MLA Documentation

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MLA Documentation

• Ateneo de Manila High School
• English Department
• Mr. Galinato

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OBJECTIVES

• To know what MLA stands for.
• To know what APA stands for.
• To differentiate MLA from APA documentation.
• To know when to use either MLA or APA
  documentation.
• To note the various guidelines in using the MLA
  format.

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Why use the MLA format?

• The MLA format provides writers with a system for
  cross-referencing their sources.
• Cross-referencing allows readers to locate your
  source for their own research.
• The proper use of the MLA format also shows the
  credibility of the writer.

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Why use the MLA format?

1. Most of all, the use of MLA style can protect
   writers from accusations of plagiarism.

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MLA or APA

• MLA (Modern Language Association) Documentation
• Devised primarily for use in scholarly writing on
  literature, history, and biography.
• The MLA recommends that writers use the heading
  Works Cited for their bibliography.

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MLA or APA

• APA (American Psychological Association)
  Documentation
• Used in scholarly writing in the social sciences
  and laboratory sciences.
• The APA recommends using Reference List as the
  heading.

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Works Cited

1. Begin your works cited list on a separate page
   from the text of the essay under the label Works
   Cited (with no quotation marks, underlining,
   etc.), which should be centered at the top of the
   page.
2. Arrange the sources in alphabetical order do not
   number them.

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Works Cited

1. Write the last name of the author first, followed
   by a comma and whatever form of first name or
   initials the author uses.
2. If a work has two authors, invert only the first
   authors name, follow it with a comma, then
   continue listing the name of the other author.

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Works Cited

1. If the work has three or more authors, invert the
   first authors name, immediately followed by et
   al.
2. If the work doesnt have an author, alphabetize
   it according to the title, always omitting A, An,
   and The from consideration.

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Works Cited

1. For books, use a period after each of the three
   main divisions of entry (a) the authors name,
   (b) the title of the work, and (c) the
   publication data. This includes the place of
   publication, the name of the publisher, and the
   date of publication.
2. If the place of publication is not well known or
   might be confused with another of the same name,
   give the state or country as well (in an
   abbreviated form).

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Works Cited

1. Use a period also after any additional
   information (ex. edition or number of volumes).
2. Capitalize each word in titles of books,
   articles, etc. This rule does not apply to
   articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions
   unless one is the first word of the title or
   subtitle.
3. Underline or italicize titles of books, journals,
   magazines, newspapers, films, etc.

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Works Cited

1. If the book title you are citing contains a title
   enclosed in quotation marks, keep the quotation
   marks and underline or italicize the entire
   title.
2. Use reverse paragraph indentation for each entry
   to make the alphabetized word stand out clearly.

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Works Cited

1. In the publication data, the MLA recommends using
   a short form of the names of publishers (ex.
   Harcourt for Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
   or Yale UP for Yale University Press)
2. If more than one city of publication is listed,
   give only the first.

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Examples

• Books
• Author(s). Title of Book. Place of Publication
  Publisher, Year of Publication.
• Books with one author
• Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver
  MacMurray, 1999.

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Examples

• Two books by the same author
• Palmer, William J. Dickens and New Historicism.
  New York St. Martins, 1997.
• ---. The Films of the Eighties A Social History.
  Carbondale Southern Illinois UP, 1993.

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Examples

• Book with two authors
• Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and
  Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston Allyn,
  2000.
• Book with three or more authors
• Dunbar, Clement et al. Assignments In Exposition.
  11th ed. New York HarperCollins, 1994.

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Examples

• Book with a corporate author
• American Allergy Association. Allergies in
  Children. New York Random, 1998.
• Book or article with no author named
• Encyclopedia of Indiana. New York Somerset,
  1993.
• Cigarette Sales Fall 30 as California Tax
  Rises. New York Times. 14 Sept. 1999 A17.

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Examples

• An article in a periodical (such as a newspaper
  or magazine)
• Author(s). Title of Article. Title of
  Periodical. Day Month Year pages.
• Note Use a three-letter abbreviation of the
  month (e.g. Jan., Mar., Aug.).

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Examples

• Poniewozik, James. TV Makes a Too-Close Call.
  Time. 20 Nov. 2000 70-71.
• Trembacki, Paul. Brees Hope to Win Heisman for
  Team. Purdue Exponent. 5 Dec. 2000 20.

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Examples

• A web site
• Author(s). Name of Page. Date of
  posting/revision. Name of institution/organization
  affiliated with the site. Date of access.
  ltelectronic addressgt.

