In-text Citation & Work Cited

Within your Essay final draft you must do the in-text citation, which includes these basic elements:

• Include the author's last name the first parenthetical citation:
• the first time you use the source, and
• anytime you use multiple sources and go back and forth between cited works

• Use of (p.#) at the end of all cited passages. 

One clarification I want to make is on web sources: you do NOT include the web address. As you see with those on-line sources in the example page on 532, web sources are indicated in other ways.

In-text Citation Examples (the E of PRE): your source material is evidence, not the topic sentence! Therefore, you should NOT start off body paragraphs with evidence. Doing so will be assessed against Organizational categories on the essay rubric.

• In Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain outlines various characteristics of what he looks for in those he employs in his kitchen. Among the many qualities, Bourdain emphasizes that his employees must be humble and reliable. The chef believes that a kitchen can only put out a quality product if the staff is able to follow the boss's vision. In fact, Bourdain brashly states that Latin American immigrants are stronger employees than privileged "CIA-educated white boys" simply because of these qualities (56).

• One example where Bourdain expresses his love of ______ is when he writes: "..........." (77).

• In the chapter "Big Foot," Bourdain writes about his admiration for the qualities of one of his former bosses, which includes ...insert qualities... (89-93). 

• Being a reliable person is emphasized by Bourdain when he states, "........." (52).

Some qualities and requirements to notice in the above examples:

• Start off with your thoughts/context, then go into citation...

• Subject matter that source is supporting should be subject of your sentence

• Use a solid verb (writes, states, exclaims, argues..., but NEVER 'says')

• Lead in to your cited passages with your own idea, or at least with context from where the source is coming from. Here are some things you MAY do:

• Use transitional phrases (introductory phrases are good, right!).

• Use the author's name (last name or whole name)/character's name to set up what the author is doing with the quote.

• Contextualize the passage the excerpted passage is from.

• Start with the key idea you want the reader to see in the quote as the subject, then attach the quote as a dependent clause (such as the last example above does).

• Page number is placed in the (page#), no matter if summarizing or quoting.

• The end punctuation always comes at the end of the citation, AFTER the ( ). 

• Exception:  If a ! or ? is part of the quote, leave it there and then use a period after the ( ) to indicate end of citation.  

• Ex.:   Bourdain then wrote, "What was he thinking!" (pg.#). 

• The first parenthetical citation you have should include the author's last name IF you don't name the author within your own writing. 

• So, if you didn't introduce Bourdain in your own sentences, you'd have to also write (Bourdain, page #) in the first citation. 

• When you have multiple sources/authors that you are writing on, you will want to get in the habit of using (author's last name, pg #)

Work Cited Pages (Bibliography)

At the end of your essay, you need a page that includes a list of all sources used in the essay. There is a great model of what a Work Cited page looks like on page 532 in Rules for Writers.

• If your essay has only the one cited work and you have space left over, I am okay with you including the Work Cited page right after the essay ends (saves a tree or two!). Just make sure to:
• Give some space between final essay sentence and your label of Work Cited
• Center the term Work Cited
• Have a space or two between Work Cited and the end citation.

You will also need to consult page 526 to check all of the basic formatting requirements of this page, including:

1. Alphabetizing your list by author's last name, or whatever information (editor, book title) your particular source lists first
2. Single spacing individual citations
3. Indenting the second line on of any end citations that go past first line

General Guidelines for MLA works cited

• There is a list of types of sources (pages 490-523) and how to write an end citation for different types of source material. Use these pages to identify your type of source, or use a reliable on-line citation guide, such as Diana Hacker's MLA guide.

Work Cited citation that connects to the above example in-text citation:

Bourdain, Anthony. Kitchen Confidential. Updated ed. New York: Harper, 2007. Print. 

• In both in-text citation and in Work Cited page, the author's name is key. The reader can easily find your end citation when you do your job as the writer. This is important because:

1. Citation rules allow readers to find your sources so they can do their own reading/research
2. The in-text citation strategies allow for your essay to cleanly point to sources without distracting from the essay's own ideas.