MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English

language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system for referencing their
sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.

Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating
accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can
protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental
uncredited use of source material by other writers.

If you are asked to use MLA format, be sure to consult the MLA Handbook for Writers
of Research Papers (6th edition). Publishing scholars and graduate students should also
consult the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd edition). The
MLA Handbook is available in most writing labs and reference libraries; it is also
widely available in bookstores, libraries, and at the MLA web site. See the Additional
Resources section of this handout for a list of helpful books and sites about using MLA
style.

Paper Format
The preparation of papers and manuscripts in MLA style is covered in chapter four of
the MLA Handbook, and chapter four of the MLA Style Manual. Below are some basic
guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA style.

General Guidelines
Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch
paper,
Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font like Times New
Roman or Courier.
Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise
instructed by your instructor).
Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides. Indent the first line of a
paragraph one half-inch (five spaces or press tab once) from the left margin.
Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand
corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your
instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow
your instructor's guidelines.)
Use either italics or underlining throughout your essay for the titles of longer
works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works
Cited page.

Formatting the First Page of Your Paper

Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested.
In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's
name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
Double space again and center the title. Don't underline your title or put it in
quotation marks; write the title in Title Case, not in all capital letters.

1
 Use quotation marks and underlining or italics when referring to other works in
your title, just as you would in your text, e.g.,
o Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play
o Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking"
Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name,
followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with
Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the
right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last
name/page number header on your first page. Always follow their guidelines.)

Here is a sample first page of an essay in MLA style:

Image Caption: A sample first page of an MLA-formatted paper.

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Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement
1.Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts,
evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the
audience.
An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim
with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an
evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the
argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on
the evidence provided.

If you are writing a text which does not fall under these three categories (ex. a
narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to
your reader.

2. Your thesis statement should be specificit should cover only what you will discuss
in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.

4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement
to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Thesis Statement Examples

Example of an analytical thesis statement:

An analysis of the college admission process reveals two principal

problems facing counselors: accepting students with high test scores

or students with strong extracurricular backgrounds.

The paper that follows should:

explain the analysis of the college admission process

explain the two problems facing admissions counselors

Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

The life of the typical college student is characterized by time spent

studying, attending class, and socializing with peers.

The paper that follows should:

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 explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing
with peers

Example of an argumentative thesis statement:

High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue

community service projects before entering college in order to

increase their maturity and global awareness.

The paper that follows should:

present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should
pursue community projects before entering college

Writing takes time

Find out when is the assignment due and devise a plan of action. This may seem
obvious and irrelevant to the writing process, but it's not. Writing is a process, not
merely a product. Even the best professional writers don't just sit down at a computer,
write, and call it a day. The quality of your writing will reflect the time and forethought
you put into the assignment. Plan ahead for the assignment by doing pre-writing, this
will allow you to be more productive and organized when you sit down to write. Also,
schedule several blocks of time to devote to your writing, this way you can walk away
from it for a while and come back later with a fresh mind to make changes and
revisions.

Use the rhetorical elements as a guide to think through your

writing
Thinking about your assignment in terms of the rhetorical situation can help guide you
in the beginning of the writing process. Topic, audience, genre, style, opportunity,
research, the writer, and purpose are just a few elements that make up the rhetorical
situation.

Topic and audience are often very intertwined and work to inform each other. Start with
a broad view of your topic such as skateboarding, pollution, or the novel Jane Eyre and
then try to focus or refine your topic into a concise thesis statement by thinking about
your audience. Here are some questions you can ask yourself about audience:

Who is the audience for your writing?

Do you think your audience is interested in the topic? Why or why not?
Why should your audience be interested in this topic?
What does your audience already know about this topic?
What does your audience need to know about this topic?

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 What experiences has your audience had that would influence them on this
topic?
What do you hope the audience will gain from your text?

For example, imagine that your broad topic is dorm food. Who is your audience? You
could be writing to current students, prospective students, parents of students, university
administrators, or nutrition experts among others. Each of these groups would have
different experiences with and interests in the topic of dorm food. While students might
be more concerned with the taste of the food or the hours food is available parents
might be more concerned with the price.

