Deaf Poets: MLA Citations

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MLA Citation Style

The  MLA (Modern Language Association) Style (9th edition) is used in the humanities area. If you are interested in an online citation generator, BibGuru is linked below.

 Purdue Owl also has extensive resources explaining some of the new rules. Some professors may ask you to submit your papers to Turnitin, a plagiarism-checking database.

You must have both the in-text citations and the Works Cited page, which is a list of all sources you used for your paper. 

MLA Works Cited entry for a poem

In the Works Cited entry, you start with the poet’s name, followed by the title of the poem in quotation marks. Then include details of the source where the poem was published. Usually you will follow the format of an MLA book citation or an MLA website citation.

Poem in a book

If the poem is from a collection of the poet’s work, add the book's name in italics; the publisher; the year; and the page or page range on which the poem appears.

MLA format Author last name, First name. “Poem Title.” Book Title, Publisher, Year, Page number(s).
MLA Works Cited entry Rich, Adrienne. “Fox.” Fox: Poems 1998–2000, W. W. Norton, 2001, p. 25.
MLA in-text citation (Rich)

Poem in an anthology

If the poem was published as part of an edited collection, follow the same format as above, but add the name(s) of the book’s editor(s).

MLA format Author last name, First name. “Poem Title.” Book Title, edited by Editor first name Last name, Publisher, Year, Page number(s).
MLA Works Cited entry Heaney, Seamus. “Funeral Rites.” The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Peter Fallon and Derek Mahon, Penguin Books, 1990, pp. 149–151.
MLA in-text citation (Heaney 150)

Poem on a website

If you accessed the poem on a website, include the name of the website and the URL. If the web page has a publication date, include this; if not, add the date on which you accessed it. If relevant, you can also add the original publication year directly after the poem’s title.

MLA format Author last name, First name. “Poem Title.” Original publication year. Website Name, Day Month Year, URL.
MLA Works Cited entry Mahon, Derek. “A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford.” 1975. Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/92154/a-disused-shed-in-co-wexford. Accessed 25 June 2019.
MLA in-text citation (Mahon)

Why Should We Use Citations?

Why Do We Need to Cite Sources for Papers or Presentations?

  • We need to acknowledge another person's work and ideas and give him credit.
  • You have more credibility because your paper shows you reviewed, evaluated, and selected sources during the research process
  • You avoid plagiarism.
  • Your sources are easier to find. Readers can find the sources you used.

How Do You Incorporate Sources Within Your Paper or Presentation?

  • Quoting-Copy a short passage word for word, set off by quotation marks.
  • Summarizing--Restate the main ideas in your own words which is shorter than the origiinal
  • Paraphrasing--Take an idea and put it in your own words.

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