MLA formatting
& embedded
quotations
Basic formatting
• typed, 12-point font, double
spaced w/ no extra spaces
• 3-4 pages
• or if written: four pages
(front and back equals one
page) neatly written in
blue/black ink
MLA formatting, cont.
• MLA format class heading, upper left
of first page
• Title, centered, first page only
• From second page on: your last name
and pg. # in upper right (set as
header)
• If written: Make sure you number the
pages!! (your last name and the
number)
Example first:
Ms. Robson
8th per 2
Sept. 30, 2011
My Unique and Fitting Title
My essay starts here. It is all double
spaced, and my margins have been set
to one inch. I always remember to
introduce my quotes, just as I do here:
“isn’t this a lovely quote?” (Weiler 7).
I’m sure I will earn an A for my essay.
2nd page sample
Weiler 2
This is the second page of my
essay. I remembered to set my header
to include my last name and the page
number I’m currently on. I will do
this for the rest of my essay, even if
it’s twenty pages long! It’s all still
twelve point font, double spaced (with
no extra spaces!), and my margins are
still set to one inch.
Now for the intext citations:
Step #1: find a good
quote (that goes with
your thesis!)
“indifference is always
the friend of the enemy,
for it benefits the
aggressor—never his
victim[…]” (Wiesel 132).
Figure out how to
introduce the quote (no
dropped quotes!)
Wiesel cautions his
readers to remember that
“indifference is always the
friend of the enemy, for it
benefits the aggressor—
never his victim[…]” (132).
Note this about the previous
example:
• CM (opinion) in green
• CD (the quote) in red
• Ellipsis to indicate quote was
longer
• In-text citation in parenthesis
& inside the end punctuation
Good signal words to use with
quotes:
• Acknowledges
• Admits
• Agrees
• Asserts
• Believes
• Comments
• Compares
• Declares
• Emphasizes
• Illustrates
• Implies
• Notes
• Observes
• Reports
• States
• Suggests
• Points out
Punctuation!
• Basic formula:
– Signal phrase +[comma/colon/no
punctuation]+ quote/paraphrase +
[drop the period from the quote] +
citation [in parenthesis = author’s
last name & the page #] + period at
the end (don’t say author’s name at
end if you said it in your signal
phrase)
Example:
This point is emphasized in
the statement “not to
respond to their plight[…]is
to exile them from human
memory” (Wiesel 132).
Note: ellipsis marks in brackets
indicate that I didn’t use the entire
quote. Three periods mean I deleted
part of the sentence. Four periods
mean I deleted the rest of the
sentence.
Another one:
In his speech “The Perils of
Indifference,” Elie Wiesel
asserts that “indifference is
never creative[….]Indifference
elicits no response” (132).
Note: I used four periods because I left
out an entire sentence; I capitalized the
next word because it was the first word of
the next sentence.
Another one:
Wiesel suggests that loss of
faith was the most difficult
aspect of the Holocaust: “We
felt that to be abandoned by
God was worse than to be
punished by Him. Better an
unjust God than an indifferent
one” (132).
You can also sandwich a quote:
Wiesel explains “Their [children’s]
fate is always the most tragic[…]”
because there is nothing that children
can do to either prevent war or to
escape from it (135).
Note: if you have to insert a word in a quote,
you also have to put brackets around it. There
was no antecedent for the pronoun, so the
insertion is necessary for clarification purposes.
Quote within a quote
• If the quote you are using contains a
quote, use regular quotation marks
where your quote begins, single
quotations for the quote within the
quote, and then regular quotation
marks at the end of the sentence.
Example:
Wiesel stresses that
“Etymologically, the word
[indifference] means ‘no
difference.’ A strange and
unnatural state in which the lines
blur between[…]good and evil”
(131).
Banned words list!
These words don’t belong in formal
writing…
• I/me
• Really
• Things
• Stuff
• A lot
• Some
• About
• Informal English
/ slang
• Any words that
make you sound
uncertain
Also banned—lazy transitions:
•First, second, third
•To inform
•To further inform
•Finally
•Coordinating conjunctions
(and, so, etc.) as sentence
starters