1-Page MLA Format

The four steps for MLA citation: ENC1102

You must follow these specific steps to incorporate accurate MLA citation into your writing:

1. First, always use an Attributive tag (signal phrase); ex: According to Hill… Friedman claims…Rubin asserts… (See the Attributive Tag handout on Canvas for additional signal phrases).

2a) *Next, either use a direct quote; ex: Blogger Libby Hill writes that loneliness “… has

less to do with being alone and more to do with not having other people around” (???), or

b) A paraphrase, (rewording of the author’s ideas); ex: Hill argues that children are not

ignorant, and just like the cartoon character Calvin, they are attuned to the world around

them (???), or

c) A brief summary; ex: In her blog, based on the syndicated Calvin and Hobbes cartoon

strip, Hill warns her readers against the inherent dangers of overmedicating children. She avidly preaches that as a result of the children being overmedicated, they forever lose their sense of creativity (???), or even

d) A long direct block quote (4 full lines or more). *FYI! This long quote is based on

another topic; ex: According to Lew Feldstein, a United Way director:

…communities with high social capital tend to have better outcomes in areas like crime, health, and education than do communities with low social capital. Expanding national service will increase people-to-people contact, creating more opportunities to form the connections that build social capital. The power of volunteers, that brings people together, shines through the testimonial pages of the AmeriCorps Web site. (Qtd in AmeriCorps Impact Guide 378)

*Notice the difference in punctuation between the short direct quote (2a) and the other

topic’s long direct quote (2d).

3. Then use a parenthetical citation, Ex: (Everyone’s an Author 192) the first time, and if you directly cite again from the same source, just cite the page number (194). Also see the above proper citation for the Americorp “quote within a quote”).

4. Finally, on its own page, add the Works Cited page; ex:

Madsen 4

Works Cited

AmeriCorps Impact Guide. Corporation for National and Community Service, n.d. Web.

23 February 2013.

Hill, Libby. “Calvin and Hobbes: The Voice of the Lonely Child”. (192-197). Everyone’s an

Author. Andrea Lunsford, Michael Brody, Lisa Ede, Beverly J Moss, Carol Clark Pepper,

and Keith Walters. Florida International University’s Customized edition. New York:

Norton, 2017.