• Basic MLA Guidelines

    Section outline

    ◄Parallelism
    ►Class Handouts and Power Points
    • Highlighted

      What is MLA style?
      MLA is an editorial style recommended by the Modern Language Association (MLA) for preparing scholarly manuscripts and student research papers. It is the standard format for papers, articles, and books in the arts and humanities.

      In addition to providing standardized rules for formatting a paper (margins, line spacing, etc.), MLA provides a consistent method for citing ideas, quotations, facts, and paraphrases borrowed from other sources. This standardized format for identifying sources used in a paper makes the paper more credible and ensures that other authors are given credit for their original thoughts and ideas.

      Are there other styles?
      Just as MLA is used by teachers in the arts and humanities, instructors in business, the social sciences and health sciences may ask you to format your paper in APA style. There are slight differences between the formats and each has a unique set of rules. Note the differences between the MLA and APA citations given below:

       

      A book citation in MLA

      Kasson, John F. Civilizing the Machine: Technology and Republican Values in America 1776-1900. New York: Penguin, 1976.Print.

      • Author's last name written out completely
      • Date of publication appears at end of citation
      • All major words in title capitalized

      The same book citation in APA

      Kasson, J. (1976). Civilizing the machine: technology and republican values in America 1776-1900. New York: Penguin.

      • Author's last name and first initial only
      • Date of publication appears at beginning of citation
      • Only first word of title is capitalized (and proper nouns)

       

      Based on what you know so far, which one of these citations is probably in MLA format?

      Kauffmann, S. (1993, October 18). On films: class consciousness. The New Republic, p. 30.

      Whitaker, Mark. "Getting Tough at Last." Newsweek 10 May 1993: 22.Print.

       If you chose the second entry, you are correct!

       

      Use the resources in this lesson to help you feel comfortable using MLA style when writing papers.The resources for this lesson are a little different from the other lessons. You may want to refer to the information provided here when taking the quiz. Make sure you take the practice quiz before taking the graded quiz.

       

    ◄Parallelism
    ►Class Handouts and Power Points