MLA STYLE AND CITATION MANUAL
BARREN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENT EDITION
2010-2011
Developed by Katie Gray
BCHS English Department
Barren County High School
MLA Style and Citation Manual
2010-2011
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
STYLE MANUAL UPDATE………………………………………………… 3
II.
FORMATTING THE FIRST PAGE OF YOUR PAPER………………4
III.
CITATION GUIDE……………………………………………………………...5
III A. Manuscript Style and Reminders…………………….5
III B. Annotation……………………………………………………..5
Works Cited General Rules
List of Examples
IV.
WORKS CITED PAGE SAMPLE…………………………………………..11
V.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY GUIDE & SAMPLE…..…………..12
VI.
QUOTING PASSAGES………………………………………………………..15
2
I.
STYLE MANUAL UPDATE
Style Manual Update 2009
Update based on the MLA Handbook. 7th Edition, as explained by OWL at Purdue
and Old Saybrook High School English Department Style Manual, August 2009.

NO UNDERLINING: Italicize titles of independently published works such as books,
periodicals, films, etc.
Example:
Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, was published serially from December 1860 to
August 1861.

NO URLS: MLA no longer requires a URL in website citations; writers are expected to
provide the URL if the citation alone does not easily lead readers to the source information.
If URL is necessary, break lines only at slashes.
Examples:
Felluga, Dino. GUIDE TO LITERARY AND CRITICAL THEORY. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003.
Web. 10 May 2006.
John F. Kennedy. History Channel, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.history.com/topics/john-f-kennedy>.

PUBLICATION MEDIUM: Every entry should receive a medium of publication identifier.
(Most entries will simply be listed as PRINT or WEB, but other potential mediums include
TV or DVD.) Any medium other than WEB will be listed at the end of the citation; WEB will
be followed by date of access.
Examples:
Moffett, Mark. “Able Bodies.” National Geographic August 2007: 140-151. Print.
Dell, Amore. How Shark Scales Give Predator Deadly Speed. National Geographic,
23 Nov. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

WHEN INFORMATION IS NOT AVAILABLE: Many WEB source entries require a publisher
name, a date of publication, and/or page numbers. Often some or all of this information is
not available—the following abbreviations should be used in place of necessary information
in such circumstance:
o n.p. no publisher given
o n.d. : no date
o n. pag. : no pagination (for online journals that appear only online or for databases
that do not provide page numbers)
3
Examples:
John F. Kennedy. History Channel, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.history.com/topics/john-f-kennedy>.
Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future
Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal 6.2
(2008): n. pag. Web. 20 May 2009.
II.
FORMATTING PAGE ONE OF YOUR PAPER
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Do not make a title page unless specifically requested by your instructor.
In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list the following information: your name,
your instructor’s name, the course name and the date (all double-spaced).
TITLE: Double space again and center your title. Titles should be written in Title Case
(standard capitalization). Titles should not be written in italics, underlined or in all capital
letters.
Double space between your title and the first line of your text.
To number your pages: Create a header in the upper right hand corner of the page. Include
your last name, followed by a space, and Arabic Numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), consecutively
listed on each page in the same manner.
Below is an example of the first page of a paper written in MLA Style, courtesy of Purdue
Online Writing Lab:
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III.
CITATION GUIDE
Some new citations are included below. Students are recommended and encouraged to use OWL at
Purdue Formatting and Style Guide as a support to research and writing.
(http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/).
III A. Manuscript Style and Reminders
1. Academic writing has a traditional look. Readable serif font should be used
(Bookman, Times, Palatino) and used throughout the paper.
2. Normal size is 12 point font.
3. The entire paper is double-spaced. This rule applies to everything, in every part of the
paper (title, text, quotations, Works Cited).
4. Page numbers appear on all pages, including the separate Works Cited.
5. Headings such as the title of paper, Works Cited or Appendix should be centered at top of
page.
6. Margins should be 1 inch on all sides of the document. (If using Microsoft Word 97-2003
version, page margins are automatically set to 1.25 inches on all four sides; Word 2007 and
newer automatically sets margins to 1 inch on all sides.)
7. Do not include a Title Page, unless specifically requested by instructor.
8. Use italics (instead of underlining) for titles of larger works (books, magazines) and
quotation marks for titles of shorter works (poems, articles, short stories).
9. Page numbers: number pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner.
10. Avoid use of styles (no shadow, outline, etc) other than italics: Use italics throughout
your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing
emphasis.
III B. Annotation
“Works Cited” General Rules

List of references listed on a separate page at the end of the research paper

Organized alphabetically by the author’s last name—if no author, alphabetize by
the first word of the title (disregard a, an, the)
5

Will I have a Works Cited page or a Bibliography?
o In MLA Format, writers will always have a “Works Cited” page to list
references; never a bibliography.

