Modes of Reading 2008-09
Term 1
Charlotte Mathieson
A Very Brief Guide to Referencing
Using MLA Style
When writing essays it is vital that you reference all primary and secondary resources
correctly: most importantly, this will ensure that you avoid the dangers of plagiarism
(an offence treated very seriously by universities- see dept. handbook and “Misuse of
Sources” handout), but it is also good scholarly practice to reference your sources in
an organised system as this ensures that your readers can identify, locate and access
materials that you have used.
There are several different styles of referencing system used throughout different
disciplines (e.g. Chicago, APA, MHRA); the English Department uses the MLA
(Modern Languages Association) style.
There are two parts to referencing:
 In-text citation: i.e. a short reference within the body of the essay that records
the author’s name and page number of the book/article. This is also known as
parenthetical referencing, as the reference is placed in parentheses;
 Bibliography/works cited list: situated at the end of the essay, the bibliography
records the full details of the books cited in the text of the essay.
The referencing system is designed to enable readers to trace the quotations you’ve
used back to the original source. Using both parts of the reference, anyone reading
your work should be able to: identify all the books/articles that you’ve referred to,
access the same edition that you’ve used, and locate the quotations cited in your
essay.
Using the MLA system, referencing works as follows:
In-text citation
In-text citations take the form of parenthetical references following a quotation- this
can be either a direct quotation in “quote marks” or a summary of information from
another source (please see “Misuse of Sources” handout for more on summarising
information). The in-text reference gives the author’s name and the page number from
which the quotation is taken. This takes one of two different forms depending on the
phrasing of the sentence:
-
-
The author may be named in the sentence leading up to the quotation, in which
case you need only put the page number in brackets:
o e.g. The poem Howl is concluded by a section title “Footnote to Howl”
in which Allen Ginsberg states that “Everything is holy! everybody’s
holy! everywhere is holy” (27).
If the author is not named in the preceding sentence then you need to put the
author’s name in parentheses, followed by the page number:
o e.g. “Moloch”, repeated through Part II of Howl, has been described as
a name created “to characterise the inter-linked technologies of
consumerism, capitalism, weapons and the media” (Campbell and
Kean, 284).
Modes of Reading 2008-09
Term 1
Charlotte Mathieson
List of Works Cited
The works cited list appears at the end of your essay and should contain the full
details of all the works that you’ve cited throughout your essay (in your parenthetical
in-text citations).
The basic format for listing a book contains the following information, in this exact
order: Authors name (surname, first name); title and subtitle of the book (in italics);
publication information- place of publication, publisher, and date (year) of
publication.
There may also be additional information to include in the reference such as editor(s);
introduction; translator; edition; anthology.
Examples of variations:
Bradbury, Malcolm, and Howard Temperly, eds. Introduction to American Studies.
Harlow: Longman, 1998.
Campbell, Neil and Alasdair Kean. American Cultural Studies: An Introduction to
American Culture. London: Routledge, 1997.
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. 1956. Intro. William Carlos Williams. San
Francisco: City Lights, 2006.
When you reference an essay from a book collection or a journal article, put the essay
title in quote marks and the name of the book/ journal in italics, and include the page
numbers at the end of the reference:
Riss, Arthur. “Racial Essentialism and Family Values in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
American Quarterly, 46.4 (Dec. 1994): 513-544.
Sundquist, Eric J. “The Literature of Expansion and Race.” The Cambridge History of
American Literature: Volume 2, 1820-1865. Ed. Sacvan Bercovitch.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 125-329.
As there are many variations to the basic rule it is important that you use a style guide
when writing your bibliography and check the information that may need to be
included for each type of reference. There is an informative guide to using MLA style
on the writing programme website (see links at top of webpage):
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/writingprog/academicwriting/english
Other things to note:
- The works cited list should begin on a new page, headed “Works Cited”.
- Alphabetise the list by author’s last name; if there is more than one book per
author, alphabetise by title of book.
- If a reference runs over one line, indent all subsequent lines (as above).
- Look carefully at the punctuation in each reference, and check that your
reference follows this (tricky at first but will become second-nature).
This is only a very quick overview of the MLA system so do use the recommended
resources for further information.