Mastering MLA Format: Your Guide with Purdue OWL

The Modern Language Association (MLA) format is a widely recognized style for academic writing, particularly in the humanities. Navigating its intricacies can be challenging, but resources like the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) MLA guide simplify the process. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the essentials of MLA 9th edition, drawing insights and expanding upon the foundational information provided by the Purdue OWL.

Understanding MLA 9th Edition: Principles Over Prescriptions

MLA 9th edition shifts from rigid rules to a principle-based approach. This adaptation acknowledges the evolving landscape of sources, especially in the digital age where documents exist across multiple platforms. Instead of memorizing countless specific rules, understanding core principles allows you to cite any source effectively, regardless of its format.

Core Elements of MLA Citations

The foundation of MLA 9th edition lies in nine core elements. These elements, when available and relevant, provide a standardized structure for your Works Cited entries. They are ordered logically to ensure clarity and consistency:

1. Author.
2. Title of source.
3. Title of container,
4. Other contributors,
5. Version,
6. Number,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Location.

Each element is followed by specific punctuation, primarily periods and commas, simplifying the citation process compared to earlier editions. This streamlined approach focuses on essential information, removing unnecessary details like place of publication for most modern works.

Deconstructing the Core Elements

Let’s delve deeper into each core element, clarifying their purpose and application with examples derived from the Purdue OWL’s guidance and expanded explanations.

1. Author

The citation begins with the author’s name, last name first, followed by a comma and the rest of the name as it appears in the source. End this element with a period.

Example:

Bhabha, Homi K.

If multiple authors are involved, follow MLA guidelines for listing them, typically reversing only the first author’s name. For corporate or organizational authors, use the full organization name.

2. Title of Source

The title of the source is the specific work you are citing. Formatting depends on the source type:

• Italicize titles of books, journals, websites (containers), and albums.
• Use quotation marks for titles of articles, webpages (within websites), songs, and poems (within collections).

Examples:

• Book Title (Italics):

  Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House.

• Webpage Title (Quotation Marks) & Website Title (Italics):

  Lundman, Susan. “How to Make Vegetarian Chili.” eHow,

• Journal Article Title (Quotation Marks) & Journal Title (Italics):

  Bagchi, Alaknanda. “Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi’s Bashai Tudu.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature,

• Song Title (Quotation Marks) & Album Title (Italics):

  Beyoncé. “Pray You Catch Me.” Lemonade,

3. Title of Container

Containers are the larger publications or platforms that hold the source. Think of a container as the “context” of your source. Common containers include:

• Journals (containing articles)
• Websites (containing webpages)
• Books (containing chapters or essays)
• Television series (containing episodes)
• Streaming services (like Netflix, hosting TV series or movies)

Container titles are usually italicized and followed by a comma. Sources can have multiple containers (a journal article found on a database like JSTOR). Cite the most encompassing containers relevant to locating your source.

Examples:

• Poem (Source) in a Collection (Container):

  Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl.” The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07.

• TV Episode (Source) in a TV Series (Container):

  “94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2010.

• Blog Post (Source) on a Website (Container):

  Wise, DeWanda. “Why TV Shows Make Me Feel Less Alone.” NAMI, 31 May 2019, www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/May-2019/How-TV-Shows-Make-Me-Feel-Less-Alone. Accessed 3 June 2019.

• TV Episode (Source) in a TV Series (Container) on a Streaming Service (Larger Container):

  “94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, season 2, episode 21, NBC, 29 Apr. 2010. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70152031?trackId=200256157&tctx=0%2C20%2C0974d361-27cd-44de-9c2a-2d9d868b9f64-12120962.

• Journal Article (Source) in a Journal (Container) accessed via a Database (Larger Container):

  Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96. ProQuest, doi:10.1017/S0018246X06005966. Accessed 27 May 2009.

4. Other Contributors

Credit other significant contributors beyond the author if their roles are relevant to your research. This includes editors, translators, directors, performers, and illustrators.

Examples:

• Translator:

  Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Translated by Richard Howard, Vintage-Random House, 1988.

• Editor (Introduction and Annotation):

  Woolf, Virginia. Jacob’s Room. Annotated and with an introduction by Vara Neverow, Harcourt, Inc., 2008.

• Creators and Performers (TV Show):

  “94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2010.

5. Version

Include version information if the source indicates it’s a specific edition or version of a work.

Examples:

• Edition Number:

  Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2004.

• Version Name:

  The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.

6. Number

If the source is part of a numbered sequence, such as volumes, issues, or episodes, include these numbers for precise identification.

