According to Dictionary.com, “it is the style recommended by the Modern Language Association for preparing scholarly manuscripts and student research papers. It concerns itself with the mechanics of writing, such as punctuation, quotation, and documentation of sources. MLA style has been widely used by schools, academic departments, and instructors for nearly half a century.”
Other scholarly forms of documentation and referencing exist for writing, such as APA, Chicago, or Turabian, but we will not use these other forms. In English class, you will use the MLA style of documentation in all four years of high school.
In-Text Notation
Hopefully, after reading the entry on plagiarism, you understand a little more about in-text notation. In MLA style, in-text notation includes the author’s last name and page number (if given) for EACH sentence. The only exception would be if two cited sentences appear in your paper, one after the next, the citation is needed ONLY for the second sentence.
Example: “This is the first sentence. This is the second sentence” (Feller 25).
OR “This is the first sentence. This is the second sentence” (Feller).
However, if the two sentences originally came from different sources, they both need citations.
Example: “This is the first sentence” (Feller 25). “This is the second sentence” (Miller 21).
OR “This is the first sentence” (Feller 25). “This is the second sentence” (Miller).
Notice that the citation appears INSIDE the sentence, hence the name “in-text” notation. The period which ends the sentence goes AFTER the citation.
Bibliographies and Works Cited Pages
A bibliography and a works cited page do not include the same information, with one small difference. A bibliography includes ALL references you found, looked at, or read during your research. This does not necessarily mean you used them all to write your paper. A works cited page ONLY includes books you cite within your paper. ALL works cited in your paper MUST have an entry in the works cited page at the end of your paper; ALL works cited entries MUST be cited SOMEWHERE in your paper. You will only complete works cited pages for this class, not bibliographies.
The works cited page should begin a new page after the paper. The format for a works cited page includes writing the words Works Cited, both capitalized, centered, on the first line of the page. The works cited page is double-spaced; nothing has extra spaces. Alphabetize entries by the authors’ last names, or the first word in the entry if no author is given.
Other scholarly forms of documentation and referencing exist for writing, such as APA, Chicago, or Turabian, but we will not use these other forms. In English class, you will use the MLA style of documentation in all four years of high school.
In-Text Notation
Hopefully, after reading the entry on plagiarism, you understand a little more about in-text notation. In MLA style, in-text notation includes the author’s last name and page number (if given) for EACH sentence. The only exception would be if two cited sentences appear in your paper, one after the next, the citation is needed ONLY for the second sentence.
Example: “This is the first sentence. This is the second sentence” (Feller 25).
OR “This is the first sentence. This is the second sentence” (Feller).
However, if the two sentences originally came from different sources, they both need citations.
Example: “This is the first sentence” (Feller 25). “This is the second sentence” (Miller 21).
OR “This is the first sentence” (Feller 25). “This is the second sentence” (Miller).
Notice that the citation appears INSIDE the sentence, hence the name “in-text” notation. The period which ends the sentence goes AFTER the citation.
Bibliographies and Works Cited Pages
A bibliography and a works cited page do not include the same information, with one small difference. A bibliography includes ALL references you found, looked at, or read during your research. This does not necessarily mean you used them all to write your paper. A works cited page ONLY includes books you cite within your paper. ALL works cited in your paper MUST have an entry in the works cited page at the end of your paper; ALL works cited entries MUST be cited SOMEWHERE in your paper. You will only complete works cited pages for this class, not bibliographies.
The works cited page should begin a new page after the paper. The format for a works cited page includes writing the words Works Cited, both capitalized, centered, on the first line of the page. The works cited page is double-spaced; nothing has extra spaces. Alphabetize entries by the authors’ last names, or the first word in the entry if no author is given.
You will receive more information about this as it becomes necessary. For extra help, view the Purdue Online Writing Lab’s section on MLA.