MLA Format and In-Text Citation

Question 1

A student cites Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild, published by Villard Books in 1996. Which works-cited entry is correct in MLA 9 style?

Accepted Answer

Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. Villard Books, 1996.

Answer

Jon Krakauer. Into the Wild. Villard Books, 1996.

Answer

“Into the Wild.” Krakauer, Jon. Villard Books, 1996.

Answer

Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. 1996, Villard Books.

Question 2

Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner wrote Freakonomics together. Which works-cited entry handles the two names the way MLA 9 does?

Accepted Answer

Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. William Morrow, 2005.

Answer

Levitt, Steven D., and Dubner, Stephen J. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. William Morrow, 2005.

Answer

Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. William Morrow, 2005.

Answer

Levitt, Steven D., et al. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. William Morrow, 2005.

Question 3

A journal article is by Natalie M. Griffin, Amy M. Elleman and Eric L. Oslund. Which works-cited entry follows MLA 9?

Accepted Answer

Griffin, Natalie M., et al. “The Impact of Growth Mindset Instruction on the Vocabulary Acquisition and Comprehension of First Grade Students.” Reading Psychology, vol. 42, no. 7, 2021, pp. 758-76.

Answer

Griffin, Natalie M., Amy M. Elleman, and Eric L. Oslund. “The Impact of Growth Mindset Instruction on the Vocabulary Acquisition and Comprehension of First Grade Students.” Reading Psychology, 2021.

Answer

Griffin, Natalie M., et al. The Impact of Growth Mindset Instruction on the Vocabulary Acquisition and Comprehension of First Grade Students. “Reading Psychology,” vol. 42, no. 7, 2021, pp. 758-76.

Answer

Natalie M. Griffin et al. “The Impact of Growth Mindset Instruction on the Vocabulary Acquisition and Comprehension of First Grade Students.” Reading Psychology, vol. 42, no. 7, 2021, pp. 758-76.

Question 4

Which works-cited entry for Naomi S. Baron's article in the journal PMLA is formatted correctly in MLA 9 style?

Accepted Answer

Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200, https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2013.128.1.193.

Answer

Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200. DOI: 10.1632/pmla.2013.128.1.193.

Answer

Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media,” PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200, https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2013.128.1.193.

Answer

Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, 193-200, https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2013.128.1.193.

Question 5

A student uses Marion Wiesel's English translation of Elie Wiesel's Night, published by Hill and Wang in 2006. Which works-cited entry is correct in MLA 9 style?

Accepted Answer

Wiesel, Elie. Night. Translated by Marion Wiesel, Hill and Wang, 2006.

Answer

Wiesel, Elie. Night. Marion Wiesel, Hill and Wang, 2006.

Answer

Wiesel, Elie. Night. Translated by Marion Wiesel. Hill and Wang, 2006.

Answer

Wiesel, Elie. “Night.” Translated by Marion Wiesel, Hill and Wang, 2006.

Question 6

Christopher Ricks and William L. Vance edited The Faber Book of America, published by Faber and Faber in 1992. Which entry for the whole anthology is correct in MLA 9 style?

Accepted Answer

Ricks, Christopher, and William L. Vance, editors. The Faber Book of America. Faber and Faber, 1992.

Answer

Ricks, Christopher, and William L. Vance. The Faber Book of America. Faber and Faber, 1992.

Answer

Ricks, Christopher, and Vance, William L., editors. The Faber Book of America. Faber and Faber, 1992.

Answer

Edited by Christopher Ricks and William L. Vance. The Faber Book of America. Faber and Faber, 1992.

Question 7

A student cites the 2017 film Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Which works-cited entry is correct in MLA 9?

Accepted Answer

Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Directed by Rian Johnson, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2017.

Answer

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Directed by Rian Johnson, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2017.

Answer

Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2017.

Answer

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2017.

Question 8

Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird was published by Lippincott in 1960. Which entry punctuates the publisher and the year the way MLA 9 does?

Accepted Answer

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Lippincott, 1960.

Answer

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Lippincott: 1960.

Answer

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Lippincott. 1960.

Answer

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. 1960. Lippincott.

Question 9

A student who has been writing in APA is switching to MLA. Which entry for Maya Angelou's 1969 memoir, published by Random House, is the MLA 9 one?

Accepted Answer

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House, 1969.

