ENGL 1711 03
Meeting
InPaperCitationsMLAFormat1.pptxIn Paper Citations MLA Format
Documentation
Parenthetical Citation
Citing Your Sources
The signal phrase includes author’s last name, title of article, or something else that identifies the work in the works cited page.
At minimum, a signal phrase names the author or the work before you reference that idea: According to John Deer, the wolf hunt will be helpful in maintaining a healthy pack (“Protection of the Wild”).
Signal Phrase with Author’s Name
If you are citing what Mrs. Mallard is about in the immediate aftermath in “The Story of an Hour,” you would begin with the phrase that signals the context. The narrator in “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin lets the reader know that Mrs. Mallard is not locked in her bedroom suffering from grief. “No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window” (175). Notice that since your signal phrase already included the author’s last name, you don’t have to include it within the parenthesis.
Citation about a Short Story
If you were citing a source that was written by a Minnesota DNR employee for twenty years whose name was John Deer, there are a few different ways you could signal this source.
Other than naming him specifically, you could state his credentials: According to a twenty year employee of the MN DNR, the wolf hunt will be helpful in maintaining a healthy pack (Deer).
Signal Phrase with Author’s Credentials
Sometimes you might want to reference the article name in a signal phrase: According to the article “Protection of the Wild,” the wolf hunt will be helpful in maintaining a healthy pack (Deer).
Signal Phrase with Article Name
Once the signal phrase is stated and the idea referenced, you include something not included in the signal phrase to mark the end of the citation in parenthesis.
Parenthetical Reference
Always include the page numbers if you have them.
If you named the author already and you don’t have page numbers to reference, include the name of the article in parenthesis.
If you used the author’s credentials in the signal phrase, use his or her last name in parenthesis.
What to Include in Parenthesis
Other than the signal phrase and parenthetical reference, you are going to include the specific idea you are bringing into your paper.
While quotes are generally the easiest of the methods for citation, use them sparingly. For example, anything longer than four types lines of a quote is considered long and requires special formatting. See page 94 in MLA Handbook.
Quote, Paraphrase, Summary, General Reference
A quote calls for an exact word for word representation of the text being used: John Deer urges in his article, “Hunting wolves in Northern Minnesota is essential for the welfare of the overall wolf population, and each individual pack stands to benefit” (“Protection of the Wild”).
A Quoted Citation
A summary always condenses the original text. As the writer of the paper, you have to consider how much condensing will be effective for your reader to understand whatever idea it is you are referencing.
A paraphrase is a word for word substitution of the original text.
Summary and paraphrase usually are used simultaneously.
A Summarized and Paraphrased Citation
According to a twenty year Minnesota DNR employee, the wolf hunt will be helpful in maintaining a healthy pack (Deer).
Example of a Summarized and Paraphrased Citation
If you are ever just naming or referring to an outside source as part of your essay, you can count it as a general reference citation. If possible, always name the author and name his or her work. In this citation, you would not include a parenthetical portion because you are so generally referencing the text: John Deer talks about the necessity of the wolf hunt in his article “Protection of the Wild.”
General Reference Citation
