A Concise Guide to MLA Style for Students of English... This guide attempts to fit onto a single A4 sheet... to the Department in MLA style. MLA stands for...

A Concise Guide to MLA Style for Students of English at Otago
This guide attempts to fit onto a single A4 sheet all of the basic details for submitting work
to the Department in MLA style. MLA stands for Modern Language Association, and is the
most broad-based American academic association for literary and linguistic study. Its sheer
size gives it a certain authority, and imposes certain peculiarities, with which students (and
staff; MLA is the most widely-used format for article publications) must simply learn to live.
This guide offers cautions about frequent misuses or abuses of the style, but cannot cover
every situation. The MLA Handbook is available in the Central Library reference section (Ref.
PN147.GD94 2003), but the following website also offers excellent advice on the details of
MLA style: <http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s1.html>.
English Department essays should be submitted with the appropriate cover sheet,
marking schedules and plagiarism statement attached. These are available on Blackboard if
your instructor uses a particular set of forms, or at the main desk if your instructor is happy
with the generic forms. Essays should also include a word count. Some instructors will be
happy to have your name on essays; others will prefer to mark blind and request that you
include only your ID number on the work. In either case, MLA style requires you to place a
header in the top right margin 1.25 cm (0.5") from the top edge that includes the identifier
(surname or ID #) and page number. It is not necessary to have a header on the first page.
Layout of Essay
Essays should be typed in a serif font (e.g. Times, Palatino, Garamond, Baskerville, New
Century Schoolbook, Courier) with 2.54 cm margins on all sides. (You will need to check
this, because often the software defaults are set for 3.17 on the left side, and sometimes the
right as well). You should also check that the document is formatted for A4 paper (in Word
under 'File'/'Page Setup'). All type in MLA style is double-spaced, including indented
quotations. MLA also recommends 'ragged-right' justification (confusingly, also called 'left
justified'), as in this document, rather than the fully justified layout used in printed books.
In Word, you set this either using the toolbar or under 'Format'/'Paragraph'. When typing
with an unjustified right margin, you should enter two spaces following a full stop.
Title
Although not all lecturers will require a title for your essay, should you use one, it should be
centred at the top of the first page.
Paragraph Layout
Each paragraph should begin with an indentation of 1 cm (0.39"). It is permissible, but not
necessary, to have no indentation for the very first paragraph of a section, essay or chapter
(as in this document). Skipping lines between paragraphs appears to be fashionable, and is
the appropriate format for a business letter, but is not the appropriate format for an
academic essay.
Quotation Marks
To many students the most immediately striking feature of MLA style is that it only permits
double quotation marks. As a Department, we feel there are valid semantic distinctions that
can be accommodated by using both single and double quotation marks, so we have
decided to deviate from MLA style in the following exception: Quotations of the words of
others are to be in double quotation marks; references to words used in a special sense or to
words to which you wish to draw attention (for the purposes of emphasis or to discuss that
word itself) should be in single quotation marks.
MS Word and other word processors enable users to select rounded or straight
quotation marks. The rounded forms are quaintly named 'smart' quotation marks, but
unfortunately, the software is not always smart enough to distinguish between opening and
closing positions (6s and 9s), so although the Department is happy to permit rounded
quotation marks, students are responsible for ensuring that they are the right way round. If
you wish to be plain and safe, you may turn off the smart quotation marks under
'Format'/'AutoFormat'/ 'Options'/'AutoFormat As You Type' and 'AutoFormat'.
MLA Guide 2
With double quotation marks, final punctuation should be inside the quotation marks.
However, most quotations will be followed by a parenthetical reference, in which case the
punctuation follows the close parenthesis. Longer quotations, (4+ lines) should be indented
2.54 cm on the left side. Indented quotations do not require quotation marks, and final
punctuation precedes the bracketed reference.
Bracketed References
Following a quotation, MLA style requires authors to insert just enough details to enable a
reader to locate a quotation. Normally, these references are placed at the end of the sentence
containing the quotation, even if the quotation finishes several words or phrases earlier.
However, where you cite more than one work in a sentence, or you feel a reference would
be unclear, you may place it immediately following the quotation within the sentence. If
your sentence has already introduced the name of the author, you need only provide page
number(s) at the end of the sentence. If you are using more than one book by an author, you
must provide a keyword from the title to distinguish the works (or mention the title in your
sentence). Use of bracketed references takes a bit of practice and judgement, but is quite
efficient compared to footnotes. MLA only uses footnotes for discursive notes, and
generally if a point is important enough to make, it is important enough to include in the
main body of the essay, so discursive footnotes are relatively rare in modern academic
essays. Their most common use is to thank readers or listeners or funding bodies.
Inclusive numbering/Spelling of numbers
MLA style requires that you normally use two digits for numbers unless the hundreds or
thousands column changes, so that page references in your list of works cited take the
following forms: 9-12, 12-17, 12-35, 124-39, 189-207, 1123-45, 1887-925. Spell out words
under 100, unless the number is the first word in a sentence, and spell out numbers for
centuries, e.g. "nineteenth century," not "19th century." A hyphen between number and
century indicates the word is used adjectivally, e.g. "Eighteenth-century literature is
marvellous."
Word Length
Essays should not exceed the word length prescribed by your instructor. Markers are not
obliged to read beyond the assigned word length, but the discipline of writing to a word
limit is also a practical reality of any professional writing and the Department therefore
believes students should learn to work within such limits. Your instructor may ask you to
resubmit a shortened essay within 48 hours.
Works Cited
A bibliography is a list of sources you used in compiling a document. In MLA style, this list
is called the "List of Works Cited," and comes at the end of your essay, with the heading
"Works Cited" centred at the top of a new page. By definition, therefore, the list should
include only those works to which you actually refer in your essay, not every article or book
you may have looked at in the course of your research. You should arrange the bibliography
in alphabetical order by the author’s last name or, if there is no author, by the first main
word of the title. For the purposes of alphabetising, you should ignore 'A,' 'And,' and 'The'
in a title.

