In-Text Citations MLA Style

When Do I Need Them? When something is not considered “common knowledge” (the world is spherical; Barack Obama was elected in 2008). When you are quoting something directly When you are paraphrasing some knowledge or ideas you’ve gotten from somewhere else

What Do They look Like? The author stated, “I tragically ran out of cheese in 2010, just minutes before my big graduation party” (Smith 1). The author mentions that she ran out of cheese right before her graduation celebration (Doe 1). Where are the in-text citations above? What information is included in them? What do you notice about the punctuation? The period comes AFTER the parentheses There is NO COMMA between the author’s last name and the page number. Commas here make English teachers cry.

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Two Punctuations? Count Them: Two But what if my author is asking a question in your quotation, you ask? A brilliant question. Here is a brilliant answer (if I do say so myself). The author asks, “But where has all the Swiss gone?” (Brown 1). The author yells, “I need cheddar, STAT!” (Brown 1).

Help! I’m Authorless! Or Pageless! If your work contains no author, put the title of the piece in the in-text citation (use quotation marks for short works and underline/italicize longer works; you can also shorten the title in your in-text citation): “Cheese fries and cheddar burgers” (“So You Like Cheese?” 1) This is a shortened version of “So You Like Cheese?: A Brief History” If your work contains no page number (as is the case with many online articles), simply put the author’s last name: “Cheese fries and cheddar burgers” (Smith).

The Dilemma Do I quote, or do I paraphrase? Here’s a rule of thumb Quote when you don’t think you could ever say something as well as the original author did: Ms. Dulin wails, “I pounded my fist on the floor, crying to the heavens above. Why has this tragedy befallen me? I am a hapless, sad woman who will never have a good day again. Never, ever, ever!” (Albano 2). Paraphrase MOST OF THE TIME, but especially when you think the reader will have a difficult time understanding what the quotation means: Ms. Dulin passionately bemoans the forgotten cheese (Albano 2).

How Do I Introduce a Quotation? So you’ve chosen to quote your source. Great! Generally, it is poor form to have your writing look like the writing below: Ms. Dulin was obviously very upset on this day. “Where can I buy more cheese at this hour?” (Albano 2). She decided to go to the store. What we have here is what we in the literary community call a dropped quotation. Its name means exactly what it sounds like: you’re dropping a quotation in the middle of an essay without integrating it into either the sentence that precedes or follows it. This is something else that makes English teachers cry.

Signal Phrases Just like we signal in our cars that we’re changing lanes, when we write, we often must use a signal phrase to indicate that we are introducing a quotation. Ms. Dulin says, “Quick, to the Wal-Mart!” (Albano 2). Where’s the signal phrase?

Quotation Integration In very long research papers, you won’t need a signal phrase every single time you introduce a quotation. With that said, you still must integrate quotations into sentences that contain some of your own words as well as the quotation. For example: Research estimates that “1 out of 5 Wal-Marts is low on cheese” (“Cheese and You Manual” 57).

Does This Sound Funny to You? This is a very good question, my bright and attentive students. Which sentence uses a quotation better? Ms. Dulin mentions that she had never “[seen] a sadder day than that day” (Albano 2). Ms. Dulin mentions that she had never “saw a sadder day than that day” (Albano 2).

Brackets…A Girl’s (and Boy’s) Best Friend Ms. Dulin mentions that she had never “[seen] a sadder day than that day” (Albano 2). The above was the preferred choice because to flow grammatically, the past participle needed to be used. Brackets can really help you here. If you need to change a word or two within your quotation for it to sound correct nestled in your sentence, change the word, and put it in between brackets

Brackets: An Example Why is the change needed below? Ms. Dulin says that she “walked to my car, head held high” (Albano 3). Ms. Dulin says that she “walked to [her] car, head held high” (Albano 3).

Omitting Information: Ellipsis Sometimes, there’s something that you want to quote, but you want to leave out information that’s in the middle because it doesn’t pertain to your point. For example: She notes that she “flew down every aisle, checking furiously for signs of cheese. I stopped to take a swig of my water. Then, I found the Holy Grail of dairy: aisles and aisles of cheddar” (Dulin 3). She notes that she “flew down every aisle, checking furiously for signs of cheese…Then, [she] found the Holy Grail of dairy: aisles and aisles of cheddar” (Dulin 3).

Preserving Credibility However, is it okay to do this? Ms. Albano said, “I hate people who don’t like cheese” (Dulin 5). Ms. Albano said, “I hate…cheese” (Dulin 5). No!