Modern Language Association

MLA citation style refers to the rules and conventions established by the Modern
Language Association for acknowledging sources used in a research paper.
MLA citation style uses a simple two-part parenthetical documentation system
for citing sources: citations in the text of a paper are used to point to an
alphabetical Works Cited list that appears at the end of the paper. Together,
these references identify and credit the sources used in the paper and allow
others to access and retrieve this material.
MLA provides the writer with a system for referencing sources, which establishes
credibility, and adds accountability for avoiding plagiarism.

Your mini-essay must follow MLA guidelines, especially regarding the following:
General MLA Formatting
Header and Heading
Quotation Formatting and In-Text Citations
Work Cited
 General Formatting
Your essay must be typed (and printed on white paper)

Double space the text of your essay and use a 12 point standard font

Set the margins of your essay to 1” on all sides

Leave only ONE space after periods or other punctuation marks

Do not make a title page for your essay

Your essay title should be under your essay heading, centered, in Title Case
(not CAPS)
 Header and Heading
Your essay must have a header with your last name and page number in
the upper right hand corner

VIEW-> Header and Footer or INSERT-> Header

INSERT-> page number

Your essay must have a heading in the upper left hand corner:
Your name
My name (Thibodeau)
Class title (Honors English 12)
Due Date
 Sample First Page
Dent 1

Stu Dent
Thibodeau
Honors English 12
October 16, 2024

School Start Times: A Study of Texts

In introduction,
 In Text Citations
In MLA format, the author’s name (full the first time you use it – just last
name for future references) and page number (when the source is
originally paginated!) quoted must appear in the text, and a full reference will
appear in your Work Cited

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).

The author’s name may appear in the sentence itself (more likely, if you are
using the transitions) or in parenthesis, but the page number should
always be in parenthesis, never in the text.
If you are quoting an author who quotes an author, you should use qtd. in for
your parenthetical citation. For example: As Smith describes, “blah blah”
(qtd. in Fitzgerald 72). In this case, Fitzgerald will be the Work Cited entry.
 Formatting Quotations
In MLA style, the length of the quotation dictates how you format the
quotation in your essay.

For shorter quotations (fewer than 4 typed lines), enclose the quotation
within quotation marks.
Punctuation marks should appear after the parenthetical citation
(author and page number)

For longer quotations (more than 4 typed lines), block indent the entire
quotation and omit quotation marks.
Punctuation marks should appear before the parenthetical citation.
 Formatting Shorter Quotations
Sparrow, et al explain, “In a development that
would have seemed extraordinary just over a
decade ago, many of us have constant access to
information” (776). In other words…
 Formatting Longer Quotations
As Sparrow, et al explain:
In a development that would have seemed extraordinary
just over a decade ago, many of us have constant access
to information. If we need to find out the score of a ball game,
learn how to perform a complicated statistical test, or
simply remember the name of the actress in the classic
movie we are viewing, we need only turn to our laptops,
tablets, or smartphones and we can find the answers
immediately. (776)
In other words…
 WORK CITED (OWL @ Purdue University is the go-to source for MLA info)
A bibliography is everything you read in preparation for writing something.
A work cited is just the texts you cited – those used as evidence in your writing.

The primary function of MLA is to make it clear which ideas are yours and which ideas are
someone else’s. Including a Work Cited page allows your reader to find and access the
same sources that you used. The fundamental task is to make sure that a reader can do
that, so you must include the core elements about a text.

MLA CORE ELEMENTS: Author, “Title of Source (article title)”, Title of Container
(publication title), Publisher, Date, Version, Number, Location, Other Contributors
(editors, etc)

For example:
• Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers
One to One, edited by Ben Rafoth, Heinemann, 2000, pp. 24-34.
• Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. MacMurray, 1999
• Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Allyn and
Bacon, 2000.
• Kincaid, Jamaica. “In History.” Callaloo, vol. 24, no. 2, Spring 2001, pp. 620-26.
 Additional rules about the Work Cited page

• It should be on its own page at the end of your essay

• The entries should be in alphabetical order by the author’s last name
• Entries should not be numbered or bulleted
• If an entry is more than one line long, use a hanging indent (indent the
second line, like this one is!)
• There must be a 1-to-1 correlation between your in-text citations and
your work cited entries (if you mention an author or source in your essay,
it must be in your work cited – and vice versa)
 Title Workshop

What makes a good title/what makes a title good?

It tells the reader what the text is about

It engages the reader and makes him/her want to continue reading

What makes a bad title?

It is too vague
It is a label, not a title (ie, “School Start Time Mini-Essay”)
It doesn’t give the reader any reason to keep reading