MLA Style
First of all, what does MLA mean? The Modern Language Association is
MLA Style
First of all, what does MLA mean? The Modern Language Association is an organization that focuses on the study of language, literature, and the humanities. They produce a style guide that governs how to standardize the format of written works in these subjects. This guides both professionals and students as a means of being able to standardize how to document their sources and format their papers.
General Formatting Guidelines
• Double-space your entire paper using the paragraph line spacing options (do not attempt to do this manually)
• Always choose an easily readable typeface (Times New Roman is just one example)
• Use size 12 font
• Set all margins to 1 inch
• Indent the first line of each new paragraph. Use the tab key to indent, rather than the space bar.
• Use a header that numbers all pages in the upper right corner, one-half inch from the top, and flush with the right margin.
• Italicize the titles of artworks. (More information on the next page)
First Page Format Guidelines
• Do not make a title page
• On the upper left-hand side list your full name, your instructor’s name, the title of the course, and the date.
• In the center of the paper write your title in the same font, without any bolding, italics, quotes, or changing the size of the text.
• The only italics or quotes added to the title would be in reference to other works that require it.
• Examples- Sanity and Setting in Wide Sargasso Sea; A Woman’s Place in History: “Did Women Have a Renaissance?”
• Here is how to format your first page in MLA style, be sure that your papers are structured this way:
Citing Art
In this course, the Modern Language Association (MLA) format is used as the style guide for citation. Use the following information to help you in the proper citation of the various art forms we will encounter in this course.
• Remember that in an MLA works cited list, you will always list your sources in alphabetical order by artist’s (author’s, architect’s, etc.) last name.
• For each citation entry, the first line will begin all the way left-justified and any subsequent lines will be indented once.
• Be sure to double-space your citations.
How to Cite Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Art
• You will typically begin an artwork citation with the artist’s name, the title of the work, and the date of creation.
• If the work is ancient and no artist’s name is given, you will simply state “Unknown” in the space given.
• If no true title is given, you will give a simple descriptive title in its place.
• You must provide the artist’s name, the title of the work in italics, and the date of the composition (as best as possible).
• You must also provide where the work is stored and the name of that institution.
• If the material(s) of the work is important, you should list that as well at the end of the citation.
• You may also list the size of the work after the materials if applicable, but it is not required.
van Gogh, Vincent. Starry Night. 1889, Museum of Modern Art, New York. Oil on Canvas, 29 x36 1/2″.
• If you found the artwork in a book or website, you must also cite the location of where the image was found.
Image in a Book
• For a book, you must list the title of the text first (in italics), then the contributors/author(s), followed by the page number where the image was found.
van Gogh, Vincent. Starry Night. 1889, Museum of Modern Art, New York. Oil on Canvas, 29 x36 1/2″. Gateways
to Art: Understanding Visual Arts, 3rd Ed., by Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathyrn Shields, p.
515.
Image on a Website
• For a website, you must list the title of the website first (in italics), then paste in the URL of the page you found the image.
van Gogh, Vincent. Starry Night. 1889, Museum of Modern Art, https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79802.
How to Cite Architecture
• When discussing buildings specifically, you must cite the architect as the artist of that work. This works as though the architect is the artist in a typical art citation, followed by the name of the building as the “title” of the work.
• Unlike artworks, the title of architectural works are not italicized.
• Next will be when the structure was built, which may be a range of years over which it was constructed.
• Finally, you will put where the building is located, both city and state/country.
• When discussing a piece of architecture you will cite the building as seen in the example below:
Wright, Frank Lloyd. Fallingwater. 1935, Mill Run, Pennsylvania.
• If you obtain an image of a work of architecture you must use the citation format above and then add the information about where you found the image. This follows the same structure as a two-dimensional or three-dimensional citation for images found in a book or online. For example:
Wright, Frank Lloyd. Fallingwater. 1935, Mill Run, Pennsylvania. Fallingwater, https://fallingwater.org/visit
/tours/.
How to Cite Music
• Music citations will vary depending on where you found the music and whether it is a single song or a whole album. Typically, a citation will begin with the artist’s name who created the work, that could be the composer or performer.
• Individual song names are styled in quotes, while whole album names are styled in italics.
• The name of the record manufacturer should come next, with the date at the end.
• If the source you are using does not list the record label or album name, do not research it to include in your citation.
Physical Copy (CD, Record, Tape, etc)
Nirvana. “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Nevermind, Geffen, 1991.
Online Album
Beyoncé. “Pray You Catch Me.” Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016, www.beyonce.com/album
/lemonade-visual-album/.
Streaming Service (Spotify, Pandora, etc.)
Morris, Rae. “Skin.” Cold, Atlantic Records, 2014. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/0OPES3Tw5r86O6fudK8gxi
Music Database
• When citing a work from an online database, you must begin the citation just like the physical copy of the work. All the information should be readily accessible from a reputable database.
• Follow the basic citation with the name of the database (in italics), the modality of the database (web, print, etc.), and finish with the date you accessed the information.
Guerra, Ely. “Lontano.” Hombre Invisible. Homey Company, 2010. Alexander Street: A ProQuest Company. Web.
19 Nov 2020. How to Cite Theatrical Works
• Each theatrical work will cite the author at the beginning with the last name followed by the first name. The title of the work will come next (in italics). The rest will vary depending on the format of the presentation.
Stand Alone Book of a Play
• A printed book of a play is cited the same way any other book is cited in MLA format with the author’s last name followed by first name, the title of the play (in italics), the publisher of that copy, and the year of publication.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Modern Library, 1995.
Anthology
• A play that is printed as part of an anthology must reference the larger text and the specific pages within that house the work.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, edited by John
Jowett et al., 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 2501-2565.
Live Performance
• A live performance citation must cite the director of the specific performance, the date of the performance, the performance hall, and the location of the performance.
Parker, Trey, et al. The Book of Mormon. Directed by Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, 20 Feb. 2019, The Prince
of Wales Theatre, London. Performance.
Recorded Live Performance
• Cite a recorded live performance the same way as a live performance but add in the information about where the performance is housed. If the date and place of the performance is not listed on the site do not research it for the citation. List the name of the site’s publisher, or the Website’s name (in italics), and the website’s URL.
Morisseau, Dominique. Pipeline. Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz and Habib Azar. Digital Theatre +. https://www-
digitaltheatreplus-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/education/collections/broadway-hd/pipeline#production-
videos-key-speech
How to Cite Films
• For the citation of films you will start with the name of the film (in italics), follow that with the director(s) name(s), the stars of the film (if particularly relevant), the film’s producer or distributor, and end with the year the film was released.
The Revenant. Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, and
Domnhall Gleeson, 20th Century Fox, 2015.
• It is also appropriate, to begin with, the director’s name if the director(s) is especially important, be sure to list their title after their name.
Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski,