MLA STYLE AND CITATION MANUAL

BARRENCOUNTYHIGH SCHOOL

STUDENT EDITION

2010-2011

Developed by Katie Gray

BCHS English Department

BarrenCountyHigh School

MLA Style and Citation Manual

2010-2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. STYLE MANUAL UPDATE………………………………………………… 3
  1. FORMATTING THE FIRST PAGE OF YOUR PAPER………………4
  1. CITATION GUIDE……………………………………………………………...5

III A. Manuscript Style and Reminders…………………….5

III B. Annotation……………………………………………………..5

Works Cited General Rules

List of Examples

  1. WORKS CITED PAGE SAMPLE…………………………………………..11
  1. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY GUIDE & SAMPLE…..…………..12
  1. QUOTING PASSAGES………………………………………………………..15
  1. STYLE MANUAL UPDATE

Style Manual Update 2009

Update based on the MLA Handbook. 7th Edition, as explained by OWL at Purdue

and Old Saybrook High School English Department Style Manual, August 2009.

  • NO UNDERLINING: Italicize titles of independently published works such as books, periodicals, films, etc.

Example:

Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, was published serially from December 1860 to August 1861.

  • NO URLS: MLA no longer requires a URL in website citations; writers are expected to provide the URL if the citation alone does not easily lead readers to the source information. If URL is necessary, break lines only at slashes.

Examples:

Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.

John F. Kennedy. History Channel, n.d.Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

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  • PUBLICATION MEDIUM: Every entry should receive a medium of publication identifier. (Most entries will simply be listed as PRINT or WEB, but other potential mediums include TV or DVD.) Any medium other than WEB will be listed at the end of the citation; WEB will be followed by date of access.

Examples:

Moffett, Mark. “Able Bodies.” National Geographic August 2007: 140-151. Print.

Dell, Amore. How Shark Scales Give Predator Deadly Speed. National Geographic,

23 Nov. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

  • WHEN INFORMATION IS NOT AVAILABLE: Many WEB source entries require a publisher name, a date of publication, and/or page numbers. Often some or all of this information is not available—the following abbreviations should be used in place of necessary information in such circumstance:
  • n.p. no publisher given
  • n.d. : no date
  • n. pag. : no pagination (for online journals that appear only online or for databases that do not provide page numbers)

Examples:

John F. Kennedy. History Channel, n.d.Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

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Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal 6.2 (2008): n. pag. Web. 20 May 2009.

  1. FORMATTING PAGE ONE OF YOUR PAPER
  • Do not make a title page unless specifically requested by your instructor.
  • In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list the following information: your name, your instructor’s name, the course name and the date (all double-spaced).
  • TITLE: Double space again and center your title. Titles should be written in Title Case (standard capitalization). Titles should not be written in italics, underlined or in all capital letters.
  • Double space between your title and the first line of your text.
  • To number your pages: Create a header in the upper right hand corner of the page. Include your last name, followed by a space, and Arabic Numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), consecutively listed on each page in the same manner.
  • Below is an example of the first page of a paper written in MLA Style, courtesy of Purdue Online Writing Lab:

  1. CITATION GUIDE

Some new citations are included below. Students are recommended and encouraged to use OWL at Purdue Formatting and Style Guide as a support to research and writing.

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III A. Manuscript Style and Reminders

1. Academic writing has a traditional look. Readable serif font should be used (Bookman, Times, Palatino) and used throughout the paper.

2. Normal size is 12 point font.

3. The entire paper is double-spaced. This rule applies to everything, in every part of the paper (title, text, quotations, Works Cited).

4. Page numbers appear on all pages, including the separate Works Cited.

5. Headings such as the title of paper, Works Cited or Appendix should be centered at top of page.

6. Margins should be 1 inch on all sides of the document. (If using Microsoft Word 97-2003 version, page margins are automatically set to 1.25 inches on all four sides; Word 2007 and newer automatically sets margins to 1 inch on all sides.)

7. Do not include a Title Page, unless specifically requested by instructor.

8. Use italics (instead of underlining) for titles of larger works (books, magazines) and quotation marks for titles of shorter works (poems, articles, short stories).

9. Page numbers: number pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner.

10. Avoid use of styles (no shadow, outline, etc) other than italics: Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.

