MLA Documentation Ateneo de Manila High School English Department Mr. Galinato

MLA DocumentationMLA Documentation

Ateneo de Manila High SchoolEnglish Department

Mr. Galinato

OBJECTIVESOBJECTIVES

To know what MLA stands for.To know what APA stands for.To differentiate MLA from APA

documentation.To know when to use either MLA or

APA documentation.To note the various guidelines in

using the MLA format.

Why use the MLA Why use the MLA format?format?

1. The MLA format provides writers with a system for cross-referencing their sources.

– Cross-referencing allows readers to locate your source for their own research.

2. The proper use of the MLA format also shows the credibility of the writer.

3. Most of all, the use of MLA style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism.

Why use the MLA Why use the MLA format?format?

MLA or APAMLA or APA

• MLA (Modern Language Association) Documentation– Devised primarily for use in scholarly

writing on literature, history, and biography.

– The MLA recommends that writers use the heading “Works Cited” for their bibliography.

• APA (American Psychological Association) Documentation– Used in scholarly writing in the social

sciences and laboratory sciences.– The APA recommends using

“Reference List” as the heading.

MLA or APAMLA or APA

1. Begin your works cited list on a separate page from the text of the essay under the label Works Cited (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.), which should be centered at the top of the page.

2. Arrange the sources in alphabetical order; do not number them.

Works CitedWorks Cited

3. Write the last name of the author first, followed by a comma and whatever form of first name or initials the author uses.

4. If a work has two authors, invert only the first author’s name, follow it with a comma, then continue listing the name of the other author.


5. If the work has three or more authors, invert the first author’s name, immediately followed by “et al.”

6. If the work doesn’t have an author, alphabetize it according to the title, always omitting A, An, and The from consideration.


7. For books, use a period after each of the three main divisions of entry: (a) the author’s name, (b) the title of the work, and (c) the publication data. This includes the place of publication, the name of the publisher, and the date of publication.

8. If the place of publication is not well known or might be confused with another of the same name, give the state or country as well (in an abbreviated form).


9. Use a period also after any additional information (ex. edition or number of volumes).

10.Capitalize each word in titles of books, articles, etc. This rule does not apply to articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle.

11. Underline or italicize titles of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, films, etc.


12.If the book title you are citing contains a title enclosed in quotation marks, keep the quotation marks and underline or italicize the entire title.

13.Use reverse paragraph indentation for each entry to make the alphabetized word stand out clearly.


14.In the publication data, the MLA recommends using a short form of the names of publishers (ex. “Harcourt” for “Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.” or “Yale UP” for “Yale University Press”)

15.If more than one city of publication is listed, give only the first.


Books:Author(s). Title of Book. Place of

Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Books with one author:Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird

House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999.

ExamplesExamples

Two books by the same author:Palmer, William J. Dickens and New

Historicism. New York: St. Martin’s, 1997.

---. The Films of the Eighties: A Social History. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1993.

ExamplesExamples

Book with two authors:Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The

Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000.

Book with three or more authors:Dunbar, Clement et al. Assignments

In Exposition. 11th ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.

ExamplesExamples

Book with a corporate author:American Allergy Association. Allergies in

Children. New York: Random, 1998.Book or article with no author named:Encyclopedia of Indiana. New York:

Somerset, 1993.“Cigarette Sales Fall 30% as California Tax

Rises.” New York Times. 14 Sept. 1999: A17.

ExamplesExamples

An article in a periodical (such as a newspaper or magazine):

Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Periodical. Day Month Year: pages.

Note: Use a three-letter abbreviation of the month (e.g. Jan., Mar., Aug.).

ExamplesExamples

Poniewozik, James. “TV Makes a Too-Close Call.” Time. 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71.

Trembacki, Paul. “Brees Hope to Win Heisman for Team.” Purdue Exponent. 5 Dec. 2000: 20.

ExamplesExamples

A web site:Author(s). Name of Page. Date of

posting/revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site. Date of access. <electronic address>.

ExamplesExamples

Felluga, Dino. Undergraduate Guide to Literary Theory. 17 Dec. 1999. Purdue University. 15 Nov. 2000 <http://omni.cc.purdue.edu%7 Efelluga/theory2.html>.

Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue University. 10 Feb. 2003. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu>.

ExamplesExamples

An article on a website:Author(s). “Article Title.” Name of

web site. Date of posting/revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site. Date of access. <electronic address>.

ExamplesExamples

Poland, Dave. “The Hot Button.” Roughcut. 26 Oct. 1998. Turner Network Television. 28 Oct. 1998. <http://www.roughcut.com>.

“Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format.” Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue University. 6 Feb. 2003. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html>.

ExamplesExamples

An article in an online journal or magazine:

Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume. Issue (Year): Pages/Paragraphs. Date of Access <electronic address>.

ExamplesExamples

Wheelis, Mark. “Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 6.6 (2000): 33 pars. 5 Dec. 2000 <http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/ eid/vol6no6/wheelis.htm>.

ExamplesExamples

A pamphlet:Office of the Dean of Students.

Resources for Success: Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorders. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University, 2000.

ExamplesExamples

An interview that you conducted:Purdue, Pete. Personal interview. 1 Dec.

2000.

A lecture or a speech:Harris, Muriel. “Writing Labs: A Short

History.” 2003 Writing Center Conference. National Writing Centers Association. La Swank Hotel, Seattle. 28 March 2003.

ExamplesExamples

TV or radio program:“The Blessing Way.” The X-Files. Fox.

WXIA, Atlanta. 19 Jul. 1998.Films and videotapes:Color Purple, The. Dir. Steven Spielberg.

