A brief overview of MLA style

1. Introductory Signals &
Parenthetical
(In-text) Citations
© 1999-2015 Vicki Lague

2. What is an intro signal?
“Intro Signals” is merely a
shorthand version of
“introductory signals.”
Intro signals tell your
reader that source
material is being
introduced into your
writing.

3. Why do I need intro signals?
Intro signals separate
your writing and ideas
from those of your
sources.
This is especially
important when
you include
paraphrases or
summaries.

4. Show me an example!
According to ________________, . . .
(author’s name)
•Replace the ellipsis with the source
material
Templates, Formulas for Composition, Chapter 5, pp. 86-87.
• Insert the author’s name in the blank

5. What does this mean to me?
You must use intro signals every
time you use source material:
Quotations
Paraphrases
Summaries

6. What is a quotation?
There are two types of
quotations you may want to use
in your research essay.
 Any of the author’s exact
words as written in the source
that you are using
 Material the source’s author is
quoting

7. How do I quote accurately?
When you quote
the author, you
must use that
author’s exact
words, just as
they are written
in the source.

8. How do I quote accurately?
Use square brackets to insert a
word or phrase if it is needed to
make the sentence you are
constructing grammatically
correct or for context.
[insert your words here]

9. How do I quote accurately?
Original source: James Sherwood, a noted
volcanologist, said, “The rugged islands were
formed by volcanoes, some of which are
active on the islands today.” (Author: George
Filmore)
Material to be quoted: “active on the islands”
According to James Sherwood, the Galápagos
Islands were produced by the “active
[volcanoes] on the islands today” (qtd. in
Filmore 42).

10. How do I quote accurately?
Use an ellipsis to delete words if they are
needed for a grammatically correct
sentence or if you want to quote only
part of a sentence.
The ellipsis should be used anywhere
original material is deleted, except for
the beginning of a sentence.

11. Original quotation: James Sherwood, a noted
volcanologist, says that the rugged islands
were formed by volcanoes, some of which are
active on the islands today. (Author: George
Filmore)
Edited quotation, with intro signal and in-text
documentation:
According to James Sherwood, the
Galápagos Islands “were formed by
volcanoes . . .” (Filmore 42).
How do I quote accurately?

12. How do I quote accurately?
Quoted material in a
source are already
enclosed in double
quotation marks, and
you must take them
into consideration.
Original source: About the construction noise on campus,
Dean Monroe said, “It proved to be the biggest problem for
students and faculty at the college.” (Author: Dean Jaime
Gonzalez, Ph.d.)

13. How do I quote accurately?
Use single quotation
marks where the
source uses doubles!
For example:
According to Dr. Gonzalez, “Dean Monroe
said, ‘It proved to be the biggest
problem . . . at the college.’ ”

14. Add the correct parenthetical
documentation after the
quotation.
Notice the placement of the
period for the sentence:
According to Dr. Gonzalez, “Dean Monroe
said, ‘It proved to be the biggest
problem . . . at the college’ ” (533).
How do
I document quotations?

15. Use the author’s last name and
page number in the citation if
the author’s full name is not
used in the introductory signal:
According to College Problems, “Dean
Monroe said, ‘It proved to be the
biggest problem . . . at the college’ ”
(Gonzalez 533).
How do
I document quotations?

16. How do
I document quotations?
But, with the author’s last
name in the intro signal,
all you need is the page!
For example:
According to Dr. Gonzalez, “Dean Monroe
said, ‘It proved to be the biggest
problem . . . at the college’ ” (533).

17. How do I paraphrase?
Suppose I want to
paraphrase instead of
quoting? What then?

18. How do I paraphrase?
Put the author’s words into
your own words and document
in the same way as a short
quotation.
For example:
According to Dr. Gonzalez, the Academic
Dean said that construction noise was the
worst problem at our college (533).

19. Use “that” after the
verb to show where the
paraphrase begins.
For example:
According to Dr. Gonzalez, the Academic
Dean said that it was the worst problem
at our college (533).
How do I paraphrase?

20. How do I summarize?
If my source material is
very long but very
good, can I quote the
whole thing?

21. No, the material should be
summarized instead.
A summary is very much like a
paraphrase because the source
material is written in the student’s
own words, no quotations included.
But, it’s a short version of the
original.
How do I summarize?

22. How do I summarize?
And, before you even ask . . .
Yes, you have to provide
parenthetical documentation!
Put the introductory signal at
the beginning of the summary
and place the parenthetical
citation at the end of the
summary.

23. More information can be found at OWL of Purdue:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/