Smith 1
Smith, Anna
Bessenbacher
English M01B 8:00
5 October 2016
MLA Sample
This is a sample of MLA format. It is intended to be used for formatting purposes only.
The content is disjointed and is out of context.
According to Zimmerman, “Had the narrator been able to retain his initial tranquility, he
might have been able to produce some closing remarks (a summary of his case and a terminal
flourish), but by the end of the speech his forensic powers have degenerated into complete and
utter frenzy.” This is a very weak way to quote. See the following sentence for improvement:
His inability to “produce some closing remarks” at the end of the story shows that the
narrator’s mind had “degenerated into complete and utter frenzy” (Zimmerman).
The seeming genius of Poe’s narrator is undermined when “the aspiring sleuth exposes
his foolishness [while] he celebrates his investigative prowess” (Kennedy).
It is ironic that Billie is the only character with a name since he is the one who meets with
the “sinister hospitality of the grave” (Crane 265).
The “dark speck,” the chrysanthemums dead or dying on the side of the road, represents
the elimination of the light of Elisa’s hope for independence and proves that she will never be
loosed from her pot (Steinbeck 7).
Smith 2
Works Cited
Crane, Stephen. “The Open Boat.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. edited by Kelly J.
Mays, Norton, 2014, pp. 245-66.
Kennedy, J. Gerald. "The Limits of Reason: Poe's Deluded Detectives." American
Literature, vol. 47, no. 2, 1975, pp. 184-96. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism,
edited by Kathy D. Darrow, vol. 211, Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center,
http://go.galegroup.com. Accessed 21 Sept. 2016.
Steinbeck, John. “The Chrysanthemums.” 1938, http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/
icb.topic1220828.files/The%20Chysanthemums-Steinbeck.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept. 2016.
Zimmerman, Brett. "Frantic Forensic Oratory: Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart'." Style, vol. 35, no. 1,
2001, pp. 34+. Literature Resource Center, http://go.galegroup.com. Accessed 21 Sept.
2016.