�Formatting and Style Guide
Overview
What is MLA?
MLA (Modern Language Association) style formatting is often used in various Humanities disciplines
What does MLA regulate?
MLA regulates:
(a list of all sources
used in the paper)
MLA Update
Interesting
changes in MLA:
Your Instructor Knows Best
#1 Rule for any formatting style:
Always
Follow your instructor’s
Guidelines (they may differ) and it just makes college smoother.
Format: General Guidelines
Format: General Guidelines (continued)
Formatting the 1st Page
name, your instructor's name, the course, and date
underlining, italics, quote, or bold)
inch from the top and one inch from the right of the
page (include your last name and page number)
Sample 1st Page
Formatting Section Headings
formatting but are otherwise up to you
Sample Section Headings
Numbered (all flush left with no underlining, bold, or italics):
1. Soil Conservation
1.1 Erosion
1.2 Terracing
2. Water Conservation
3. Energy Conservation
Unnumbered (by level):
Level 1 Heading: bold, flush left
Level 2 Heading: italics, flush left
Level 3 Heading: centered, bold
Level 4 Heading: centered, italics
Level 5 Heading: underlined, flush left
In-Text Citations: the Basics
(e.g. Print, Web, DVD)
entry on the Works Cited page
corresponding entry on the Works Cited page
Author-Page Style
In-text Example:
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263). Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
Corresponding Works Cited Entry:
Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford
U.P., 1967. Print.
Print Source with Author
In-text Example:
Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as "symbol-using animals" (3).
Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).
Print Source with Author
Corresponding Works Cited Entry:
Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays
on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: U of
California P, 1966. Print.
With Unknown Author
In-text Example:
We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has “more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change . . .” (“Impact of Global Warming” 6).
With Unknown Author
Corresponding Works Cited Entry:
“The Impact of Global Warming in North America.”
GLOBAL WARMING: Early Signs. 1999. Web. 23 Mar.
2009.
Other In-Text Citations 1
Classic & Literary Works with Multiple Editions
In-text Example:
Marx and Engels described human history as marked by class struggles (79; ch. 1).
Authors with Same Last Names
In-text Example:
Although some medical ethicists claim that cloning will lead to designer children (R. Miller 12), others note that the advantages for medical research outweigh this consideration (A. Miller 46).
Other In-Text Citations 2
Work by Multiple Authors
In-text Examples:
Smith, Yang, and Moore argue that tougher gun control is not needed in the United States (76).
The authors state "Tighter gun control in the United States erodes Second Amendment rights" (Smith, Yang, and Moore 76).
Jones et al. counter Smith, Yang, and Moore's argument by noting the current spike in gun violence in America compels law makers to adjust gun laws (4).
Other In-Text Citations 3
Multiple Works by the Same Author
In-text Examples:
Lightenor has argued that computers are not useful tools for small children ("Too Soon" 38), though he has acknowledged elsewhere that early exposure to computer games does lead to better small motor skill development in a child's second and third year ("Hand-Eye Development" 17).
Visual studies, because it is such a new discipline, may be "too easy" (Elkins, "Visual Studies" 63).
Other In-Text Citations 4
Citing Multivolume Works
In-text Example:
. . . as Quintilian wrote in Institutio Oratoria (1: 14-17).
Citing the Bible
In-text Example:
Ezekiel saw "what seemed to be four living creatures," each with faces of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezek. 1.5-10).
Other In-Text Citations 5
Citing Indirect Sources
In-text Example:
Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social service centers, and they don't do that well" (qtd. in Weisman 259).
Multiple Citations
In-text Example:
. . . as has been discussed elsewhere (Burke 3; Dewey 21).
Other In-Text Citations 6
Miscellaneous Non-Print Sources
In-text Example:
Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo stars Herzog's long-time film partner, Klaus Kinski. During the shooting of Fitzcarraldo, Herzog and Kinski were often at odds, but their explosive relationship fostered a memorable and influential film.
Corresponding Works Cited Entry:
Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo. Perf. Klaus Kinski.
Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982. Film.
Other In-Text Citations 7
Sources from the Internet
In-text Example:
One online film critic stated that Fitzcarraldo is "...a beautiful and terrifying critique of obsession and colonialism" (Garcia, “Herzog: a Life”).
Corresponding Works Cited Entry:
Garcia, Elizabeth. "Herzog: a Life." Online Film Critics
Corner. The Film School of New Hampshire, 2 May
2002. Web. 8 Jan. 2009.
Formatting Short Quotations
In-text Examples:
According to some, dreams express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184), though others disagree.
According to Foulkes's study, dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (184).
Is it possible that dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184)?
Cullen concludes, "Of all the things that happened there / That's all I remember" (11-12).
Formatting Long Quotations
In-text Example:
Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration:
They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room,
and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping
it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing
his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on
quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was
obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and
inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)
Adding/Omitting Words
In-text Example for Adding Words:
Jan Harold Brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states: "some individuals [who retell urban legends] make a point of learning every rumor or tale" (78).
In-text example for Omitting Words:
In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand notes that "some individuals make a point of learning every recent rumor or tale . . . and in a short time a lively exchange of details occurs" (78).
Works Cited Page: The Basics
Sample Works Cited page:
Works Cited Page: Books
Basic Format:
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication:
Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
Examples:
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York:
Penguin, 1987. Print.
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to
Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.
Palmer, William J. Dickens and New Historicism. New York: St.
Martin's, 1997. Print.
---. The Films of the Eighties: A Social History. Carbondale:
Southern Illinois UP, 1993. Print.
Works Cited Page: Periodicals
Article in a Magazine Format:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year:
pages. Medium of publication.
Example:
Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping
Mar. 2006: 143-8. Print.
Article in Scholarly Journal Format:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year):
pages. Medium of publication.
Example:
Duvall, John N. "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television
as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo's White Noise." Arizona
Quarterly 50.3 (1994): 127- 53. Print.
Works Cited Page: Web
Web Source Format:
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). “Article
Name.” Name of Site. Version number. Name of
institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor
or publisher). Date of last update. Medium of publication.
Date of access.
Works Cited Page: Web
Examples:
Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.”
A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites. A
List Apart Mag., 16 Aug. 2002. Web. 4 May 2009.
Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory.
Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.
"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow.com. eHow,
n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009.
Works Cited Page: Other
Personal Interview Example:
Purdue, Pete. Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2000.
Speech Example:
Stein, Bob. Computers and Writing Conference.
Purdue University. Union Club Hotel, West
Lafayette, IN. 23 May 2003. Keynote address.
Works Cited Page: Other
Film Example:
The Carrot Dollars. Dir. Bryan Singer. Perf. Jon
Sony, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen
Balman, and Benecio Del Toro. King Titan, 2020.
Film.
For More Information
The End