Parenthetical Citation, MLA Style1
Here is a direct quote from “The Brown Stocking,” Auerbach’s chapter-long analysis of To the Lighthouse: "In Virginia Woolf's case the exterior events have actually lost their hegemony, they serve to release and interpret inner events, whereas before her time (and still today in many instances) inner movements preponderantly function to prepare and motivate significant exterior happenings" (Auerbach 475) Here are several ways in which the author and the page number of this particular quote might be integrated into a paper:
In Mimesis,
Erich Auerbach states that the style of To
the Lighthouse indicates that, for Woolf, “the exterior events” of
the plot
“have actually lost their hegemony, they serve to release and interpret
inner
events” that take place in the minds of her characters (475).
Generally speaking,
“inner movements” in novels “preponderantly
function to prepare and motivate significant exterior happenings,” but
in To the Lighthouse the relationship
between the internal and the external is reversed (Auerbach 263).
Auerbach asserts that
Virginia Woolf’s writing inverts the
traditional causal relationship between internal and external, or
between
thought and action (Mimesis 475).
In his 1946 work Mimesis:
The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, German critic
Erich
Auerbach argues that To the Lighthouse
demonstrates author Virginia Woolf’s ability to invert the traditional
causal
relationship between the actions that make up the plot of the novel and
the
thoughts of the various characters (475). The first example integrates the author of the citation into the introductory portion of the sentence. The second example, foregoing explicit mention of the author within the sentence itself, includes both the author and the page number at the end of the quotation. In this case, the reader would assume that the title and author of the work being quoted had been given explicit mention earlier in the paper. The third and fourth examples, which paraphrase Auerbach’s exact words, still include the name of the author, the name of the text, and the page upon which the paraphrased words can be found. [More on paraphrasing can be found in Paraphrasing and Summarizing Sources.] For more information see the MLA Handbook, the English Department’s "Guide to the Preparation of Papers," or:
More examples of proper citation format can be found in the Interactive Tutorial. Footnotes, MLA Style2 Papers formatted in MLA style use footnotes, rather than endnotes, for the introduction of additional information. Footnotes should be used for the discussion of important avenues of thought which might disrupt the body of the paper, or for the discussion of related sources. Footnotes also follow the MLA guidelines for parenthetical citation. Use footnotes sparingly. Number footnotes consecutively. For example, if in the body of your paper you wrote:
Your footnote, referencing the Auerbach quotation of the previous example, might read as follows:
Or, if a direct quotation is not necessary
"MLA
Information Notes." Research and
Documentation Online.
[D.
Hacker, Bedford/St. Martin’s]
"Sample
Footnotes in MLA Style." A
Research Guide for Students.
[I. Lee]
Papers
written for courses taken in the Barnard English Department should
generally be
formatted according to the guidelines set forth by the Modern Language
Association (MLA), unless otherwise noted by your instructor. Papers
written in
other departments will often be formatted in other styles, such as
Chicago or
APA. You should always consult with your professor about proper
citation style
prior to submitting any written work.
Select
online resources explaining these styles:
See also the Key Links related to The Use of Sources. There are many web sites that will allow you to input your sources and automatically generate a Works Cited page, or a bibliography. If you use such a tool, you should be certain to double-check each entry, as many of these online resources are not always accurate. If your computer is connected to the Columbia University network, or if you have a Columbia UNI and password, you may download and install a copy of EndNote from Columbia LibraryWeb. This software can be used to create bibliographies in a variety of styles. For more information, see EndNote at Columbia. Return to top back: The Use of Sources *
next: Paraphrasing and Summarizing Sources
1. Image: Detail from a patriotic WWI postcard.
1915 French color lithograph. |
If you are
quoting, paraphrasing or summarizing a source, you must not only
document that source in your Works Cited page, you must provide some
information in parentheses at the end of the sentence or quotation. You
must make sure that the author of the source is noted, as well as the
page number. The following examples, which make use of Erich Auerbach’s
Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western
Literature, demonstrate the variety of ways this is accomplished.
For more
information on the use of footnotes, consult the MLA
