Cross-referencing:
Using MLA
Format
A workshop brought to you by
The Purdue University Writing Lab
With some minor additions by Prof. Rearick at MVNU
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What is MLA?
• MLA = The Modern Language
Association
• Not a group of villains
determined to make your
life miserable.
• The Association is a group of English
Scholars who needed a standardized
way to cite works for their journal the
PMLA.
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Why Use MLA Format?
(The following is true for any standardized and
recognized method of documentation.)
• Allows readers to crossreference your sources
easily
• Provides consistent
format within a
discipline
• Gives you credibility as
a writer
• Protects yourself from
plagiarism
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Why Use MLA Format?
• The correct citation of your
sources is serious
business!
• If you plagiarize, even
inadvertently, you may
flunk your class or be
expelled.
• Plagiarism in your
professional career can
result in being sued, fired,
and publicly embarrassed.
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Where Do I Find MLA Format?
• MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers, 7th ed.
• Courses Resources:
– Lester Faigley 638-667
– MyComplab
http://mcl.pearsoncmg.com/mel/login.do
• MLA<www.mla.org>
• OWL Website
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu>
• Getting in touch with Dr. Rearick!
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MLA Style: Two Parts
• Works Cited
Page
• Parenthetical
Citations
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Works Cited Page
• A list of every source that
you make reference to in
your essay
• Provides the information
necessary for a reader to
locate and retrieve any
sources cited in your essay.
• Each source cited in the
essay must appear on the
works cited page, and vice
versa--cross-referencing!
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A Sample Works Cited Page
Works Cited
Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. 1852-1853. New York: Penguin,
1985. Print.
---. David Copperfield. 1849-1850. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1958. Print.
Miller, J. Hillis. Charles Dickens: the World and His Novels.
Bloomington: U of Indiana P, 1958. Print.
Zwerdling, Alex. “Esther Summerson Rehabilitated.” PMLA 88 (May
1973): 429-439. Print.
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Works Cited
Most citations
should contain the
following basic
information:
• Author’s name
• Title of work
• Publication
information
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Works Cited: Some Examples
Remember that in your work all such citations are DOUBLE SPACED
• Book
Byatt, A. S. Babel Tower. New York: Random House,
1996. Print.
• Article in a Magazine
Klein, Joe. “Dizzy Days.” The New Yorker 5 Oct. 1998:
40-45. Print.
• Web page
Felluga, Dino. Undergraduate Guide to Literary Theory. 17
Dec. 1999. Purdue University. Web. 15 Nov. 2000.
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About Web Citing:
• MLA no longer requires the use of URLs in
MLA citations. Because Web addresses are
not static (i.e., they change often) and
because documents sometimes appear in
multiple places on the Web (e.g., on multiple
databases), MLA explains that most readers
can find electronic sources via title or
author searches in Internet Search Engines.
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More About Web Citations
• It is necessary to list your date of access
because web postings are often updated,
and information available on one date
may no longer be available later.
• Remember to use n.p. if no publisher
name is available and n.d. if no
publishing date is given (Purdue).
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Works Cited List
• A newspaper article
Tommasini, Anthony. “Master Teachers Whose
Artistry Glows in Private.” New York Times 27
Oct. 1998: B2. Print.
• A source with no known author
“Cigarette Sales Fall 30% as California Tax
Rises.” New York Times 14 Sept. 1999: A17.
Print.
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Works Cited List
• A TV interview
McGwire, Mark. Interview with Matt Lauer. The Today
Show. NBC. WTHR, Indianapolis. 22 Oct. 1998.
Television
•
A personal interview
Mellencamp, John. Personal interview. 27
Oct. 1998.
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Works Cited
What other types of
sources might you
need to list on your
Works Cited page?
Study the basics of MLA
citation format. When
something odd comes
up, don’t guess. Look
it up!
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When Should You Use Parenthetical
Citations?
• When quoting any words
that are not your own
– Quoting means to repeat
another source word for
word, using quotation
marks.
