1
MLA Documentation in LITERARY Research Papers
The Purpose of Documentation
1) to identify (cite) other people’s ideas and information used within your essay or term paper, and
2) to indicate the authors or sources of these in a Works Cited list at the end of your paper.
MLA Format
The MLA format is only one of many methods of documentation. Details on the format are found in
•
the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.), which is available for purchase in the MRC Bookstore
and for use in the MRC Library [page numbers in this guide are from this source]
•
the MLA Style Manual (2nd ed.), which is available for purchase in the MRC Bookstore and for use in MRC Library
•
the MLA website at http://www.mla.org/style_faq
Citation Principles for Essays and Term Papers – Avoiding Plagiarism
Within essays, term papers, and any other written assignments (as in all academic work), quotations, paraphrases, and ideas from
someone else’s work must be identified (cited). The original author or source must be named, and quoted material must be either
set within quotation marks or in a block format as described below. Copying any material and submitting it as your own
(plagiarism) is an academic offence. Plagiarism may result in failure on the assignment and, in some cases, expulsion from a
course. (See the section on “Plagiarism & Cheating” in the MRC Code of Student Conduct at
www.mtroyal.ca/codeofstudentconduct.)
Citing Sources Within Your Paper
Whenever you use a quotation from an author or summarize or paraphrase a person’s ideas or research, you must identify (cite) the
source. The citation is called an in-text citation and shows
•
the last name of the author(s) of the work, unless already stated
[238-39, 244-46]
or the first few words of the Works Cited list entry (usually the title) if the author is not known
•
page number(s), if available
[247-48]
[238-39, 244-46]
Citing Short Quotations (4 typed lines or fewer)
[110]
When you incorporate a direct quotation into a sentence, you must cite the source. The examples which follow include a quotation
taken from page 856 in an article by Esther Godfrey about a literary character, Rochester:
Godfrey asserts, “The labor component of Jane Eyre stands central to the text’s manipulations of sexual
identities” (856).
OR
Another researcher points out that “The labor component of Jane Eyre stands central to the text’s manipulations
of sexual identities” (Godfrey 856).
C:\Documents and Settings\OHarrison\Desktop\MLALiteraryHandoutFall08.doc
[244-46, 240-41]
2
Citing Long Quotations (more than 4 typed lines)
[110-11, 241]
If the quotation will run to more than 4 lines of type in your paper, you must use
•
a block format in which all lines of the quotation are indented 1 inch from the left margin
•
no quotation marks.
(See the final block quotation in the Sample Paragraph on page 3.)
Citing Summaries or Paraphrases
[240-41, 244-46]
Even if you put information in your own words by summarizing or paraphrasing, you must cite the original author or researcher.
For example, a paraphrase of Godfrey’s earlier quotation could be cited as follows:
Jane understands the challenges of moving into a higher class (Godfrey 858).
OR
Godfrey emphasizes Jane’s understanding of the challenges of moving into a higher class (858).
Citing Information When You Have Not Seen the Original Source
[252-53]
Sometimes an author writes about analysis, research, or other literary work that someone else has done, but you are unable to track
down the original source. For example, in your paper you might include literary criticism discussed in an anthology of literature. In
the sample paraphrase below, Nelson’s comment is taken from a book written by Macpherson.
Note: Because you did not read Nelson’s paper, you will only include Macpherson’s book in the Works Cited list.
Nelson wrote in 1987 that Jane Eyre has a darkness that has not been fully explored (qtd. in
Macpherson 124).
Citing Information If No Page Numbers Are Available
[244-46]
When a source of information contains no page numbers, as can be the case with electronic sources, then you cannot include a
page number in the parentheses unless the source is a PDF with non-changeable page numbers. However, if the source indicates
paragraph numbers, use the abbreviation “par.” or “pars.” before the relevant numbers in the parentheses.
Venus could be viewed easily (Nockolds).
Plagens argues this point (pars. 3-5).
Some Tips for MLA Citation
•
If the author’s name is unavailable, use the title of the article or book or Web source, including the appropriate
capitalization and quotation mark/underlining format.
(“Ingmar Bergman Dead at 89”)
[247-49]
•
Use ‘and’ between multiple authors, but for more than 3 authors, name only the first followed by ‘et al.’.