You can also think about opportunity as a way to refine or focus your topic by asking
yourself what current events make your topic relevant at this moment. For example, you
could connect the nutritional value of dorm food to the current debate about the obesity
epidemic or you could connect the price value of dorm food to the rising cost of a
college education overall.

Keep in mind the purpose of the writing assignment.

Writing can have many different purposes. Here are just a few examples:

Summarizing: Presenting the main points or essence of another text in a

condensed form
Arguing/Persuading: Expressing a viewpoint on an issue or topic in an effort to
convince others that your viewpoint is correct
Narrating: Telling a story or giving an account of events
Evaluating: Examining something in order to determine its value or worth based
on a set of criteria.
Analyzing: Breaking a topic down into its component parts in order to examine
the relationships between the parts.
Responding: Writing that is in a direct dialogue with another text.
Examining/Investigating: Systematically questioning a topic to discover or
uncover facts that are not widely known or accepted, in a way that strives to be
as neutral and objective as possible.
Observing: Helping the reader see and understand a person, place, object, image
or event that you have directly watched or experienced through detailed sensory
descriptions.

You could be observing your dorm cafeteria to see what types of food students are
actually eating, you could be evaluating the quality of the food based on freshness and
quantity, or you could be narrating a story about how you gained fifteen ponds your first
year at college.

You may need to use several of these writing strategies within your paper. For example
you could summarize federal nutrition guidelines, evaluate whether the food being
served at the dorm fits those guidelines, and then argue that changes should be made in
the menus to better fit those guidelines.

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Pre-writing strategies
Once you have thesis statement just start writing!!!! Don't feel constrained by format
issues. Don't worry about spelling, grammar, or writing in complete sentences.
Brainstorm and write down everything you can think of that might relate to the thesis
and then reread and evaluate the ideas you generated. It's easier to cut out bad ideas then
only think of good ones. Once you have a handful of useful ways to approach thesis you
can use a basic outline structure to begin to think about organization. Remember to be
flexible; this is just a way to get you writing. If better ideas occur to you as you're
writing don't be afraid to refine your original ideas.

Develop a topic based on what has already been said and written but write
something new and original
Rely on opinions of experts and authorities on a topic but improve upon and/or
disagree with those same opinions
Give credit to researchers who have come before you but make your own
significant contribution
Improve your English or fit into a discourse community by building upon what
you hear and read but use your own words and your own voice

The goal of concise writing is to use the most effective words. Concise writing does not
always have the fewest words, but it always uses the strongest ones. Writers often fill
sentences with weak or unnecessary words that can be deleted or replaced. Words and
phrases should be deliberately chosen for the work they are doing. Like bad employees,
words that don't accomplish enough should be fired. When only the most effective
words remain, writing will be far more concise and readable.

This resource contains general conciseness tips followed by very specific strategies for
pruning sentences.

1. Replace several vague words with more powerful and specific

words.
Often, writers use several small and ambiguous words to express a concept, wasting
energy expressing ideas better relayed through fewer specific words. As a general rule,
more specific words lead to more concise writing. Because of the variety of nouns,
verbs, and adjectives, most things have a closely corresponding description.
Brainstorming or searching a thesaurus can lead to the word best suited for a specific
instance. Notice that the examples below actually convey more as they drop in word
count.

Wordy: The politician talked about several of the merits of after-

school programs in his speech (14 words)

Concise: The politician touted after-school programs in his speech. (8

words)

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Wordy: Suzie believed but could not confirm that Billy had feelings of

affection for her. (14 words)

Concise: Suzie assumed that Billy adored her. (6 words)

Wordy: Our website has made available many of the things you can use

for making a decision on the best dentist. (20 words)

Concise: Our website presents criteria for determining the best

dentist. (9 words)

Wordy: Working as a pupil under a someone who develops photos was an

experience that really helped me learn a lot. (20 words)

Concise: Working as a photo technician's apprentice was an educational

experience. (10 words)

2. Interrogate every word in a sentence

Check every word to make sure that it is providing something important and unique to a
sentence. If words are dead weight, they can be deleted or replaced. Other sections in
this handout cover this concept more specifically, but there are some general examples
below containing sentences with words that could be cut.

