The following is an example
of a Chicago Style paper in
the Author-Date format
UNICORNUCOPIA: THE RISE OF THE UNICORN EMPIRE
Squatty McCupcakes
Art 3200: Modern Unicorns
April 13, 2015
The title of the
paper is centered
and in all capital
letters, then placed
on the page about
1/3 from the top
Down another 1/3 of the
page lists the following
and should be singlespaced and centered:
Name
Course #: Course title
Date
ALL Chicago papers should be
formatted to have:
 A legible font in 11-12 point size
 Double-spaced text
 1” margins on all sides
Page #’s begin on
the first page of text
and are placed in
the top right corners
1
Our world has seen many wondrous and fantastical creatures, but perhaps most popular
is the unicorn. History involves some great moments as it recounts many notable unicorns: The
Last Unicorn who freed the world’s unicorns from imprisonment in the sea, Unico who was
gifted in sharing happiness, and Twilight Sparkle of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic who
learns that friendship is truly a powerful and magical force (Bass and Rankin 1982; Morano
1983; Faust 2010). Unicorns have phenomenal mystic powers and have influenced culture with
When using the author-date format of Chicago, you use
their sparkle and supreme greatness. This paper shall follow
course of the
unicorn
through
in-textthe
parenthetical
citations
instead
of footnotes or
endnotes.
human history, from its inception to its decline, and its ascension into popular culture.
The citations are formatted as (AuthorLastName
YearOfPub)
with any
punctuation
the sentence
The myth of the unicorn was first documented
in ancient
Indian
text andfor
marks
occurring after the end of the parentheses:
the beginning of the unicorn empire that is destined to last through eternity, adding more and
(Smith 2015).
more unicorns to its annals. The diversity in the unicorn empire came because of the number of
When citing aadmirers
specific part
of a source,
unicorns
wereaable to incorporate into their minions and influence to create visual
page number should be included in the
citation. If I were
to paraphraseof
Hunt’s
representations
theirarticle
likeness and magic. Development in the areas of art, literature, and
on page 78, I would cite the work as:
philosophy took place in the unicorn empire, as it continuously borrowed from various
(Hunt 1996, 78).
civilizations
and cultures.
The unicorns left such a mark on many world cultures that artists and
*If page numbers
are not available,
such as
using a website for a source, page numbers
writers were able to spread unicorn sparkle all over the world.
are not needed.
Unicorns are intelligent creatures that avoided human discovery for some millennia.
Hunt claims that unicorns were first documented by natural historians and were located in India
(Hunt 1996, 78). Unicorns cleverly disguised themselves as other horned animals to avoid
discovery, which kept unicorns hidden from the human world for hundreds of years (Hunt 1996,
87). As myths of the unicorns travelled across cultures and time, it spurred humankind to seek
unicorns for the benefit of their mystical powers.
EVERY time you reference a source (including
direct quotes, paraphrases, and summaries - any
source material gathered from another author) you
MUST use a footnote, endnote, and/or in-text citation
to cite your source and avoid plagiarism
2
During the renaissance, royalty were keen to hunt and trap unicorns in order to steal
their horns (Giblin and McDermott 1991, 20-23). Research and history is unclear as to the
development of strategies which were believed to attract unicorns and allow capture; however,
it was believed that virgin maidens could attract the unicorn (Hunt 1996, 78). The desire to
acquire unicorn horns and prevalent belief that their horns were imbued with phenomenal
healing properties causes unicorns to be hunted relentlessly and pushed them into hiding (Hunt
1996, 78). The belief in the potential for human benefit from unicorns and demand from royalty
likely influenced the influx of artistic representations, such as the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries
(Williamson 1986, 90-95). Although efforts to discover and capture unicorns rose greatly during
the renaissance, unicorns remained clever enough to avoid humans, resulting in an influx of
fake unicorn horns from narwhals.
Unicorns continued to fascinate humans and became more and more prevalent in visual
cultures. Representations of unicorns grew in tapestries, paintings, European family crests,
sculptures, Asian scrolls; which further supported various cultures preceding religious texts
which mention the unicorn. Although unicorns remained inconspicuous, human fascination
with unicorns gave rise to visual representations (Caillois and Walker 1982, 17). Through visual
culture, unicorns became firmly rooted in human history. For a time, unicorns quietly retreated
from human eyes to remain safe from those who would hunt them for their precious horns
(Williamson 1986, 48). Although the unicorns fled, the idea of the unicorn continued to enchant
human hearts.
As visual representations continued to spread throughout the world, unicorns began to
bleed heavily into popular culture through comics and film, thus ensnaring humans under their
3
sparkly spell. While there are many examples of unicorns in popular culture, The Last Unicorn
and My Little Pony have regained a firm foothold in current popular culture. Both titles have
benefitted from their fan base to further promote unicorns. The Last Unicorn is currently
touring with the author Peter S. Beagle, the author of the book which the movie is based upon,
and is revisiting theaters and unicorn fans for the first time since 1982 (“The Last Unicorn
Screening Tour,” 2013). My Little Pony, which was originally launched in 1983, has gone through
four re-releases (Giblin and McDermott 1991, 13). Arguably, the 2010 release of My Little Pony:
Friendship is Magic, has been the most successful relaunch of the series and enraptured not
only female fans but also males, whom are often referred to as “bronies” (Hunt 1996). As
unicorns continue to saturate popular culture, the magic and sparkle grows in the hearts of
humans.
Though unicorns remain mysterious and elusive, their presence in the hearts of those
who love them remains strong and sparkly. Though the existence of unicorns began before the
introduction of humans, the myth of the unicorn was constructed by them. The power unicorns
possessed was enough to drive humans to try and acquire such power and to fascinate humans
enough that visual representations of unicorns mirrored their importance to human culture.
However, since the ascension of the unicorn empire, Twilight Sparkle of My Little Pony, reminds
humans of the great power in friendship.
The bibliography should begin on
a new page with all entries
alphabetized A to Z
4
References
Caillois, Roger and Walker, Scott R. “The Myth of the Unicorn,” Diogenes 30, no. 119: (1982) 1-23.
Giblin, James and McDermott, Michael. The Truth About Unicorns. New York, N.Y: Harper Collins
Publishers, 199.
Hunt, Kenneth. “The Lore of the Unicorn,” Colonial Homes 22, no. 6 (1996): 78.
The Last Unicorn. Directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. 1982. Pinewood, England: ITC
Entertainment, 2007. DVD.
“The Last Unicorn Screening Tour.” Conlan Press. 2013, http://lastunicorntour.com/.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Created by Lauren Faust, Produced by Hasbro Studios and
DHXMedia, 2010. The Hub Network. Television Show.
Bibliographic
entries are
single-spaced
and begin
with the first
line flush left
and all
subsequent
lines for that
entry are
indented
Unico. Directed by Moribi Morano. 1983. Japan: Madhouse and Discotek Media, 2012. DVD.
Williamson, John. The Oak King, The Holly King, and The Unicorn: The Myths and Symbolism of The
Unicorn Tapestries. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1986.
Spacing between
bibliographic entries
are double-spaced
Further Resources
ECU Writing
http://www.ecu.edu/writing/
ECU Writing Resources
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/writing/wac/resources_writing_process.cfm
Chicago Manual Citation Guide
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
Purdue OWL Chicago Resource
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/1/
Turabian Citation Guide
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html