Book 3: A Writer's Research Manual

Learning Outcome: Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution Core Objective: Communication Skills (Written)

Chapter 36

MLA Style for Documenting

Sources

Book 3: A Writer’s Research Manual 1 of 25 Chapter 36: MLA Style for Documenting Sources

MLA

(Modern Language Association)



Find extensive recommendations for crediting sources in libraries and the

MLA website



Credit your sources every time you quote, paraphrase, or summarize someone else’s ideas



The only exception is when you use material that is general knowledge

Book 3: A Writer’s Research Manual Chapter 36: MLA Style for Documenting Sources 2 of 25

MLA



The focus is on the author of the source, then the page number where the information is located



Keep in mind three questions:



Who wrote it?



What type of source is it?



How am I capturing the source material?



The rest of this chapter is devoted to addressing these questions


MLA: Who Wrote It?

(How entries inside your paper should look)

NOTE: Text in blue indicates your material, and text in red indicates citation elements.



Individual author not named in sentence



One approach to the complex politics of Puerto Rican statehood is to return to the island’s colonial history

( Negrón-Muntaner 3 ) .





Individual author named in sentence



The analysis of filmmaker and scholar Frances Negrón-

Muntaner connects Puerto Rican history and politics with cultural influences ( xvii ) .

Two or three authors



Ferriter and Toibin note Irish historical objectivity about the famine ( 5 ). ---OR---



Irish historians tend to report the famine dispassionately

( Ferriter and Tiobin 5 ).





Four authors or more: follow the first name with the expression “et al.”



Between 1870 and 1900, cities grew at an astonishing rate ( Roark et al. 671 ) .



Organization author: use only if site is sponsored by an organization and no other author is named (be sure to look carefully because sometimes authors’ names are listed at the end of an article)



Each year, the Kids Count program ( Annie E. Casey

Foundation ) alert children’s advocates about the status of children .





Author of an essay from a reader or collection (called an anthology ).  Cite the author of the article or story, NOT the editor.



Tan explains the “Englishes” of her childhood and family ( 32 ) .



Unidentified author: just use title of article.



Due to download codes and vinyl’s beauty, album sales are up ( “Back to Black” 1 ) .





Same author with multiple works: make sure you clearly identify which is which



McKibben cites advocates of consistent economic expansion ( Deep Economy 10 ) yet calls growth

“the one big habit we finally must break” ( Eaarth

48 ).



Different authors of multiple works: separate with a semicolon



Ray Charles and Quincy Jones worked together for many years and maintained a strong friendship ( Jones 58-59; Lydon 386 ).


What Type of Source Is It?





Multivolume work



Malthus has long been credited with this conservative shift in population theory ( Durant and Durant 11:400-

03 ).

Indirect source: if you can’t find the original source, add “qtd. in”



Zill says that children in stepfamilies most resemble children in single-parent families ( qtd. in Derber 119 ).



Visual material



Johnson’s 1870 painting Life in the South is a depiction of African Americans after the Civil War ( see fig. 1 ).

--THEN, below the visual, add:



Fig. 1. Eastman Johnson, Life in the South, High

Museum of Art, Atlanta.


How Are You Capturing the Source Material?



Always set off the source’s words with indented lines (long quotations) or quotation marks (short quotations)



Overall summary or important idea



Specific summary or paraphrase



Blended paraphrase and quotation



To avoid generalizing about “people-withdementia” ( Pearce xxii ), the author simply uses names.





Brief quotation with formal launch statement



Brief quotation integrated in sentence



Long quotation



Use when quotation is longer than four typed lines



Double-space and indent 1 inch



Quotation from the Bible or other sacred texts





Quotation from a novel or short story



Quotation from a play: list the act, scene, and line numbers, divided by periods



Love, Iago says, “is merely a lust of the blood and a permission of the will” ( Oth, 1.3.326

).



Quotation from a poem: add a slash to show new lines



“The world is too much with us; late and soon, / Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers” ( lines 1-2 ).


