Documenting Film and Literature
Kimberly M. Radek
Internal Citations:
Quoting from Film
• When quoting from films in your paper
– Mention the film’s director (conventional author) in
sentence OR include film’s title in parentheses
– For short quotations, defined as one character’s speech
only, mention character’s name for integrating
– For extended exchanges of dialogue, set aside that
quotation.
• Indent the characters' names, in all capital letters, each two
tab spaces, an inch.
• Follow that name with a period and begin to quote the
dialogue. For any remaining dialogue of the characters' indent
an additional three spaces or a quarter inch.
Examples from Film
– Shorter Quotation:
Ron sheepishly says, “I’m Ron Weasley” (Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone).
– Longer Quotation:
When Ron and Harry initially meet Hermione they are
not very impressed, even though she successfully uses
magic to fix Harry’s eyeglasses:
RON. Whatever house I’m in, I hope she’s not in it . . . Stupid
spell—George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud.
HARRY. What house are your brothers in? Eat your breakfast.
(Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
External Citation: The Work Cited
• A film entry usually begins with the title
and includes the film director, the
distributor, and the year of release. Other
pertinent information may be included
between the title and the director.
– It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra.
Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, and
Lionel Barrymore. RKP, 1946.
Work Cited, special
• If you are citing the contribution of a
particular person with the film, then begin
with that person’s name.
– Columbus, Chris, dir. Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone. Warner Brothers, 2001.
Warner Home Video. DVD Release Date:
May 28, 2002
Structure of Essay #4
• By point or by medium
– By point, mention one point of comparison,
then explain and prove (through quoting) how
it is the one text, following that up with the
proof and explanation from the other text
– By medium, mention all the points of
comparison from the first text with
explanations and proof before covering them
all again with explanations and proof from the
other text
Thesis for Paper #4
• Titles and author and director
• Points of comparison
• Significance of the comparison
Evaluate the Following Theses
• There are many differences between the
book and the movie Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, mostly
taking place at Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry.
• In the book, Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone, there are many magical
differenced in the movie, such as wands,
potions, and leg lock curses.
• In the movie, Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone, based on the novel by J.
k. Rowling, several characters are
portrayed differently than they are in the
book, resulting in an lesser ability to
capture the viewers’ interests as the book
has.
• There are significant differences between
the movie and the book of J.K. Rowling’s
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone that
cause Harry, Ron, and Hermione to have
an easier time at Hogwarts as they have
fewer obstacles in their way of rulebreaking.
Internal Citations:
Quoting from Literature
• When quoting from prose literary texts in
your paper
– Mention author’s name
• In sentence or parentheses
– List page number in parentheses
– Integrate the quotation
• In the paragraph, if four lines or less in length
• By setting it aside within the paragraph, doubleindenting, if it goes over four typed lines (from left
to right margin)
Short Citations
• Cite fiction by the page number directly after the quoted
material.
• If identifying the author in the sentence, then give only page
number(s) in the parentheses after the quotation marks.
– The character of Ruth, in Gloria Naylor's Linden Hills demonstrates
great loyalty to her husband, Norman, when she stays with him, even
though she becomes "past bone-tired, of hurting from being crushed
between her hatred and love" (35) for him.
• If not including the author’s name, then last name and page
number, separated by a space, go in the parentheses.
– Ruth demonstrates great loyalty to her husband, Norman, when she
stays with him, even though she becomes "past bone-tired, of hurting
from being crushed between her hatred and love" (Naylor 35) for
him.
Examples from the Book
Student 2
Name
Teacher
Class
Date
Paper #5: The Evil Character
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
Stone by J, K. Rowling,one characherter,
Hermione Granger is portrayed as a sweet
Muggle child, but she really cloaks a hidden
layer of evil. In fact, she repeatedly is rude to
others, even using complicated spells against
others who cannot defend themselves. For
example, Hermione uses one against Neville
near the end of the book. She is aware of the
harm she could cause him, as she admits,
“Neville, . . . I’m really, really sorry about
this” (Rowling 273).
This pattern of rudeness and abuse is
established earlier in the book when it is made
apparent that Hermione Granger will hurt
anyone, even a teacher:
Hermione had fought her way across to the
stand where Snape stood, and was now
racing along the row behind him; she
didn’t even stop to say sorry as she
knocked Professor Quirrel headfirst into
the row in front. Reaching Snape, she
crouched down, pulled out her wand, and
whispered a few well-chosen words.
Bright blue flames shot from her wand
onto the hem of Snape’s robes. ( Rowling
191)
Obviously, Hermione has no sense of politeness,
as her treatment of Quirrel shows, and no sense
of respect for authority, as her attack on Snape
shows.
Name 3
Long Citations
Naylor describes Norman and his mental illness in a particularly poignant
passage:
Looking at him, it was difficult to imagine that this square-jawed
• A direct quotation
more than four
lines (on the paper)
should be set off
from the text by
indenting two tab
spaces or an inch.
• Double space these
set off quotations
and do not enclose
them in quotation
marks.
man with the gentle, sloping lips was the same one who every
other spring went up and down Wayne Avenue, screaming and
tearing at his face and hair with his fingernails, trying to scrape off
the pinks. He resorted to his teeth and bare nails only after
everything else had failed—jagged sections of plates and glasses,
wire hangers, curtain rods, splinters of wood once part of a dresser,
a coffee table, or [Ruth's] grandmother's antique music box. Up and
down Wayne Avenue—in a frantic search for untried edges and
textures to dig into his skin—until he was taken away, arms forced
and laced to his side, and sent into a twilight that dimmed the
shades of his nightmare. (34)
The “jagged sections of plates and glasses” and the “splinters of wood” (34)
work very well symbolically to represent a person deteriorating under
pressure—both external and internal.
Work Cited
• Don’t forget to cite the novel, per the
Stylebook’s explanation
Other MLA Formatting Concerns
• Use 1” margins
• Header should be placed to print at ½”
• Header contains your last name and page
number at right margin
• Left justified
• 12 point, Times New Roman font
• Double-space throughout