– Citation should happen
right away.
Dr. Rearick’s comments
When Should You Use Parenthetical
Citations?
• When summarizing facts and ideas
from a source
– Summarizing means to take ideas from a
large passage of another source and
condense them, using your own words
• When paraphrasing a source
– Paraphrasing means to use the ideas
from another source but change the
phrasing into your own words
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When Do You Cite?
Don’t fall into the trap of
plagiarism!
If the idea or
information you are
using did not
originate in your own
mind . . .
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Keys to Parenthetical Citations
Readability!
• Keep references brief
• Give only information
needed to identify the
source on your Works
Cited page--crossreferencing!
• Do not repeat unnecessary
information
– This should not be confused
with the need to clarify.
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Shaping Quotes in Your Text
• Do not be a slave to the shape
of the original quote
Although you never wish to change the
meaning of your source, you can shape
the quote so that it fits into your paper
grammatically. The following is a good
quote, but it is long:
“Written thirty years before the term
science fiction was used, The Time
Machine (1895) was the first novel to deal
with the intriguing subject of time travel, a
topic that writers continue to address.”
(Calvert 2).
Dr. Rearick’s Comment
Shape it as You Needs Dictate:
• If you wish to emphasize how unique it was
say this: “Laurie Calvert, author of A teachers
Guide. . ., notes that Wells’ novel was written
“thirty years before the term science fiction
was used” (2).
• On the other hand if you wish to comment on
the subject’s enduring popularity you might
write something like this: The novel’s subject,
time travel, “is one “writers continue to
address” (Calvert 2). Comments made by Dr. Rearick
Handling Quotes in Your Text
• Author’s last name and page
number(s) of quote must appear
in the text
Wordsworth states that Romantic poetry
is marked by a “spontaneous overflow of
powerful feelings” (253).
Note the use of the present tense when
describing action in a text.
Romantic poetry is characterized by the
“spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings” (Wordsworth 253).
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Handling Parenthetical Citations
• Sometimes more information is necessary
• More than one author with the same last
name
(W. Wordsworth 23); (D. Wordsworth 224).
• More than one work by the same author
(Joyce, Portrait 121); (Joyce, Ulysses 556).
• Different volumes of a multivolume work
(1: 336)
• Citing indirect sources
(Johnson qtd. in Boswell 2:450)
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Handling Parenthetical Citations
• If the source has no known author, then use an
abbreviated version of the title:
Full Title: “California Cigarette Tax Deters
Smokers”
Citation: (“California” A14).
• If the source is only one page in length or is a
web page with no apparent pagination:
Source: Dave Poland’s “Hot Button” web
column
Citation: (Poland).
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Handling Long Quotations
David becomes identified and defined by James Steerforth, a
young man with whom David is acquainted from his days at Salem
House. Before meeting Steerforth, David accepts Steerforth’s name as
an authoritative power:
There was an old door in this playground, on which the
boys had a custom of carving their names. . . . In my dread
of the end of the vacation and their coming back, I could
not read a boy’s name, without inquiring in what tone and
with what emphasis he would read, “Take care of him. He
bites.” There was one boy—a certain J. Steerforth—who
cut his name very deep and very often, who I conceived,
would read it in a rather strong voice, and afterwards pull
my hair. (Dickens 68)
For Steerforth, naming becomes an act of possession, as well as
exploitation. Steerforth names David for his fresh look and innocence,
but also uses the name Daisy to exploit David's romantic tendencies
(Dyson 122).
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Handling Quotes in Your Text
• There are many different
combinations and
variations within MLA
citation format.
• If you run into something
unusual, look it up!
Faigley, Lester. Writing A
Guide for College and
Beyond. New York:
Pearson, 2010 638-667
MLA 7th Edition
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Where can you go for additional
help with MLA documentation?
• MVNU Academic
Support Ext. 4280
• Rearick Ext. 3508
• Helps with:
– Research Strategies
– Documentation Styles
– Organizational Methods
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