III B. Annotation

“Works Cited”General Rules

  • List of references listed on a separate page at the end of the research paper
  • Organized alphabetically by the author’s last name—if no author, alphabetize by the first word of the title (disregard a, an, the)
  • Will I have a Works Cited page or a Bibliography?
  • In MLA Format, writers will always have a “Works Cited” page to list references; never a bibliography.
  • Center the words “Works Cited” one inch from the top of page; do not underline
  • Entries are NEVER numbered on Works Cited pages
  • Begin each entry at the left margin—if entry takes longer than one line, indent the second line to continue with citation (indent 5 spaces)
  • Complete “Works Cited” page prior to inserting in-text citations—each in-text citation will refer to the first word in the corresponding Works Cited entry

List of Examples

SOURCE / WORKS CITED PAGE
(Remember: All citations should be double-spaced) / POSSIBLE ISSUES
BASIS OF WORKS CITED FORMAT / Last name, First name. Title in italics.
Place of publication: Publisher, Date.
Medium of publication. / *Titles must be in italics.
*If title is part of a book or extended work, the title is put in quotation marks.
1. BOOK WITH ONE AUTHOR / Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird
House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print.
2. BOOK WITH MORE THAN ONE AUTHOR / Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn
and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring.
Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print. / *Reverse the first author’s name only.
*If there are more than three authors, you may choose to list only the first author followed by the phrase: et al. (note the period after et al.)
3. BOOK WITH EDITOR / Boroff, Marie, ed. A Gawain Critical
Anthology.New York: Norton, 1967.
Print. / * If more than one editor, use eds.
4. BOOK WITH CORPORATIVE AUTHOR / American Allergy Association. Allergies in
Children. New York: Random, 1998. Print.
5. REFERENCE WORK / Harris, Muriel. “Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant
Writers.” A Tutor’s Guide: Helping Writers
One on One. Ed. Ben Rafoth. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann, 2000. 24-34. Print. / * If no author name is provided, begin citation directly with article title.
6. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATION / United States. Dept. of Labor. Bureau of
Statistics. Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
4th ed. Washington: GPO, 1977. Print.
7. ARTICLE IN A MAGAZINE / Poniewozik, James. “TV Makes a Too-Close
Call.” TIME 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print. / * Always remember to abbreviate the month.
8. ARTICLE IN A NEWSPAPER / Brubaker, Bill. “New HealthCenter Targets
Country’s Uninsured Patients.” Washington
Post 24 May 2007: LZ01+. Print. / *note the different pagination in a newspaper
* + indicates the article continued onto another page
9. FILM/ TELEVISION / Ed Wood. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp,
Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker,
Patricia Arquette. Touchstone, 1994. DVD. / * list performers names only if necessary- head the list with “Perf.”
10. BROADCAST TV OR RADIO PROGRAM / "The Blessing Way." The X-Files. Fox. WXIA,
Atlanta. 19 Jul. 1998. Television.
11. DIGITAL FILES (PDF’S, JPEG’S, MP3’S) / Smith, George. “Pax Americana: Strife in a Time
of Peace.” 2005. Microsoft Word file. / * End the entry with the name of the digital format
12. PERSONAL INTERVIEW / Smith, Joe. Personal Interview. 7 Dec. 2010. / *This is an interview that you conduct yourself.
*Begin citation with the name of the interviewee.
12. PUBLISHED INTERVIEW / Amis, Kingsley. “Mimic and Moralist.”
Interviews with Britain’s Angry Young Men.
By Dale Salwak. San Bernardino, CA: Borgo,
1984. Print. / * For books, include the author or editor name after the book title.
13. AN IMAGE (PHOTOGRAPH, SCULPTURE, PAINTING) / Picasso, Pablo. Le Moulin de la Galette. 1900.
Guggenheim, New York. Guggenheim:
Thannhauser Collection. Web. 7 Dec. 2010. / *If viewed on the Internet, include the name of the webpage where art was viewed and the date of access.
14. ARTICLE IN ONLINE SCHOLARLY JOURNAL / Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal 6.2 (2008): n. pag. Web. 20 May 2009. / * Note that this journal is online published online- there is no print form. Be sure to include “n. pag.” to indicate that there are no page numbers.
15. ARTICLE IN ONLINE SCHOLARLY JOURNAL THAT ALSO APPEARS IN PRINT / Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases 6.6 (2000): 595-600. Web. 8 Feb. 2009. / * This journal appears in print and online. Note that you viewed it online by including “Web” or in print form by excluding
“Web” and including “print” at the end of the citation.
16. BLOG POSTING / Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site. Version number (if available). Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher). Medium of publication. Date of access.
Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek. BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2008. Web. 5 Apr. 2009. / * Notice the necessary information for a blog posting in the first provided citation. An example blog citation follows.
*Note that if the publisher of the cite is unknown, write “n.p.”for no publisher.
*Name of site and name of institution may be the same. Be sure to italicize only the name of site.
17. SCHOLARLY JOURNAL / Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 15.1 (1996): 41-50. Print. / *Always provide issue numbers when available.
18. WEBSITE / Editor, author, or compiler name (if available).
Name of Site. Version number. Name of
institution/organization affiliated with the
site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource
creation (if available). Medium of
publication. Date of access.
Dell, Amore. How Shark Scales Give Predator
Deadly Speed. National Geographic, 23 Nov.
2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. / *Date of access simply means the date that you viewed the website. This gives you credibility as websites are constantly changing.
*Remember to use abbreviation “n.d.” for no date.
19. SHORT WORK FROM A WEBSITE / Author’s name. “Title of short work.” Title of
Site. Sponsor of site, date of publication.
Medium. Date of Access.
Shiva, Vandana. “Bioethics: A Third World
Issue.” NativeWeb. Nativeweb, n.d. Web.
22 Jan. 2009. / *Use this citation style for short online works such as articles, poems, and other documents that are not book length or that appear as internal pages on a website.
*Remember, use the abbreviation “n.d” when no date is available.
  1. SAMPLE WORKS CITED

