Name:
Date:
MLA Conventions
All Turn-In Formal Written Assignments must be typed and:
 be double spaced with one (1) inch margins all around
 be typed in Times New Roman, Calibri, or Ariel font size 12
 have a proper heading on the first page (Full name, class and period, instructor’s name,
date)
 your last name and page number in the top right corner (no title page is necessary)
 when instructed, include a Works Cited page (also double spaced in alphabetical order)
 parenthetical, in-text citations
Basic in-text citation rules
In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what is known as
parenthetical citation. This method involves placing relevant source information in parentheses
after a quote or a paraphrase.
General Guidelines
The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1.) upon the source medium
(e.g. Print, Web, DVD) and (2.) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited (bibliography) page.
Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on
the Works Cited page.
In-text citations: Author-page style
MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last
name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the
text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's 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. For
example:
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).
Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the
information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named
Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works
Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:
Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford UP, 1967. Print.
Internal, or parenthetical, citations are used to show where you have borrowed information,
ideas, or quotes from another source. Any words that are lifted from another source must be
cited or it is considered plagiarism. Any paper suspected of plagiarism is not credited and
results in a zero.
Use parentheses to show the citation in the text itself. The citation should include the first part in
the Works Cited citation [usually the author’s last name] and the page number of the cited
material. These two elements should be separated only by a space.
If you are citing ONLY ONE SOURCE in your written piece:
1. The first time you cite the source, use the author’s last name.
2. As you keep citing the source after the first time, only use the page #.
Examples:
Direct: Teiresias states, “you are the land’s pollution” to Oedipus (Sophocles 390).
Paraphrase: After Teiresias tells Oedipus that he is the land’s pollution, Oedipus gets angry
(Sophocles 390-392).
When using direct quotes, remember that there are 3 ways to embed the quotes:
 with a colon  Oedipus would not listen: “I am sure you are wrong, Creon!”
 with a comma  When he says, “You are the wretch you seek,” Teiresias is telling the
audience that his patience with Oedipus as ended.
 no punctuation  Others have described Oedipus as “cold, calculating, and evil.”
________________________________________________________________________
Important!!—Do not leave “floating quotes.” Each direct quote you add to your paper, needs to
be integrated into the sentence. I will mark you off for committing this writing crime!
Correct: In her groundbreaking book Why MTHS is Awesome, Jodon notes that “the
students make all the difference in creating a great school atmosphere” (136).
Correct: Having a cooperative student body is an important part of hosting awesome
school events, as “the students make all the difference in creating a great school
atmosphere” (Jodon 136).
Incorrect: The student body is an important factor in a great school. “The students make
all the difference in creating a great school atmosphere” (Jodon 136).
Punctuating Citations and Quotes:
The punctuation for in-text citations should come after the parenthesis.

When talking to Oedipus, Teiresias states, “you are the land’s pollution” (Sophocles
390).
The exceptions come with question marks or exclamation points WHICH BELONG TO THE
ORIGINAL QUOTE, which stay in the quotes, but you must still add the period after the
citation:

When provoked by Oedipus, Teiresias calmly replies, “Shall I say more to tempt your
anger more?” (Sophocles 408).
When you quote more than four lines of text, you must format it as a block quote, meaning that
the entire quote starts on its own line, every line indented half an inch. DO THIS SPARINGLY.
For example, in a five page paper, there should only be ONE block quote, if necessary.
When Teiresias tries to tell Oedipus that he is the killer, he does so in very clear terms:
Yes? Then I warn you faithfully to keep
the letter of your proclamation and
from this day forth to speak no word of greeting
to these nor me; you are the land’s pollution. (Sophocles 387-390)
*Notice the punctuation format is different: period at the end of sentence and no period
at the end of the citation. This is the opposite of parenthetical/in-text citations.
Exercise A: Examine each of the following pairs carefully. Indicate the passage that uses MLA
in-text citations correctly and briefly explain what is wrong with the citation in the other passage.
1) _____
a. In "Death and Justice," Edward Koch, former mayor of New York City argues
that "life is precious, and . . . the death penalty helps to affirm this fact (857)."
b. In "Death and Justice," Edward Koch, former mayor of New York City, argues
that "life is precious, and . . . the death penalty helps to affirm this fact" (857).
2) ______
a. “Arguing about whether nontraditional families deserve pity or tolerance is a little
like the medieval debate about left-handedness as a mark of the devil"
(Kingsolver 168).
b. Kingsolver points out that "arguing about whether nontraditional families deserve
pity or tolerance is a little like the medieval debate about left-handedness as a
mark of the devil" (168).
3) ______
a. "There is a Chinese word for the female, which is slave, " writes Maxine Hong
Kingston (191). "Break the women with their own tongues!" (191). She means
that since women had no other word to use to refer to themselves than one
meaning slave, they eventually lost any sense of dignity and independence they
might once have had.
b. "There is a Chinese word for the female, which is slave," writes Maxine Hong
Kingston. "Break the women with their own tongues!" She means that since
women had no other word to use to refer to themselves than one meaning slave,
they eventually lost any sense of dignity and independence they might once have
had (191).
Exercise B: Sentences below incorrectly embed quotations into the sentences. Rewrite the
sentences correctly below. Use a comma once, colon once, and no punctuation once.
1) The atrocity of Hurricane Katrina was that no one stepped in to help. “People are living out of
their cars and there is water everywhere.” (Dudek 4).
2) People cannot get the help they need. Without others stepping in to lend a helping hand.
President Bush said “New Orleans is under water” (jones 2)
3) The biggest problem, after the water left, was dealing with the lawlessness and general
criminality of New Orleans (Smith 1)
Exercise C: Using the information set below, write correct parenthetical citations for each
example. Note: remember where the punctuation goes!!
Information Set:
Donaldson, Sam. Bantering on Watergate. New York: Penguin Books, 1985.
Jennings, Peter. Pushing the Limits of Political Journalism. Washington: Greater Politics
Press, 1994.
Joyce, James. Ulysses. New York: Vantage International, 1934.
Xavier, Jason. Somewhere in the Political Realm. New York: Ballantine, 2002.
1) Following the fight, “he spoke in German and then left us behind” (
--from Donaldson's Bantering on Watergate, page 45
)
2) “I never thought of myself as proud,” says Jennings in his book Pushing the Limits of
Political Journalism (
)
--This source was located on page 107.
3) He was angry; in fact, “enraged is how he felt after the episode” (
--From Jason Xavier's book Somewhere in the Political Realm, page 233.
4) This thought brings forth the Victorian tradition previously mentioned of the lovers’
coded floral communiqué. With this in mind, Bloom
read the letter again, murmuring here and there a word. Angry tulips with you
darling manflower punish your cactus if you don’t please poor forget-me-nots
how I long violets to dear roses when we soon anemone meet all naughty
nightstalk wife Martha’s perfume (
--From Joyce’s Ulysses, page 87
)
)