Wordy: The teacher demonstrated some of the various ways and methods

for cutting words from my essay that I had written for class. (22

words)

Concise: The teacher demonstrated methods for cutting words from my

essay. (10 words)

Wordy: Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood formed a new band of musicians

together in 1969, giving it the ironic name of Blind Faith because

early speculation that was spreading everywhere about the band

suggested that the new musical group would be good enough to rival the

earlier bands that both men had been in, Cream and Traffic, which

people had really liked and had been very popular. (66 words)

Concise: Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood formed a new band in 1969,

ironically naming it Blind Faith because speculation suggested that

the group would rival the musicians previous popular bands, Cream and

Traffic. (32 words)

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Wordy: Many have made the wise observation that when a stone is in

motion rolling down a hill or incline that that moving stone is not as

likely to be covered all over with the kind of thick green moss that

grows on stationary unmoving things and becomes a nuisance and

suggests that those things havent moved in a long time and probably

wont move any time soon. (67 words)

Concise: A rolling stone gathers no moss. (6 words)

3. Combine Sentences.
Some information does not require a full sentence, and can easily be inserted into
another sentence without losing any of its value. To get more strategies for sentence
combining, see the handout on Sentence Variety.

Wordy: Ludwig's castles are an astounding marriage of beauty and

madness. By his death, he had commissioned three castles. (18 words)

Concise: Ludwig's three castles are an astounding marriage of beauty

and madness. (11 words)

Wordy: The supposed crash of a UFO in Roswell, New Mexico aroused

interest in extraterrestrial life. This crash is rumored to have

occurred in 1947. (24 words)

Concise: The supposed 1947 crash of a UFO in Roswell, New Mexico

aroused interest in extraterrestrial life. (16 words)

What is a paragraph?
A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. Learning to
write good paragraphs will help you as a writer stay on track during your drafting and
revision stages. Good paragraphing also greatly assists your readers in following a piece
of writing. You can have fantastic ideas, but if those ideas aren't presented in an
organized fashion, you will lose your readers (and fail to achieve your goals in writing).

The Basic Rule: Keep One Idea to One Paragraph

The basic rule of thumb with paragraphing is to keep one idea to one paragraph. If
you begin to transition into a new idea, it belongs in a new paragraph. There are some
simple ways to tell if you are on the same topic or a new one. You can have one idea
and several bits of supporting evidence within a single paragraph. You can also have

8
several points in a single paragraph as long as they relate to the overall topic of the
paragraph. If the single points start to get long, then perhaps elaborating on each of
them and placing them in their own paragraphs is the route to go.

Elements of a Paragraph
To be as effective as possible, a paragraph should contain each of the following: Unity,
Coherence, A Topic Sentence, and Adequate Development. As you will see, all of
these traits overlap. Using and adapting them to your individual purposes will help you
construct effective paragraphs.

Unity
The entire paragraph should concern itself with a single focus. If it begins with a one
focus or major point of discussion, it should not end with another or wander within
different ideas.

Coherence
Coherence is the trait that makes the paragraph easily understandable to a reader. You
can help create coherence in your paragraphs by creating logical bridges and verbal
bridges.

Logical bridges
The same idea of a topic is carried over from sentence to sentence
Successive sentences can be constructed in parallel form

Verbal bridges
Key words can be repeated in several sentences
Synonymous words can be repeated in several sentences
Pronouns can refer to nouns in previous sentences
Transition words can be used to link ideas from different sentences

A topic sentence
A topic sentence is a sentence that indicates in a general way what idea or thesis the
paragraph is going to deal with. Although not all paragraphs have clear-cut topic
sentences, and despite the fact that topic sentences can occur anywhere in the paragraph
(as the first sentence, the last sentence, or somewhere in the middle), an easy way to
make sure your reader understands the topic of the paragraph is to put your topic
sentence near the beginning of the paragraph. (This is a good general rule for less
experienced writers, although it is not the only way to do it). Regardless of whether you
include an explicit topic sentence or not, you should be able to easily summarize what
the paragraph is about.