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Examples

• Felluga, Dino. Undergraduate Guide to Literary
  Theory. 17 Dec. 1999. Purdue University. 15 Nov.
  2000 lthttp//omni.cc.purdue.edu7
  Efelluga/theory2.htmlgt.
• Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue
  University. 10 Feb. 2003. lthttp//owl.english.purd
  ue.edugt.

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Examples

• An article on a website
• Author(s). Article Title. Name of web site.
  Date of posting/revision. Name of
  institution/organization affiliated with the
  site. Date of access. ltelectronic addressgt.

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Examples

• Poland, Dave. The Hot Button. Roughcut. 26 Oct.
  1998. Turner Network Television. 28 Oct. 1998.
  lthttp//www.roughcut.comgt.
• Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format.
  Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue
  University. 6 Feb. 2003. lthttp//owl.english.purdu
  e.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.htmlgt.

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Examples

• An article in an online journal or magazine
• Author(s). Title of Article. Title of Journal
  Volume. Issue (Year) Pages/Paragraphs. Date of
  Access ltelectronic addressgt.

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Examples

• Wheelis, Mark. Investigating Disease Outbreaks
  Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin
  Weapons Convention. Emerging Infectious Diseases
  6.6 (2000) 33 pars. 5 Dec. 2000
  lthttp//www.cdc.gov/ncidod/ eid/vol6no6/wheelis.ht
  mgt.

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Examples

• A pamphlet
• Office of the Dean of Students. Resources for
  Success Learning Disabilities and Attention
  Deficit Disorders. West Lafayette, IN Purdue
  University, 2000.

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Examples

• An interview that you conducted
• Purdue, Pete. Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2000.
• A lecture or a speech
• Harris, Muriel. Writing Labs A Short History.
  2003 Writing Center Conference. National Writing
  Centers Association. La Swank Hotel, Seattle. 28
  March 2003.

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Examples

• TV or radio program
• The Blessing Way. The X-Files. Fox. WXIA,
  Atlanta. 19 Jul. 1998.
• Films and videotapes
• Color Purple, The. Dir. Steven Spielberg. With
  Whoopi Goldberg. Warner Bros., 1985.
• Wilson, Ryall, dir. Creation vs. Evolution
  Battle of the Classroom. Videocassette. PBS
  Video, 1992. 58 min.

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Examples

• Works of art
• Cranach, Lucas, the Elder. Portrait of Anne
  Buchner. Institute of the Arts, Minneapolis,
  Minnesota.

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Parenthetical Citation

1. The MLA format follows the author-page method of
   citation.
2. The authors name may appear either in the
   sentence itself or in parentheses following the
   quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s)
   should always appear in the parentheses, not in
   the text of your sentence.

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Parenthetical Citation

• Examples
• Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked
  by a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings
  (263).
• Romantic poetry is characterized by the
  spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings
  (Wordsworth 263).
• Wordsworth extensively explored the role of
  emotion in the creative process (263).

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Parenthetical Citation

• If the work you are making reference to has no
  author, use an abbreviated version of the works
  title.
• Example
• An anonymous Wordsworth critic once argued that
  his poems were too emotional (Wordsworth Is A
  Loser 100).

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Parenthetical Citation

• If your source is quoting from another source,
  use qtd. in to indicate the source.
• Example
• pressured to act as social service centers, and
  they dont do that well (qtd. in Weisman 259).

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Parenthetical Citation

• If two or more authors have the same last name,
  provide both authors first initials (or even the
  full name if different authors share initials) in
  your citation.
• Example
• Although some medical ethicists claim that
  cloning will lead to designer children (R. Miller
  12), others note that the advantages for medical
  research outweigh this consideration (A. Miller
  46).

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Parenthetical Citation

• 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 other works by that same
  person.
• Example
• Lightenor has argued that computers are not
  useful tools for small children (Too Soon 38)
  though he has acknowledged that early exposure to
  computer games does lead to better small motor
  skill development in a childs second and third
  year (Hand-Eye Development 17).

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Quotations MLA style

• Long prose quotations
• Quotations more than four (4) typed lines should
  be set in a block indented ten (10) spaces from
  your left margin.
• If you are quoting a single paragraph or less, do
  not indent the first line.

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Quotations MLA style

1. If you are quoting two or more paragraphs, indent
   the first line of each paragraph an additional
   three (3) spaces.
2. If the first sentence you quote does not begin a
   paragraph in the source, do not indent it do
   indent the first sentence of any subsequent
   paragraph in the quotation however.

