NOTE: Teachers may require all 3 parts or some other combination. If you are unsure what a teacher expects, be sure to ask what your teacher means when they request that you use "MLA." For this assignment, your teacher wants you to practice all 3 parts.
Keep in mind that MLA provides guidance for even more details, including use of punctuation, abbreviations, etc. To explore further, refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). Also, check out this help on Navigating OWL.
Ms. Sannwald Recommends
Ms. Sannwald Recommends
Ms. Sannwald Recommends
Q1: What are in-text citations?
A1: In-text citations are included within the main text of your paper. Whenever you use a quote (or specific paraphrased information that is not common knowledge), you should include an in-text citation to connect the quote to its source from your Works Cited page.
Q2: Are these the same as parenthetical citations?
A2: Yes! In-text citations are included between parentheses ( ), which is why they are sometimes called parenthetical citations.
Q3: What do I put in the parentheses?
A3: The most common thing you'll put in parentheses is: (AuthorLastName PageNumber). Example: (Golding 54) - Of course, you may commonly find yourself using web content that does not have page numbers. In this case, just include the author's last name. For other situations - such as when there is no author, when there is more than one author, etc. - see OWL.
Q4: Where do the parentheses go?
A4: "Place the parenthetical citation where there is a pause in the sentence – normally before the end of a sentence or a comma" (EasyBib). Notice the quote that has just been cited. The parentheses start after the closing quotation mark (with 1 space after the closing quotation mark) and close before the period (with NO space before the period).
Q5: What about long quotes?
A5: That is a great question! Learn more about how to format long quotes from OWL.