* Note that in MLA Style, the Bibliography, or list of sources are organized as a “Works Cited” page and all entries are alphabetized by the author’s last name. If no author name is provided, alphabetize the citation by the first word in the title (excluding the, a, an).

Works Cited

American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. New York: Random, 1998. Print.

Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's

Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 15.1 (1996): 41-50. Print.

Ed Wood. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia

Arquette. Touchstone, 1994. DVD.

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print.

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

“Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.”

Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal 6.2 (2008): n. pag. Web. 20

May 2009.

Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?”

BoardGameGeek. BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2008. Web. 5 Apr. 2009.

Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin

Weapons Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases 6.6 (2000): 595-600. Web. 8 Feb. 2009.

  1. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY GUIDE

An Annotated Bibliography is an annotated list of references; the researcher includes their citations along with an explanation of each source. Explanations may include a summary, assessment, and/or reflection of the source.

suMMARiZe

Summarize: What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say?

You should paraphrase to include the main ideas from the source in your own words without using direct quotes and/or plagiarizing information from the source.

Paraphrasing information…

  • Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
  • One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
  • A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.
assess the information...

Assess: When completing research, it can be helpful to evaluate the source. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Why or why not? Is this source biased or objective? Why? What is the goal of this source?

To evaluate sources, ask the following questions while reading…

  • Read the preface and table of contents. Is your specific topic covered? Will your topic be covered in depth enough to provide sufficient information?
  • Determine the intended audience. Are you the intended audience? Consider the tone, style, level of information, and assumptions the author makes about the reader. Are they appropriate for your needs?
  • Is the language objective or emotional?
  • Does the author use a good mix of primary and secondary sources for information?
  • How timely is the source? Is the source 20 years out of date? Some information becomes dated when new research is available, but other older sources of information can be quite sound 50 or 100 years later.
  • How credible is the author? If the document is anonymous, what do you know about the organization?
Reflection…

Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

  • Be sure to include the specific information you will use from the source.
  • Also include specifically how you will include the information in your writing.
Why should I write an annotated bibliography?

To learn more about your topic! Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for any type of research project.

  • You are forced to read each source more carefully.
  • To help you formulate a thesis: Every good research paper is an argument.
  • Itcan help you gain a good perspective on what is being said about your topic.
  • By reading and responding to a variety of sources on a topic, you'll start to see what the issues are, what people are arguing about, and you'll then be able to develop your own point of view.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY FORMAT

The format of annotated bibliographies varies; however, there are a few basic format guidelines writers should use.

  • Bibliographic information should be presented in MLA or APA citation format.
  • Annotations for each source are always written in block paragraph form. Depending on your research/writing project, the length of the annotations for each source will vary from a couple sentences to a number of pages. Simple summaries of sources will be short in comparison to an analysis of each source.
  • A basic summary and plan for how you will use the source within your writing project will be useful throughout drafting.

*For more information and samples of annotated bibliographies, visit the following website:

Purdue Online Writing Lab

SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Below is an example of an Annotated Bibliography entry in MLA Style, courtesy of Purdue Online Writing Lab:

Student Name

Instructor Name

Course Name

Date

Stem Cell Research: An Annotated Bibliography

Holland, Suzanne.The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate: Science, Ethics, and Public

Policy.Boston: MIT Press, 2001. Print.

This is the annotation of the above source. In this example, I am following MLA 2009 (3rd ed.) guidelines for the bibliographic information listed above. If I were really writing an annotation for this source, I would offer a brief summary of what this book says about stem cell research.

After a brief summary, it would be appropriate to assess this source and offer some criticisms of it. Does it seem like a reliable and current source? Why? Is the research biased or objective? Are the facts well documented? Who is the author? Is she qualified in this subject? Is this source scholarly, popular, some of both?

The length of your annotation will depend on the assignment or on the purpose of your annotated bibliography. After summarizing and assessing, you can now reflect on this source. How does it fit into your research? Is this a helpful resource? Too scholarly? Not scholarly enough? Too general/specific? Since "stem cell research" is a very broad topic, has this source helped you to narrow your topic?

  1. QUOTING PASSAGES
  • In MLA format, quotes are formatted differently depending on the length of the quote.
  • If you need to cite two or more works from the same author, your in-text citations will include the title of the specific work, rather than the name of the author.
short quotations

Short quotes are identified as or shorter than four typed lines of prose.