MLA FORMAT
a brief, targeted reminder
In general
 Titles of books are italicized.
 Titles of articles get quotation marks.
 The first time someone is mentioned, use
both first and last names. After that it is only
the last name.
 Spell check.
in-text citations
 When you use words written by someone else, you
must indicate with quotation marks that these words are
not your own.
 If you are paraphrasing the words instead of quoting
them directly, you still need to provide the source of the
ideas and information.
 In both cases you must indicate with a parenthetical
citation what the source is of those words.
 For example:
Hamlet wonders repeatedly if the question is “to be or not to be”
(Shakespeare 124).
Hamlet is forever musing about whether he should continue to
exist or not (Shakespeare 124).
Name of author and page number
BUT parenthetical citations are one half
of a system that also includes the Works
Cited entry.
 Parenthetical citations depend on what kind of source it is and therefore the source’s
entry on the Works Cited page.
 The signal word in the text (what you actually put in the parentheses) is the first thing
in the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.
So this parenthetical citation:
Hamlet wonders repeatedly if the question is “to be or not to be”
(Shakespeare 124).
First item in Works Cited
entry =
what goes in parentheses
is because of this Works Cited entry:
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. London: Oxford
University Press, 1922.
The purpose of the parenthetical citation
is to identify the source of the
information
If your parenthetical citations are not in sync with
your Works Cited entries
(if what goes in the parentheses is not what comes
first in the Works Cited entry)
the system collapses and the reader does not
know where the information originated.
If the information you are referencing comes from
a print source:
 The Works Cited entry will include the author’s name, the title, and
the publication information, so therefore, the parenthetical citation
will contain the author’s last name.
 The parenthetical citation for a print source will also include the page
number on which the information is found.
 The page number refers to the page of the publication,
not to the page assigned by your printer.
 You can use NoodleTools to create your Works Cited entries.
There are a few ways to incorporate the author and
page number of the reference into your paper:
Our Works Cited entry is:
Craig, William. Shakespeare’s Tragic Couples. London:
Oxford University Press, 1967. Print.
 You
can either introduce the source in your own text:
 According to W.J. Craig, a “tragic theme also is present in
Romeo and Juliet: the triumph of man's spirit and will” over
life's cruelty (45).
 Or
you can indicate the source after you use it:
Need both author name and page
number, if there are page
numbers.
 A “tragic theme also is present in Romeo and Juliet: the
triumph of man's spirit and will” over life's cruelty (Craig
45).
If the source does not indicate an author (as
on a website, for example)
 The Works Cited entry for a website includes all the information
available to identify the source, such as:

the title of the article

the title of the site

the name of the organization responsible for the site

the date the site was created or last updated

the date you accessed it

Sometimes the url address will also be required.

The url address is not the same as the title of the website.
“New Providence School District” is the title of the website.
http://www.npsd.k12.nj.us is the url address (stop after the
.com or equivalent)
 You can use NoodleTools to create your Works Cited entries.
 Our Works Cited entry is:
“Romeo and Juliet.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 1 March 2012. Web. 13 March 2012
 The parenthetical citation for a web source without a named author
will consist of the title of the website or of the particular page of the
website.
 There will not be a page number when you cite a website.
For example:
suggests that “a tragic theme also is present in
Romeo and Juliet: the triumph of man's spirit and will over life's
cruelty” (“Romeo and Juliet”).
 Wikipedia
“A
tragic theme also is present in Romeo and Juliet: the triumph
of man's spirit and will over life's cruelty” (“Romeo and Juliet”).
 Romeo
and Juliet also addresses the way that humans can
triumph over the inherent cruelty of life (“Romeo and Juliet”).
For articles from an electronic source
like a database
 The Works Cited entry for an electronic source such as a database (like
Ebscohost or Literary Reference Center) includes the information
needed to identify the source, such as:
 the author’s name
 the title of the article
 the title of the original publication
 the names of any editors
 volume number or edition
 page numbers of original publication
 the date of publication
 You can use NoodleTools to create your Works Cited entries.
Our Works Cited entry is:
Clark, Glenn. "The Civil Mutinies Of Romeo And Juliet." English Literary
Renaissance 41.2 (2011): 280-300. Literary Reference Center. Web.
13 March 2012.
 The parenthetical citation for an electronic source will include whatever
comes first in the Works Cited entry.
 Unless you can identify the original page numbers, leave page numbers
out. Remember the page numbers assigned by your printer are NEVER
used in the parenthetical citation. (If you think the page number is 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5,
you are probably looking at the printer page number).
For example:
Then there is the idea that Romeo is just “infatuated
with the very idea of love” (Clark).


