There’s Nothing Wrong with a Full Stop

Many writers feel that the longer the sentence, the more elegant the style . . . Read More

If my instructor asks for a cover page, can I leave the heading off the first page of my essay?

Cover pages Read More

How do I style the title of a trilogy or informally titled series?

When a trilogy is published in one volume with a title of its own, the course of action is clear: italicize the title of the… Read More

Do I introduce an author’s full name and the full title of a work in each chapter of a book or dissertation?

It depends on the focus of your work. In a dissertation on a single author or title—say, Gabriel Marcel’s Being and Having: An Existentialist Diary—it… Read More

When a publisher’s name appears as an acronym on the title page but is spelled out on the copyright page, which do I use?

Page 41 of the MLA Handbook advises writers to first look for the publisher’s name on the title page, so in your works-cited-list entry, use… Read More

Can I use block quotations in an endnote?

In its publications, the MLA generally avoids using block quotations in notes. Exceptions would be made for quotations of more than one paragraph or for… Read More

When Is a Website a Container?

Learn how to cite websites in MLA style . . . Read More

Supplemental Elements

All you need to know about the optional-element slot on the MLA style template . . . Read More

Using the Present Tense with Works; or, Othello Still Exists

When to use the present tense in discussing texts. Hint: the key is consistency Read More

Serial Commas and Serial Semicolons

Perhaps no mark of punctuation ruffles feathers more than the serial comma Read More