9
Adequate development
The topic (which is introduced by the topic sentence) should be discussed fully and
adequately. Again, this varies from paragraph to paragraph, depending on the author's
purpose, but writers should beware of paragraphs that only have two or three sentences.
It's a pretty good bet that the paragraph is not fully developed if it is that short.

Some methods to make sure your paragraph is well-developed:

Use examples and illustrations

Cite data (facts, statistics, evidence, details, and others)
Examine testimony (what other people say such as quotes and paraphrases)
Use an anecdote or story
Define terms in the paragraph
Compare and contrast
Evaluate causes and reasons
Examine effects and consequences
Analyze the topic
Describe the topic
Offer a chronology of an event (time segments)

How do I know when to start a new paragraph?

You should start a new paragraph when:

When you begin a new idea or point. New ideas should always start in new
paragraphs. If you have an extended idea that spans multiple paragraphs, each
new point within that idea should have its own paragraph.
To contrast information or ideas. Separate paragraphs can serve to contrast
sides in a debate, different points in an argument, or any other difference.
When your readers need a pause. Breaks in paragraphs function as a short
"break" for your readersadding these in will help your writing more readable.
You would create a break if the paragraph becomes too long or the material is
complex.
When you are ending your introduction or starting your conclusion. Your
introductory and concluding material should always be in a new paragraph.
Many introductions and conclusions have multiple paragraphs depending on
their content, length, and the writer's purpose.

Transitions and Signposts

Two very important elements of paragraphing are signposts and transitions. Signposts
are internal aids to assist readers; they usually consist of several sentences or a
paragraph outlining what the article has covered and where the article will be going.

Transitions are usually one or several sentences that "transition" from one idea to the
next. Transitions can be used at the end of most paragraphs to help the paragraphs flow
one into the next.

10
Brief Overview of Punctuation

When speaking, we can pause or change the tone of our voices to indicate emphasis.
When writing, we use punctuation to indicate these places of emphases. This handout
should help to clarify when and how to use various marks of punctuation.

Independent clause: a clause that has a subject and a verb and can stand alone; a
complete sentence
Dependent clause: a clause that has a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone;
an incomplete sentence

Comma
Use a comma to join 2 independent clauses by a comma and a coordinating conjunction
(and, but, or, for, nor, so).

Road construction can be inconvenient, but it is necessary.

The new house has a large fenced backyard, so I am sure our dog will

enjoy it.

Use a comma after an introductory phrase, prepositional phrase, or dependent clause.

To get a good grade, you must complete all your assignments.

Because dad caught the chicken pox, we canceled our vacation.

After the wedding, the guests attended the reception.

Use a comma to separate elements in a series. Although there is no set rule that requires
a comma before the last item in a series, it seems to be a general academic convention to
include it. The examples below demonstrate this trend.
On her vacation, Lisa visited Greece, Spain, and Italy.

In their speeches, many of the candidates promised to help protect the

environment, bring about world peace, and end world hunger.

Use a comma to separate nonessential elements from a sentence. More specifically,

when a sentence includes information that is not crucial to the message or intent of the
sentence, enclose it in or separate it by commas.
John's truck, a red Chevrolet, needs new tires.

When he realized he had overslept, Matt rushed to his car and hurried

to work.

Use a comma between coordinate adjectives (adjectives that are equal and reversible).
The irritable, fidgety crowd waited impatiently for the rally speeches

to begin.

The sturdy, compact suitcase made a perfect gift.

11
Use a comma after a transitional element (however, therefore, nonetheless, also,
otherwise, finally, instead, thus, of course, above all, for example, in other words, as a
result, on the other hand, in conclusion, in addition)
For example, the Red Sox, Yankees, and Indians are popular baseball

teams.

If you really want to get a good grade this semester, however, you

must complete all assignments, attend class, and study your notes.

Use a comma with quoted words.