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Quotations MLA style

1. Give the authors last name at the end, if you
   have not given it in your introduction to the
   quotation, and the page number/s where the quoted
   material can be found in the source. Enclose
   this information in parentheses, beginning two
   (2) spaces after the final punctuation mark.

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• At the mention of African wildlife, most people
  think of elephants, lions, and gorillas, but not
  many other animals are remarkable, for example,
  the kob

The Uganda kob is among the supreme beauties of
the antelope world, a photographic delicacy for
antelope connoisseurs. Less graceful than the
impala, less majestic than the kudu with its
corkscrew horns, the kob has a sturdy elegance
unlike either. His coat is golden brown, like
proper toast. (Ardrey 42)
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Quotations MLA style

• If you identify the author in your introduction
  to the quotation, give only the appropriate page
  numbers in your note and place it before the
  final punctuation mark.
• Example
• His coat is golden brown, like proper toast (42).

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Quotations MLA style

1. If you include two or more works by the same
   author in your list of works cited, give the
   appropriate title or a shortened form of it each
   time you make a specific reference to one of the
   works or quote from it.

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Quotations MLA style

1. If a work has three or more authors, you may
   shorten the note by giving the surname of only
   the first, following it with et al., an
   abbreviation of the Latin phrase et alii, meaning
   and others.
2. If two authors have the same surname, distinguish
   between them in your notes by giving their first
   initials as well.

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Quotations MLA style

• Short prose quotations
• Enclose a short quotation four (4) typed lines
  or less in quotation marks, incorporate it in a
  sentence or paragraph of your own, and give the
  identifying information in parenthesis after the
  closing quotation mark.

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• Example
• An observer of animal behavior has described the
  coat of the Uganda kob as golden brown, like
  proper toast (Ardrey 42).
• or
• Ardrey has described the coat of the Uganda kob
  as golden brown, like proper toast (42).

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Quotations MLA style

• Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and
  semicolons should appear after the parenthetical
  citation.
• Example
• According to some, dreams express profound
  aspects of personality (Foulkes 184), though
  others disagree.

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Quotations MLA style

1. Question marks and exclamation points should
   appear within the quotation marks if they are a
   part of the quoted passage but after the
   parenthetical citation if they are a part of your
   text.

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Quotations MLA style

• Examples
• According to Foulkess study, dreams may express
  profound aspects of personality (184).
• Is it possible that dreams may express profound
  aspects of personality (Foulkes 184)?

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Quotations MLA style

• Long quotations from poetry
• Present a long quotation from a poemfour (4)
  complete lines or morein a block indented ten
  (10) spaces from your left margin.
• Give the documentation at the end of the last
  quoted line, two (2) spaces after the final
  punctuation mark.

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Quotations MLA style

1. If you quote only one line or less, incorporate
   it in a sentence of your own and give the
   identifying information after the closing
   quotation mark.
2. If you quote more than one line but less than
   four, you may present them as a block or you may
   incorporate them in your own sentence or
   paragraph, indicating the end of each line within
   the quotation by a slash mark with a space on
   each side (/).

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Quotations MLA style

• Quotations from well-known poetry or prose
• If you are quoting from a work that has been
  reprinted in many different editions (e.g. the
  Bible, a play by Shakespeare, a novel by Charles
  Dickens), your list of works cited should include
  full information on the particular edition you
  used.

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Quotations MLA style

1. But in the text of your paper, give not only the
   page number in the edition you used but also the
   number of the chapter or act, scene, and line so
   that your readers can find the material easily in
   any edition they have at hand.

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Quotations MLA style

• Accuracy in quoting
• Always take care to quote the original exactly,
  word for word and comma for comma.
• You may, however, omit words not relevant to your
  point, if the omission does not alter the meaning
  of the original in any way.

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Quotations MLA style

1. You may also add a brief explanation to clarify
   something that might otherwise confuse your
   readers by using brackets.

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Quotations MLA style

• Paraphrase, summaries, and little-known facts
• Use the same methods to document the sources of
  any paraphrases, summaries, or mentions of little
  known facts that you include in your paper.

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Quotations MLA style

1. Although the words of the paraphrase and summary
   will be your own, the content is not.

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NOTE

• Most of these information can be found in your
  AIE books, on pages 385-395.
• Or you may access their website for more
  information lthttp//www.mla.orggt.

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SOURCES

• Dunbar, Clement et al. Assignments In Exposition.
  11th ed. New York HarperCollins, 1994.
• Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format.
  Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue
  University. 14 Jun. 2006. lthttp//owl.english.purd
  ue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.htmlgt.