Answer

Angelou, M. (1969). I know why the caged bird sings. Random House.

Answer

Angelou, Maya. (1969). I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House.

Answer

Angelou, M. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House, 1969.

Question 10

Which works-cited entry capitalizes the title of John Steinbeck's 1937 novel, published by Covici Friede, the way MLA 9 does?

Accepted Answer

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Covici Friede, 1937.

Answer

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice And Men. Covici Friede, 1937.

Answer

Steinbeck, John. Of mice and men. Covici Friede, 1937.

Answer

Steinbeck, John. OF MICE AND MEN. Covici Friede, 1937.

Question 11

A student names Krakauer in her own sentence and then paraphrases him. Which sentence punctuates the MLA in-text citation correctly?

Accepted Answer

Krakauer retraces the route McCandless took into the Alaskan interior (56).

Answer

Krakauer retraces the route McCandless took into the Alaskan interior. (56)

Answer

Krakauer retraces the route McCandless took into the Alaskan interior (56.)

Answer

Krakauer retraces the route McCandless took into the Alaskan interior (p. 56).

Question 12

A student paraphrases Douglass's Narrative without naming him in the sentence. Which sentence gives the MLA in-text citation correctly?

Accepted Answer

Sophia Auld begins teaching the young narrator the alphabet until her husband forbids it (Douglass 33).

Answer

Sophia Auld begins teaching the young narrator the alphabet until her husband forbids it (Douglass, 33).

Answer

Sophia Auld begins teaching the young narrator the alphabet until her husband forbids it (Frederick Douglass 33).

Answer

Sophia Auld begins teaching the young narrator the alphabet until her husband forbids it (Douglass, page 33).

Question 13

A student paraphrases a book by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Which in-text citation follows MLA 9?

Accepted Answer

The authors read classroom test scores as evidence about incentives (Levitt and Dubner 24).

Answer

The authors read classroom test scores as evidence about incentives (Levitt & Dubner 24).

Answer

The authors read classroom test scores as evidence about incentives (Levitt, Dubner 24).

Answer

The authors read classroom test scores as evidence about incentives (Levitt and Dubner, 24).

Question 14

A student paraphrases an article by three authors, the first of whom is Natalie M. Griffin. Which in-text citation follows MLA 9?

Accepted Answer

One study asks how growth mindset instruction affects first graders' vocabulary (Griffin et al. 770).

Answer

One study asks how growth mindset instruction affects first graders' vocabulary (Griffin, et al. 770).

Answer

One study asks how growth mindset instruction affects first graders' vocabulary (Griffin et al, 770).

Answer

One study asks how growth mindset instruction affects first graders' vocabulary (Griffin, Elleman, and Oslund 770).

Question 15

One sentence in a student's paper draws a single point from two different sources. How does MLA 9 punctuate that parenthetical citation?

Accepted Answer

Recent work on reading has looked at both screens and classroom vocabulary teaching (Baron 195; Griffin et al. 770).

Answer

Recent work on reading has looked at both screens and classroom vocabulary teaching (Baron 195, Griffin et al. 770).

Answer

Recent work on reading has looked at both screens and classroom vocabulary teaching (Baron 195) (Griffin et al. 770).

Answer

Recent work on reading has looked at both screens and classroom vocabulary teaching (Baron 195 and Griffin et al. 770).

Question 16

A student ends a sentence with a question of her own about a source she has paraphrased. Where does the MLA citation go?

Accepted Answer

Does Krakauer ever settle why McCandless burned the last of his cash (29)?

Answer

Does Krakauer ever settle why McCandless burned the last of his cash? (29)

Answer

Does Krakauer ever settle why McCandless burned the last of his cash (29?)

Answer

Does Krakauer ever settle why McCandless burned the last of his cash? (29).

Question 17

A student's works-cited list holds two different articles by Naomi S. Baron. Which in-text citation shows which one a paraphrase came from?

Accepted Answer

Screens are changing what school reading looks like (Baron, “Redefining Reading” 195).

Answer

Screens are changing what school reading looks like (Baron “Redefining Reading” 195).

Answer

Screens are changing what school reading looks like (Baron, Redefining Reading 195).

Answer

Screens are changing what school reading looks like (“Redefining Reading” 195).

