Should commas be used around by and an author’s name after a title?

It depends. In the following example, commas are used to set off the by phrase because the phrase is not integral to the meaning of… Read More

Should individual tale titles in The Canterbury Tales be set in quotation marks?

Yes. Student writers should place the titles of individual tales in quotation marks. This follows from the MLA Handbook’s general guideline for the styling of titles:… Read More

If a person’s speech continues in the next paragraph, should the next paragraph begin with an open quotation mark?

Yes. When a speaker’s words in dialogue extend to more than one paragraph, use an opening quotation mark at the beginning of each paragraph. Use… Read More

How do I punctuate a greeting like “Hi, Anne” in an e-mail or other message?

How you punctuate an e-mail or other greeting depends on the level of formality and the structure of the message. In a formal message, one… Read More

When should citation information in captions be separated by commas instead of semicolons?

If you provide full bibliographic details in a caption, convert the periods normally used after the elements of a works-cited-list entry into semicolons: Fig. 1. Vincent… Read More

When I use too in the sense of “also,” should I use a comma before it?

In most cases, you need not use a comma before too at the end of a sentence or commas around it midsentence: She likes chocolate chip… Read More

If I repeatedly use a quotation from the same source, do I need to use quotation marks each time?

You should generally use quotation marks if you repeat a quotation from the same source, but you may omit quotation marks when referring back to a… Read More

How do I eliminate back-to-back parentheses in a sentence?

To eliminate back-to-back parentheses in a sentence, you should generally reword:   Original:  The General Franco Institute published the most important Spanish colonial work on Andalusi… Read More

Does MLA style allow the use of slashed terms?

The slash is rarely necessary in formal prose. It mainly appears when two terms are paired as opposites or alternatives and used together as a… Read More

I have had an essay accepted for publication. In my works-cited list, if there are two or more works by the same author, after the first entry should I use three hyphens or a 3-em dash in place of the author’s name?

Publishers usually have preparation guidelines, so you should ask your publisher what is preferred. The MLA accepts manuscripts with either hyphens or 3-em dashes. If… Read More