BASIC MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (MLA) DOCUMENTATION STYLE (based on the
4th edition MLA style manual)
Documentation of sources for the papers for this course follows the MLA
documentation style. The three major elements of this style are the
IN-TEXT documentation or
TAGS, the
PARENTHETICAL documentation, and the
WORKS CITED documentation. You must provide the
information about your source to complete each of these elements. A tag and
parenthetical documentation will occur EVERY TIME YOU USE INFORMATION FROM YOUR
SOURCES. A single works cited entry will appear on the works cited page for
every source you use.
Example:
Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee were both generals in the Civil
War. Grant was a general for the Union army, and Lee was a general for the
Confederate army. In "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts," Bruce Catton
compares the two men by suggesting that Grant "the son of a tanner on the
Western frontier, was everything Lee was not" (222). Catton compares
the two men on the basis of social class, ideals, and the communities
they represented. He uses the differences between Grant and Lee to show
that the conflict between the Union and the Confederacy was as inevitable.
In defining the social class of each man, Catton describes Grant's
rough living conditions and suggests that this type of living breeds
independence and self-reliance (222-223). Catton also points out that Lee
is depicted as a member of an old-fashioned culture based on "the age
of knighthood and the English country squire" (222). Lee was part of the
privileged upper class. These different backgrounds insured that these men
would view ideas differently.
IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION or TAGS:
This is the information about your source that appears in the text or
sentences of your paper. This information appears in two ways, the FIRST
USE of the source and the ADDITIONAL USE of the source. Quotation
marks must always be used when citing an author's direct words. This punctuation
makes it easy to tell which words are the author's. By using the other elements
of in-text documentation properly, you will also be able to properly indicate to
your audience when you are paraphrasing and when you are summarizing the author.
First Use:
The first time you use a source, you must introduce the source and provide a
context for the source. To do this, you must give the full name of the author in
the text of your paper to introduce this author. To provide a context for the
quote, you can give the name of book or article, or if you know something
special about the author that makes the author an expert in your subject, you
can use that information to put the quotation in context. If citing an article,
use the title of the article, NOT the title of the collection or the title of
the magazine. Always use the author's FULL NAME in the sentences that make up
the paper when using a source for the first time. If you have more than one work
by the same author, you must give the name of the source you are quoting in the
text of the paper so the reader will know which source the material comes
from.
First Use TAG From the Example: In "Grant and Lee: A Study
in Contrasts," Bruce Catton compares the two men by suggesting . . .
OR: Bruce Catton, history professor at Harvard University
and recognized Civil War expert, compares the two men by suggesting . . .
Additional Use:
Any time after the first use, you can introduce your source's information
with the author's last name only in the TAG if that author has only one
listing on your works cited page and if no other authors have the same last
name. If you use several sources by the same author, you will want to include
the title of the article or book in the sentences of your paper each time to let
your reader know which item you are referring to.
Additional Use TAGS From the Example: Catton also points out
that Lee is depicted as a member of an old- fashioned culture based on "the age
of knighthood and the English country squire" (222).
Summary or Paraphrase:
Note that even with the summary, you can tell where the author's ideas stop
and Catton's ideas start when the author's name is included in the text of the
paper. In-text TAGS and PARENTHETICAL information are required for
any summary or paraphrase.
From the Example: In defining the social class of each man,
Catton describes Grant's rough living conditions and suggests that this type of
living breeds independence and self-reliance (222-3).
Note on Documentation Styles for Various Courses
Keep in mind that each field uses its own documentation style, and various prefessors also have
preferences regarding how sources are documented. The MLA style discussed here is appropiate for
English courses, but Journalism courses, History courses, and science courses all have their own styles.
The need for the basic information will remain the same, but check with each professor to discover preferences.
While this paper discusses the style indicated as that "prefered" by MLA, some instructors prefer last
name and page number in parentheses to the use of TAGS. When in doubt, ask.
BLOCK QUOTATIONS:
Blocked quotations are quotations that would take up four or more lines of
regularly typed text in your paper. To set these quotations off from your
own writing, the material is indented. This makes it clear that this long
passages is from a source. Block quotations still employ the three main elements
of any quotation: TAGS, PARENTHETICAL information, and a WORKS
CITED entry.
The blocked section is double spaced the same as the rest of your document.
However, it starts one line down and each line is indented two tabs.
Example:
In defining the social class of each man, Catton describes Grant's rough
living conditions and suggests that this type of living breeds independence and
self-reliance (222-223). Catton traces this influence all the way back to
Grant's childhood:
He had come up the hard way, and embodied nothing in particular
except the eternal toughness and sinewy fiber of the men who
grew up beyond the mountains. He was one of a body of men who
owed reverence and obedience to no one, who were self-reliant
to a fault, who cared hardly anything for the past but who
has a sharp eye for the future. (222-23)
Catton sees this upbringing as the source for Grant's strength of character, and
he suggests the conflict between Grant and Lee was inevitable. Their character
differences guaranteed it.
Note: Mark the differences between the block quotation and the
shorter, more common in-line quotation. Here the period comes before the
parenthetical information and the tag is usually followed by a colon. The
indentation on the left takes the place of the quotation marks, and the right
end of the line continues to the regular margin. Remember that a blocked
quotation is only used when the quotation would take up four full lines of your
regular text or more. Such long quotations should be reserved for particularly
important information and should be followed by your own extensive analysis of
the quoted material explaining or exploring its significance and creating ties
to your thesis.
PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION:
This is the information in the () which gives the reader a means of finding
the original information in the source material. This normally includes the
page numbers. If you are using electronic sources, give the paragraph
numbers when the electronic service does not reproduce the article exactly
as it appeared or give other indications of the page breaks from the original
print version since you won't be able to tell which page or pages of the
original are correct. The parenthetical information for an electronic source
would look like this: (par. 14).
If you are using a poem, you should include line numbers rather than page
numbers (ln. 44-50) If you are using a play, you should list the act and scene
information rather than the page numbers: (4:2) It is possible to put other
information in this area in extreme cases. In the past, you may have skipped
using TAGS and put the author's last name here. However, the MLA's preferred recommendations and will be
making use of TAGS in the text of the paper as shown in the samples
above. Failure to use proper IN-TEXT TAGS usually results in a lowered grade
because without the proper use of TAGS, distinctions between what material is
yours and what comes from your sources become blurred, a condition which
frequently leads to problems with plagiarism.
WORKS CITED DOCUMENTATION:
This is the complete publication information about your source. See a
handbook or an on-line resource to determine how to complete these entries. When using a play or poem
from a collection, include the page numbers at the end of the works cited entry
just as you would for an article or essay in a collection. This is so people can
find the source in the collection. But put line numbers or act and scene
information in the ( ) in the text of your paper.
Three things to remember:
Your reader should never have to turn to the Works Cited page to understand
what source you are using. The Works Cited page is only to let them know how
they can find this information for themselves.
No quotation or information from a source is self-explanatory. You must
always comment on the information to let the reader know exactly how this
information promotes your ideas.
NO FLOATING QUOTES! You must always introduce or attribute a quotation,
summary or paraphrase with a reference to the author in the form of a TAG.
This means that you will have some of your own words in every sentence of the
paper. You will have no free standing or floating quotations, summaries, or
paraphrases.
