MLA citations style consists of a works cited list and use of in-text citations. Use this guide as a reference point on how to cite correctly.
Use a signal phrase when introducing a new source. This lets the reader know that you are using a new source.
Introducing first quote or paraphrase from author:
Examples (Citations in Prose):
According to Katherine Sobba Green, the courtship novel “detailed a young woman’s entrance into society, the problems arising from that situation, her courtship, and finally her choice (almost always fortunate) among suitors” (2).
Liza Mundy points out that the technology has produced family arrangements where genetic connection is “often both affirmed and denied, . . . simultaneously embraced and rejected” (99).
Subsequent use of same author (Parenthetical Citation):
It can be argued that the new families formed through artificial reproductive technology “tend to be stronger and more highly functioning than naturally conceived ones, because the parents are so motivated to have children, and so gratified once they arrive” (Mundy 99).
Example (Citation in Prose):
According to Karl F. Zender, Romeo and Julie presents an opposition between two worlds: “the world of the everyday,” associated with the adults in the play, and “the world of romance,” associated with the two lovers (138). Romeo and Juliet’s language of love nevertheless becomes “fully responsive to the tang of actuality” (141).
Subsequent Citation (Parenthetical Citation):
Romeo and Juliet presents an opposition between two worlds: “the world of the everyday,” associated with the adults in the play, and “the world of romance,” associated with the two lovers (Zender 138). Romeo and Juliet’s language of love nevertheless becomes “fully responsive to the tang of actuality” (141).
MLA Handbook, 9th ed. pp.227-246
Signal Phrases to Introduce In-text Citations
| Acknowlegdes | Comments | Endorses | Reasons |
| Adds | Compares | Grants | Refutes |
| Admits | Confirms | Implies | Rejects |
| Agrees | Contends | Insists | Reports |
| Argues | Declares | Illustrates | Responds |
| Asserts | Denies | Notes | Suggests |
| Believes | Disputes | Observes | Thinks |
| Claims | Emphasizes | Points Out | Writes |