Question 18

A student has already named the novel in her own sentence. Which sentence gives the MLA in-text citation correctly?

Accepted Answer

In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie share a plan to buy a small farm of their own (Steinbeck 14).

Answer

In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie share a plan to buy a small farm of their own (Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men 14).

Answer

In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie share a plan to buy a small farm of their own (Of Mice and Men 14).

Answer

In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie share a plan to buy a small farm of their own (Steinbeck, page 14).

Question 19

A student is carrying APA habits into an MLA paper. Which parenthetical citation for a paraphrase of Wiesel's Night is the MLA 9 one?

Accepted Answer

The transport arrives at night, and the narrator is separated from his mother and sisters at once (Wiesel 29).

Answer

The transport arrives at night, and the narrator is separated from his mother and sisters at once (Wiesel, 2006, p. 29).

Answer

The transport arrives at night, and the narrator is separated from his mother and sisters at once (Wiesel, 2006).

Answer

The transport arrives at night, and the narrator is separated from his mother and sisters at once (Wiesel 2006: 29).

Question 20

A student paraphrases material that runs across two facing pages of Harper Lee's novel. Which sentence gives the page range the way MLA does?

Accepted Answer

The children's fear of the Radley place shapes their first summer together (Lee 34-35).

Answer

The children's fear of the Radley place shapes their first summer together (Lee 34-5).

Answer

The children's fear of the Radley place shapes their first summer together (Lee pp. 34-35).

Answer

The children's fear of the Radley place shapes their first summer together (Lee 34 and 35).

Question 21

Which sentence integrates the opening line of Poe's “The Cask of Amontillado” correctly in MLA 9 style?

Accepted Answer

Poe's narrator begins, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could” (1).

Answer

Poe's narrator begins, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could.” (1)

Answer

Poe's narrator begins “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could” (1).

Answer

Poe's narrator begins, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could (1).”

Question 22

A student weaves a phrase from Douglass's Narrative into her own sentence. Which version follows MLA 9?

Accepted Answer

Douglass writes that his fight with Covey formed “an epoch in my humble history” (75).

Answer

Douglass writes that his fight with Covey formed, “an epoch in my humble history” (75).

Answer

Douglass writes that his fight with Covey formed “An epoch in my humble history” (75).

Answer

Douglass writes that his fight with Covey formed “an epoch in my humble history.” (75)

Question 23

A student sets six typed lines from Douglass's Narrative as an indented block quotation. Which ending for that block follows MLA 9?

Accepted Answer

you shall see how a slave was made a man. (75)

Answer

you shall see how a slave was made a man (75).

Answer

you shall see how a slave was made a man.” (75)

Answer

“you shall see how a slave was made a man” (75).

Question 24

A student adds a name inside a quotation from Poe so her sentence reads clearly. Which version follows MLA 9?

Accepted Answer

Montresor recalls, “He [Fortunato] accosted me with excessive warmth” (2).

Answer

Montresor recalls, “He (Fortunato) accosted me with excessive warmth” (2).

Answer

Montresor recalls, “He, Fortunato, accosted me with excessive warmth” (2).

Answer

Montresor recalls, “He Fortunato accosted me with excessive warmth” (2).

Question 25

A student cuts several words from the middle of Poe's opening sentence. Which version marks the cut the way MLA 9 does?

Accepted Answer

Poe's narrator says, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne . . . but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (1).

Answer

Poe's narrator says, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (1).

Answer

Poe's narrator says, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne - but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (1).

Answer

Poe's narrator says, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne” “but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (1).

Question 26

Fortunato's last words in Poe's story end in an exclamation point. Which sentence quotes and cites them the way MLA 9 does?

Accepted Answer

Fortunato cries, “For the love of God, Montresor!” (12).

Answer

Fortunato cries, “For the love of God, Montresor” (12)!

Answer

Fortunato cries, “For the love of God, Montresor!” (12)

Answer

Fortunato cries, “For the love of God, Montresor!” (12.)

Question 27

A student runs two lines of Poe's “The Raven” into her own paragraph. Which version follows MLA 9?

Accepted Answer

Poe opens, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, / Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore” (lines 1-2).

Answer

Poe opens, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, // Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore” (lines 1-2).

Answer

Poe opens, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,/Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore” (lines 1-2).

