Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Works Cited Pages

How To Quote Sources in Your Essay

General Guidelines

  • MLA doesn’t require footnotes/endnotes in short papers

  • “Parenthetical Documentation”

    • Easy

    • Eliminates hassle w/ numbers, leaving space, etc

    • Indicates the author, title of source, and page number the quote appears on

    • Serves as a reference to Works Cited page, where all relevant publication info appears


First Reference to a Source

  • Introduce it to the reader

  • Include the author’s name(if known) and the title of the source

  • Introduce the source with an introductory phrase before the quote

  • Pay attention to punctuation and how parentheses are used


  • EXAMPLES

  1. According to Franz Boas in “Stability of Culture,” it is important to realize that “the specific forms of our actions are culturally determined”(605).

  2. In his essay “A Little Glass of Rum,” Claude Levi-Strauss states, "the anthropologist should have a neutral attitude toward his own group”(648).

  3. “Societies which seem savage to us in some respects may appear humane and kindly when considered from another angle” according to Claude Levi-Strauss in “Stability of Culture”(653).


  • Only the page number appears in the parentheses because the author’s name and the title of the work was already given in the sentence with the quote.


Second Reference to a Source

  • 2nd time & after, you don’t need to repeat full author and title

  • You can use the author’s name only

  • If using only 1 source by that author, put the page number in parentheses

  • You can also put the author’s last name and page number in parentheses


  • EXAMPLES

  1. Levi-Strauss also says that an anthropologist is “less able to ignore his own civilization”(655).

  2. “On the ground of this experience we are inclined to consider every type of behavior that is marked by an immediate, involuntary reaction as instinctive”(Boas 606).



More than 1 Source by the Same Author

Refer to the Title in the Reference-

  • What you should always do if it’s the 1st time you’ve referred to source

    • In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explains how “matter condensed into a mass”(250). [Cosmos is a book, so it’s underlined rather than put in quotations]

    • In his article “The Big Bang Theory,” Carl Sagan also explains creationism and claims, “with the proper information, it too, can be proven”(28).

    • Sagan reports in his book Cosmos that “the universe probably came into existence in a big bang” (15). [Second reference to the source: last name only]


Save Information for Parenthetical Reference

  • Too much information can make a sentence long and hard to follow

  • If needed, put source information in parentheses, including:

    • Author’s last name

    • Shortened title (usually first 2-3 words)

    • Page number


  • “The universe is an amazing mass of matter, debris, and space” (Sagan “Big Bang” 30).

  • Sometime in the future, “the universe will stop expanding, and will collapse on itself” (Sagan Cosmos 280). [Short title, include it all]



Using quotes from other people but found in your source

  • Authors quote other people occasionally

    • Rousseau called for “a happy mean between the indolence of the primitive state and the irrepressible busyness of our self-esteem” (qtd. in Levi-Strauss 657).

  • Note that the source is still Levi-Strauss, and this is the only source you will need to list in the Works Cited page



Long Quotes

  • Set off a quote if it is more than 4 complete, typed lines

  • Setting off the quote means:

    • Beginning the quote on a new line and indenting it 10 spaces

    • Each line of the quote is indented 10 spaces

    • There are no quotation marks around it

    • The parenthetical reference comes at the end, but OUTSIDE (not inside) the period

    • The next line of your text begins on a new line



How does the Parenthetical Reference Work?

The Works Cited Page:

  • is a listing of the sources which you quoted from or used documented information from in your essay

    • Any reference which required parenthetical documentation must be listed

  • Alphabetized by author’s last name

  • Has entries formatted according to what type of source they are

  • The last page of your essay and should begin on a new page

  • Follows precise and applied formatting as far as spacing


Works Cited Model/Example

The entries given are for “Works in Anthology” and are set up exactly as they should be


Works Cited

Boas, Franz. “Stability of Culture.” A World of Ideas. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Boston: St.

    Martin’s, 1994. 599-609.


Levi-Strauss, Claude. “A Little Glass of Rum.” A World of Ideas. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus.

    Boston: St. Martin’s, 1994. 645-659.