It is possible that instead of loving anyone
specifically, Romeo just loves to be in love (Clark).
 In
his article on the play Glenn Clark suggests that
Romeo is “infatuated with the very idea of love”
You’ve already included the information
in your text that would have gone in the parentheses,
so you don’t need to do it again.
If there is no author indicated for your source, the parenthetical
citation still includes whatever comes first in the Works Cited
page
 Works Cited entry:
"The Civil Mutinies Of Romeo And Juliet." English Literary
Renaissance 41.2 (2011): 280 - 300. Literary Reference
Center. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.
Parenthetical Citations:
 According to “The Civil Mutinies of Romeo and Juliet”, Romeo is
“infatuated with the very idea of love”
 Then there is the idea that Romeo is just “infatuated with the very
idea of love” (“The Civil Mutinies of Romeo and Juliet”).
This doesn’t need a
parenthetical citation,
because all of the major
identifying information
is included in the text
already
 It is possible that instead of loving anyone specifically, Romeo just
loves to be in love (“The Civil Mutinies of Romeo and Juliet).
Make sure you punctuate your
quotations properly
 Make sure you punctuate your quotations
properly. Does it require a colon or a
comma?

Romeo is very defensive: “When Mercutio teases
him he gets upset and has to run away” (Clark).
 Period or question mark goes after the
parentheses.
 Do not put an ellipsis (…) at the beginning or
the end of any quotation.

Romeo is defensive so when anyone “…teases
him he gets…” very emotional (Clark).
The quotation marks are a code that already indicates that
these words are taken out of the middle of someone else’s
idea.
Formatting quotations
 Place parentheses around any word or set of words you are
quoting.
 Make sure the words you are quoting work within the
grammatical structure of your sentence:

YES


NO

Romeo abandons the idea of Rosaline very quickly, proving
that his “character is immature and superficial” (Clark).
As Romeo falls into love with Juliet we realize his “character is
immature and superficial” (Clark).
Romeo forgets about Rosaline. “Character is immature and
superficial” (Clark). Then he falls in love with Juliet.
Romeo as proven by falling in love with Juliet “character is
immature and superficial” (Clark).
These are not complete sentences.
Long quote format
 If the quotation is four lines or longer, you must use the long
quote format.

But first ask yourself if it is really necessary, or beneficial, to
your essay to have such a long quote in it.
 Set up the quote within your own text, then use a colon to




indicate what is coming next.
Indent every line of the quote and keep it double spaced.
Do not use quotation marks for the quote. The indentation is the
code that tells me these are someone else’s words.
For a long quote, the period goes before the parenthetical
citation.
After the quote, continue with the essay on the next line. Do not
skip a line. Just return to the margin and begin typing again,
unless you are beginning a new paragraph, which must be
indented and will look a little funny.
Long quote format sample
Romeo went to the ball hoping to see Rosaline, for whom he has
been pining away. He believes that seeing other women will only
make him love her more. He never discusses Rosaline’s moral
Set up the quote so the context is clear
character, or her interests. In fact:
Romeo’s love for Rosaline seems to be of the most
Indent, but keep same
superficial variety. He can’t tell us the names of her
spacing
throughout
parents or her pets, but he can describe every inch of her
long golden hair. When he meets Juliet he is similarly
entranced by her beauty and makes no real effort to get to
know her as a human being. (Clark)
There is little doubt in the reader’s mind that Romeo’s love for Juliet
is destined to end just as badly as his love for Rosaline.
Period goes after the quote,
and before the parenthesis.
Sometimes you will need to alter the mechanical aspects of a
quotation so that it fits into the mechanics of your sentence.
 Use brackets to add words for clarification:
Romeo never comes to recognize “the ridiculousness of his infatuation
for [Rosaline] and therefore can never develop and grow” (Clark).
 Use brackets to leave words out:
Romeo never comes to recognize “the ridiculousness of his infatuation
for [Rosaline] and therefore can never develop
and grow into the kind
of young man who … can
sustain a productive relationship” (Clark).
 Use brackets to change the forms of words:
The reader continues to hope for a scene that shows Romeo
“develop[ing] and grow[ing] into the kind of young man” who will know how
to handle the situation (Clark).
Brackets tell me that this is your own word
in the middle of someone else’s words.
Whatever is in the brackets must still
function properly in the mechanics of your sentence.
For clarity you may
have to replace a
pronoun with a proper
noun, or change the
ending of a verb.
Things to keep in mind:
 Secondary sources are used to support or
enhance the argument you have already
made.
 All of the sentences and all of the paragraphs
in your essay must read clearly and
grammatically, no matter what you are trying
to do with them.
 Your ideas are your ideas. Their ideas are
their ideas. You must be clear which is which.
The Purdue University Online Writing Lab
(OWL)
is a particularly helpful resource for MLA
formatting questions and writing in general.