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Citation and Documentation

Parenthetical Citation » The List of Works Cited

In addition to indicating which facts, ideas, or words derive from someone else, always let your readers know where each can be found. You want to enable readers not only to "check up" on you, but also to follow in your footsteps and build on your work. After all, you hope that your analysis of a text will entice readers to reread certain passages from a different point of view.

At the same time, you don’t want information about how to find others’ work to interfere with readers’ engagement with your work. Who, after all, could really make sense of an essay full of sentences such as these: (1) "I know not ‘seems,’ " Hamlet claims in line 76 of Act 1, Scene 2, and (2) On the fourth page of her 1993 PMLA article (which was that journal’s 108th volume), Jean Wyatt insists that Morrison’s "plot . . . cannot move forward because Sethe’s space is crammed with the past."

To ensure that doesn’t happen, it is important to have a system for conveying this information in a concise, unobtrusive way. There are, in fact, many such systems currently in use. Different disciplines, publications, and even instructors prefer or require different systems. In literary studies (and the humanities generally), the preferred system is that developed by the Modern Language Association (MLA).

In this system, parenthetical citations embedded in an essay are keyed to an alphabetized list of works cited that appears at its end. Parenthetical citations allow the writer to briefly indicate where an idea, fact, or quotation appears, while the list of works cited gives readers all the information they need to find that source. Here is a typical sentence with parenthetical citation, as well as the works cited entry to which it refers.

Sample Parenthetical Citation

In one critic’s view, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" explores "what great art means" not to the ordinary person, but only "to those who create it" (Bowra 148).

Sample Works Cited Entry

Bowra, C. M. The Romantic Imagination. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1950.

This example gives a basic sense of how parenthetical citations and the list of works cited work together in the MLA system. Note that each parenthetical citation must "match up" with one (and only one) works cited entry.

The exact content of each parenthetical citation and works cited entry will depend upon a host of factors. The next two sections focus on these factors.

Parenthetical Citation

THE GENERIC PARENTHETICAL CITATION: AUTHOR(S) AND PAGE NUMBER(S)

The generic MLA parenthetical citation includes an author’s name and a page number (or numbers). If the source has two or three authors, include all last names, as in (Gilbert and Gubar 57). If it has four or more, use the first author’s name followed by et al. (Latin for "and others") in roman type, as in the second example below. In all cases, nothing but a space separates author’s name(s) from page number(s).

Most domestic poems of the 1950s foreground the parent-child relationship (Axelrod 1230).

Given their rigid structure, it is perhaps "[n]ot surprisin[g]" that many sonnets explore the topic of "confinement" (Booth et al. 1022).

Notice the placement of the parenthetical citations in these examples. In each one the citation comes at the end of the sentence, yet it appears inside the period (because it is part of the sentence) and outside the quotation marks (because it isn’t part of the quotation). Such placement of parenthetical citations should be your practice in all but two situations (both described in the next section).

VARIATIONS IN PLACEMENT

In terms of placement, the first exception is the block quotation. In this case, the parenthetical citation should immediately follow (not precede) the punctuation mark that ends the quotation.

As historian Michael Crowder insists, Western-style education was the single "most radical influence on Nigeria introduced by the British" because it came to be seen as a means not only of economic betterment but of social elevation. It opened doors to an entirely new world, the world of the white man. Since missionaries had a virtual monopoly on schools, they were able to use them as a means of further proselytization, and continued to warn their pupils of the evils of their former way of life. (195)

The second exception is the sentence that either incorporates material from multiple sources or texts (as in the first example below) or refers both to something from a source or text and to your own idea (as in the second example below). In either situation, you will need to put the appropriate parenthetical citation in mid-sentence right next to the material to which it refers, even at the risk of interrupting the flow of the sentence.

Critics describe Caliban as a creature with an essentially "unalterable natur[e]" (Garner 458), "incapable of comprehending the good or of learning from the past" (Peterson 442), "impervious to genuine moral improvement" (Wright 451).

If Caliban is "incapable of... learning from the past" (Peterson 442), then how do we explain the changed attitude he seems to demonstrate at the end of the play?

VARIATIONS IN CONTENT

The generic MLA citation may contain the author’s name(s) and the relevant page number(s), but variations are the rule when it comes to content. The six most common variations occur when you do the following:

1. Name the author in a signal phrase
   Parenthetical citations should include only information that isn’t crucial to the sense and credibility of your argument. Yet in nine cases out of ten, information about whose ideas, data, or words you are referring to is crucial in precisely this way. As a result, it is usually a good idea to indicate this in your text. When you do so, the parenthetical citation need only include the relevant page number(s).

Jefferson’s "new generation" are, in Judith Fetterley’s words, just "as much bound by the code of gentlemanly behavior as their fathers were" (619).

According to Steven Gould Axelrod, most domestic poems of the 1950s foreground the parent-child relationship (1230).

2. Cite a poem or play
   In the case of most poetry, refer to line (not page) numbers.

Ulysses encourages his men "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield" (line 70).

1. In the case of classic plays, indicate act, scene, and line numbers, and separate them with periods.

"I know not ‘seems,’ " Hamlet claims (1.2.76).

3. Cite multiple works by the same author or a work whose author is unknown
   When citing multiple works by the same author or an anonymous work, you will need to indicate the title of the specific work to which you refer. Either indicate the title in your text, putting only the page number(s) in a parenthetical citation (as in the first example below), or create a parenthetical citation in which the first word or two of the title is followed by the page number(s) (as in the third example below). In the latter case, you should format the title words exactly as you would the full title, using quotation marks for essays, short stories, and short poems, and using italics or underlining for books.

As Judith Fetterley argues in "A Rose for ‘A Rose for Emily,’ " Jefferson’s younger generation is just "as much bound by the code of gentlemanly behavior as their fathers were" (619).

Jefferson’s "new generation" is, in Judith Fetterley’s words, just "as much bound by the code of gentlemanly behavior as their fathers were" ("A Rose" 562).

Arguably, Jefferson’s "new generation" is just "as much bound by the code of gentlemanly behavior as their fathers were" (Fetterley, "A Rose" 619).

4. Cite a source quoted in another source
   When quoting the words of one person as they appear in another author’s work, mention the person’s name in a signal phrase. Then create a parenthetical citation in which the abbreviation "qtd. in" is followed by the author’s name and the relevant page number(s).

Hegel describes Creon as "a moral power," "not a tyrant" (qtd. in Knox 2108).

5. Cite multiple authors with the same last name
   In this case, you should either use the author’s full name in a signal phrase (as above) or add the author’s first initial to the parenthetical citation (as below).

Beloved depicts a "a specifically female quest powered by the desire to get one’s milk to one’s baby" (J. Wyatt 475).

6. Cite multiple sources for the same idea or fact
   In this case, put both citations within a single set of parentheses and separate them with a semicolon.

Though many scholars attribute Caliban’s bestiality to a seemingly innate inability to learn or change (Garner 458; Peterson 442; Wright 451), others highlight how inefficient or problematic Prospero’s teaching methods are (Willis 443) and how invested Prospero might be in keeping Caliban ignorant (Taylor 384).

7. Cite a work without numbered pages
   Omit page numbers from parenthetical citations if you cite:

• an electronic work that isn’t paginated;
  
  
• a print work whose pages aren’t numbered;
  
  
• a print work that is only one page long;
  
  
• a print work, such as an encyclopedia, that is organized alphabetically.

1. If at all possible, mention the author’s name and/or the work’s title in your text (so that you don’t need any parenthetical citation). Otherwise, create a parenthetical citation that contains, as appropriate, the author’s name and/or the first word(s) of the title.

8. Italicize words that aren’t italicized in the original If you draw your readers’ attention to a particular word or phrase within a quotation by using italics or underlining, your parenthetical citation must include the words "emphasis added."

Like his constant references to "Tragedy," the wording of the father’s question demonstrates that he is almost as hesitant as his daughter to confront death head-on: "When will you look it in the face?" he asks her (34; emphasis added).

