1. English II Detroit Catholic Central High School
MLA Formatting
English II
Detroit Catholic Central High School

2. Parenthetical Citations/Internal Documentation/ In-Text Citations
MUST USE IF GIVEN
Author(s) Last Name(s) and Page #
If there is 1-3 authors, list their last names and give the page number
Example: If John Smith and John Roberts are the authors, it should look like this:
(Smith and Roberts 16)
Note: There is no punctuation between the authors and the page number. Also, there is no “pg.” or “p.”
If there are 4 or more authors, give the last name of the first author listed, then put “et. al.” ]
Example: If John Smith, John Doe, John Roberts, and John Hancock are the authors, it should look like this: (Smith et. al. 16)
If there is no page number, list only the names
Example: (Smith, Doe, and Roberts)

3. Parenthetical Citations
If there is no author use:
“Title of the Article” and Page # (if available)
Example: (“Dante Alighieri”)
Note that the article title is in quotation marks indicating it is the title of the article. Also, there is no page number; therefore, I didn’t include a page number. If there was a page number, the citation would look like this: (“Dante Alighieri” 9)

4. Parenthetical Citations
Using two or sources with the same author(s),
Sources:
Smith, John. “The Way of the Inferno.” Dante’s Place. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec 2008.
Smith, John. “Too Many Circles.” Literary Classics. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec
(Smith, “The Way”).
(Smith, “Too Many”). Or
- John Smith writes… (“The Way”). Smith also mentions… (“Too Many”).

5. Parenthetical Citations
If citing an entire website use:
The website name
Example: (Dante Alighieri)
(If using the following page, the citation above
would be correct.
Note: the website name is not the URL (the link to get to the page). The website name is usually found in the upper left or upper center of the page. Also, website names will always be italicized.

6. Parenthetical Citation of Summaries and Paraphrases
What you read:
Many math teachers think that math can be found in everyday life. These teachers are found in various high schools and middle schools across Arizona. Students think they are nuts while fellow math aficionados continue to find everyday applications to help out math teachers.
Bibliography:
Smith, John. “Why I Teach Math.” Math is Awesome. Mrs. Doll, Inc., PDF. 25 Jan 2015.

7. Two Options for Citing Quotes
According to John Smith, “Many math teachers think that math can be found in everyday life” (2).
If the author’s name is given in the introduction to the quote and the information came from a source that has pages, only the page number is needed in the parenthetical citation.
According to “Why I Teach Math,” “Many math teachers think that math can be found in everyday life” (Smith 2).
“Why I Teach Math” tells readers, “Many math teachers think that math can be found in everyday life” (Smith).
This is a better option for sources with no page numbers.

8. To Cite Summaries and Paraphrases Correctly
1 sentence long:
John Smith, a math enthusiast, continues to find math problems in everyday life (2).
Note: The summary starts with the author’s full name and ends with the page number. If no page number, end with the author’s last name.
Math enthusiasts find everyday math applications (Smith 2).
Note: only use this if your paraphrase or summary is one line long.

9. To Cite Summaries and Paraphrases Correctly (cont’d)
Two or more sentences long:
3. “Why I Teach Math” explains that math can be applied to situations
in everyday life. They find real-world math problem and supply Arizona math teachers with those examples (Smith 2).
Note: this is the most correct way to cite a summary that is 2 or more lines long. Start with the signal phrase (this can include the author(s) full name(s), the article title, or the website name and a verb, such as explains, writes, says, informs, etc.) and will end with the parenthetical citation.
Everything between the signal phrase and parenthetical citation indicates the information is in your own words but is not your idea
Another common signal includes:
According to “Why I Teach Math,”…
In the article “Why I Teach Math,” the author states…

10. Works Cited Page (Bibliography)
1 in. margins
Last name and page number in upper right hand corner
10 or 12 pt. Times New Roman font
Start on new page at the end of your paper
Center and title: Works Cited
Don’t: underline, italicize, bold, or change the font size or style
Double space throughout
Alphabetize your list
Don’t indent the first line, but indent the 2nd line and each of the following (5 spaces)
Hint: Highlight the entries. Go to “Paragraph” under “Home or Format” or right click. Under the “Indents and Spacing” tab, find the “Indentation” section and choose the “Hanging” drop-down option under “Special.”
The first words in your Works Cited should match what you have in the parenthesis in your in-text citations throughout your paper