"Yes," she promised. Todd replied, saying, "I will be back this

afternoon."

Use a comma in a date.

October 25, 1999

Monday, October 25, 1999

25 October 1999

Use a comma in a number.

15,000,000

1614 High Street

Use a comma in a personal title.

Pam Smith, MD

Mike Rose, Chief Financial Officer for Operations, reported the

quarter's earnings.

Use a comma to separate a city name from the state.

West Lafayette, Indiana

Dallas, Texas

Avoid comma splices (two independent clauses joined only by a comma). Instead,
separate the clauses with a period, with a comma followed by a coordinating
conjunction, or with a semicolon.

Semicolon
Use a semicolon to join 2 independent clauses when the second clause restates the first
or when the two clauses are of equal emphasis.
Road construction in Dallas has hindered travel around town; streets

have become covered with bulldozers, trucks, and cones.

Use a semicolon to join 2 independent clauses when the second clause begins with a
conjunctive adverb (however, therefore, moreover, furthermore, thus, meanwhile,
nonetheless, otherwise) or a transition (in fact, for example, that is, for instance, in
addition, in other words, on the other hand, even so).

12
Terrorism in the United States has become a recent concern; in fact,

the concern for America's safety has led to an awareness of global

terrorism.

Use a semicolon to join elements of a series when individual items of the series already
include commas.
Recent sites of the Olympic Games include Athens, Greece; Salt Lake

City, Utah; Sydney, Australia; Nagano, Japan.

Colon
Use a colon to join 2 independent clauses when you wish to emphasize the second
clause.
Road construction in Dallas has hindered travel around town: parts of

Main, Fifth, and West Street are closed during the construction.

Use a colon after an independent clause when it is followed by a list, a quotation,

appositive, or other idea directly related to the independent clause.
Julie went to the store for some groceries: milk, bread, coffee, and

cheese.

In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln urges Americans to

rededicate themselves to the unfinished work of the deceased soldiers:

"It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished

work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is

rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before

us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that

cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we

here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that

this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that

government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not

perish from the earth."

I know the perfect job for her: a politician.

Use a colon at the end of a business letter greeting.

To Whom It May Concern:

Use a colon to separate the hour and minute(s) in a time notation.

12:00 p.m.

Use a colon to separate the chapter and verse in a Biblical reference.

13
Matthew 1:6

Parenthesis
Parentheses are used to emphasize content. They place more emphasis on the enclosed
content than commas. Use parentheses to set off nonessential material, such as dates,
clarifying information, or sources, from a sentence.
Muhammed Ali (1942-present), arguably the greatest athlete of all

time, claimed he would "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

Dash
Dashes are used to set off or emphasize the content enclosed within dashes or the
content that follows a dash. Dashes place more emphasis on this content than
parentheses.
Perhaps one reason why the term has been so problematicso resistant

to definition, and yet so transitory in those definitionsis because

of its multitude of applications.

In terms of public legitimacythat is, in terms of garnering support

from state legislators, parents, donors, and university

administratorsEnglish departments are primarily places where advanced

literacy is taught.

The U.S.S. Constitution became known as "Old Ironsides" during the War

of 1812during which the cannonballs fired from the British H.M.S.

Guerriere merely bounced off the sides of the Constitution.

To some of you, my proposals may seem radicaleven revolutionary.

Use a dash to set off an appositive phrase that already includes commas. An appositive
is a word that adds explanatory or clarifying information to the noun that precedes it.
The cousinsTina, Todd, and Samarrived at the party together.

Quotation Marks
Use quotation marks to enclose direct quotations. Note that commas and periods are
placed inside the closing quotation mark, and colons and semicolons are placed outside.
The placement of question and exclamation marks depends on the situation.
He asked, "When will you be arriving?" I answered, "Sometime after

6:30."

Use quotation marks to indicate the novel, ironic, or reserved use of a word.
History is stained with blood spilled in the name of "justice."