Answer

Poe opens, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore” (lines 1-2).

Question 28

A student quotes Poe in the middle of her own sentence rather than at the end. Where does MLA 9 put the citation?

Accepted Answer

Because Montresor speaks of “the thousand injuries of Fortunato” (1), his revenge is framed as overdue.

Answer

Because Montresor speaks of “the thousand injuries of Fortunato (1),” his revenge is framed as overdue.

Answer

Because Montresor speaks of “the thousand injuries of Fortunato”, (1) his revenge is framed as overdue.

Answer

Because Montresor speaks of “the thousand injuries of Fortunato.” (1) his revenge is framed as overdue.

Question 29

A student cites a single news article that she read on a news organization's website. Which part of that works-cited entry does MLA 9 put in italics?

Accepted Answer

the name of the website

Answer

the title of the article

Answer

the reporter's name

Answer

the date the student read it

Question 30

A student cites one short story from an anthology. Which part of that entry goes in quotation marks?

Accepted Answer

the title of the short story

Answer

the title of the anthology

Answer

the editor's name

Answer

the publisher's name

Question 31

A student cites an article from a scholarly journal. Which element of that entry is italicized?

Accepted Answer

the name of the journal

Answer

the title of the article

Answer

the volume number

Answer

the page range

Question 32

A student cites a print book published in 2005. Which of these does an MLA 9 works-cited entry leave out?

Accepted Answer

the city where the book was published

Answer

the publisher's name

Answer

the year of publication

Answer

the author's full given name

Question 33

A student cites one episode of a television series. Which title is italicized in that works-cited entry?

Accepted Answer

the title of the series

Answer

the title of the episode

Answer

the name of the director

Answer

the name of the network

Question 34

A student finds a journal article online and the article carries a DOI. What does MLA 9 want in the location slot at the end of the entry?

Accepted Answer

the DOI, written as a link beginning https://doi.org/

Answer

the URL of the page where she found the article

Answer

the name of the database she searched

Answer

the date she downloaded the article

Question 35

A student cites a feature film. Which element of that entry takes italics?

Accepted Answer

the film's title

Answer

the director's name

Answer

the studio that released it

Answer

the year it was released

Question 36

In an MLA 9 works-cited entry for an article in a print journal, which element comes last?

Accepted Answer

the page range of the article

Answer

the volume and issue numbers

Answer

the name of the journal

Answer

the year of publication

Question 37

A student's source is a web page with a named author and no page or paragraph numbers. What does its MLA in-text citation contain?

Accepted Answer

the author's last name only

Answer

the author's last name and the full URL

Answer

the author's last name and the date she read the page

Answer

the author's last name followed by n.p.

Question 38

A student quotes a web page that gives no author's name. What goes in the parentheses at the end of her sentence?

Accepted Answer

a shortened form of the page's title, in quotation marks

Answer

the name of the organization that hosts the site, in italics

Answer

the word Anonymous followed by a page number

Answer

the URL of the page

Question 39

A student quotes a line of dialogue from a film she streamed. What does MLA 9 use in place of a page number?

Accepted Answer

a time stamp in hours, minutes and seconds

Answer

the number of the scene

Answer

the chapter number on the disc

Answer

the abbreviation n.p.

Question 40

A student names the author of an unpaginated web page in her own sentence and then paraphrases it. What belongs in parentheses at the end of that sentence?

Accepted Answer

nothing, because no parenthetical citation is needed

Answer

the author's last name a second time

Answer

the URL of the page

Answer

the abbreviation n. pag.

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MLA Format and In-Text Citation

Ways to Play

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Hot Potato

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Bank Heist

Top Corner

MLA Format and In-Text Citation

Ways to Play

Device Games: Students play on their phones

Blast Go

Zombie Escape

Avalanche

Maze Blast

Cave Climb

Blast Out

Mystery Auction

Tour Guide

Food Truck Rush

Tug of War

Alien Blast

Glacier Rush

Board Games: Teacher-led, projected to the class

Like what you see?

More like this

Bug Blast

BlastRace

BlastQuiz

BlastBoard

Seek & Destroy

Mystery Blast

Checkers

Texas Hold 'Em

Da Bomb

Castle Siege

Hot Potato

Market Mayhem

King of the Hill

Bank Heist

Top Corner