Confused about works cited, quoting, and sources, MLA style?

I have no idea… but definitley check noodletools.com. It’s a great resource for figuring out how to do citations.

Do you use Microsoft Word? If so, look at their MLA templates on line. They set everything automatically for you. Also, if your school gives you access to the program EndNotes, it handles all scholarly citations in every important style including MLA.

If you’re quoting a quote from your source, then you would say (qtd. in Author pg#) <<with parantheses.

ex. “The Okapi is the most interesting of all the artiodactyl mammals” (qtd. in Smith 81).

If, however, you’re not quoting the original source, I would just put them in the Works Cited at the end of your paper.

ex. The Okapi is related to other artiodactyls, such as giraffes. It has a similar morphology…etc. (not a direct quote)

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue has everything you could ever want to know about MLA formatting.

Make sense?

@evegrimm That Purdue website is fantastic, I use it every time I need to write a paper. It saves my life.

My university has a writing handbook. If you can tell me how to send files, I will send you a copy.

@deni – Me too.

I personally would not cite the “works cited” of the article I’m citing, by reasoning that they have cited the works for me. I’ve never gotten marked off for this.

Check out the OWL at Purdue as suggested by @evegrimm. It is a valuable resource.

yay to all for OWL love!

If you haven’t actually seen and handled a book, you shouldn’t be citing it as a source.

It’s reasonable to say “Smith cites research done by Jones in 2001 to establish that 75% of college students ask questions online instead of going to their professors (Smith 2005).”

At the same time, if I had tried to pull that in a paper, my professors would have asked why I hadn’t looked up Jones’s research directly. (Also why I was using MLA style, but that’s beside the point.)

Thanks all.

@cwilbur It’s english class and the Prof. wants MLA

Different disciplines use different styles. Almost always MLA or APA. Neither is better or worse. They just comply with the publishing conventions of that discipline.