14
Use quotation marks around the titles of short poems, song titles, short stories,
magazine or newspaper articles, essays, speeches, chapter titles, short films, and
episodes of television or radio shows.
"Self-Reliance," by Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Just Like a Woman," by Bob Dylan

"The Smelly Car," an episode of Seinfeld

Do not use quotation marks in indirect or block quotations.

Italics
Underlining and Italics are often used interchangeably. Before word-processing
programs were widely available, writers would underline certain words to indicate to
publishers to italicize whatever was underlined. Although the general trend has been
moving toward italicizing instead of underlining, you should remain consistent with
your choice throughout your paper. To be safe, you could check with your teacher to
find out which he/she prefers. Italicize the titles of magazines, books, newspapers,
academic journals, films, television shows, long poems, plays of three or more acts,
operas, musical albums, works of art, websites, and individual trains, planes, or ships.
Time

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

The Metamorphosis of Narcissus by Salvador Dali

Amazon.com

Titanic

Italicize foreign words.

Semper fi, the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps, means "always

faithful."

Italicize a word or phrase to add emphasis.

The truth is of utmost concern!

Italicize a word when referring to that word.

The word justice is often misunderstood and therefore misused.

What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and

summarizing?
These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ
according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

15
Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source.
They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the
original author.

Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A
paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually
shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and
condensing it slightly.

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only
the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the
original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad
overview of the source material.

Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to .
..

Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing

Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
Give examples of several points of view on a subject
Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the
original
Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the
words are not your own
Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a

summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of
various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the
following example:

In his famous and influential work On the Interpretation of Dreams,

Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the

unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's

unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream work" (page

#). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored

internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and

displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream

itself (page #s).

16
How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries
Practice summarizing the following essay, using paraphrases and quotations as you go.
It might be helpful to follow these steps:

Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.
Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.
Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be
quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation
works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone.
Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good
reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so. You'll find guidelines for
citing sources and punctuating citations at our documentation guide pages.

General Format

General APA Guidelines

Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5 X 11 inches)
with margins of 1 inch on all sides. Your final essay should include, in the order
indicated below, as many of the following sections as are applicable, each of which
should begin on a separate page:

Title page: includes a running head for publication, title, and byline and affiliation.

17
Image Caption: Sample APA title page; running head and page number in upper right-
hand corner, definition of running head IN ALL CAPS, and vertically and horizontally
centers the title of the paper, its author and her affiliation to the page.

Page numbers and running head: in the upper right-hand corner of each page, include
a 1-2 word version of your title. Follow with five spaces and then the page number.

Abstract: If your instructor requires an abstract, write a 75-100 word overview of your
essay, which should include your main idea and your major points. You also may want
to mention any implications of your research. Place the abstract on its own page
immediately after the title page. Center the word Abstract and then follow with the
paragraph.

Headings: Although not absolutely necessary, headings can be helpful. For

undergraduate papers, only one level of heading is necessary. Major headings should be
centered. Capitalize every word in the heading except articles (a, the), short prepositions
(in, by, for), and coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or).

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Visuals: Visuals such as tables and figures include graphs, charts, drawings, and
photographs. Try to keep the visuals as simple as possible and clearly label each visual
with an Arabic numeral (ex: Table 1, Table 2, etc.) and include the title of the visual.
The label and the title should appear on separate lines above the table, flush left. Below
the table, provide the source. A sample Figure treatment is shown below.

Image Caption: A sample figure and caption in APA style.

List of References: Create your list of references on its own page after the last page of
your text. Center the title References one inch from the top of the page. Double space.
Alphabetize the list of references by the last name of the authors. If the work has no
author or editor, alphabetize the work by the first word of the title (excluding A, An, or
The).

Short Quotations
If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of
publication, and the page number for the reference (preceded by "p."). Introduce the

19
quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date
of publication in parentheses.

According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA

style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).

Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p.

199); what implications does this have for teachers?

If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last name, the year of
publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style," (Jones,

1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.

Long Quotations
Place direct quotations longer than 40 words in a free-standing block of typewritten
lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented five spaces
from the left margin. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first
line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation five spaces from the new margin.
Maintain double-spacing throughout. The parenthetical citation should come after
closing punctuation mark.