(Persky and Dixon 5)
•
(Evans, Jardine, and Williams 12)
(Blocker et al. 14)
[239-40]
Include up to 3 lines of quoted poetry within your sentence, using a slash with a space on either side ( / ) to separate the
lines. Identify the poem’s line numbers rather than page numbers within the parentheses.
[111-13]
e.g., Williams sets a sordid scene with “dirty plates / and a glass of milk / beside her on a small table” (1-3).
Note that many of the sample references in this handout are fictitious. This handout was updated 2008-09.
3
•
When quoting more than 3 lines of verse, use the block format. Note: To show an unusual spatial arrangement,
use 1-inch block indentation, but try to reproduce the original placement of words and lines.
[112-13]
•
For plays, use Arabic numbers for act, scene, and line.
[254]
e.g., As a man and a king, Shakespeare’s Lear feels “old and foolish” (4.7.85).
•
Fit quotations within your sentences, making sure the sentences are grammatically correct.
•
Where you need to leave out part of a quotation to make it fit grammatically or because it contains irrelevant or
unnecessary information, insert ellipses. (See the final sentence in the Sample Paragraph below.)
[114-18]
•
If you must add or slightly change words or phrases within a quotation for reasons of grammar or clarity, surround the
changes with square brackets.
[118]
[109-10]
e.g., Godfrey argues that “they [governesses] were feminine and yet they were not feminine” (859).
Sample Paragraph
The character Edward Rochester first makes his appearance in Charlotte
Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre. In the novel, Rochester is the husband of Bertha Mason, the
mad Creole woman whom he has locked away in the attic at Thornfield Hall. Rochester
makes another appearance, this time in Jean Rhys’ novel Wide Sargasso Sea, published
in 1966. Wyndham says in her introduction to the novel that Rhys “for many years was
haunted by the figure of the first Mrs. Rochester – the mad wife in Jane Eyre” whose
voice was silenced in Bronte’s novel (9); thus, Wide Sargasso Sea emancipates Bertha’s
silence, and “the novel becomes her story,” a story which precedes her imprisonment in
Thornfield Hall (Wyndham 10). In the novel, Bertha is known as Antoinette; Staley
writes that Rhys attempts to create Antoinette’s history:
The first section [of the novel] provides a psycho-historical background for
Antoinette’s life. The setting is the West Indies after emancipation of the
slaves, a time bristling with resentment, hatred, and vindictiveness. Rhys
concentrates on the psychological, . . . the personal traumas which larger
historical events produced upon the individual. (198)
Creating the Works Cited List
(See the Explanation of Works Cited Listings and Sample Works Cited Page on page 5.)
•
Start Works Cited on a separate page at the end of your paper.
•
Include only those sources you have cited within your paper.
•
Double-space the entire Works Cited list and do not add an extra blank line after the title.
•
Position the first line of each entry flush-left, with subsequent lines wrapping with a ½-inch (hanging) indent. [145]
•
Organize the list in alphabetical order according to the first letter beginning each entry.
Normally, the author’s last name, unless unknown, is the first piece of information in each entry.
•
[145]
[144-45]
[145]
[146]
Use correct formatting such as the order of information and punctuation within each entry in your Works Cited list.
(Note: Underlining is generally still used in MLA format but is equivalent to italics.)
4
Using This Handout to Format Your Works Cited List
(See the Explanation of Works Cited Listings below and Sample Works Cited Page on page 5.)
1.
Look through the examples on pages 6-8 that include information sources categorized as books, book chapters, literature
pieces, journal and newspaper articles, Websites, and other types.
2.
For each of your information sources, find the combination of formatting from one or more examples on pages 6-8 that is
the best fit. For example, you might need to combine the “book with one author” example with “book with three authors,
edition is stated.” Work from left to right through the sample reference(s) to reproduce formatting details.
3.
Your goal is to provide the information in each Works Cited listing that would allow someone reading your essay or term
paper to find or get to that particular source of information or document, so accuracy is important.
4.
Note that journal articles accessed from full-text, online, library databases such as JSTOR or Project Muse do not require
URLs (Website addresses) to be included. However, articles directly accessed through the Internet must include the dates
you retrieved them and full URLs. (See appropriate examples on pages 6-8.)
5.
For Internet sources with no electronic publication date given, write n.d. (for ‘no date’) but always include the date on
which you retrieved the information from the Internet.
