1. DISCLAIMER: This is an example of a MLA-style research paper, 8th edition, used only for formatting instruction. The citations included are not for actual sources. They are only used as examples of formatting.

2. FIRST PAGE OF PAPER Last Name 1 Your Name Teacher’s Name
Class Name/Meeting Days
Military-Form Date
Title
Text of paper begins here, with a five-space tab for the first
lines of each paragraph. All fonts are 12 points, and all spacing is
double. All margins – top, bottom, left and right – should equal
one-inch, with no gutter. Your last name and page numbers will
continue throughout the entire paper and its works cited page.

3. FIRST PAGE & PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS
Last Name 1
Your Name
Teacher’s Name
Class Name/Meeting Days
Military-Form Date
Title
Text of paper begins here, with a five-space tab for the first lines of each paragraph. All margins – top, bottom, left and right – should
equal one-inch, with no gutter. Your last name and page numbers will continue throughout the entire paper and its works cited page.
Once you begin to use source material as quotations,
paraphrases and/or summaries, you must cite the source
parenthetically within the paper. For example, if you
paraphrased the information in the following sentence, you
would have to give credit to the person whose ideas are used.
Faulkner characterized individuals from throughout the social
strata of the South (Rosenthal 56). This parenthetical citation
indicates that the information in the previous sentence came
from Myra Rosenthal’s book, listed in my works cited page.

4. WORKS CITED PAGE Works Cited
Last Name 5
Works Cited
“A Faulkner Retrospective.” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 18 Dec. 1994, p. G6.
Peters, Laurence. “Faulkner’s Sociology.” Wisconsin Quarterly Review, vol. 42, no. 4,
Feb. 2003, pp Proquest Research Library,
Accessed 3
Oct
Reed, Tamisha. “Faulkner, Southern Culture and Light in August.” Interdisciplinary
Humanities, vol. 33, no. 4, Spring 2000, pp Academic Search Complete,
Accessed 9 Oct
Rosenthal, Myra. The Generation of Faulkner’s South. Columbia UP, 1976.

5. PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS, cont.
Last Name 2
Text of paper begins here, with a five-space tab for the first lines of each paragraph. All margins – top, bottom, left and right – should
equal one-inch, with no gutter. Your last name and page numbers will continue throughout the entire paper and its works cited page.
Once you begin to use source material as quotations, paraphrases and/or summaries, you must cite the source
parenthetically within the paper. Blah blah blah, blah 456 blah blah 21 blah blah (Jenlenn 56). This parenthetical citation
indicates that the information in the previous sentence came from Myra Jenlenn’s book, listed in my works cited page.
If you mention the name of the author in the text of the
paper, and it is a print source or you know the page number, use
only the page number in the parenthetical citation. For example:
According to Faulkner scholar Myra Rosenthal, “William
Faulkner does not reserve criminal behavior for only lower socio-
economic classes” (87).

6. PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS, cont.
Last Name 3
If you mention the name of the author in the text of the paper, and it is a print source, use only the page number in the
parenthetical citation. For example: According to Faulkner scholar Myra Jenlenn, “William Faulkner does not reserve criminal behavior for only lower socio-economic classes” (87).
If you use quotes, paraphrases and/or summaries from the
same author and the same page of the author’s work within one
paragraph, you may cite the author and page number after the
final use of information. “Faulkner often examines the behavior
of the ‘southern aristocracy’.” In his fictitious Yoknapatawpha
County, the “landed gentry” do not always behave
“aristocratically,” however. This mirrors the select aspects of the
culture in which Faulkner spent the majority of his Mississippi
life (Rosenthal 46).

7. PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS, cont.
Last Name 3
If you use quotes, paraphrases and/or summaries from the same author and the same page of the author’s work within one
paragraph, you may cite the author and page number after the final use of information. “Faulkner often examines the behavior
of the ‘southern aristocracy’.” In his fictitious Yoknapatawpha County, the “landed gentry” do not always behave
“aristocratically,” however. This mirrors the select aspects of the culture in which Faulkner spent the majority of his Mississippi
life (Jenlenn 46).
If you quote, paraphrase and/or summarize from a source
which has no named author, use the title – or an abbreviation for
such if the title is particularly long – in your parenthetical
citation: “Pity was in short supply with many of Faulkner’s
characters” (“A Faulkner Retrospective” G6).

8. WORKS CITED PAGE Works Cited
Last Name 5
Works Cited
“A Faulkner Retrospective.” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 18 Dec. 1994, p. G6.
Peters, Laurence. “Faulkner’s Sociology.” Wisconsin Quarterly Review, vol. 42, no. 4,
Feb. 2003, pp Proquest Research Library,
Accessed 3
Oct
Reed, Tamisha. “Faulkner, Southern Culture and Light in August.” Interdisciplinary
Humanities, vol. 33, no. 4, Spring 2000, pp Academic Search Complete,
Accessed 9 Oct
Rosenthal, Myra. The Generation of Faulkner’s South. Columbia UP, 1976.

9. PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS, cont.
Last Name 3
If you use quotes, paraphrases and/or summaries from the same author and the same page of the author’s work within one
paragraph, you may cite the author and page number after the final use of information. “Faulkner often examines the behavior
of the ‘southern aristocracy’.” In his fictitious Yoknapatawpha County, the “landed gentry” do not always behave
“aristocratically,” however. This mirrors the select aspects of the culture in which Faulkner spent the majority of his Mississippi
life (Jenlenn 46).
If you use an electronic source, such as GALILEO, often the
source will not have page numbers included. The exceptions are
documents retrieved as “.pdf files”. If you have a page
number for your source material from a pdf electronic souce,
use it in the parenthetical citation: (Reed 160). If you do not,
use the name of the author only: (Peters).

10. WORKS CITED PAGE Works Cited
Last Name 5
Works Cited
“A Faulkner Retrospective.” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 18 Dec. 1994, p. G6.
Peters, Laurence. “Faulkner’s Sociology.” Wisconsin Quarterly Review, vol. 42, no. 4,
Feb. 2003, pp Proquest Research Library,
Accessed 3
Oct
Reed, Tamisha. “Faulkner, Southern Culture and Light in August.” Interdisciplinary
Humanities, vol. 33, no. 4, Spring 2000, pp Academic Search Complete,
Accessed 9 Oct
Rosenthal, Myra. The Generation of Faulkner’s South. Columbia UP, 1976.

11. PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS, cont.
Last Name 3
If you use quotes, paraphrases and/or summaries from the same author and the same page of the author’s work within one
paragraph, you may cite the author and page number after the final use of information. “Faulkner often examines the behavior
of the ‘southern aristocracy’.” In his fictitious Yoknapatawpha County, the “landed gentry” do not always behave
“aristocratically,” however. This mirrors the select aspects of the culture in which Faulkner spent the majority of his Mississippi
life (Jenlenn 46). a
If you use a direct quote which becomes more than five
lines of text within your essay, the full quote is indented
ten spaces from the left margin, quotation marks are removed,
and the parenthetical citation follows the period. For example:
As William Faulkner develops his characters
within the fictitious Yoknapatawpha County, he
incorporates the vices as well as the virtues
by which the ‘Old South’ was often characterized:
resistance to change, reliance upon the land,
devotion to family, adherence to stringent
socioeconomic caste-like structures. (Reed150)

12. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: -Harbrace & Patterns chapters with MLA formatting and examples -Purdue Online Writing Lab MLA guides -GHC librarians and tutors BE AWARE OF FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS WITHIN MLA 8 – AS OF APRIL, 2016