Double-space within all entries and double-space between each entry. Set doublespacing in Word under 'Format'/'Paragraph'. [This document is set single-space for
concise presentation, not for ease of reading, and obviously lacks space for comments.]

Use hanging indent paragraph styles (the first line of the paragraph is aligned with
the left margin, and all subsequent lines are indented 1 cm (0.39") from the left
margin). Set hanging indents in Word under 'Format'/'Paragraph'.

Type authors’ last names first, with the last and first names separated by a comma,
unless there are two or more authors. For references that have multiple authors, type
MLA Guide 3
the last name first for the first author, and type subsequent names with the first name
first. Separate names with commas.

Include the full title and begin each important word with a capital letter. Articles,
prepositions, and possessive adjectives are usually in lower-case. Foreign languages
have distinct rules for capitalization, so you should follow the capitalization used in
your source for such titles.

Use italics for the titles of books and periodicals. Often web sites on MLA style show
titles underlined, as do the MLA printed guides, but that is a hangover from precomputer days and there is no reason to underline titles if you are using a word
processor. For handwritten materials, you will have to resort to underlining. Book
titles that include another title within them should print the included title in roman,
e.g. Madness in Hamlet.

Enclose titles of periodical articles in double quotation marks. Any quotations
within the title should be in single quotation marks. Article titles that refer to titles
of books should italicise the book title.

Type publication information (place of publication [city, not country; where
necessary additional distinguishing details such as state or country may be added],
publisher’s name, and year of publication).

When citing a chapter from a book or an essay from a periodical, list the inclusive
page numbers at the end.

