MLA Documentation

Using In-text reference

FTR

FTR = First Time Reference.

Identify the full name of the writer, and the full name of the source.

FTR Examples

In “Words That Wound,” Kathleen Vail mentions that for many students, “school is a torture chamber from which there is no escape” (231).

Kathleen Vail notes in her article, “Words That Wound,” that for many students, “school is a torture chamber from which there is no escape”(231).

LTR

LTR = Later Time Reference. This can be the second time or later that a reference is mentioned. Do not give the full name of the author or the title of the source.

LTR Examples

Vail mentions that for many students, “school is a torture

chamber” (231).

School, for many students, is “a torture chamber” (Vail 231).

Using Internal sources

Identify the person (give the person’s title, or position, or expertise)

Quoting an Internal Source

Example: June Arnette, who is an associate director of the National School Safety Center, notes that It is an “ ‘imbalance of power, sustained over a long period of time’ “ that leads to the problem of bullying (Vail 232).

 

Framing Quotations

Make sure to frame quotations within a sentence. Introduce the quotation.

 

Introduction____________, quotation_________________( ).

Framing Quotations

WRONG: “Before he pulled the trigger, he said his last words: ‘I can’t take this anymore’ “ (Vail 230). 

CORRECT: Vail notes that before Brian “pulled the trigger, he said his last words: ‘ I can’t take this anymore’ “ (230).

Questions?