OWL MLA Exercise Answers
Two benefits of using MLA StyleBuild credibilityProtect against plagiarism
What font and size?12 point Times New Roman
Margins1 inch on all sides
Italicsuse for book titles
Upper left corner of pageyour name, your instructor's
name, the course, and the date
Information required in parenthetical citationsSource mediumSource entry in the works
cited page
Two choices for placement of the author’s nameIn the sentenceIn a parenthetical citation
Page numberAlways goes in the
parenthetical citation
Point of in-text citations/how does it help the readerThe reader can look in the
works cited for the corresponding entry to find more information
If there’s no known authorUse a shortened title of the
work to refer to the work in the citation
Quotation of four lines or lessTakes quotation marks
around it
Quotation of four lines or lessInclude the author name and
page numberThe information in the text
should correspond to the entry in the works cited
Add a word to a quotationPut [brackets] around the
word or words to indicate that they weren’t part of the original
If you omit wordsPut three periods with extra
space . . .
Margins on works cited page1 inch all the way around
Top of the works cited pageThe phrase Works Cited
center, no italics, no bold, no special treatment
Works cited entriesDouble space, but do not skip
extra lines between entries
Indent on works cited pageHanging indent – the first line
is out 5 spaces from the second and subsequent lines
Popular mediums of publicationPrint or web
Book titles and other long worksShould be in italics, not
underlined or bold
Format for titles of shorter worksIn italics
Names on the works cited pageShould be listed
alphabetically
If there’s no known authorAlphabetize the work by the
title
If you don’t have all the information requiredInclude as much information
as you do have
Listing a date for a websiteThe web changes often.
Things may move.
Citing an image?Yes, sometimes you must.
For questionsGoogle OWL Purdue for a
wealth of information
