MLA Form and Citationupdate 2009

Notes on MLA

Now in its seventh edition. Used for research papers written by

students (high school and university), and for publication.

Typically used for research purposes in subjects such as literature, art, history, politics, media including movies, music , television, and radio.

Paper Format

Place header in upper right hand corner. Use italics for long works. Use only one space after all punctuation

marks. Set one inch margins. Double-space the text. Use 12pt font. Insert endnotes at the end of the paper

on a separate page BEFORE the works cited page.

First Page of Paper Do not include a title page, unless preferred by

instructor. On the upper left corner of the first page, list your

name, instructor's name, the course, and the date. Place the title, double-spaced, under the header.

Do not italicize, underline or use quotation marks in any part of the title unless referring to specific works in the title.

Double space between the title and material of the paper.

Place page headers in the upper right margin (approximately 0.5” from the top). Include your last name and page number. (Your instructor may ask you to omit the header on the first page.)

In-text Citations•With known author: (Jones 232)•With unknown author, usually of an article: (“Scholarly Reading” 21)•Classic Works in Multiple Editions:

Give the page number of your edition , followed by a semicolon, and then the appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), or paragraph (par.). For example:

Marx and Engels described human history as marked by class struggles (79; ch. 1).•Works found in multiple volumes: (71; bk. 4, ch. 2)•Authors with Same Last Names: (A. Miller 54)

More In-text Citations

Multiple Authors ( 3 or fewer): ( Folds, Collins, and Fritz 76)

Multiple Authors (More than 3): (Chang, et al. 2)

Quotations

Short text (fewer than four typed lines of prose or three lines of verse): enclose in double quotes).

Long block of text (more than four lines of text or three lines of poetry), begin a new line. No quotation marks, indent one inch from the left margin, double-spaced

When adding or taking out text, place material in brackets [ ].

Works Cited Page: Distinct Changes for the

7th edition Titles are now italicized URL’s are not required but may be used for

clarification. When used, place the URL directly after the date of access.

No more continuous pagination needed for scholarly journals. Instead, cite the volume with the issue : 14.2

Performances, DVDs, and Television now can be cited as sources.

New abbreviations: n.p. (no publisher); n.pag. (no pagination).

EXAMPLES WITH THE NEW STYLE

Book with One Author

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. New York: Signet Classic, 1992. Print.

The title is now italicized.“Print” is now added to the end.

Scholarly Journal

Beardsley, Timothy M. “Malawi as Microcosm.” BioOne 59.7 (2009): 539. Print.

“Print” is now added to the end.

Scholarly Article From an Online Database

Lang, A. “The Folklore of France.” The Folklore Record 1 (1878): 99-117. JSTOR. Web. 30 July 2009.

Database is in italics.Library information is no longer required.Medium of publication (web) added.Date of access added.

Strictly Online Publication

Goodknight, Glen. “Black & White Ogre Country: the Lost Tales of Hilary Tolkien.” Mythlore 1 (2009): n. pag. Web. 30 July 2009.

Include medium and date of access.

Scholarly Online Project

Kline, Damiel T., ed. Geoffrey Chaucer Online: The Electronic Canterbury Tales. U of Alaska Anchorage, 8 Dec. 2008. Web. 30 July 2009.

Add medium and access date.

Online Periodical

Lewis, Neil A. “Senate Panel Endorses Sotomayor.” New York Times. New York Times, 28 July 2009. Web. 30 July 2009.

Image: Painting, Photograph, or Sculpture

Picasso, Pablo. Self-Portrait. 1907. Narodni Gallery , Prague. 2 Aug. 2009.

Citing E-mails

To you:Clark, Anna. “Re: The Renaissance.”

E-mail to the author. 2 Aug. 2009.

E-mail Communication Between Two Parties, Author Not Included:Myers, David. "Re: Tutoring." E-mail to

Jolie Gonzales. 1 Dec. 2008.

Web Blogs

Last Name, First. "Title of Entry." Weblog Entry. Title of Weblog. Date Posted. Date Accessed (URL).

Queue, Susie. “My First Chat Session.” Weblog Entry. Susie’s UHCL Blog. 23 September, 2009. 30 September, 2009. (www.uhcl.edu/writingcenter).

Citing Weblog Comments

Screen Name. "Comment Title." Weblog comment. Date Comment Posted. "Title of Blog Entry." Author of Blog Entry. Title of Weblog. Date Accessed (URL).

Buxton, Camille. “Graphic Novels: Indian by Choice.” Weblog Entry. Graphic Novels. 27 September 2009. 29 September 2009 (http://llls5532yal.pbworks.com/user/eb96dbb25c18335d151393a762ff1090a380794b).

Article in a Database on CD-ROM:

"World War I." Encarta. CD-ROM. Seattle: Microsoft, 2002.

A Personal Interview

Queue, Susie. Personal interview. 10 July 2009.

A Lecture or Speech

Hart, Lillian. “Computers in the Classroom.” University of Houston, Houston, TX 25 July 2006. Keynote Address.

Broadcast Television or Radio Program

"The Blessing Way." The X-Files. Fox. WXIA,

Atlanta. 19 Jul. 1998.

Recorded Television Shows

"The One Where Chandler Can't Cry." Friends: The Complete Sixth Season. Writ. Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen. Dir. Kevin Bright. NBC. 10 Feb. 2000. Warner Brothers, 2004. DVD.

Individual Songs

Nirvana. "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Nevermind. Geffen, 1991. MP3.

A Music Album

Foo Fighters. In Your Honor. RCA, 2005. CD.

Movies in Theaters

The Usual Suspects. Dir. Bryan Singer. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin, and Benecio del Toro. Polygram, 1995. Film.

Recorded MoviesEd Wood. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf.

Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Patricia Arquette. 1994. Touchstone, 2004. DVD.

Note

For the following, use the original URL form when citing in the Works Cited page:

An entire website A page on a website Images from web sites original to that

site

Special Thanks

Special thanks to the Purdue OWL for providing guides and examples that were used for this presentation.

Works Cited

Purdue OWL. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 10 May 2008. Web. 30 July 2009.

Modern Language Association. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: MLA Assoc., 2009. Print.