Listing Sources in MLA Style:

Works Cited page



Listing sources correctly depends on following patterns and paying attention to details



Formatting:



List source on new page with double-spacing, hanging indent between entries, and no extra spaces between title or individual entries



Page number should be next page number after your last page of the paper



Use same margins as you did for your paper


Listing Sources in MLA Style:

Works Cited page



Basically, place a period after each main part of the citation



Abbreviate months



List only first city and no state to locate publisher



List only first name of the publishing company



Use the most recent copyright date for a book



Add medium of publication such as Print, Web, etc.



Omit URL or Internet address unless the source would be hard to find or unless your professor asks you to


Who Wrote It?

What entries in a Works Cited page should look like

NOTE: Not all examples are illustrated in the slides.

Refer to your textbook often for specific examples.





Individual author (note the hanging indent)

Hazzard, Shirley. The Great Fire. New York: Farrar,

2003. Print.

Two or three authors: list in the order in which they are listed on the title page



Four authors or more: name all authors, or follow the name of the first author with the abbreviation “et al.”

Roark, James L., et al. The American Promise. 5th ed.

Boston: Bedford, 2012. Print.


Who Wrote It?



Same author with multiple works



Organization author



Author and editor



Author and translator



Unidentified author







Article from a printed journal: provide the volume number issue number, year, page numbers, and medium for all journals

McHaney , Pearl Amelia. “Eudora Welty (1909-2001).” South

Atlantic Review 66.4 (2001): 134-36. Print.

Article from an online journal

Purdy, James P., and Joyce R. Walker. “Digital Breadcrumbs:

Case Studies of Online Research.” Kairos 11.2 (2007): n. pg. Web. 29 May 2012.



Article accessed online through a library or subscription database





Article from a printed magazine



Article from an online magazine



Article from a printed newspaper



Article from an online newspaper



Editorial from a printed periodical



Editorial from an online periodical



Letter to the editor



Review





Printed book



Online book



E-book



Multivolume work



Revised edition



Book published in a series



Book with co-publishers



Book without publisher, date, or page numbers





Selection from a printed book, including essays, short stories, or poems: this is important if you are quoting readings from this course’s textbook, which has anthology elements. Remember to cite the author of the selection first, NOT the editors’ names.

King, Stephen. “Why We Crave Horror Movies.” Bedford

Guide for College Writers. 10 th ed. Ed. X. J. Kennedy,

Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Marcia F. Muth. Boston:

Bedford, 2014. 561-64. Print.



Selection from an online book



Selection from an E-book





Preface, introduction, foreword, or afterword



Two or more works from the same edited collection: If you have two or more selections from the same anthology, prepare an entry for the collection

Cisneros, Sandra. “Only Daughter.” Martin 10-13.

Martin, Wendy, ed. The Beacon Book of Essays by

Contemporary American Women. Boston: Beacon, 1996.

Print.

Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue.” Martin 32-37.





Article from a printed reference work



Article from an online reference work



Printed government document



Online government document



Online document



Pamphlet



Doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis





Internet or electronic source



Personal web page



Organization web page



Home page for campus department or course



Blog or blog entry



Publication on CD-ROM


Core Objective: Communication Skills (Visual)




Visual or audio source



Advertisement



Comic or cartoon



Photograph



Work of art



Audiotape or recording



Program on television or radio



Film



Live performance


Core Objective: Communication Skills (Oral)




Conversation or field artifact



Personal, telephone, or e-mail interview



Broadcast interview



Published interview



Speech or lecture



Personal letter



E-mail



Online posting


A Sample of an MLA Paper


Book 3: A Writer's Research Manual

Chapter 36

MLA Style for Documenting

Sources

MLA

(Modern Language Association)

Who Wrote It?

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Book 3: A Writer's Research Manual

Chapter 36

MLA Style for Documenting

Sources

MLA

(Modern Language Association)

Who Wrote It?

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