First of all, MLA stands for Modern Language Association. The MLA has been around for over 100 years with the sole purpose of providing support for the learning and teaching of the English language. The MLA citation style is one of two major ways (the other is APA, but not needed in our classroom) of referring to and acknowledging the ideas of others in a written document. In short, MLA citation is a system that gives proper credit when credit is due when you are writing anything—essays, research papers, school newspaper articles, etc. The rest of this page is dedicated to showing how this all works and why it is necessary
Why bother with MLA citations? They’re a pain in the neck!
To begin with, part of your grade in English from now until you graduate from college depends on you learning MLA. If you learn it now you save yourself years of more pain. So, if that isn’t enough incentive I’ll try to provide you with other reasons.
Here’s another great reason—if you use someone’s ideas, words or thoughts without giving proper respect to where they came from YOU ARE STEALING! Yeah, sure, you aren’t stealing money or food or clothes, but you are stealing ideas. This world is filled with good ideas and amazing words. How would you like it if you came up with a really cool joke, tried it out on your best friend who thought it was hilarious? And then, before first block is even over you hear two sixth graders telling the joke to one another and talking about how funny and clever your friend is to think of it! I would be furious, and so would you.
We all have to consult sources that know more than we do. If you are writing a paper on the migration patterns of the Asian elephant, then unless you have spent the last half of you life becoming an expert, you will find all that information in books, magazines, internet cites, and other places. Tell where you got your information from. Give credit where credit is due! Don’t be an idea thief!
Here’s my last great reason—plagiarism is illegal! Bottom line is that if you don’t learn how to use MLA, you could be a lot worse off than just spending the time to learn it in the first place.
How do I know what goes where on a works cited page? It’s all so confusing.
Yes, at first it can be a little overwhelming, but take it one source at a time. In printed material gather all of the publishing information you can find. Look at title and publication pages, inside covers, etc. It is all there, you just have to hunt a bit to find it sometimes. To find specific examples look at the following to find out what information you need. No one is expected to memorize all the different entry types. Look them up.
Some general rules: All of the sources will be listed in alphabetical order. Remember to indent five spaces after the first line if your source takes up more than one line. And double space all of the entries.
Some examples of common sources based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th ed., by Joseph Gibaldi.
Art and Photography
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year.Example:
Lowry, Lois. Gathering Blue. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 2000.
Books with two or more authors
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name and Second author’s first name and last name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year.
Example:
Jenkins, Jerry and Tim Lahaye. Soul Harvest. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999.
Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year.
Example:
The Psalter. Westminster: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993.
Editor’s Last Name, Editor’s First name, ed. Title of Book. City of Publication:
Publisher, Year.
Example:
Janeczko, Paul B., ed. That Sweet Diamond. New York: Athenuem Books, 1998.
Author of Article.(if given) "Article Title." Title of Book. Volume number (if given). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page numbers.Example:
"Adolescence." Encyclopedia Britannica. vol. 1. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2002. 247-249.
Author's name (if given). "Title of Article." Name of Encyclopedia. Date of Publication. Date of Access <URL network address>.Example:
Jones, Frank Allen and William J. Meyer. "Adolescence." Encyclopedia Encarta. 2002. 28 Dec. 2002.
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761556836.
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Author of Story or Poem. "Title of Story or Poem." Title of Book. Name of Editor, editor. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page numbers.Example:
Jennings, Leslie Nelson. "Front Porch." Celebrate America In Poetry and Art. Nora Panzer, ed.
New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1994. 39.
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Author. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine. Date: Page numbers.Example:
Musgrave, Ruth. "Trapped by Ice." National Geographic Kids. Jan/Feb 2003: 18-22.
Author. "Title of Article." Name of Newspaper. Date, edition: Page numbers.Example:
Brown, Angela K. "Yemen Hospital Victims Served Children, Poor" Sarasota Herald Tribune. 31 Dec 2002, Sarasota edition.
"Title of Episode or Segment." Performer or author. Title of Program. Name of Network. Call letters (if any), City of Local Station (if any). Broadcast Date.Example:
"Manitoba Trail." Frank Bielec. Trading Spaces. TLC, Comcast cable. 25 Dec. 2002.
Performer or producer’s last name, Performer of producer’s first name. Title of Movie.
Name of Production company, Year.
Example:
Stewart, Patrick. Nemesis. Paramount Studios. 2002.
Title. Director, Producer, and/or Writers. Medium. Distributor, Year.
Example:
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. George Shaefer, prod. and dir. Barbara Robinson, writer.
VHS. Regency Home Video, 1986.
Person Interviewed. Type of interview (personal or telephone). Date.Example:
Ciero, Peter and Marie Ciero. Personal Interview. 28 Nov 2002.
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Speeches, sermons and lectures
Speaker’s last name, Speaker’s first name. “Title of the speech, sermon, or lecture.”
Type of speaking (speech, sermon, lecture, etc.). Date.
Example:
Slabaugh, Kenton. "How Do We Become Great?" Sermon at Cornerstone Church of the
Suncoast. 4 Aug 2002.
Artist. “Song Title.” Album title. Production label, Year.
Example:
Mercy Me. "I Can Only Imagine." Almost There. Inotof Music. 2001.
Art Work and Photography
Artist. Title of Piece. Year created. Type of piece
Example:
Benton, Thomas Hart. Wheat. 1967. Oil on wood.
Plays, Dramas and Theatrical scripts
Last name of Playwright, First name of playwright. Title of Play. City of Publication: Publisher, Year.
Example:
Gibson, William. The Miracle Worker. New York: Bantam Books, 1975.
Plays, dramas and theatrical performances
Performer or producer’s last name, Performer of producer’s first name. Title of Theatrical Performance.
Playwright's First and Last Name. Name of Production company, Date of production.
Example:
Babin, Elisabeth, dir. Up the Down Staircase. Bel Kaufman. Sarasota Christian High School, 21 Apr 2002.
Creator's name (if given). “Web Page Title.” Institution or organization. Date of access. <URL network address>.Example:
Ramsey, Inez, "Internet School Library Media Center." James Madison University. 28 Dec 2002.
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/index.html
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EmailSender's Name. "Title." (from Subject line) E-mail to the author. Date of message.Example:
Presley, Elvis. "Elvis has left the building." E-mail to Mrs. Babin. 27 Dec 1999.
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