TheBasicsofMLAFormat
MLAisanacronymforModernLanguageAssociation,agroupthatsetsformattingguidelinesforacademic
writinginthehumanities.
MLAformatisusedto:
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Supportyourclaimsinastandardanduniformway.
Strengthenyourargumentwithfacts,statistics,andotherideas.
Addcredibilitytoyourworkbyproperlyattributingownershiptoanysourcematerialused.
MLArequiresyouressaytofollowtheseformattingguidelines:
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12‐pointfont,eitherTimesNewRoman
orAriel
Oneinchmarginsallaround
Doublespacedtextthroughouttheentire
essay
Essaytitlecenteredimmediatelyafterthe
heading
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Headingwith
o Yourname
o Instructor’sname
o Classabbreviationandnumber
o Date
Lastnameandpagenumberintheheader
(nottheheading)onthetoprightsideof
eachpage
MLAstylecitation/documentationisdoneintwoways:
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In‐text(orparenthetical)citation:givingcredittosourceswithinyourpaper.
Work(s)Citedpage:aseparatepageattheendofyouressaythatprovidesfullpublishing
informationofeachsourceused.
- In‐textcitation:
Therearethreebasicpartsofthein‐textcitation:
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Signalphrase(Authorandtitleofwork)
Directquote,Paraphrase,orBlockquote
Parentheticalcitation
‐Exampleofdirectquote:
Signal Phrase
AccordingtoJoelChristenson’swork,Homer:aBeginner’sGuide,
“Contrarytomodernassumptions,Homerisnotthebeginningoftheclassicalworld”(4).
Quote
‐Exampleofaparaphrase:
Parenthetical
Signal Phrase
Paraphrase
Tolstoy’snovella,TheDeathofIvanIlyich,teachesusthatthedreadofisolationisnotmerely
causedbysomeonebeingalone.Rather,isolation’sdreadexistsduetotheconditionofone’schoice
tobealonewithinahighlypopulatedcityfullofclosefriends,familyandlovedones(122).
Parenthetical
San Antonio College Writing Center | Gonzales Hall 203 | 210-486-1433
Edited 11/15/15 CD
Indirectquotingandparaphrasing,allpunctuationisplacedaftertheparenthetical,asintheaboveexample.
‐Exampleofablockquote:
Signal Phrase
MarthaNussbaum’sarticle“Objectification”pointstoaninterestingmisconceptioninparent–child
relationships:
Thetreatmentofyoungchildrenbytheirparentsalmostalwaysinvolvesadenialof
autonomy;itinvolvessomeaspectsofownership,thoughnotall.Ontheotherhand,in
almostalltimesandplacesithasbeenthoughtbadforparentstotreattheirchildrenas
Paraphrase
lackinginbodilyintegrity–batteryandabuse,thoughcommon,aremoreorlessuniversally
deplored.(262)
Parenthetical
Blockquotesareonlyusedwhenquotedmaterialexceedsfourlinesofproseandthreelinesofverse.Allof
thequotedmaterialisdoubleindented.Noquotationmarksareused.Punctuationisplacedafterthequoted
text,nottheparenthetical.
- Work(s)CitedPage:
MLArequiresyoutogivepublicationinformationattheendofyouressayonaseparatepage.Ifyouhaveonly
usedonesourceinyouressay,thispageiscalledWorkCited.Ifyouhaveusedmorethanonesourceinsideof
youressay,thispageiscalledWorksCited.Ineachcase,thetitleofthispageiscentered.YourWork(s)cited
pageusesahangingindentforlistingsources.Also,allsourcesarelistedinalphabeticalorder.Hereisan
exampleofhoweachwouldlookonawork(s)citedpage,listedinthatspecificorder.
WorksCited
Lastname,Firstname.TitleofBook.CityofPublication:Publisher,YearofPublication.MediumofPublication.
Lastname,Firstname."TitleofEssay."TitleofCollection.Ed.Editor'sName(s).CityofPublication:Publisher,
Year.Pagerangeofentry.MediumofPublication.
Author(s)."TitleofArticle."TitleofJournalVolume.Issue(Year):pages.Mediumofpublication.
Editor,author,orcompilername(ifavailable).NameofSite.Versionnumber.Nameof
institution/organizationaffiliatedwiththesite(sponsororpublisher),dateofresourcecreation(if
available).Mediumofpublication.Dateofaccess.
Notes:
San Antonio College Writing Center | Gonzales Hall 203 | 210-486-1433
Edited 11/15/15 CD