The List of Works Cited

The alphabetized list of works cited should appear at the end of your completed essay. It must include all, and only, the texts and sources that you cite in your essay; it also must provide full publication information about each one.

If you’re writing a research essay and have created and maintained a working bibliography (see Creating a Working Bibliography), that bibliography will become the core of your works cited list. To turn the former into the latter, you will need to:

• delete sources that you did not ultimately cite in your essay;
  
  
• add an entry for each primary text you did cite;
  
  
• delete notes about where you found sources (call numbers, etc.).

FORMATTING THE LIST OF WORKS CITED

The list of works cited should appear on a separate page (or pages) at the end of your essay. (If you conclude your essay on page 5, for example, you would start the list of works cited on page 6.) Center the heading "Works Cited" (without quotation marks) at the top of the first page, and double-space throughout.

The first line of each entry should begin at the left margin; the second and subsequent lines should be indented 5 spaces or 1/2 inch.

Alphabetize your list by the last names of the authors or editors. In the case of anonymous works, alphabetize by the first word of the title other than A, An, or The.

If your list includes multiple works by the same author, begin the first entry with the author’s name and each subsequent entry with three hyphens followed by a period. Alphabetize these listings by the first word of the title, again ignoring the words A, An, or The.

FORMATTING WORKS CITED ENTRIES

The exact content and style of each entry in your list of works cited will depend upon the type of source it is. Following are examples of some of the most frequently used types of entries in lists of works cited. For all other types, consult the sixth edition of the MLA Handbook.

Book by a single author or editor

Webb, R. K. Modern England: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present. New York:
      Columbia UP, 1969.
Wu, Duncan, ed. A Companion to Romanticism. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.

Book with an author and an editor

Keats, John. Complete Poems. Ed. Jack Stillinger. Cambridge: Belknap-Harvard UP,
      1982.

Book by two or three authors or editors

Gallagher, Catherine, and Thomas Laqueur, eds. The Making of the Modern Body:
      Sexuality and Society in the Nineteenth Century. Berkeley: U of California P,
      1987.

Book by more than three authors or editors

Zipes, Jack, et al. The Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature. New York: Norton,
      2005.

Introduction, preface, or foreword

O’Prey, Paul. Introduction. Heart of Darkness. By Joseph Conrad. New York: Viking,
      1983. 7-24.

Essay, poem, or any other work in an edited collection or anthology

Shaw, Philip. "Britain at War: The Historical Context." A Companion to Romanticism.
      Ed. Duncan Wu. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998. 48-60.
Yeats, W. B. "The Lake Isle of Innisfree." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 9th
      ed. Ed. Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2005.
      1285.

Multiple short works from one collection or anthology

Booth, Alison, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays, eds. The Norton Introduction to Lit-
      erature. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2005.
Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." Booth, Hunter, and Mays. 1247-48.
Keats, John. "Ode to a Nightingale." Booth, Hunter, and Mays. 1098-99.

Article in a reference work

"Magna Carta." Encyclopaedia Britannica. 14th ed. 630–35.

Article in a scholarly journal

Wyatt, Jean. "Giving Body to the Word: The Maternal Symbolic in Toni Morrison’s
      Beloved." PMLA 108 (May 1993): 474-88.

Article in a newspaper or magazine

McNulty, Charles. "All the World’s a Stage Door." Village Voice 13 Feb. 2001: 69.

Review or editorial

Leys, Simon. "Balzac’s Genius and Other Paradoxes." Rev. of Balzac: A Life, by Gra­
      ham Robb. New Republic 20 Dec. 1994: 26-27.

Internet site

U.S. Department of Education (ED) Home Page. US Dept. of Education. 12 Aug. 2004
      <http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml>.
Yeats Society Sligo Home Page. Yeats Society Sligo. 12 Nov. 2004
      <http://www.yeats-sligo.com/>.

Article on a Web site

Padgett, John B. "William Faulkner." The Mississippi Writers Page. 29 Mar. 1999.
      8 Feb. 2004 <http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/
      faulkner_william/>.