Quotation and Citation Using MLA Guidelines
1. All in-text citations follow the same pattern:
In the wonderful book it says,“Text blah blah blah” (Author 123). —Quotation mark, text, quotation mark, space, parenthesis, author last name, page number, parenthesis, period.
If the author’s name is contained in the sentence, however, it would be omitted from the parenthesis:
Author said in his wonderful book, “Text blah blah blah” (123).
NOTE: MLA requires a “signal phrase”: a brief introduction to the quote. Without any language of yours connecting the quote, you will have what I call an “orphan quote”: a quote that is connected to nothing. These usually happen because you are using your quote as an example of something you have said. In this case, you would put a colon in place of a comma. But you must always have words of yours connected to every quote.
2. Once you have quoted something and cited it, if you use any or all of the same words again, no citation is necessary—quotation marks, however, must still be used.
The following examples are taken from a paper on genetics.
1. Quote from other than author:
Dr. Leon Kass of the National Academy of Sciences said, “We may not know what the devil we are doing” (Mertens 15). This is a simple quote, introduced with a comma (,) and followed by the author of the text and page number (Mertens 15). Notice, however, that the author Mertens did not say these words: Dr. Kass did. In this case, I introduced the quote using Kass’ name to indicate that someone other than the author of the text spoke the words. The other way to do this, if I do not name Kass in the sentence preceding the quote, is like this: It has been said, “We may not know what the devil we are doing” (qtd. in Mertens 15). Notice that Kass is not specifically mentioned, but we know that the author Mertens did not actually say these words but was quoting someone else.
2. Quote introduced with “that”, quote with an ellipse: Klein tells us that “Eugenics was first defined in 1883 by … Sir Francis Galton, Darwin’s cousin, as the science of improving the stock” (Klein 2). Notice this quote uses no comma and no colon. This is because I used the word “that” before the quote. When introducing a quote with “that” a comma or colon is never used. Notice, too, the …. The ellipse … indicates that I omitted a section of the text.
3. Incorporating a quote: Eugenics means, literally, to be “true born or well born” (Mertens 95). This quote, too, has no comma or colon before it. Notice that I am using another’s words to finish my sentence. This is called incorporating a quote. When you incorporate, no comma or colon is used.
4. Paraphrasing:…eradication of diseases or undesirable characteristics genetically translated from parent to child (Mertens 97). Notice here that there are no quotation marks at all. This sentence is paraphrased. I borrowed the idea—none of the words, just the idea—from Mertens, so I gave him credit for the idea. Without this, it would still be plagiarism.
5. Interrupted quote: “But whether you call it eugenics or human genetics,” says Klein, “the impulse is still to upgrade the stock of the human race” (2). This is called an interrupted quote. It is technically no different from (1) but is a variation of it. Try to vary the way you quote. It makes your paper more interesting to read and shows your strength as a writer.
6. Introducing quotes with a colon: Since then preventive eugenics has been shaded with a different hue—but the goal remains the same: “In its new meaning, eugenics is the notion of human beings exerting control over the genes that are transmitted from one generation to the next …” (Silver 254). This quote is introduced with a colon. A colon indicates that the quotation is an explanation of or example for the sentence I just wrote: “human beings exerting control over the genes” is the goal of preventive eugenics. Notice, again, the …. This means that I left off the end of Silver’s sentence because it was irrelevant to my point. Don’t quote any more than you need. It distracts the reader, weakens your point, and weakens your ethos.
7. Long quote:
Thomas Mertens points out:
In the case of a mongoloid child, the parents may bear enormous emotional and psychological stress, yet the child may be happy and, within its limits, well adjusted. … If suffering is to be a criterion, how do we assign values to the least possible suffering in this case.[sic] The child does not suffer at all as far as we know; it is the parents who suffer. How do you quantify suffering, how do you decide what is unbearable? (206)
With the knowledge that these children aren’t suffering, we can conclude that preventive… This is an example of a long quote. I want you to use at least one of these for practice in your research paper. Notice a few things: First, the quote is introduced with a colon (:). All long quotes should be introduced in this way. Second, notice the [sic]. This indicates an error, but one that isn’t mine. The author didn’t use a question mark at the end of a sentence that was a question. To indicate that it wasn’t my error but his, [sic] is used. Third, notice that the ending punctuation ? (206) is inside the citation. Even if it was a period, it would remain inside the citation. All long quotes leave the punctuation inside the citation and have no period after.
8. Quotes with different end punctuation: When we consider motivations, genetic manipulation for preventive eugenic purposes creates even more skepticism: “Seven generations ago blacks were still in shackles, and 20 generations ago the Catholic Church censored Galileo: Would we want people with those mores to have chosen our genes?” (Schoofs 4). This is an example of a quote that has different end punctuation. Notice that the question mark remains inside the quotation marks and there is still a period after the citation.
Works Cited
According to MLA guidelines, it is called a “Works Cited” page, not a bibliography. The words “Works Cited” are centered at the top of the page. NO UNDERLINE, NO LARGER FONT, NO ITALICS. The entire page should be double spaced. After typing the heading, hit enter and then left-justify. Go to Format, Paragraph, Special and click on Hanging Indent. All entries must be listed alphabetically by authors’ last names. A sample Works Cited page will be on the wiki. I highly recommend keeping this, as it covers just about any MLA type you may need to cite. The examples are there: just copy it into your new WC page, change the info and keep the formatting, and you can’t miss.
Cover Page and Outline
MLA guidelines do not require a cover page; all that is required is the information you have used previously in the upper left-hand corner. But for your research paper I am requiring a cover page and outline to give you experience. The guidelines are as follows:
Cover Page: All information should be centered. Hit enter on your page until you are about 3 inches down on the page (check the left side of your page; there should be a ruler there. If not, go to view and click on “ruler”). Using capitals for the first letter of every major word (meaning don’t capitalize “and”, “or”, “the” etc.), type in your title. DO NOT UNDERLINE, USE A BIGGER FONT, OR ITALICIZE. Then go down at least six spaces and type your name. Your name will be about 4 inches down on the page. Then go down to the bottom of the page, about 7 inches, and type, single spaced, THE DATE, YOUR PROFESSOR’S NAME, AND THE COURSE NAME. That is all.
Outline: Your outline should be left-justified, with one-inch margins. Follow the format here (except double space: I used single spacing to save paper). Notice the numbering and lettering of headings: your computer will auto-format outlines for you, but not easily. You can spend more time fiddling with the damn format than you need to, so I recommend going to Format, AutoFormat, Options, AutoFormat and unchecking everything under the “Apply” heading. Remember this: You cannot have an A without a B, a 1 without a 2, etc. Each heading must have more than one entry beneath. If not, don’t put anything.