In-Text Citations
In-text citations are short references embedded in the body of your assignment that credit direct quotes or paraphrased thoughts. For poetry, always cite specific line numbers. If there are no line numbers, cite the page number but only if the poem is longer than one page.
3 Lines or Fewer
If the poem is 3 lines or fewer, incorporate the quotation into the body of your text.
- Use quotation marks
- Use slashes (/) to show line breaks and double slashes (//) to show stanza breaks
- Keep all punctuation as it appears in the poem
- If the author's name is elsewhere in your paper, do not include it. Instead, list the first significant word of the poem's title.
- If the title of the poem is in the sentences immediately before the quotation, cite the line number only
- If the poem includes line numbers, use them to cite, otherwise, use page numbers
Ex. The repetition of 't' and 'd' sounds gives a sense of twinkling: "Now that the sun has set and the rain has abated, / And every porch light / in the neighborhood is lit" (Hopler, lines 1-3).
Ex. In "Hands," Jeffers humanizes prehistoric cave drawings by giving the drawers a voice: "Look: we also were human; we had hands, not paws" (144).
Ex. Eliot immediately engages the reader with his use of the second person in the opening lines: "Let us go then, you and I / When the evening is spread out against the sky" ("Prufrock" 1-2).
Four or More Lines
If the poem is four lines or longer, start the quotation on a new line. Use the same rules above, except:
- Do not use quotation marks unless they are used in the poem
- Indent each line 1 inch from the left margin and double-space
Ex. Yeats, an Irish nationalist himself, knew several of the Easter Monday rebels personally, and he mentions them by name in his poem. He even notes his former nemesis, Major John MacBride, who was briefly married to Yeats's love, Maude Gonne. Though he acknowledges MacBride's heroism, he does so begrudgingly:
A drunken, vainglorious lout
He had done most bitter wrong
To some who are near my heart
Yet I number him in the song; ("Easter" 31-34)
Quote a Quote (p. 124)
Start with "qtd. in," which means quoted in, and cite the author of the text that the quote is in and the page number.
Ex. Despite several dalliances, Anders claims "Gala was secure in her role as Dali's primary lifelong partner and muse" (qtd. in Chahine 13).
Two Citations in One Sentence (p. 58)
Include both authors and page numbers.
Ex. Eating a vegetarian or vegan diet has been linked to many health benefits, however, eating a diet of primarily fresh foods is too expensive for most poor people (Nejem 12; McRay 153).
Web Resource
Use the same rules as print resources. URLs are not used for in-text citation in MLA.
Ex. As creative entrepreneurship and networking become increasingly important to artistic success, the new paradigm is becoming “the displacement of depth by breadth" (Deresiewicz).
Ex. The Hövding is a new type of bicycle helmet which is worn like a collar and “protects even more of the head than traditional helmets” (“This Invisible”).
