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Using
MLA Style
7th Edition
writingcenter.txstate.edu
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Why MLA?
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There are two main reasons we use MLA citation:
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To have a uniformed convention for documenting research
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To avoid plagiarism
MLA is also a complete formatting and style guide.
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MLA Formatting Basics
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No separate cover page
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1” margins
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Double space everything
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One space after periods
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12 pt. Times New Roman
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Indent paragraphs .5”
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Indent block quotes 1” from left margin
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MLA Formatting Basics
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Names of large works are italicized
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books, periodicals, album titles, etc.
Names of works within larger works are placed in quotation
marks
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articles, chapters, essays, poems, songs, etc.
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Header
on first
page only
(Page scanned from The Bedford Handbook, 8th ed.)
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Indenting paragraphs
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Select “First
line” indent
Avoiding space after paragraphs
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Block quote when quotations
run over four lines
(Page scanned from The Bedford Handbook, 8th ed.)
Indenting block quotes
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Indent 1”
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Citing Sources in the Text
Author’s name in text:
Robertson states that “fish sleep with their eyes open” (136).
Author’s name in reference:
It is true that “fish sleep with their eyes open” (Robertson 136).
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Citing Sources in the Text
Paraphrasing:
In his aquatic research, John Robertson explains that sleeping
fish do not close their eyes (136).
Sleeping fish do not close their eyes (Robertson 136).
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Practice
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Practice
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Practice
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Practice
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Practice
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Practice
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Works Cited: Making the List
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Identify the source
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Find a sample of citing this type of source
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“Mirror” the sample
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(Page scanned from The Bedford Handbook, 8th ed.)
Indenting Works Cited
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Select
“Hanging
indent”
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Basics of Works Cited
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Book
Johnson, Roberta. Gender and Nation in the Spanish
Modernist Novel. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2003.
Print.
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Work in an Anthology
Bordo, Susan. “The Moral Content of Nabokov’s
Lolita.” Aesthetic Subjects. Ed. Pamela R. Matthews
and David McWhirter. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P,
2003. 125-52. Print.
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Basics of Works Cited
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Journal
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Web database
Williams, Linda. “Of Kisses and Ellipses: The Long Adolescence
of American Movies.” Critical Inquiry 32.2 (2006): 288-340.
Project Muse. Web. 8 Feb. 2009.
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In print
Williams, Linda. “Of Kisses and Ellipses: The Long Adolescence of American Movies.”
Critical Inquiry 32.2 (2006): 288-340. Print.
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Online journal
Williams, Linda. “Of Kisses and Ellipses: The Long Adolescence of American Movies.”
Critical Inquiry 32.2 (2006): 288-340. Web. 8 Feb. 2009.
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Practice:
True/False
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The works cited list is organized alphabetically by authors’ last
names (or by title for a work with no author).
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When a work’s author is unknown, the work is listed under
“Anonymous” in the list of works cited.
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The list of works cited is titled “Bibliography.”
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An entry for a web source in the list of works cited includes the
date the source was accessed.
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In-text citations and a works cited list is only required if a
professor requests it.
Adapted from:
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Online Resources
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Citation generators???
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The Bedford Handbook
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Writing Center website
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Owl Purdue: owl.english.purdue.edu
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www.worldcat.org
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Texas State library databases
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MLA style guide
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Group Activity
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Exercise 53-3, MLA documentation: in-text citations
(Hacker/Sommers, Working with Sources: Exercises for The
Bedford Handbook, 8th ed. [Boston: Bedford, 2010])