• Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse. (no
  citation)
• Is this the proper way to cite?

• No. Though the entire line is not used, it is
  the authors idea and an exact quote. It needs to
  be enclosed in quotation marks and cited.

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Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse in
her home, but she occasionally ventured out to
parties where she let her hair down and danced on
tables. (from a book by Lola Boltjes)

• Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse in
  her home, but she occasionally ventured out to
  parties where she let her hair down and danced on
  tables (Boltjes 259).

• No. This does cite the source, but the exact
  words are used, and they are not enclosed in
  quotation marks.

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Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse in
her home, but she occasionally ventured out to
parties where she let her hair down and danced on
tables. (from a book by Lola Boltjes)

• No. While the words are not exactly the
  authors, they are very similar, and the sentence
  format is basically the same.

• Jane Doe passed most of her life away as a
  hermit, but she sometimes went out to parties and
  boogied down on tables (Boltjes 259).

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Enough games

• Lets get to the facts about quotations and
  paraphrases and how to cite them.

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1. Direct quotes

• If more than 20 percent of your paper is
  quotes, which is someones exact words, then
  thats too much! You want your paper to contain
  your writing. Too many quotes in a paper take
  away from the writers voice.

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Proper citation for a direct quote in your paper
is as follows

• Example
• Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse
  in her home, but she occasionally ventured out to
  parties where she let her hair down and danced on
  tables (Boltjes 259) .
• Page number Authors Last Name

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Another way to cite a direct quote is to use a
signal phrase to mention the author in the paper

• Signal phrase Author
• According to Boltjes, Doe spent most of her
  life as a recluse in her home, but she
  occasionally ventured out to parties where she
  let her hair down and danced on tables (259).
  Page number
• NOTE When the author is mentioned, you do not
  need to include the last name within the
  parentheses at the end of the quote. The page
  number is enough.

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What do you do when you dont have a page
number-such as with an internet source-to cite in
parentheses?

• You may then use either
• the paragraph number (Lewis par. 5)
• or section name (Brooks Introduction) in
  place of page numbers.

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Okay, what if there isnt an author to cite?

• You will then cite the title (shortened if
  necessary) of the article, story, or book in-text
  along with the page or section number.
• Example (Traveling par. 19)
• NOTE You will also use the title, along with
  the authors name in-text if you are citing more
  than one work by an author in your essay.
• Example (Frye, Double Vision 85)

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For direct quotes that are longer than four
lines, you will want to set the quote off from
the rest of your paper with a block quote.

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At the end of The Tell-Tale Heart, the
narrators calm facade steadily disintegrates

The officers were satisfied. My MANNER had
convinced them. I was singularly at ease. They
sat and while I answered cheerily, they chatted
of familiar things. But, ere long, I felt myself
getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached,
and I fancied a ringing in my ears but still
they sat, and still chatted. The ringing became
more distinct I talked more freely to get rid of
the feeling but it continued and gained
definitiveness -- until, at length, I found that
the noise was NOT within my ears. (Poe 247)
1 margin
punctuation author Page
number(s)NOTE Quotation marks are not used for
block quotes.
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But remember, use quotes sparingly

• Most of your paper will be made up of paraphrases

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2. Paraphrases

• Paraphrasing is another way of handling
  quotations. When paraphrasing, the writer relays
  the meaning in her own words.

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An example of paraphrasing

• Original quote
• Jane Doe spent most of her life as a recluse in
  her home, but she occasionally ventured out to
  parties where she let her hair down and danced on
  tables (Boltjes 259).
• Paraphrase
• Although Jane Doe didnt leave the house much,
  she did like to party every once in awhile
  (Boltjes 259).

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Why is that a good paraphrase?

• While it conveys the meaning of the quote, it is
  not too close to the authors original words, and
  it is cited correctly.

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When paraphrasing

• Read the passage and make sure you understand its
  meaning
• Think about how the passage relates to your paper
• Turn the paper over and write the main idea in
  your own words on a note card (for more
  information on using note cards for you research
  paper, see the Writing Centers handout on note
  taking)
• Reread the quote making sure that you have not
  kept the same structure nor merely changed a few
  words

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What is a Works Cited page?

