The field of English studies uses MLA as its primary citation style. The Modern Language Association (MLA) is the primary professional organization for English studies and many fields of literary and language studies more generally.
It is important to recognize that citation styles are not interchangeable. A discipline's citation style reflects its conceptual approach to scholarship. MLA's citation style is designed to emphasize close attention to detail and precision in argument.
Consider the following paragraph, which demonstrates good use of MLA style:
The unlikely success of Harry’s quest is confirmed by the centaur Firenze in the Forbidden Forest. In the magical world of Harry Potter, centaurs have the gift of prophesy. Thus, we are supposed to understand the danger Harry faces when Firenze tells him, “Good luck, Harry Potter.… The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times” (Rowling 259). By saying that he hopes he has read the planets “wrongly,” Firenze is admitting that Harry will either be unsuccessful or will suffer dire consequences when Voldemort returns. If I were Harry, I would have gone home right then. Considering how much Harry is probably going to lose in this battle, it might be better just to let Voldemort come back and take control.
In the example above, the writer has integrated a direct quote from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The quote is introduced smoothly and fits into the syntax of the writer's sentence. It is quoted correctly, and the writer follows up by explaining the significance of the quote to their argument. In other words, the writer is "showing their work," explaining clearly to the reader how the quote supports their argument. In addition, this example shows the correct way to parenthetically cite a quote in MLA style: (author page).
Notice that other citation styles would include different information in the text. APA style, for instance, calls for the author and year in parentheses. Chicago Style often calls for just a footnote. What is the point of requiring the author and page number in the text rather than the year or just a footnote?
That question is the key to understanding MLA style. Writers who use MLA style are interested in close textual reading and precision in their arguments. That means they expect their readers to look up the quotes they integrate and evaluate their use of it. Did they use the quote out of context? Are there other ways to interpret the quote? Has the writer evaluated the quote? etc. In other words, MLA style includes the page number in parenthetical citations because writers are expected to pay close attention to textual details. That doesn't mean disciplines that use other citation styles are not precise. It just means that precision and attention to detail are the most important features of disciplines that use MLA style.
Some questions to think about:
Why does APA style include the author and year in parenthetical citations? Why is the year of the citation important? What does that tell us about the purpose of disciplines that use APA style?
Why do some disciplines use Chicago-style or Tarabian-style footnotes? Why would readers not need to see the author, year, or page number of sources in the text? What does that tell us about the purposes of those disciplines?
The basic convention for in-text citations in MLA style is to "sandwich" the quote:
Introduce the quote smoothly.
Give the quote accurately and cite the author and page number.
Explain how the quote supports the paragraph's argument.
Because writers are expected to explain quotes fully in MLA style, they should try to avoid long block quotes. To analyze a long quote, writers can integrate pieces of the quote into individual sentences to make sure they are actually evaluating and analyzing the quote fully.
Citing prose or fiction in text is fairly straight forward. Here's an example from an essay about historical trauma in Toni Morrison's novel Beloved:
The many references to color in Beloved demonstrate the characters’ inability to escape their traumatic pasts. For Baby Suggs, color is a sign of depression and loneliness. When she is dying, for instance, she focuses on the two orange squares on her quilt, which “looked wild—like life in the raw” and remind her of her lost family (38). When the ghostly Beloved arrives at 124, Sethe quits her job and uses her life savings to buy “yellow ribbon, shiny buttons and bits of black lace” to sew “[b]right clothes—with blue stripes and sassy prints” (240). Like Baby Suggs's hunger for the color orange, Sethe's insatiable hunger for "shiny" and "sassy" colors reflects continuing grief and trauma.
In this example, the writer integrates the direct quotes smoothly into their sentences and explains the significance of the quotes.
Citing poetry is a little trickier because the writer needs to pay attention to line numbers and line breaks. Rather than cite page numbers, therefore, writers in MLA style cite line numbers. Here's an example paragraph that discusses Aaron Thompson's poem "Fritz Mohler's Dream":
“Fritz Mohler’s Dream” is perhaps Thompson’s most nuanced poem about the so-called race problem. In this poem, also written in ballad verse, a German immigrant named Fritz Mohler and a Black musician named Scott Johnson have a tense interaction. Mohler watches Johnson perform “old time lively banjo song[s]” (line 27) at a bar on a cold, wintry night but is not amused by the songs, as the other patrons are. In fact, while Johnson plays, “No mirth was in [Mohler’s] look” (line 42). All seems well when Mohler insists that Johnson drink with him, until Mohler describes a “dream” he had in which Johnson stole his chickens. Despite his repeated refrain that “Dot vos a funny thream!” and his repeated insistence that they drink and be merry, Mohler is serious when he accuses Johnson of stealing his chickens. The poem does not reveal whether Johnson actually stole the chickens, leaving readers with an ambiguous and menacing interaction that seems to show a social power play, a German immigrant and a formerly enslaved Black man jockeying for position in America.
Notice that the paragraph introduces the quotes and explains their significance, but the writer has given the line numbers instead of the page numbers. The writer has also placed square brackets around any text from the direct quote that is changed.
A Works Cited list is not the same as a Bibliography. A Bibliography may include all the sources the writer consulted, even if the writer did not cite them in the text. A Works Cited list is a focused list of works actually cited. Any source cited in text should be included in the Works Cited list, and vice versa.
The Modern Language Association updates MLA style every few years to keep up with evolving citation needs. Digital sources and social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram, for instance, require different conventions.
See the Purdue Owl for tips on formatting a Works Cited list in MLA style.
In general, footnotes should be avoided in MLA style. The point of essays that use MLA style is to incorporate evidence into a focused, continuous argument. Footnotes distract from that focus.
MLA style is the preferred citation style for English studies, but that does not mean it is the best citation style to use in every situation. It is designed for use in printed essays and academic articles. It is not always the best option for other genres or media of writing.
Think about websites or blog posts that use MLA style, for instance. Readers engage with those types of writing by scrolling through text. Flipping through a few pages of a printed essay to find the Works Cited list is not difficult, but having to scroll from a citation to the Works Cited list and back on a website is really annoying.
MLA style provides good training for English majors and minors in close attention to detail and critical thinking, but writers should also use good judgment in deciding what citation style is the most appropriate for a particular piece of writing. See the sections on Genre and Medium for more advice.