Model Parenthetical Documentation Examples

Model Parenthetical Citations

MLA (Modern Language Association) format follows the author-page method of citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear in your works cited list (see Your Works Cited Page, below). The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence.

Examples:

Direct Quotation with author’s name appearing in the sentence: Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).

Direct Quotation without author’s name appearing in the sentence: Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

Paraphrase with author’s name appearing in the sentence: Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

No author’s name given: An anonymous Wordsworth critic once argued that his poems were too emotional ("Wordsworth Is A Loser" 100).