With Whoopi Goldberg. Warner Bros., 1985.

Wilson, Ryall, dir. Creation vs. Evolution: “Battle of the Classroom.” Videocassette. PBS Video, 1992. 58 min.

ExamplesExamples

Works of art:Cranach, Lucas, the Elder. Portrait of

Anne Buchner. Institute of the Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

ExamplesExamples

Parenthetical CitationParenthetical Citation

1. The MLA format follows the author-page method of citation.

2. The author’s name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence.

Examples:• Wordsworth stated that Romantic

poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263).

• Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263).

• Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).


3. If the work you are making reference to has no author, use an abbreviated version of the work’s title.

Example:• An anonymous Wordsworth critic once

argued that his poems were too emotional (“Wordsworth Is A Loser” 100).


4. If your source is quoting from another source, use “qtd. in” to indicate the source.

Example:• …pressured to act as “social

service centers, and they don’t do that well” (qtd. in Weisman 259).


5. If two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors’ first initials (or even the full name if different authors share initials) in your citation.

Example:• Although some medical ethicists claim

that cloning will lead to designer children (R. Miller 12), others note that the advantages for medical research outweigh this consideration (A. Miller 46).


6. If you cite more than one work by a particular author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the other works by that same person.

Example:• Lightenor has argued that computers are not

useful tools for small children (“Too Soon” 38) though he has acknowledged that early exposure to computer games does lead to better small motor skill development in a child’s second and third year (“Hand-Eye Development” 17).


Quotations: MLA styleQuotations: MLA style

Long prose quotations:1. Quotations more than four (4)

typed lines should be set in a block indented ten (10) spaces from your left margin.

2. If you are quoting a single paragraph or less, do not indent the first line.

3. If you are quoting two or more paragraphs, indent the first line of each paragraph an additional three (3) spaces.

4. If the first sentence you quote does not begin a paragraph in the source, do not indent it; do indent the first sentence of any subsequent paragraph in the quotation however.


5. Give the author’s last name at the end, if you have not given it in your introduction to the quotation, and the page number/s where the quoted material can be found in the source. Enclose this information in parentheses, beginning two (2) spaces after the final punctuation mark.


At the mention of African wildlife, most people think of elephants, lions, and gorillas, but not many other animals are remarkable, for example, the kob:The Uganda kob is among the supreme

beauties of the antelope world, a photographic delicacy for antelope connoisseurs. Less graceful than the impala, less majestic than the kudu with its corkscrew horns, the kob has a sturdy elegance unlike either. His coat is golden brown, like proper toast. (Ardrey 42)

6. If you identify the author in your introduction to the quotation, give only the appropriate page numbers in your note and place it before the final punctuation mark.

Example:His coat is golden brown, like proper toast

(42).


7. If you include two or more works by the same author in your list of works cited, give the appropriate title or a shortened form of it each time you make a specific reference to one of the works or quote from it.


8. If a work has three or more authors, you may shorten the note by giving the surname of only the first, following it with “et al.,” an abbreviation of the Latin phrase et alii, meaning “and others.”

9. If two authors have the same surname, distinguish between them in your notes by giving their first initials as well.


Short prose quotations:1. Enclose a short quotation – four

(4) typed lines or less – in quotation marks, incorporate it in a sentence or paragraph of your own, and give the identifying information in parenthesis after the closing quotation mark.


Example:An observer of animal behavior has described the coat of the Uganda kob as “golden brown, like proper toast” (Ardrey 42).

orArdrey has described the coat of the Uganda kob as “golden brown, like proper toast” (42).

2. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation.

Example:• According to some, dreams “express

profound aspects of personality” (Foulkes 184), though others disagree.


3. Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.


Examples:• According to Foulkes’s study,

dreams may express “profound aspects of personality” (184).

• Is it possible that dreams may express “profound aspects of personality” (Foulkes 184)?


Long quotations from poetry:1. Present a long quotation from a poem

—four (4) complete lines or more—in a block indented ten (10) spaces from your left margin.

2. Give the documentation at the end of the last quoted line, two (2) spaces after the final punctuation mark.


3. If you quote only one line or less, incorporate it in a sentence of your own and give the identifying information after the closing quotation mark.

4. If you quote more than one line but less than four, you may present them as a block or you may incorporate them in your own sentence or paragraph, indicating the end of each line within the quotation by a slash mark with a space on each side (/).


Quotations from well-known poetry or prose:

1. If you are quoting from a work that has been reprinted in many different editions (e.g. the Bible, a play by Shakespeare, a novel by Charles Dickens), your list of works cited should include full information on the particular edition you used.


2. But in the text of your paper, give not only the page number in the edition you used but also the number of the chapter or act, scene, and line so that your readers can find the material easily in any edition they have at hand.


Accuracy in quoting:1. Always take care to quote the

original exactly, word for word and comma for comma.

2. You may, however, omit words not relevant to your point, if the omission does not alter the meaning of the original in any way.


3. You may also add a brief explanation to clarify something that might otherwise confuse your readers by using brackets.


Paraphrase, summaries, and little-known facts:

1. Use the same methods to document the sources of any paraphrases, summaries, or mentions of little known facts that you include in your paper.


2. Although the words of the paraphrase and summary will be your own, the content is not.


NOTENOTE

• Most of these information can be found in your AIE books, on pages 385-395.

• Or you may access their website for more information: <http://www.mla.orghttp://www.mla.org>.

SOURCESSOURCES

Dunbar, Clement et al. Assignments In Exposition. 11th ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.

“Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format.” Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue University. 14 Jun. 2006. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html>.

Documents

MLA Documentation Ateneo de Manila High School English Department Mr. Galinato