Language Arts Courses in Cobb County

In addition to the list of works cited at the end of your research paper, you must give more precise information about your source within the paper itself. The method of documentation recommended by the MLA is known as parenthetical documentation.Wherever you paraphrase or quote, identify in parentheses the author and page number of the source.

Example: Critics contend that Twelfth Night is the most nearly perfect festive comedy that Shakespeare wrote (Schwartz 509).

The parenthetical information indicates that this information was obtained from page 509 of something written by Schwartz. The reader can refer to the Works Cited page, which is arranged alphabetically by author's name, title, and publication information.

Example: Schwartz, Elias. "Twelfth Night and the Meaning of Shakespearean Comedy." College English 28 (1967) : 508-14.

Adhere to these guidelines in preparing parenthetical documentation.

The parenthetical documentation should be brief and accurate. Your parenthetical reference should lead the reader to the exact page you have cited.

There must be an entry on the list of works cited for every source cited in your paper. There must be a match between your documentation and the sources listed on the Works Cited page.

Place a parenthetical reference as close as possible to the information it documents, preferably where a pause would naturally occur, usually at the end of a sentence. The parenthetical reference precedes the period or comma that marks the end of the sentence, clause, or phrase.

Do not interrupt the flow of your paragraph by excessive parenthetical documentation. Use transitional expressions to link several paraphrased sentences from the same source so that you will not need to document at the end of every sentence.

If you use the author's name in a sentence, do not repeat it in the parentheses. If the author's name does not actually appear in your sentence, you must include it in the parentheses.

If a direct quote occurs at the end of a sentence, place the parenthetical reference between the closing quotation mark and the final mark of punctuation.

Example: G. K. Hunter, for example, is one authority who regards "the song as an extended comment on the central ideas of the play" (100).

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In addition to the list of works cited at the end of your research paper, you must give more precise information about your source within the paper itself. The method of documentation recommended by the MLA is known as parenthetical documentation.Wherever you paraphrase or quote, identify in parentheses the author and page number of the source.

Example: Critics contend that Twelfth Night is the most nearly perfect festive comedy that Shakespeare wrote (Schwartz 509).

The parenthetical information indicates that this information was obtained from page 509 of something written by Schwartz. The reader can refer to the Works Cited page, which is arranged alphabetically by author's name, title, and publication information.

Example: Schwartz, Elias. "Twelfth Night and the Meaning of Shakespearean Comedy." College English 28 (1967) : 508-14.

Adhere to these guidelines in preparing parenthetical documentation.

The parenthetical documentation should be brief and accurate. Your parenthetical reference should lead the reader to the exact page you have cited.
There must be an entry on the list of works cited for every source cited in your paper. There must be a match between your documentation and the sources listed on the Works Cited page.
Place a parenthetical reference as close as possible to the information it documents, preferably where a pause would naturally occur, usually at the end of a sentence. The parenthetical reference precedes the period or comma that marks the end of the sentence, clause, or phrase.
Do not interrupt the flow of your paragraph by excessive parenthetical documentation. Use transitional expressions to link several paraphrased sentences from the same source so that you will not need to document at the end of every sentence.
If you use the author's name in a sentence, do not repeat it in the parentheses. If the author's name does not actually appear in your sentence, you must include it in the parentheses.
If a direct quote occurs at the end of a sentence, place the parenthetical reference between the closing quotation mark and the final mark of punctuation.

Example: G. K. Hunter, for example, is one authority who regards "the song as an extended comment on the central ideas of the play" (100).

next page