Center the words “Works Cited” one inch from the top of page; do not underline

Entries are NEVER numbered on Works Cited pages

Begin each entry at the left margin—if entry takes longer than one line, indent the
second line to continue with citation (indent 5 spaces)

Complete “Works Cited” page prior to inserting in-text citations—each in-text
citation will refer to the first word in the corresponding Works Cited entry
List of Examples
SOURCE
WORKS CITED PAGE
POSSIBLE ISSUES
(Remember: All citations should be doublespaced)
BASIS OF WORKS CITED
FORMAT
Last name, First name. Title in italics.
Place of publication: Publisher, Date.
Medium of publication.
1. BOOK WITH ONE
AUTHOR
Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird
2. BOOK WITH MORE
THAN ONE AUTHOR
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn
*Titles must be in
italics.
*If title is part of a
book or extended
work, the title is
put in quotation
marks.
House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print.
and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring.
Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.
*Reverse the first
author’s name only.
*If there are more
than three authors,
you may choose to
list only the first
author followed by
the phrase: et al.
(note the period
after et al.)
6
3. BOOK WITH EDITOR
Boroff, Marie, ed. A Gawain Critical
Anthology. New York: Norton, 1967.
* If more than one
editor, use eds.
Print.
4. BOOK WITH
CORPORATIVE AUTHOR
American Allergy Association. Allergies in
5. REFERENCE WORK
Harris, Muriel. “Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant
Children. New York: Random, 1998. Print.
Writers.” A Tutor’s Guide: Helping Writers
One on One. Ed. Ben Rafoth. Portsmouth, NH:
* If no author name
is provided, begin
citation directly
with article title.
Heinemann, 2000. 24-34. Print.
6. GOVERNMENT
PUBLICATION
United States. Dept. of Labor. Bureau of
Statistics. Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
4th ed. Washington: GPO, 1977. Print.
7. ARTICLE IN A
MAGAZINE
Poniewozik, James. “TV Makes a Too-Close
8. ARTICLE IN A
NEWSPAPER
Brubaker, Bill. “New Health Center Targets
Call.” TIME 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.
Country’s Uninsured Patients.” Washington
Post 24 May 2007: LZ01+. Print.
9. FILM/ TELEVISION
Ed Wood. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp,
Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker,
Patricia Arquette. Touchstone, 1994. DVD.
10. BROADCAST TV OR
RADIO PROGRAM
* Always remember
to abbreviate the
month.
* note the different
pagination in a
newspaper
* + indicates the
article continued
onto another page
* list performers
names only if
necessary- head the
list with “Perf.”
"The Blessing Way." The X-Files. Fox. WXIA,
Atlanta. 19 Jul. 1998. Television.
11. DIGITAL FILES (PDF’S, Smith, George. “Pax Americana: Strife in a Time
JPEG’S, MP3’S)
of Peace.” 2005. Microsoft Word file.
* End the entry
with the name of
the digital format
7
12. PERSONAL
INTERVIEW
Smith, Joe. Personal Interview. 7 Dec. 2010.
*This is an
interview that you
conduct yourself.
*Begin citation with
the name of the
interviewee.
12. PUBLISHED
INTERVIEW
Amis, Kingsley. “Mimic and Moralist.”
Interviews with Britain’s Angry Young Men.
By Dale Salwak. San Bernardino, CA: Borgo,
* For books, include
the author or editor
name after the
book title.
1984. Print.
13. AN IMAGE
(PHOTOGRAPH,
SCULPTURE, PAINTING)
Picasso, Pablo. Le Moulin de la Galette. 1900.
Guggenheim, New York. Guggenheim:
Thannhauser Collection. Web. 7 Dec. 2010.
14. ARTICLE IN ONLINE
SCHOLARLY JOURNAL
Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and
Policy: Current Conditions and Future
Directions.” Social Work and Society: The
International Online-Only Journal 6.2
(2008): n. pag. Web. 20 May 2009.
15. ARTICLE IN ONLINE
SCHOLARLY JOURNAL
THAT ALSO APPEARS IN
PRINT
Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease
Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the
Biological and Toxin Weapons
Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases
6.6 (2000): 595-600. Web. 8 Feb. 2009.
*If viewed on the
Internet, include
the name of the
webpage where art
was viewed and the
date of access.
* Note that this
journal is online
published onlinethere is no print
form. Be sure to
include “n. pag.” to
indicate that there
are no page
numbers.
* This journal
appears in print and
online. Note that you
viewed it online by
including “Web” or
in print form by
excluding
“Web” and including
“print” at the end of
the citation.
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16. BLOG POSTING
Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name
(if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site.
Version number (if available). Name of
institution/organization affiliated with the
site (sponsor or publisher). Medium of
publication. Date of access.
Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best
Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number
of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek.
BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2008. Web. 5
Apr. 2009.
17. SCHOLARLY JOURNAL
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms:
The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta
Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in
* Notice the
necessary
information for a
blog posting in the
first provided
citation. An
example blog
citation follows.
