Modern Language Association
MLA
MLA has three parts
• Parenthetical references in the body of the paper (also known as in text-citation).
• Works cited page
• Content paraphrases
Parenthetical references in the Paper
• The colony’s religious and political freedom appealed to many idealist in Europe ( Ripley 12).
• The Brooklyn Bridge has been used as subject by many American artists (McKay 144; Tice 54).
• Michael Jackson died in 2009 (R. Smith 233). He was loved by many (T. Smith 32).
Citing a source that does not have an author
• Your source card:
“The Talk of the Town” 2 Feb. 2010. New Yorker. 2009
org/thetalkofthetown.htm.>
• Cite by a shortened version of the title.
• Paraphrased paragraph in your paper:
The recent exhibit of the dinosaurs at the museum featured the computer controlled dinosaurs. Many hours were put in the creations of the electronic dinosaurs (“Talk”).
Works Cited Page
• What you put onto your source cards and you transfer it over to the Works Cited Page by placing the sources in alphabetical order.
• Double space within and between entries on the list.
Works Cited
Beetle, Brad. The Uses of Fairy Tales. New
York: Neeslers Press, 1976.
Gans, Howard. History of the Theater. New
York: Longman, 1998.
Content Paraphrases
• The body of your paper.
• 12 inch Times New Roman
• Double Space
• Everything written in a research paper needs to be double spaced and in 12 Times New Roman. This is part of the MLA format.
Your Research Paper Also Includes:
• Title Page: Your original title, your name, class, date
• Outline
• Paper
• Works Cited Page
Adolf Hitler
Rachel Smith
English IV- lst block
October 14, 2010
Smith 1
Rachel Smith
English IV
Mrs. Belk
14 October 2010
Adolf Hitler
Thesis: You will write your own thesis here.
- Introduction
- Hitler’s Family
A. Mother
B. Wife
III. Conclusion
Smith 2
Rachel Smith
English IV
Mrs. Belk
14 October 2010
Adolf Hitler
You will start writing your introduction paragraph here. Remember
to double space every line and to indent every paragraph. Your introduction
paragraph needs to be at least three to five sentences long. Your introduction
will introduce your paper with an attention getter or interesting facts. Your
thesis statement will the last sentence in your introduction paragraph.
Your body will start off with your first topic from your thesis statement
Smith 3
and your second roman numeral on your outline. Your body of the research
paper needs to follow your outline. Remember to indent every time you
start a new paragraph and double space. Also, remember to cite your
sources (Belk 1).
Every paragraph needs to be cited (Belk 1). Also, you need to cite
when you switch sources (Murdock 1). If you use the same source but
different page number, you need to cite (22). You need at least ten
paragraphs total. The body paragraphs must have at least five to seven
sentences.
Do not forget to avoid using contractions. “Also, remember to
cite your quotes” (Belk 1). Small quotes are cited differently from block quotes,
Smith 4
which are long quotes. Block quotes are longer than four lines when typed out.
You do not place quotation marks around a block quote. I will show you how
to cite a block quote.
This is an example of a block quote; just pretend this a quote
from a book. You will tab over two times from the left margin.
notice there is no quotation marks setting off this quote. This
quote would be considered a block quote, because it takes up
more than four lines when typed out. Remember you can only
have one block quote in your paper. If you have any questions,
see me.
Remember your conclusion is to restate your thesis and summarize
your main points in your paper. Conclusion needs to have 3 to 5 sentences.
Smith 5
Works Cited
Belk, Emily. How to Cite. Southaven: Teachers Inc., 2010.
Murdock, Becky. Knowing to Correctly Use MLA in a Research Paper. Hernando:
Ferguson Publishers, 2009.
Range, Paper. In Alphabetical Order by Authors Last Name. Walls: Publisher,
1999.
“ZZ Top” 2010. Singers Biography Website Name. 12 August 2010.
http://www.writethewebsiteaddresshere.com