For more information on documenting Web pages using MLA style, refer to http://www.mla.org/style_faq.
•
Explanation of Works Cited Listings
book author
place published
book title
year published
Macpherson, Pat. Reflecting on Jane Eyre. London: Routledge, 2004.
publisher
book editors
publisher
author
book title
Thompson, Ann, and Neil Taylor, ed. Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. London: Arden Shakespeare, 2006.
place published
article authors
volume #
article title
total article pages
Persky, Stan, and John Dixon. “Making a Bad Law Worse.” English Studies in Canada 29.3-4 (2003): 4-10.
issue #
name of journal
article author
article title
name of journal
year published
year published
volume #
Godfrey, Esther. “Jane Eyre, from Governess to Girl Bride.” Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 45.4 (2005):
853-71. Project Muse. Mount Royal College Lib., Calgary, AB. Sept. 30 2007.
total article pages
article authors
database
issue #
date retrieved
name of journal
article title
Barker, Roberta, and David Nicol. “Does Beatrice Joanna Have a Subtext?: The Changeling on the London Stage.”
Early Modern Literary Studies. 10.1 (2004) 13 Oct. 2006 <http://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/10-1/barknico.htm >.
volume #
poem author
poem title
year published
st
poem’s 1 publication date
Website URL
date retrieved
anthology title
Williams, William Carlos. “The Last Words of My English Grandmother.” 1924. Making Literature Matter. An
Anthology for Readers and Writers. Eds. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,
2000. 469-70.
anthology publication date
publisher
poem’s total pages
anthology editors
.
place published
5
Sample Works Cited Page
Works Cited
Alberta. The Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Apply Yourself. 2002. 16 Sept. 2002 <http://www.cd.gov.ab.ca/
all_about_us/commissions/arts/grants/apply_yourself/index.asp>.
Barker, Roberta, and David Nicol. “Does Beatrice Joanna Have a Subtext?: The Changeling on the London Stage.”
Early Modern Literary Studies 10.1 (2004) 13 Oct. 2006 <http://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/10-1/barknico.htm >.
Blocker, Clyde E., et al. Art of the Early Romantic Period. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice, 2005.
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Chicago: Signet Classics, 2002.
Charlotte Bronte. 2005. 6 Nov. 2005 <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/bronte.html>.
Chou, Zhi. “Eastern Influences on Western Literature.” Proceedings of the Third International Conference on
Globalization of Text, Paris, 7-10 August 2002. Ed. Jan Koblenz. Berlin: Global Literature Soc., 2002. 77-81.
Evans, Louis, Jason Jardine, and T. Williams. The Victorian Working Class. 2nd ed. Toronto: Doubleday, 2004.
Godfrey, Esther. “Jane Eyre, from Governess to Girl Bride.” Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 45.4 (2005): 85371. Project Muse. Mount Royal College Lib., Calgary, AB. Sept. 30 2007.
“Ingmar Bergman Dead at 89.” Globe and Mail 30 July 2007. 31 July 2007 <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/
story/RTGAM.20070730.wbergman0730/BNStory/Entertainment/home>.
Ioppolo, Grace. Rev. of Hamlet in Purgatory, by Stephen Greenblatt. The Modern Language Review 98.2 (2003): 43233. JSTOR. Mount Royal College Lib., Calgary, AB. 20 July 2007.
Life in Victorian England. Dir. William Reicher. Videocassette. PBS Video, 2004.
Macpherson, Pat. Reflecting on Jane Eyre. London: Routledge, 2004.
Nielsen, Todd. “Calgary Poetry Capital of Canada.” Calgary Herald 21 Sept. 2005: C5+.
Nockolds, Peter. Silent Silvery Star: The Planet Venus in the Writing of the Brontes. 2000. 6 Sept. 2006
<http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/nockholds1.html>.
Osborne, Stephen. “Cat in the House.” Geist Spring 2007: 13-16.
Persky, Stan, and John Dixon. “Making a Bad Law Worse.” English Studies in Canada 29.3-4 (2003): 4-10.
Plagens, Peter. “Which is the Most Influential Work of Art of the Last 100 Years?” Newsweek 23 June 2007. 30 July
2007 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19390212/site/newsweek/>.
“Raphael.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 2007. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15 May 2007 <http://search.eb.com/>.
