MLA CITATIONS
What is Parenthetical Documentation (In-Text Citation)?
In MLA style, referring to the works of others (aka giving props to others) in your text is done by using what is known as "parenthetical citation". This process involves placing who you found your information from in parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase (OWL Purdue).
How to Set-Up Parenthetical Documentation:
You must record the author's last name and page number from where the quote comes from. The in-text citation is only a PARTIAL reference. The COMPLETE reference appears on your Works Cited page (we'll get to that later!).
If you use the author's last name in the sentence itself, you only need the page number in the parenthetical documentation. If not, you need the author's last name AND page number in parenthesis--either way, you ALWAYS need the page number!
Examples:
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
What if I have a text with no author, multiple authors, etc.?
Click on the link below from OWL Purdue for more details on the crazy in-text misfits:
How do I cite X, Y, and Z?
REMEMBER, IF AND WHEN YOU CITE ANYTHING IN YOUR PAPER, YOU MUST HAVE A WORKS CITED PAGE ALSO! Check out the tab underneath the "All Things MLA" for help!
In MLA style, referring to the works of others (aka giving props to others) in your text is done by using what is known as "parenthetical citation". This process involves placing who you found your information from in parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase (OWL Purdue).
How to Set-Up Parenthetical Documentation:
You must record the author's last name and page number from where the quote comes from. The in-text citation is only a PARTIAL reference. The COMPLETE reference appears on your Works Cited page (we'll get to that later!).
If you use the author's last name in the sentence itself, you only need the page number in the parenthetical documentation. If not, you need the author's last name AND page number in parenthesis--either way, you ALWAYS need the page number!
Examples:
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
What if I have a text with no author, multiple authors, etc.?
Click on the link below from OWL Purdue for more details on the crazy in-text misfits:
How do I cite X, Y, and Z?
REMEMBER, IF AND WHEN YOU CITE ANYTHING IN YOUR PAPER, YOU MUST HAVE A WORKS CITED PAGE ALSO! Check out the tab underneath the "All Things MLA" for help!