MLA STYLE AND FORMAT
Below are two picturizations of how to set up your paper according to the MLA style, which is the style used in humanities-based courses. The MLA style stands for the Modern Language Association, the world's leading organization for professionals in literature and the humanities. You do not need to memorize how to follow it, but you will be expected to use the resources I provide to format both the body of your essay and your "Works Cited" page. Failure to turn in a "Works Cited" page for any assignment will result in a lowering of 1/3 of your overall grade for the assignment.
MLA Style page (2016)
Download .pdf here
In-text citation
When citing sources in the body of your paper after a quote or a paraphrase, don't use footnotes to cite. Instead, use the MLA in-text citation style.
Example from OWL Purdue
For Print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.
Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as "symbol-using animals" (3).
Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).
"text of quote"#(author#page number). Note: # means 'insert space.' Notice how the ending punctuation follows the close parenthesis of the citation.
The above example is for a known author and page number. For other kinds of texts, interviews, films, etc., please go here and find the appropriate citation style.
Works Cited page
All written work must include a "Works Cited" page. Please use the picturization below for the most commonly cited sources. For others, please click the appropriate link below:
Books
Periodicals
Online Sources
Other Commonly Cited Sources (Interviews, Films, art work, etc.)
Sample Works Cited Page (download .pdf here)
Sample papers using the MLA style and formatting (from MLA 2016)