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As the MLA Handbook notes, when you borrow an idea from a source, “it is important to signal at the end . . . that you are switching to another source or to your own ideas” (126). A parenthetical citation is just one way to indicate this switch. You may also use prose, as in the following . . .
By Alice YangUnlike my high school essays, my college papers consist largely of my own ideas and analysis.
Published 18 September 2018
Dangling modifiers take several forms. Here are a few types—and some ways to fix them.
Published 4 September 2018
Like other professional titles, military ranks are omitted before authors’ names in entries and when the authors are mentioned in prose, but you may indicate an author’s rank in a description: William C. Westmoreland, a former United States Army general, describes his experiences in Vietnam in A Soldier Reports.
Treat foreign terms according to the guidelines in the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing: In general, italicize foreign words used in an English text: The Renaissance courtier was expected to display sprezzatura, or nonchalance, in the face of adversity. The numerous exceptions to this rule include quotations entirely in another language ("Julius Caesar said, ‘Veni, . . .The language that you use to describe elements in your works-cited list should be the language that your paper is written in, which should also determine the punctuation used. In other words, if your paper is in Spanish but you cite a work published in English in the works-cited list, use “editado por” instead of . . .
No. “Sic” is only used to indicate an error in the original, not unusual styling.
The MLA Handbook explains that you should “[i]dentify an omission within a sentence by using three periods with a space before each and a space after the last ( . . . )” (81). Note, however, that if you use Microsoft Word’s ellipsis character, the periods will not be spaced, and if you try to insert . . .
Mention the author of the section you are citing in a signal phrase. For clarity, you might indicate the name of the section in your prose, especially if an author writes more than one section: In “Faculty Members, Accommodation, and Access in Higher Education,” Rosemary Garland-Thomson writes, in the section The Changing Profession: “Accommodating . . .
Since you should never begin a sentence with a numeral, you should first try to reword the sentence. If you find it unwieldy to reorder your words, spell out the number: Seventy-six percent of the class barely passed the final, 18% flunked miserably, and 6% burst into tears. Normally you shouldn’t mix words and numerals, . . .
