How do I style the names of fictional characters?

Style the name of a fictional character just as you would the name of a person: capitalize the initial letter of each name. Do not… Read More

When you cite from the same source in more than one paragraph and no other source intervenes, do you need to repeat the author’s name each time you start a new paragraph?

As the MLA Handbook notes, “[W]hen an entire paragraph is based on material from a single source,” you might “define a source in the text at the… Read More

If I refer to two people with the same last name in my writing, should I repeat their full names each time I mention them?

If you refer to two people with the same last name, repeat their full names for subsequent mentions whenever your reader might not be certain… Read More

How should Native American names be treated in works-cited-list entries?

If you are citing a work by a Native American author and the author’s name consists of a first name and a last name, invert… Read More

How do I cite an author who has transitioned?

Authors may write and publish under different names—by adopting pseud­onyms or changing their names. When you are aware that an author has published under different… Read More

How do I cite a name like Queen Elizabeth I, John of Gaunt, and Catherine of Aragon?

Use the first name. Some categories of personal names lack a last name–for example, some rulers and members of the nobility and many premodern people, whose name… Read More

Do you have to provide the author’s name in a parenthetical citation for a work of common literature such as The Iliad?

Yes, unless you have already mentioned the author’s name in your prose. Just because a work is famous doesn’t mean you can omit the name of its… Read More

What should I include in parentheses if the author’s name is provided in a signal phrase and the source has no page numbers or other kind of part number?

As the MLA Handbook notes, “When a source has no page numbers or any other kind of part number, no number should be given in a parenthetical… Read More

How do I cite an author’s name known only by initials?

If a source is written by an author who is known only by initials, you have several options. Treat the Initials as a Unit One… Read More

In works-cited-list entries for a work by more than one author, why is only the name of the first author inverted?

In a works-cited-list entry for a work by more than one author, the first name is inverted because the entry is alphabetized under the first… Read More