MLA Documentation
Parenthetical Documentation
• The purpose of parenthetical documentation
is to indicate what the source is of the
information you have referenced.
• All information, ideas, facts, graphics etc. that
is not common knowledge must be
documented.
• Parenthetical documentation refers the reader
of your paper to the works cited page.
Parenthetical Documentation
• In most cases the author’s last name and page
reference are enough to identify the source
from within the information was taken.
• Whatever is in the (citation) should be on the
“Works Cited” page
“In the beginning we were just about in the same boat as Adam
and Eve. We had to learn the names of everything. Nkoko,
mongo, zulu—river, mountain, sky” (Kingsolver 123).
Works Cited Page
• Author, Title, City, Publisher, Date are the
basic elements of a works cited entry.
• To document the book from which I took the
previous quotation:
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible.
New York: Harper Collins, 1998.
Works Cited Page
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Works cited pages should be in the following format:
Center “Works Cited” at the top of the page
List sources in alphabetical order
Do not number the sources
Indent all lines after the first line of an entry
– Hanging indent
• Be sure to end every entry with a period
• Double space!
Remember
• Format is important. You don’t have to
memorize the format if you have a reference
and look it up.
• Parenthetical documentation allows the
reader to find the source in the works cited
page.
• The works cited page should be the last page
in your document.
Remember
• You should have A Pocket Style Manual by
Diana Hacker to help with documentation.
• You should use the appropriate format
whenever you have to cite a source to avoid
plagiarism.
www.dianahacker.com/pocket