Separate each portion of each bibliography entry with a period followed by two
spaces.
Below are example entries for most kinds of material you might need to include in a
bibliography. Use the web site for examples not shown here, or ask your lecturer or tutor.
Books
No author:
World Development Report. New York: Oxford UP, 1989.
One author:
Berry, Wendell. The Gift of Good Land. San Francisco: North Point,
1981.
Author and Editor:
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamozov. Ed. Ralph E. Matlaw.
New York: Norton, 1976. [A common format for literary texts]
More than one book by the same author:
Booth, Wayne C. The Company We Keep: An Ethics of Fiction.
Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1990.
---. The Rhetoric of Fiction. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1961.
[Bracketed references to these works would read: (Booth, Rhetoric 27) or (Booth, Company 234)]
Edited Book:
Del Castillo, Adelaida R., and James Smith, eds. Between Borders:
Essays on Mexican/Chicana History. Encino: Floricanto, 1990.
[When you have multiple editors, the 'ed.' changes to 'eds.' Notice full stop and comma after first author's
initial, inclusion of 'and', and resumption of normal order for second name. If you have more than two
names, only the first is listed, followed by "et al." (an abbreviation of Latin, "et alii," "and others")]
MLA Guide 4
Essay or Article/Chapter in a Collection/Anthology:
Gonzalez, Rosalinda. "Distinctions in Western Women's Experience:
Ethnicity, Class, and Social Change." The Women's West. Ed. Susan
Armitage. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1987. 237-52.
[A common format for citing poems, stories or a critical essay in a collection]
Periodicals
Magazine Article, Signed:
Ferguson, Sarah. "America's Growing Frustration with the Homeless."
Utne Reader Sept.-Oct. 1990: 50-55.
Magazine Article, Unsigned:
"A Shock to the System." Time 20 Aug. 1990: 55.
Scholarly Journal with Continuous Pagination:
Medvedev, Zhores. "The Environmental Destruction of the Soviet
Union." The Ecologist 20 (1990): 24-29. [Most common format for academic essays.
Continuous pagination is normal for most scholarly periodicals, which appear in four numbers over the
year, but run from p. 1 to the end, so that issue number 2 will begin at p. 80. A page number higher than
c. 80 is a good sign of continuous pagination. If you wish to be certain, you can look it up in the MLA
Directory of Periodicals available on-line.]
Scholarly Journal with Separate Pagination:
Ayoade, John. "The Culture Debate in Africa." The Black Scholar 20.2-3
(1989): 2-7. [Because the numbering starts over each issue, you must also include the issue
number, and frequently journals appear in double issues, either to catch up or to publish a large set of
related essays]
Newspaper Article, Unsigned:
"Environmental Audits Being Considered by EC." Wall Street Journal 11
Feb. 1991, West. ed.: A8. [Notice that this reference provides details about the particular
edition of the paper, "Western"; in NZ most papers only have a single edition, though weekend papers
may print and early and late editions]
Electronic and Other
Article from subscription database (Ebsco, ABI/INFORM, PsycArticles, etc.):
Fedarko, Kevin, and Edward W. Desmond. "Shock to the System."
Time 10 April 1995: 55. Academic Search. University of Otago,
Dunedin, 27 July 2002 <http://www.ebsco.com>.
Web page or Site:
"Research Process." Research process tutorial. 25 July 2002.
University Library, Sonoma State University. 31 July 2002
<http://libweb.sonoma.edu/assistance/research/default.html>.
[Enclose URLs between angle brackets, and break the text following a slash in order to fill out lines
smoothly; do not break lines at full stops. Because this site has no formal title, author has created a
descriptive title, but lists it with neither quotation marks nor in italics because it is not a formal title.]
Journal Article from a Web Site:
Flannagan, Roy. "Reflections on Milton and Ariosto." Early Modern
Literary Studies 2.3 (1996): 16 pars. 22 Feb. 1997 <http://
unixg.ubc.ca:7001/0/e-sources/emls/o2-3/flanmilt.html>.
Book Review:
Dolan, Jill. Rev. of Feminism and Theatre, by Sue-Ellen Case.
Signs 15 (1990): 864.
Interview in Print:
Kundera, Milan. Interview. New York Times 18 Jan. 1982, late ed.,
sec. 3: 13+. [The '+' symbol is used for articles in newspapers and magazines that are printed
on discontinuous pages. This interview begins on p. 13, then jumps to 27-28, but because the article tells
you at the bottom of p. 13 where to proceed, most readers should be able to follow the full story for
themselves]
Music CD:
Simon, Paul, and Milton Nascimento. "Spirit Voices." The Rhythm of
the Saints. Warner Bros., 1990. [Add 'LP' or 'Audiocassette' if not from CD]
With thanks to Sonoma State University Library for sample references