Friday, April 20, 2012

MLA Style: The Cheat Sheet


MLA


In your paper, whenever you quote or paraphrase another source, you must always indicate:

1.                  The AUTHOR
2.                  The PAGE NUMBER from where the quote or information was taken

Examples of quoting another source:

Smith explains, “The hierarchy of beauty as a mirror to the hierarchy of status in the first half of the novel may seem nonsensical to the modern reader, although perhaps it shouldn’t” (74).  This is an example of a SIGNAL PHRASE because in the sentence the author is listed.

It is noted that “hierarchy of beauty as a mirror to the hierarchy of status in the first half of the novel may seem nonsensical to the modern reader” (Smith 74).  This is an example of where the author and page number are indicated at the end in parentheses.

NOTICE THAT IN BOTH INSTANCES THE PERIOD COMES AFTER THE PAGE NUMBER PARENTHETICAL.

Example of paraphrasing another source (not quoting):

Beauty often mirrors hierarchy of status in the novel (Wright 74). 

-- AGAIN, NOTICE THAT THE PERIOD COMES AFTER THE PAGE NUMBER PARENTHETICAL.


If it is a long quotation, you need to set off quote by indenting (block quotes).  Example:

            Lookism, George Wright argues, has not gone away:

The assumed correlation between inner and outer beauty is consistently evident in children’s Disney animation, televised Miss America Pageants, and big budget Hollywood films. One could argue that these modern-day examples are vestiges of a bygone fairytale era closer to Aphra Behn’s literary world. In any event, the narrator establishes to the readers that certain foreign people … are special examples of their race and this specialness is most evident in their very appearance.  (3-4)

NOTICE that with indented block quotes (long quotations), the period comes before the page number in parentheses.  This is different from the other examples.


You must also have a Works Cited page where you list your sources.  See links below for explanations of setting one up.




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