How to use MLA
MLA Handbook by ISBN: 9781603293525Publication Date: 2021-04-22The MLA Handbook is a reference guide that offers guidance on creating works-cited-list entries in MLA style using the template of core elements. Features advice on punctuation, grammar, inclusive language, formatting research papers, and in-text citations. Includes an appendix of samples, illustrations, and an index.
Examples
Works-Cited-List Entries
Books
Davis, Angela Y. Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. Pantheon, 1998.
Journal Articles
Boggs, Colleen Glenney. "Public Reading and the Civil War Draft Lottery." American Periodicals, vol. 26, no. 2, 2016, pp. 149-66.
Website Content
Bauch, Nicholas. Enchanting the Desert: A Pattern Language for the Production of Space. Standford UP, 2016, www.enchantingthedesert.com/home/.
In-Text Citations
*In-text citations for MLA are very contextual and have different requirements. For more information on citing sources in the text, see chapter 6 of the MLA handbook.*
"An in-text citation begins with the shortest piece of information that directs your reader to the entry in the works-cited list. Thus, it begins with whatever comes first in the entry: the author's name or the title (or description) of the work. The citation can appear in your prose or in parentheses" (MLA 227)
Citation in prose
Naomi Baron broke new ground on the subject.
Parenthetical citation
At least one researcher has broken new ground on the subject (Baron).
Works cited
Baron, Naomi S. "Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media." PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200.