*Note that if the
publisher of the cite
is unknown, write
“n.p.” for no
publisher.
*Name of site and
name of institution
may be the same.
Be sure to italicize
only the name of
site.
*Always provide
issue numbers
when available.
Women's Literature 15.1 (1996): 41-50.
Print.
18. WEBSITE
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available).
Name of Site. Version number. Name of
institution/organization affiliated with the
site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource
creation (if available). Medium of
publication. Date of access.
Dell, Amore. How Shark Scales Give Predator
*Date of access
simply means the
date that you
viewed the website.
This gives you
credibility as
websites are
constantly
changing.
*Remember to use
abbreviation “n.d.”
for no date.
Deadly Speed. National Geographic, 23 Nov.
2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.
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19. SHORT WORK FROM
A WEBSITE
Author’s name. “Title of short work.” Title of
Site. Sponsor of site, date of publication.
Medium. Date of Access.
Shiva, Vandana. “Bioethics: A Third World
Issue.” NativeWeb. Nativeweb, n.d. Web.
22 Jan. 2009.
*Use this citation
style for short
online works such
as articles, poems,
and other
documents that are
not book length or
that appear as
internal pages on a
website.
*Remember, use
the abbreviation
“n.d” when no date
is available.
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IV.
SAMPLE WORKS CITED
* Note that in MLA Style, the Bibliography, or list of sources are organized as a “Works Cited” page and all
entries are alphabetized by the author’s last name. If no author name is provided, alphabetize the citation
by the first word in the title (excluding the, a, an).
Works Cited
American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. New York: Random, 1998. Print.
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's
Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 15.1 (1996): 41-50. Print.
Ed Wood. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia
Arquette. Touchstone, 1994. DVD.
Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print.
Poniewozik, James. “TV Makes a Too-Close Call.” TIME 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.
“Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.”
Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal 6.2 (2008): n. pag. Web. 20
May 2009.
Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?”
BoardGameGeek. BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2008. Web. 5 Apr. 2009.
Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin
Weapons Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases 6.6 (2000): 595-600. Web. 8 Feb. 2009.
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V.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY GUIDE
An Annotated Bibliography is an annotated list of references; the researcher includes their citations
along with an explanation of each source. Explanations may include a summary, assessment, and/or
reflection of the source.
SUMMARIZE
Summarize: What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics
are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say?
You should paraphrase to include the main ideas from the source in your own words without using
direct quotes and/or plagiarizing information from the source.
Paraphrasing information…
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Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else,
presented in a new form.
One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a
source.
A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main
idea.
ASSESS THE INFORMATION...
Assess: When completing research, it can be helpful to evaluate the source. Is it a useful source?
How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Why or
why not? Is this source biased or objective? Why? What is the goal of this source?
To evaluate sources, ask the following questions while reading…
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Read the preface and table of contents. Is your specific topic covered? Will your topic be
covered in depth enough to provide sufficient information?
Determine the intended audience. Are you the intended audience? Consider the tone, style,
level of information, and assumptions the author makes about the reader. Are they
appropriate for your needs?
Is the language objective or emotional?
Does the author use a good mix of primary and secondary sources for information?
How timely is the source? Is the source 20 years out of date? Some information becomes
dated when new research is available, but other older sources of information can be quite
sound 50 or 100 years later.
How credible is the author? If the document is anonymous, what do you know about the
organization?
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REFLECTION…
Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your
research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you
use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?
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
Be sure to include the specific information you will use from the source.
Also include specifically how you will include the information in your writing.
WHY SHOULD I WRITE AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
To learn more about your topic! Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for
any type of research project.