Examples:

• Journal Volume and Issue Number:

  Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, 2008, www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/60/362. Accessed 20 May 2009.

• TV Series Season and Episode Number:

  “94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2010.

• Volume Number in a Multi-Volume Work:

  Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria. Translated by H. E. Butler, vol. 2, Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980.

7. Publisher

The publisher is the entity responsible for producing or distributing the source. If multiple publishers are relevant, list them separated by a forward slash.

Examples:

• Museum as Publisher (for Art Piece):

  Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive, www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2006.

• Organization as Publisher (for Report):

  Women’s Health: Problems of the Digestive System. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2006.

• Production Companies (for TV Show):

  Daniels, Greg and Michael Schur, creators. Parks and Recreation. Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2015.

Note: Publishers are often omitted for periodicals, works published by the author/editor, websites where the site name and publisher are identical, and platforms like YouTube, WordPress, or JSTOR that host but don’t publish the content.

8. Publication Date

Provide the publication date most relevant to your use of the source. For sources with multiple dates (e.g., original air date and streaming release date), choose the date that best suits your context. If unsure, use the original publication date.

Examples:

• TV Episode – General Citation (Production Company & Original Release Year):

  “Hush.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, season 4, Mutant Enemy, 1999.

• TV Episode – Specific Air Date Citation (Network & Full Air Date):

  “Hush.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, season 4, episode 10, WB Television Network, 14 Dec. 1999.

9. Location

Be as specific as possible when indicating the source’s location. This usually means:

• Page numbers for articles in books or journals.
• URLs for online works. Omit “http://” or “https://” from the URL.
• Place of location for physical objects experienced firsthand (e.g., museum and city).

Examples:

• Page Range for an Essay in a Book:

  Adiche, Chimamanda Ngozi. “On Monday of Last Week.” The Thing around Your Neck, Alfred A. Knopf, 2009, pp. 74-94.

• URL for an Online Article:

  Wheelis, Mark. “Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.” Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 6, no. 6, 2000, pp. 595-600, wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/6/00-0607_article. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009.

• Museum and City for Artwork:

  Matisse, Henri. The Swimming Pool. 1952, Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Optional Elements for Enhanced Clarity

MLA 9th edition encourages conciseness, but optional elements can be included when they provide crucial context or aid source identification. These include:

• Date of Original Publication: Useful when citing reprints or translations.

  Erdrich, Louise. Love Medicine. 1984. Perennial-Harper, 1993.

• City of Publication: Primarily for works published before 1900, where the city was strongly associated with publishing houses.

  Thoreau, Henry David. Excursions. Boston, 1863.

• Date of Access: Recommended for online sources due to their dynamic nature.

  Bernstein, Mark. “10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.” A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed 4 May 2009.

• URLs: Generally recommended for online sources; confirm with instructors if required.

• DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers): Preferred over URLs for journal articles when available, as DOIs are persistent links.

  Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. “Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates.” Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, doi: 10.1002/tox.20155.

In-Text Citations: Connecting to Your Works Cited

In-text citations are brief references within your writing that point to the full citation in your Works Cited list. The standard MLA in-text citation includes the author’s last name and page number(s) in parentheses.

Examples:

Imperialism is “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory” (Said 9).

According to Edward W. Said, imperialism is defined by “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory” (9).

If citing media with a runtime (videos, podcasts), use time ranges (hours, minutes, seconds).

Example:

(00:02:15-00:02:35)

The goal of in-text citations is to provide clear attribution without disrupting the flow of your writing.

Citing the Purdue OWL Itself

As a vital resource, knowing how to cite the Purdue OWL is essential. MLA provides specific guidelines for citing websites and their individual resources.

Citing the Entire Purdue OWL Website:

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2019.

Citing an Individual Resource on Purdue OWL (like the MLA Guide):

“MLA Formatting and Style Guide.” The Purdue OWL, Purdue U Writing Lab. Accessed 18 Jun. 2018.

Note that for many OWL pages, author names and publication dates are not listed. In these cases, citations begin with the title of the resource. Always include an access date for online resources from the OWL, as content may be updated.

Conclusion: Your Path to MLA Mastery with Purdue OWL

Mastering MLA format is crucial for academic success. The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) MLA guide serves as an indispensable tool in this journey. By understanding the core principles of MLA 9th edition, utilizing the nine core elements, and correctly formatting both Works Cited entries and in-text citations, you can confidently and accurately document your sources. For further assistance and more detailed examples, always refer to the comprehensive resources available at the Purdue OWL website. It is your ultimate guide to navigating the nuances of MLA and achieving clarity and credibility in your academic writing.