Jones's (1998) study found the following:

Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was

their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be attributed

to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or to

ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)

Summary or Paraphrase
If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to
the author and year of publication in your in-text reference, but APA guidelines
encourage you to also provide the page number (although it is not required.)

According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format

for first-time learners.

APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners

(Jones, 1998, p. 199).

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 Footnotes and Endnotes

Because long explanatory notes can be distracting to readers, APA style guidelines
recommend the use of endnotes/footnotes. In the text, place a superscript numeral
immediately after the text about which you would like to include more information,
e.g.:

Scientists examined the fossilized remains of the wooly-wooly yak.1

Number the notes consecutively in the order they appear in your paper. At the end of the
paper, create a separate page labeled Notes (with the title centered at the top of the
page). Below are examples of two kinds of notes.

Basic Format for Books

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also

for subtitle. Location: Publisher.

NOTE: For "Location," you should always list the city, but you should also include the
state if the city is unfamiliar or if the city could be confused with one in another state.

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing

manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American

Psychological Association.

Edited Book, No Author

Duncan, G.J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.). (1997). Consequences of growing up

poor. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Edited Book with an Author or Authors

Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals (K.V. Kukil, Ed.). New York:

Anchor.

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 A Translation
Laplace, P. S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities. (F. W.

Truscott & F. L. Emory, Trans.). New York: Dover. (Original work

published 1814).

NOTE: When you cite a republished work, like the one above, work in your text, it
should appear with both dates: Laplace (1814/1951).

Edition Other Than the First

Helfer, M.E., Keme, R.S., & Drugman, R.D. (1997). The battered child (5th

ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Article or Chapter in an Edited

Reference List: Articles in Periodicals

Basic Form
APA style dicates that authors are named last name followed by initials; publication
year goes between parentheses, followed by a period. The title of the article is in
sentence-case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are capitalized.
The periodical title is run in title case, and is followed by the volume number which,
with the title, is also italicized or underlined.

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article.

Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages.

Article in Journal Paginated by Volume

Journals that are paginated by volume begin with page one in issue one, and continue
numbering issue two where issue one ended, etc.

Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal

articles. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55,

893-896.

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 Article in Journal Paginated by Issue
Journals paginated by issue begin with page one every issue; therefore, the issue
number gets indicated in parentheses after the volume. The parentheses and issue
number are not italicized or underlined.

Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion, 15(30),

5-13.

Article in a Magazine
Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today's schools.

Time, 135, 28-31.

Article in a Newspaper
Unlike other periodicals, p. or pp. precedes page numbers for a newspaper reference in
APA style. Single pages take p., e.g., p. B2; multiple pages take pp., e.g., pp. B2, B4 or
pp. C1, C3-C4.

Schultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to strengthen state energy

policies. The Country Today, pp. 1A, 2A.

Letter to the Editor

Moller, G. (2002, August). Ripples versus rumbles [Letter to the editor].

Scientific American, 287(2), 12.

Review
Baumeister, R. F. (1993). Exposing the self-knowledge myth [Review of the

book The self-knower: A hero under control]. Contemporary Psychology,

38, 466-467.

Citing an Author or Authors

A Work by Two Authors:Name both authors in the signal phrase or in the parentheses
each time you cite the work. Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the
text and use "&" in the parentheses.

Research by Wegener and Petty (1994) showed...

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(Wegener & Petty, 1994)

A Work by Three to Five Authors: List all the authors in the signal phrase or in
parentheses the first time you cite the source.

(Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993)

In subsequent citations, only use the first author's last name followed by "et al." in the
signal phrase or in parentheses.

(Kernis et al., 1993)

In et al., et should not be followed by a period.

Six or More Authors: Use the first author's name followed by et al. in the signal phrase
or in parentheses.

Harris et al. (2001) argued...

(Harris et al., 2001)

Unknown Author: If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title in the
signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parentheses. Titles of books and reports
are italicized or underlined; titles of articles and chapters are in quotation marks.

A similar study was done of students learning to format research

papers ("Using APA," 2001).

