Proper documentation of sources is an important academic skill that you are expected to learn. English and other humanities disciplines use a documentation style developed by the Modern Languages Association (MLA). Listed below are the MLA models you will most often use in my Internet courses. The models and explanations below are based on The Little Brown Handbook 6th ed. However, other grammar handbooks will also provide models of the Modern Languages Association documentation style.
Citing an Introduction, Preface, Foreward, or Afterword
Use model 20 if you cite one of the introductions in the Norton Anthology. Give the name of the editor responsible for the particular introduction. The names of the editors and the introductions they wrote are on the first two pages of the book.
Franklin, Wayne. "Literature to 1620." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. shorter 5th ed. New York: Norton, 1999. 1-8.
Give the inclusive page numbers for the introduction following the date of publication.
Use model 18 when you cite a selection by an author included in the anthology.
Bradstreet, Anne. "Contemplations." The Norton Anthology of American
Literature. shorter 5th ed. New York: Norton, 1999. 133-140.
The works cited for a selection from the English 112 Primis English would look like this:
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Birthmark." Primis English. Ed. Charles Phillips.
New York: McGraw Hill, 2000. 164-176.
Citing Several Works from an Anthology
Use model 19 when you document works by several writers from the same anthology. To avoid repeating information, give the complete documentation for the book only once, and then use a shorter works cited entry for the rest. The shorter form is linked to the complete form by the editor's name. Here is the way it looks:
Works Cited
Byam, Nina, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter
5th ed. New York: Norton, 1999.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Roger Malvin's Burial." Byam, Nina, et al. 600-613.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wall-Paper." Byam, Nina, et al.
1657-1669.
Irving, Washington. "Rip Van Winkle." Byam, Nina, et al. 428-440.
Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Fall of the House of Usher." Byam, Nina, et al. 717-730.
- - -
. "The Tell-Tale Heart." Byam, Nina, et al. 731-734.
Note that Poe's name is not wrtten out for the second story. A basic principle of MLA documentation is that you do not unnecessarily repeat information.
Citing Harmon and Holman
Use model 2 to cite information from A Handbook to Literature by Harmon and Holman. Since this book is an editon other than the first, you must also give the number of the edition. See model 11.
Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 7th ed.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 1996.
Citing an Article in a Reference Work
Follow model 21 when you look up information on a literary term in a reference work like a dictionary or an encyclopedia. The Little Brown Handbook says to "list an article in a reference work by its title . . . unless the article is signed" (727). Here are the examples they give:
Mark, Herman F. "Polymers." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica:
Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1991.
"Reckon." Merrium-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 1998.
In your parenthetical documentation, use the athor's name if it is given. If no name is given, then use the term you looked up put in quotation marks. Treat it like the title of an article. The author's name or the word you looked up in the parenthesis serves as a link to the complete information bibliographic information in the works cited.
Citing an Online Source for a Definition
Here you need to combine model 21 and model 40. Not all online sites provide the same information. Give as much relevant information as you can find.
“Metaphor.” Glossary of Literary Terms. Gale/Thompson. 19 Jan. 2002.
Http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/lit_kit/glossary.htm#m
“Metaphor.” The University of Victoria Writer's Guide. 19 Jan. 2002.
http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/RhetMetaphor.html
Citing a Literary Work from My Website
Poe, Edgar Allen. "Ligeia." English Courses and Resources. Charles Phillips. Southside
Virginia Community College. 4 Feb 2003. http://luna.moonstar.com/~acpjr/Blackboard/
Common/Stories/ligeia.html
Reference Works
Examples of how to document reference works like dictionaries and encyclopaedias are given in this document.