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. London: Penguin, 1968.
Shakespeare, William. King Lear: Complete and Unabridged. New York: Workman, 1984.
Staley, F. Thomas. “Jean Rhys.” Dictionary of Literary Biography, British Novelists, 1890-1929:
Modernists. Detroit: Gale, 1985.
Thompson, Ann, and Neil Taylor, ed. Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. London: Arden Shakespeare, 2006
Williams, William Carlos. “The Last Words of My English Grandmother.” 1924. Making Literature Matter: An
Anthology for Readers and Writers. Eds. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000.
469-70.
Wyndham, F. Introduction. Wide Sargasso Sea. By Jean Rhys. London: Penguin, 1996. 1-15.
6
Sample References: Books
book with one author
[147-52]
Macpherson, Pat. Reflecting on Jane Eyre. London: Routledge, 2004.
book / manual with two authors, edition is stated
[154, 166]
Robitaille, Julie, and Robert Connelly. Writer’s Resources: From Paragraph to Essay. 2nd ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007.
book with three authors, edition is stated
[154, 166]
Evans, Louis, Jason Jardine, and T. Williams. The Victorian Working Class. 2nd ed. Toronto: Doubleday, 2004.
book with more than three authors, alternative et al. format
[154-56]
Blocker, Clyde E., et al. Art of the Early Romantic Period. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice, 2005.
play published as a book
[147-52]
Shakespeare, William. King Lear: Complete and Unabridged. New York: Workman, 1984.
the Bible and other sacred writings
[255]
The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondermann, 1978.
e-book, retrieved from a library subscription
[229-30]
Kooistra, Lorraine Janzen. Christina Rossetti and Illustration: A Publishing History. Athens, OH: Ohio UP, 2002. ebrary. Mount
Royal College Lib., Calgary, AB. 21Aug. 2008.
Sample References: Articles, Chapters, or Literature in Edited Books or Reference Works
chapter or short story with known author(s) in an edited book
[158-60]
O’Connor, Flannery. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” The Realm of Fiction: Seventy-Four Stories. Ed. James B. Hall and
Elizabeth C. Hall. New York: McGraw, 2007. 488-99.
poem in an anthology
[158-60]
Williams, William Carlos. “The Last Words of My English Grandmother.” 1924. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for
Readers and Writers. Eds. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 469-70.
previously published work, reprinted in another source
[160]
Aizenberg, Edna. “Borges, Postcolonial Precursor.” World Literature Today 66.1 (1992): 21-6. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary
Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 83. Detroit: Gale, 1994. 191-94.
biography of an author written by three editors of a literary anthology
[154, 161-62]
Booth, Alison, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays, eds. “Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961).” The Norton Introduction to Literature.
Portable ed. Eds. Alison, J. Booth, Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2006. 391.
editors’ commentary in an edited play
[163-65]
Thompson, Ann, and Neil Taylor, ed. Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. London: Arden Shakespeare, 2006.
article as introduction to a section in an edited book, authors same as the editors
[161-62]
Roberts, Edgar, V., and Henry E. Jacobs. “Fiction: An Overview.” Introduction. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and
Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. 49-61.
.
7
introduction to a literary work
[161-62]
Wyndham, F. Introduction. Wide Sargasso Sea. By Jean Rhys. London: Penguin, 1996. 1-15.
article or definition in a paper-bound encyclopedia, author unknown
[160-61]
“Russian.” The Encyclopedia Americana. 1994 ed.
article or definition in an on-line encyclopedia, author unknown
[214]
“Raphael.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 2007. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15 May 2007 < http://search.eb.com/>.
article or definition, from a reference work found in a library-subscription, full-text database
[229-30]
“T. S. Eliot.” Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 10: Modern British Dramatists, 1900-1945. Ed. Stanley Weintraub.
University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University, 1982. Literature Resource Centre. Gale Group Databases. 5 Sept.
2008.
Sample References: Periodical/Journal Articles
journal article with two authors, paper-bound
[180-83]
Persky, Stan, and John Dixon. “Making a Bad Law Worse.” English Studies in Canada 29.3-4 (2003): 4-10.
journal article with one author, from a library-subscription, full-text database
[229]
Godfrey, Esther. “Jane Eyre, from Governess to Girl Bride.” Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 45.4 (2005): 853-71.