• A list of all sources that are referenced in your
  essay. It contains all the information that your
  reader needs to locate the sources cited in your
  essay.

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Now what will your Works Cited page look like?

• Works Cited
• Brindle, Reginald Smith. The Search Outwards
  The Orient, Jazz, Archaisms. The New Music The
  Avant-Garde since 1945. New York Oxford UP,
  1975. 133-45.
• Burnett, James. Ellingtons Place as a
  Composer. Gammond 141-55.
• Duke Ellingtons Washington. 2002. Estate of
  Mercer K. Ellington. 3 June 2002
  .

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Things to remember when making your Works Cited
page

• Center the words Works Cited-do not underline
  them-on a new page of your paper
• Double space
• Alphabetize all of your citations, even if your
  listing starts with a title
• Start each new citation at the left margin
  indent 5 spaces or a half inch for each
  subsequent line of an entry

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One more thing to remember

• Many students get frustrated when doing a
  Works Cited page if they cant find a piece of
  information such as the author or other
  publication information (particularly with
  internet sources).

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In that case

• Simply skip it and go on to the next piece of
  information.

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The following slides will show examples of Works
Cited entries based on the MLA Handbook for
Writers of Research Papers. Inside the brackets
are the chapters for that listing.
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• Basic Book Entry Format
• Authors Last Name, First Name. Title of Book.
  City of Publication Publisher, Year.
• MLA Chapter for listing
• Book with one author 5.6.1
• Example
• Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. New York
  Random, 1964.

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• Book with Two or more Authors 5.6.4
• Example
• Anderson, Jack, and Bill Pronzine. The Cambodia
  File. New York Doubleday, 1981.

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• Two or More works by the Same Author 5.6.3
• NOTE The name of the author will only appear
  in the first entry. In the rest of the entries by
  that author, three hyphens will replace the
  authors name.
• Example
• King, Stephen. Dolores Claiborne. New York
  Viking, 1993.
• ---. The Shining. New York Doubleday, 1977.

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• A work in an anthology 5.6.7
• Author of Story. "Title of Story." Title of Book.
  Name of Editor. Edition (if given). City of
  Publication Publisher, Year. Page numbers.
• Example
• Poe, Edgar Allen. The Black Cat. Literature
  Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed.
  Robert DiYanni. New York McGraw, 2004. 130-135.

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• Encyclopedia and Reference Book 5.6.8
• Author of Article (if given). "Article Title."
  Title of Book. City of Publication Publisher,
  Year.
• Example
• Springer, Marlene. Edith Newbold Jones Wharton.
  American Women Writers From Colonial Times to
  the Present. Ed. Lina Mainiero. 5 vols. New York
  Frederick Ungar, 1982.
• Give full publication information for less
  familiar reference books
• List only the edition and year of publication for
  familiar reference books
• Add abbreviation Def. for definitions

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• Government Publication 5.6.21 (If author is
  not known)
• Name of Government. Name of Agency. Title of
  Publication. City of Publication Publisher,
  Year.
• Example
• Michigan State. Department of Consumer
  Industry. Unemployment Agency 1999 Annual Report.
  Lansing State of Michigan, 2000.
• NOTE Consult the MLA Handbook for format on
  citing Congressional Record and other
  congressional documents.

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• Magazine Articles 5.7.6
• Author. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine Day
  Month Year Page(s).
• Example
• Saporito, Bill. The e-Health Revolution. Time
  27 June 2005 55-57.
• NOTE Do not give volume and issue numbers for
  magazines.

