MLA Documentation

How to integrate sources in your paper!

What’s MLA? Academic writing style for arts and humanities. The emphasis is on the author and page

number. Parenthetical citations need to blend smoothly

with the text. Citations acknowledge all quotes, summaries,

or paraphrases. Each citation in the paper must have a

corresponding reference listed on the Works Cited page.

Needed to avoid unintentional plagiarism

What’s unintentional plagiarism?

It happens due to:–Careless paraphrasing–Poor documentation–Quoting excessively–Failure to use your own “voice”

Use the following strategies:

Quoting

Paraphrasing

Summarizing

Quotations

A quotation is a direct and exact restatement of someone else’s words.

A quotation must be set off with quotation marks.

Do not take the words out of context or modify the tone from the original.

Incorporate it into the grammar, structure, and “flow” of your sentence.

When to quote?Use quotations when: You want to preserve eloquent or

powerful phrases or passages. You want to add the power of an

author’s words to support your argument your argument.

You want to disagree with an author’s argument.

You are comparing and power of an author’s words to support contrasting specific points of view.

Paraphrases A close restatement of someone else’s

ideas in your own words and sentence structure.

It should remain true to the meaning and intent of the original statement.

Like quotations, paraphrased material must be followed with in-text documentation and cited on your Works Cited page.

When to Paraphrase? when using a direct quotation is difficult

both grammatically and semantically. You want to avoid overusing quotations You want to use your own voice to

present information. when using a direct quotation is difficult

both grammatically and semantically. when you need to isolate one point out

of many that exist in the original quotation.

Summary Summarizing involves putting the main

idea(s) of one or several writers into your own words, including only the main point(s)

The style and wording should be your own, but the meaning and tone should be true to the source.

When to summarize?

You want to establish background or offer an overview of a topic

You want to describe knowledge (from several sources) about a topic

You want to determine the main ideas of a single source

How to cite? MLA in-text citation format follows the

author-page method of in-text citation. a complete reference should appear on

your Works Cited page The author's name may appear either in

the signal sentence 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.

What’s a signal sentence? Introduce the citation using signal

sentence :The author…acknowledges observes

advises demonstrates

claims predicts

counters maintains

finds insists

suggests reveals

Reasons argues

Holds believes

Warns explains

For example:–Romantic poetry is characterized by

the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

– Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”(263).

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

– Works cited:– Wordsworth, William. Lyrical

Ballads. London: Oxford U.P., 1967.

The first time you cite a source

Introduce the full name of the author and the title of the source the first time you cite it.

For example, “In his article ‘Notes of a Native Speaker,’ Eric Liu talks about his experiences . . . ) and then thereafter, you can refer to the author only by his/her last name.

For example, Christine Haughney reports that shortly after Japan made it illegal to use a handheld phone while driving, "accidents caused by using the phones dropped by 75 percent" (8).

Notice that the period follows the parenthetical citation. When a quotation ends with a question mark or an exclamation point, leave the end punctuation inside the quotation mark and add a period after the parentheses: " . . . ?" (8).

If a signal phrase does not name the author, put the author's last name in parentheses along with the page number. For example, Most states do not keep adequate records on the number of times cell phones are a factor in accidents; as of December 2000, only ten states were trying to keep such records (Sundeen 2).

Citing an indirect source (source quoted in another source)

When a writer's or a speaker's quoted words appear in a source written by someone else, begin the parenthetical citation with the abbreviation "qtd. in."

According to Richard Retting, "As the comforts of home and the

efficiency of the office creep into the automobile, it is becoming increasingly attractive as a work space" (qtd. In Kilgannon A23).

Citing a work from an anthology

Put the name of the author of the work (not the editor of the anthology) in the signal phrase or the parentheses.

In "A Jury of Her Peers," Mrs. Hale describes both a style of quilting and a murder weapon when she utters the last words of the story: "We call it--knot it, Mr. Henderson" (Glaspell 210).

Citing Long Quotations Use the indented format for quotation that are 4

or more typed lines. Indent the whole passage on the left margins 2 tabs (up to the 1 marker on the ruler). The right margins stay the same.

Omit quotation marks (except to indicate quotations within that passage, i.e. dialogue).

In the indented format, the parenthetical citation comes after the period of the last sentence.

Example, Lynda Boose identifies a conflict within this feminist

examination:

With a certain irony, it can be said that psychoanalytic theory – which assumes the transhistorical nature of the family unit – had seemed to feminist explorers so strikingly appropriate a compass for remapping Shakespearean drama precisely because the Shakespearean family seemed to resemble our own modern one so closely.  Even the Christian marriage ceremony has changed but negligibly from the ritual alluded to in Shakespeare’s plays. (614)

Some general conventions Underline or italicize book titles (i.e. She’s Not

There: A Life in Two Genders). Use one method consistently.

Put quotation marks around essay or article/chapter titles (e.g. “Identity Development in Adolescence”)

Commas & periods go inside the quotation mark.

For example:

Borjian’s statement, “Teens need encouragement to get off their computers, to interact with their peers in person,” further highlights the impact of computer-mediated social networking for today’s youth (85).

Illustrate every major point you want to make in your paper with a clear textual evidence.

Treat all source materials like “guest speakers” in your papers, always introducing them and providing follow-up commentary.

Don’t want to start a paragraph or end a paragraph with a quotation; instead, you want to sandwich it between your own ideas.

ANY change to a quotation must be indicated. Brackets indicate you added something. Ellipsis indicate you deleted something. Make sure the changes do take the quotation out of context.

Examples: Rodriguez claims, “[The bilingualists] do not seem to realize

that there are two ways a person is individualized” (9).

(In this case, [The bilingualists] is taking the place of a pronoun that would be unclear out of context)

Rodriguez says, “Only when I was able to think of myself as an American . . . could I seek the rights and opportunities necessary for full public individuality” (9).

Altering Quotations