MLA FORMATTINGMLA FORMATTING

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________•Standard One Inch Margins•First Page ONLY – Upper Left Hand Corner: Your Name, Your Professor’s Name, the Course & Section Number, and the Date (Do not use the Insert Header Function in your Word Processing Program, i.e. Microsoft Word)•Every Page – Upper Right Hand Corner: Your Last Name and the Page Number (Use the Insert Page Number Function in your Word Processing Program)•Title Centered•Double-Spaced•12 Point Font, Times New Roman

When to Use a Direct When to Use a Direct QuoteQuoteYou should only choose to use a direct

quote if the passage◦ Has Memorable Language

“The road to Hell is paved with unbought stuffed dogs” (Hemingway 23). Summarizing this would loose the silliness of the passage.

◦ Has Clear and Concise Language “More than 3 million people, including 58,000

Americans were killed” (“Vietnam War”). There was no better way to say it.

◦ Authoritative Language “KJ Wright batted the football, that is a foul for an

illegal bat” (Blandino). He’s the head of officiating for the NFL.

DROPPED QUOTES:No. Just DROPPED QUOTES:No. Just No. No.

Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and had three siblings. “Hemingway was an abusive drunk.” He eventually moved to Kansas City and worked as a cub reporter. Hemingway then moved to Toronto and then onto Europe, where he met up with his literary counterparts. This is where his excessive drinking habits and violent behavior took form.

Dr. Fenstermaker, a renowned Hemingway expert and tenured professor at Harvard University, said, “Hemingway was an abusive drunk” (Smith 54). By this, he suggests that Hemingway used alcohol not only to incite his bitter rage, but also as a conflagrant to burn the bridges between himself and his mentors. This supports the stance that Hemingway did all he could to break the ties with those who taught him the craft.

Example of a Dropped Quote

Example of an Integrated Quote

Integrating Direct QuotesIntegrating Direct Quotes

IntroduceEstablish the Credibility of the

Source MaterialExplain

Reiterate the Quoted Material for Clarity: “By this…” or “In other

words…”Integrate

Show the Relevance of the Source Material to Your Thesis/Stance/Claim

Signal VerbsSignal VerbsOne of the best methods is to

establish the authority and use a signal word:◦Keeler confirms that “dropping

quotes will lead to failure.” ◦Here is a list (you are not limited to

them)Acknowledges

endorses Admits implies

Argues Asserts Claims Comments

Compares Concedes Confirms Contends

Declares Denies Describes Disputes

Refutes Rejects Suggests illustrates

Signal PhrasesSignal PhrasesLook to your right. There are

phrases on the wall that can help you integrate your quote.

Sometimes You Can TrimSometimes You Can TrimSometimes you can trim the

quotation. If it flows naturally in the sentence: ◦Keeler decries not properly

integrating quotes and insists the action “will lead to failure” (43).

A Quote within a QuoteA Quote within a QuoteSometimes you will quote

dialogue. Handle it like below: ◦“ ‘I hate cauliflower,’ shouted Asa, ‘it

tastes like puke’” (Keeler 43).

How to PunctuateHow to Punctuate

None if you use that (or if it flows)◦Keeler confirms that “dropping quotes will

lead to failure” (43)◦See previous slide

A Comma if it follows the signal verb.◦Keeler confirms, “dropping quotes will

lead to failure” (43)A Colon if it follows and independent

clause.◦Keeler confirmed the fears of her

students: “dropping quotes will lead to failure” (43).

BLOCK QUOTESBLOCK QUOTES

A. Must be FIVE lines or more

B. Lead into a Block Quotes with a colon, not a comma

C. Indent the Block Quote in its entirety

D. Do not use Quotation Marks

E. The Period comes before the Parenthetical Citation

F. No more than ONE Block Quote per three pages

B

C

E

D

How to Punctuate (cont)How to Punctuate (cont) You may also choose to break a longer quotation into

two sections:◦ “Using block quotations,” bemoaned Keeler, “will lead

to failure” (43). Sometimes you will use ellipses—especially if you want

to quote something long◦ In his essay “A Hanging,” Orwell laments the

“unspeakable wrongness” of taking the life of another human. As the prisoner is marched to the gallows, Orwell reports, “All the organs of his body were working . . . all toiling away in solemn foolery” (47).

