MLA Citation 101 The two parts of MLA documentation work together. In-text Citations Let readers know that you have quoted, paraphrased, or summarized information from an outside source. They appear in the body of your paper right next to the information you’re including. Works Cited Page Is an alphabetical list (at the very end of your paper) of your outside sources where readers can find the complete bibliographic information for a specific source.

About In-Text Citations They tell readers two important things: What source your quotation or paraphrase is taken from. Where in the source your quotation or paraphrase is taken from. What source = author’s name Where = page #, etc.

Example In-Text Citation When Including a Quotation in Your Paper In this citation, the author’s name is in the signal phrase before a direct quotation, and the page number is in parentheses: Christopher Metress reports that “[b]etween July 1891 and June 1892, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published twelve Sherlock Holmes stories in the Strand Magazine” (183). Take this opportunity to point out the three main parts of the in-text citation that is presented here: The signal phrase (part of leading into a quotation), the direct quotation itself (remind students about the rules for quoting directly), and the parenthetical citation itself. Transition to next slide might be something like: “These three parts of an in-text citation may be rearranged, but each must be present for a correct/complete citation.” (Why might we rearrange them? To give variety to our writing; to work with more complex quotations/ideas, etc.)

Rearranging Our In-Text Citation Christopher Metress reports that “[b]etween July 1891 and June 1892, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published twelve Sherlock Holmes stories in the Strand Magazine” (183). “Between July 1891 and June 1892,” writes one scholar, “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published twelve Sherlock Holmes stories in the Strand Magazine” (Metress 183). Point out that all three elements of the citation are still here; they are just in a different order. Which do they like better? Why? NOTICE the important technical features of the citation—quotation marks, commas, parentheses, end punctuation, etc.

Practice: Correct These In-Text Citations Three may keep a secret” he said, “if two of them are dead. (Benjamin Franklin, p. 99) According to one source, “dogs are smarter than cats.” (Smith 2000 pp. 10-21). Carol Freeman wrote that “weather is the trickiest part of learning to fly an airplane (Freeman, 95).” Corrections: “Three may keep a secret,” he said, “if two of them are dead” (Franklin 99). According to one source, “dogs are smarter than cats” (Smith 10-21). Carol Freeman wrote that “weather is the trickiest part of learning to fly an airplane” (95). Students could also practice rearranging some of these.

Works Cited Page Important: Works Cited entries are source-type specific. You must know what kind of source you are citing. Book, One Author Basic Format: Author’s last name, first name. Book Title. City: Publisher, Year. Publication Medium. (Tip: When there is more than one publishing city, you only need to list the first one.)

An Example Works Cited Entry Book, One Author Basic Format: Author’s last name, first name. Book Title. City: Publisher, Year. Publication Medium. Doyle, A. Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1900. Print.

Work Cited: What are you looking for? Book Title Author Publishing City Publishers Publishing Date

Practice Making a Works Cited Entry for this Source: Remind students to identify what KIND of source this is and to LOOK IT UP (maybe do this together?) in the Everyday Writer. This is an ELECTRONIC source: an ARTICLE from a DATABASE ACCESSED THROUGH A SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. It is example # 36 on p. 393.

Works Cited (Answer) Rogers, Susan Carol. “Anthropology in France.” Annual Review of Anthropology. 30. (2001): 481-504. Jstor. Web. 20 October 2008. For the remaining time in the workshop, you should direct students to practice in-text citations and Works Cited entries in their own paper—they should be bringing some of their own work to this workshop. If people don’t have their own work, you might ask them if they know they are going to have to cite particular kinds of sources—you can look up the works cited formats for these specific types together (or have them do it). You might also pull up the owl at purdue website and show them on screen what the Works Cited page looks like (they have a sample research paper)—you could show in-text citations as well. This is also a chance to show them the owl in case they’re working somewhere and don’t have access to a handbook (but can access the internet).