Reference List: Basic Rules

Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the information
necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper.
Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry
in the reference list must be cited in your text.

Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay; label
this page References (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.), centered at the top of
the page. It should be double-spaced just like the rest of your essay.

Basic Rules
All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented
one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation.
Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for
all authors of a particular work unless the work has more than six authors. If the

24
 work has more than six authors, list the first six authors and then use et al. after
the sixth author's name to indicate the rest of the authors.
Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author
of each work.
If you have more than one article by the same author, single-author references or
multiple-author references with the exact same authors in the exact same order
are listed in order by the year of publication, starting with the earliest.
When referring to any work that is NOT a journal, such as a book, article, or
Web page, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle,
the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns. Do not
capitalize the first letter of the second word in a hyphenated compound word.
Capitalize all major words in journal titles.
Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.
Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such
as journal articles or essays in edited collections.

Reference List: Electronic Sources

Article From an Online Periodical

Online articles follow the same guidelines for printed articles. Include all information
the online host makes available, including an issue number in parantheses.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article.

Title of online periodical, volume number(issue number if available).

Retrieved month day, year, from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A List Apart: For

People Who Make Websites, 149. Retrieved May 2, 2006 from

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving

Online Scholarly Journal Article

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article.

Title of journal, volume number. Retrieved month day, year, from

http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of

Buddhist Ethics, 8.Retrieved February 20, 2001, from

http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

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 If the article appears as a printed version as well, the URL is not required. Use
"Electronic version" in brackets after the article's title.

Whitmeyer, J.M. (2000). Power through appointment [Electronic version].

Social Science Research, 29, 535-555.

Article From a Database

When referencing material obtained from an online database (such as a database in the
library), provide appropriate print citation information (formatted just like a "normal"
print citation would be for that type of work). Then add information that gives the date
of retrieval and the proper name of the database. This will allow people to retrieve the
print version if they do not have access to the database from which you retrieved the
article. You can also include the item number or accession number in parentheses at the
end, but the APA manual says that this is not required. (For more about citing articles
retrieved from electronic databases, see page 278 of the Publication Manual.)

Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A study of enjoyment

of peas. Journal of Abnormal Eating, 8(3). Retrieved February 20,

2003, from PsycARTICLES database.

Nonperiodical Web Document, Web Page, or Report

List as much of the following information as possible (you sometimes have to hunt
around to find the information; don't be lazy. If there is a page like
http://www.somesite.com/somepage.htm, and somepage.htm doesn't have the
information you're looking for, move up the URL to http://www.somesite.com/):

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document.

Retrieved month date, year, from http://Web address.

NOTE: When an Internet document is more than one Web page, provide a URL that
links to the home page or entry page for the document. Also, if there isn't a date
available for the document use (n.d.) for no date.

Chapter or Section of a Web document

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. In

Title of book or larger document (chapter or section number).

Retrieved month day, year from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/.

26
Engelshcall, R. S. (1997). Module mod_rewrite: URL Rewriting Engine. In

Apache HTTP Server Version 1.3 Documentation (Apache modules.)

Retrieved March 10, 2006 from

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_rewrite.html

NOTE: Use a chapter or section identifier and provide a URL that links directly to the
chapter section, not the home page of the Web site.

E-mail
E-mails are not included in the list of references, though you parenthetically cite them in
your main text: (E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2001).

Online Forum or Discussion Board Posting

Message posted to an online newsgroup, forum, or discussion group. Include the title of
the messsage, and the URL of the newsgroup or discussion board.

Frook, B. D. (1999, July 23). New inventions in the cyberworld of

toylandia [Msg 25]. Message posted to

http://groups.earthlink.com/forum/messages/00025.html

NOTE: If only the screen name is available for the author, then use the screen name;
however, if the author provides a real name, use their real name instead. Be sure to
provide the exact date of the posting. Follow the date with the subject line, the thread of
the message (not in italics). Provide any identifiers in brackets after the title, as in other
types of references.

Computer Software
Ludwig, T. (2002). PsychInquiry [computer software]. New York: Worth.

27