◦ In his essay “A Hanging,” Orwell laments the “unspeakable wrongness” of taking the life of another human. As the prisoner is marched to the gallows, Orwell reports, “His eyes saw the yellow gravel and the grey walls, and his brain still remembered, foresaw, reasoned . . . ” (47).

STANDARD QUOTESSTANDARD QUOTESStandard quotes are four lines or lessYou should not have more than 3-4

standard quotes on a single page.

EXAMPLE:Dr. Fenstermaker, a renowned Hemingway expert and tenured professor at Harvard University, said, “Hemingway was an abusive drunk” (Smith 54).

Parenthetical Citations with Parenthetical Citations with Standard QuotesStandard Quotes

Dr. Fenstermaker, a renowned Hemingway expert and tenured professor at Harvard University, said, “Hemingway was an abusive drunk” (Smith 54).

1.End Quote2.Parenthetical Citation 3.Period

1.

2. 3.

Parenthetical CitationsParenthetical Citations

(Banks 121) Banks is a quick reference to the works cited page.121 is the page that the quoted material is found in Banks’ work.***In order to know what to put in a parenthetical, it is always the first part of a works cited entry:

Banks, Miranda. “Teen Themes.” Television Saturation. Ed. Joseph McCullin. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 118-94. Print.

Parenthetical CitationsParenthetical Citations(Banks, par. 12)

Sometimes sources provide paragraph numbers and not page numbers. In this case, you will use the above parenthetical.

(Banks)Sometimes sources do not provide page or paragraph numbers, which usually indicates an inadequate source. Nevertheless, the parenthetical will look like this one and n. pag. will be found in the works cited entry.

Parenthetical CitationsParenthetical Citations

(“The End is Near” 48-51)Sometimes sources do not provide an author, which can usually be a sign of a bad source. Nevertheless, the parenthetical still follows the same rule.***In order to know what to put in a parenthetical, it is always the first part of a works cited entry:

“The End is Near.” Propagandist Weekly. Ed. Brenda Johnson. New York: Holt Publishing, 2011. 34-95. Print.

In-Text Citations with In-Text Citations with Standard QuotesStandard Quotes

Alex Wright, director or User Experience and Product Research at The New York Times, said, “[O]ral tradition means more than just talking” (357).

When the author of the quote is the same as the author of the article/book from which the quote is found, you do not need to include the last name of the author inside of the parenthetical; all you need is the page number where the quote was found.

Ellipses & BracketsEllipses & Brackets Ellipses are used to show information has been

removed or omitted from a quote, refer to previous slide

(Example found on Block Quote slide)

Brackets clarify pronoun and noun usage and/or can correct verb tense issues. Page 334 in the Little, Brown.

Original:“He is considered the forefather of modern thought

and the theory of naturalism” (Jones 824).Clarified with Brackets:“[Freud] is considered the forefather of modern

thought and the theory of naturalism” (Jones 824).“He [was] considered the forefather of modern

thought and the theory of naturalism” (Jones 824).

BracketsBrackets

“He is considered the forefathr [sic] of modern thought and the theory of naturalism” (Jones 824).

***As you can see the word “forefathr” is misspelled. When this occurs in the work that you want to quote, you cannot fix it for the original author. However, you also do not want the professor to think that you made the spelling error. In this instance, you will input [sic] after the error to indicate the mistake was published/printed in this manner.

Special PunctuationSpecial Punctuation If the author uses a piece of punctuation such as a

question mark or comma, include it but maintain your external punctuation as well.◦ “How can I describe my emotions at this

catastrophe. . . ?” wonders the doctor in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (42).

◦ Dorothea Brooke responds to her sister, “What a wonderful little almanac you are, Celia!” (7).

Your special punctuation remains external.◦ What dramatic events followed his attack on “taxation

without representation” (32)!

TITLESTITLESThe titles of Longer Works (Books, Films,

Albums, Collections, Anthologies, Sitcoms…) need to be ITALICIZED

Catcher and the Rye

The titles of Shorter Works (Poem, Song, Short Stories, Articles, Journals, Episodes…) need to be in “QUOTES”

“The Story of an Hour”

Capitalize all words in a title except for Prepositions, Articles and Conjunctions, unless the title starts or ends in these types of words.

Works CitedWorks Cited1. Alphabetized(No Numbers or

Bullets)2. Hanging

Indention(The only full line of

text should be the first line of each source; each additional line of a source is indented)

3. Works Cited should head the page

(No Bold, Underline or Quotation Marks, just plain old 12 point Font, Times New Roman)