You are forced to read each source more carefully.
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To help you formulate a thesis: Every good research paper is an argument.

It can help you gain a good perspective on what is being said about your topic.

By reading and responding to a variety of sources on a topic, you'll start to see what the
issues are, what people are arguing about, and you'll then be able to develop your own point
of view.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY FORMAT
The format of annotated bibliographies varies; however, there are a few basic format guidelines
writers should use.

Bibliographic information should be presented in MLA or APA citation format.

Annotations for each source are always written in block paragraph form. Depending on
your research/writing project, the length of the annotations for each source will vary from a
couple sentences to a number of pages. Simple summaries of sources will be short in
comparison to an analysis of each source.

A basic summary and plan for how you will use the source within your writing project will
be useful throughout drafting.
*For more information and samples of annotated bibliographies, visit the following website:
Purdue Online Writing Lab
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/
13
SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Below is an example of an Annotated Bibliography entry in MLA Style, courtesy of Purdue
Online Writing Lab:
Student Name
Instructor Name
Course Name
Date
Stem Cell Research: An Annotated Bibliography
Holland, Suzanne.The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate: Science, Ethics, and Public
Policy. Boston: MIT Press, 2001. Print.
This is the annotation of the above source. In this example, I am following MLA 2009 (3rd ed.) guidelines for
the bibliographic information listed above. If I were really writing an annotation for this source, I would offer
a brief summary of what this book says about stem cell research.
After a brief summary, it would be appropriate to assess this source and offer some criticisms of it. Does it
seem like a reliable and current source? Why? Is the research biased or objective? Are the facts well
documented? Who is the author? Is she qualified in this subject? Is this source scholarly, popular, some of
both?
The length of your annotation will depend on the assignment or on the purpose of your annotated
bibliography. After summarizing and assessing, you can now reflect on this source. How does it fit into your
research? Is this a helpful resource? Too scholarly? Not scholarly enough? Too general/specific? Since "stem
cell research" is a very broad topic, has this source helped you to narrow your topic?
14
VI.
QUOTING PASSAGES


In MLA format, quotes are formatted differently depending on the length of the quote.
If you need to cite two or more works from the same author, your in-text citations will
include the title of the specific work, rather than the name of the author.
SHORT QUOTATIONS
Short quotes are identified as or shorter than four typed lines of prose.
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
Enclose quotation with double quotation marks.
Include author and specific page citation in parenthesis after closing the quotation marks.
Include a complete source reference on works cited page.
Question marks and exclamation points should be included within the quotations and
before the parenthetical citation if they are part of the quote.
Your punctuation marks should appear after the parenthetical citation.
Examples:
“I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young woman, and the
figure upon which it now hung loose, had shrunken to skin and bone” (Dickens 48).
Is it possible that dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184)?
LONG QUOTATIONS
Long quotations are identified as longer than four typed lines of prose.
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

Place quotation in free-standing block of text, omitting quotation marks.
Start quotation on a new line, indenting one inch from the left margin.
Maintain double spacing.
Parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.
Example:
Upon seeing Miss Havisham, a figure of decayed wealth and social status, Pip remembers:
I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white long ago and had
lost its lustre, and was faded and yellow. I saw that the bride within the bridal dress, had
withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her
sunken eyes. I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young woman, and
the figure upon which it now hung loose, had shrunken to skin and bone. (Dickens 48)
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