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• Newspaper Articles 5.7.5
• Author. "Title of Article." Name of Newspaper
  City Day Month Year, edition Page(s).
• Example
• Royse, David. Dennis a Menace but not an Ivan.
  Kalamazoo Gazette 11 July 2005 A3.
• If name of city is in the title of the paper or
  the paper is nationally published (e.g. Wall
  Street Journal), city name is not needed
• Volume and issue numbers are not listed

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• Television or Radio Program 5.8.1
• Title of Episode or Segment. Title of Program.
  Title of Series (if any). Name of Network. Call
  letters, City of Local Station. Day Month Year of
  Broadcast.
• Example
• Hurricane Katrina. Dateline NBC. NBC. WOOD,
  Grand Rapids. 31 Aug. 2005.

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• Film Recording 5.8.3
• Title. Director. Distributor, Year of Release.
• Example
• Chocolat. Dir. Lasse Hallstrom. Perf. Juliette
  Binoche and Johnny Depp. Miramax, 2000.
• NOTE names of the writer, performers, and
  producers can also be included between title and
  distributor.

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• Personal Interview 5.8.7
• Name of person interviewed. Kind of interview.
  Day(s) Month Year.
• Example
• Lewis, Matt. Personal interview. 15 Mar. 2003.
• Television Interview
• Example
• Shortt, John. Interview with Anderson Cooper. 60
  Minutes. CBS. WWMT, Kalamazoo. 12 Jan. 2005.

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Internet Sources

• Order of Operations for Citing Electronic
  Sources
• Authors name
• Title of Document
• Title of Site
• Date of publication or last update
• Sponsor of site (if not named as author)
• Date source accessed

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• Document from a Web Site 5.9.1
• Author. "Title of Document." Title of Print
  Publication Date Page(s). Title of the Site.
  Editor. Date and/or Version Number. Name of
  Sponsoring Institution. Date of Access .
• Example
• Alcott, Louisa May. A Day. Hospital Sketches
  and Camp Fireside Stories 1885 25-39. Electronic
  Text Center. Ed. Judy Boss. 1999. Alderman Lib.,
  U of Virginia. 25 July 2005 inia.edu/toc/modeng/
• public/AlcAday.html .

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• Entire Internet Site-Scholarly Project or
  Professional Site 5.9.2
• Title of the Site. Editor. Date and/or Version
  Number. Name of Sponsoring Institution. Date of
  Access .
• Example
• Women Romantic-Era Writers. Ed. Adriana Craciun.
  2004. School of English and Humanities, Birkbeck,
  U of London. 25 July 2005 glish/ac/
• wrew.htm.

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• Online Newspaper or Magazine Article 5.9.4
• Author. Title. Magazine or Newspaper Day Month
  Year. Date of Access .
• Example
• Kennedy, David M. Crossing the Moral Threshold.
  Time 1 Aug. 2005. 26 July 2005 m/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1086166,00.html .

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• Library Subscription Service (ProQuest, etc.)
  5.9.7
• Magazine or Newspaper
• Author. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine Day
  Month Year Page(s). Name of Database. Database
  Publisher. Library Name, Name of City and/or
  State. Date of Access page.
• Example
• Wallis, Claudia. Crisis? Ill Take Mine to Go.
  Time 16 May 2005 63. ProQuest. Kalamazoo Valley
  Community College Library, MI. 18 May 2005
  .

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• Library Subscription Service (ProQuest, etc.)
  5.9.7
• Journal
• Author. "Title of Article." Title of Journal
  Volume number (Year) Page(s). Name of Database.
  Database Publisher. Library Name, Name of City
  and/or State. Date of Access homepage.
• Example
• Youakim, Sami. Work-related Asthma. American
  Family Physician 64 (2001) 1839-52. Health
  Reference Center. InfoTrac. Kalamazoo Valley
  Community College Library, MI. 15 May 2005
  .

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Where can I go online for more help?

• Purdue University Online Writing Lab Using MLA
  Format
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_
  mla.html
• Bedford/St. Martins Guide to Online Citation
• http//www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html

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Works Cited

• Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of
  Research Papers. 6th ed. New York Modern
  Language Association Of America, 2003.
• Lipson, Charles. Doing Honest Work in College.
  Chicago U of Chicago P, 2004.

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While MLA citation can be hard work, hopefully it
all makes more sense now.