Project Muse. Mount Royal College Lib., Calgary, AB. Sept. 30 2007.
journal article, with two authors, on a website (NOT from a library-subscription, full-text database) [221-22]
Barker, Roberta, and David Nicol. “Does Beatrice Joanna Have a Subtext?: The Changeling on the London Stage.” Early Modern
Literary Studies 10.1 (2004) 13 Oct. 2006 <http://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/10-1/barknico.htm >.
newspaper article, multiple pages
[185-87]
Nielsen, Todd. “Calgary Poetry Capital of Canada.” Calgary Herald 21 Sept. 2005: C5+.
newspaper article, author unknown, online version (NOT from a library-subscription, full-text database)
[190, 220-23]
“Ingmar Bergman Dead at 89.” Globe and Mail 30 July 2007. 31 July 2007 <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/>.
magazine article, paper-bound
[187-88]
Osborne, Stephen. “Cat in the House.” Geist Spring 2007: 13-16.
magazine article, online version
[223]
Plagens, Peter. “Which is the Most Influential Work of Art of the Last 100 Years?” Newsweek 23 June 2007. 30 July 2007
< http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19390212/site/newsweek/>.
Sample References: Websites and Electronic Sources
website with one author
[207-15]
Nockolds, Peter. Silent Silvery Star: The Planet Venus in the Writing of the Brontes. 2000. 6 Sept. 2006
<http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/nockholds1.html>.
website, author unknown
Charlotte Bronte. 2005. 6 Nov. 2005 <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/bronte.html>.
[190]
8
website, author unknown, no date
[178]
Language is a Virus. n.d. 10 Sept. 2007 <http://www.languageisavirus.com>.
dissertation published on a digital repository website
[179, 233]
Moody, Shirley C. By Custom and by Law: Black Folklore and Racial Representation at the Birth of Jim Crow.
Diss. U Maryland, 2006. Digital Repository at the University of Maryland, 2006. 19 Dec. 2007
<https://drum.umd.edu/dspace/bitstream/1903/4186/1/umi-umd-3990.pdf>.
weblog / blog post
[233-35]
Webber, S. “Survey of plagiarism penalties.” Online posting. 11 July 2007. 19 July 2007 <http://informationliteracy.blogspot.com/2007/07/this-was-published-last-month-tennant-p.html>.
email sent to you
[221]
O’Neal, Eamon. “Re: Jane Austen’s Style.” E-mail to the author. 17 Sept. 2002.
Sample References: Other Kinds of Resources
conference presentation in a published proceedings
[176]
Chou, Zhi. “Eastern Influences on Western Literature.” Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Globalization of
Text, Paris, 7-10 August 2002. Ed. Jan Koblenz. Berlin: Global Literature Soc., 2002. 77-81.
review of a book, in a journal, from a library-subscription, full-text database
[188-89]
Ioppolo, Grace. Rev. of Hamlet in Purgatory, by Stephen Greenblatt. The Modern Language Review 98.2 (2003): 432-33. JSTOR.
Mount Royal College Lib., Calgary, AB. 20 July 2007.
film documentary (audiovisual media)
[198-99]
Life in Victorian England. Dir. William Reicher. Videocassette. PBS Video, 2004.
published musical score
[200-01]
Bach, J. S. Suite in B Minor for Flute and Keyboard. London: Boosey and Hawkes, 1945.
music video, on a website
[195, 231-32]
Stefani, Gwen. “Wind It Up.” The Sweet Escape. Interscope, 2006. Music video. Dir. Joseph Kahn. YouTube.
6 Sept. 2007 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga7hU-3-PbQ >.
CD recording
[196-98]
Simon, Paul. The Rhythm of the Saints. Warner Bros., 1990.
brochure, corporate author
[157, 174]
Lit Crit Bookstore. Author Readings and Literary Events. Calgary: Lit Crit Bookstore, 2007.
personal interview / communication
[203]
Foley, Peter. Personal interview. 24 July 2007.
course website / Blackboard site
[217]
Mizra, Sofia. ENGL 2200 The Novel. Lit Crit page. Sept. 2003-Dec. 2003. English Dept., MRC. 14 Sept. 2003
<http://courseware.mymrc.ca/courses/1/ENGL_2200-081_The_Novel_200304/content/_82391_1Lit_crit.doc>.
.