Example Essay with MLA Referencing

Introduction

This essay introduces MLA referencing, exploring its history, evolution, purpose, and importance. MLA referencing (or author-date system), produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA) is most commonly used in the modern languages/linguistic, humanities, and social sciences (Bates & Matthewman, 115). MLA mostly follows the Harvard referencing approach of providing brief references each time a source is drawn upon in-text and providing fuller descriptions of each source end-of-text (University of Essex, 1). MLA referencing differs from other forms of academic referencing as the date of publication is not specified in in-text citations, as it is in Harvard Style referencing. Instead, MLA provides the surname of the author and the page number the source came from. Also, for end-of-text listing, MLA uses the term ‘Work Cited” rather than ‘Bibliography’ or ‘References’ (University of Essex, 1). The following paragraphs will look at the history and evolution of MLA Referencing and explore its importance as a referencing system that offers students professional and personal guidance as to how to write and use language before a conclusion is presented on this topic.

History and Evolution

The MLA Handbook, currently in its 9th edition, originated in the form of the MLA Style Sheet, first published in 1951 and revised in 1970. This 28-page guide provided a ‘more of less official’ standard for MLA referencing (Fitzpatrick, ix). Definitive guidance on MLA referencing was originally provided through two separate publications, both published by the Modern Language Association, the MLA Style Manual, and the MLA Handbook. The MLA Handbook was aimed at secondary and post-secondary students and their teachers, while the intended audience for the MLA Style Manual was graduate students, academic scholars, professors, professional writers, and editors (Gibaldi, iv).

The MLA Style Manual was first published in 1985 and was published in two further editions as the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing in 1998 and 2008. However, in April 2016 it was announced that publication of the MLA Style Manual was discontinue and the 3rd edition would be taken out of print. Instead, moving forward, the MLA Handbook would be ‘the authoritative source for MLA style’ with the Modern Language Association pledging to create additional publications in future to address the professional needs of scholars (MLA Style Center, 1).

The first five editions of the MLA Handbook, published between 1977 and 1999 were titled MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations until the 6th edition changed the title to MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. The most recent edition of the MLA Handbook was published in 2021.

One of the main advantages of MLA referencing is that it is constantly evolving. For example, online editions of the MLA Handbook include guidance as to how to cite e-books and tweets, among other new, contemporary sources. For example, the University of York guidance on MLA referencing provides guidance as to how to cite a podcast. In-text, it might be said that ‘Waters admits in his interview with Marc Maron that his trip to Lebanon had a significant impact on him...’ (University of York, 1). In the Works Cited section, the podcast would be listed as:

Maron, Marc. “Roger Waters” WTF with Marc Marcon. 31 October 2016.
http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-755-roger-waters?rq=roger%20waters.
Accessed 15 December 2023.

The MLA Handbook emphasises that all sources should be cited ‘no matter how unusual’ (Gitelman, 12). Notably, the 8th edition gave advice about citing ‘unexpected’ sources, such as a radio programme consulted via a transcript instead of a broadcast (Gitelman, 12). This aspect of MLA referencing is useful and informative for scholars, as many referencing systems do not provide guidance about citing unusual sources.

However, the constant evolution and changes in MLA referencing can cause to confusion. One such area is whether the medium of the source needs to be cited in the Works Cited list or not. In the 7th edition of the MLA Handbook published in 2009 it was announced that the default medium was no longer recognised and instead the medium of publication would be listed in every entry in the Works Cited list, such as whether a source appeared in print, on the web, or as a CD (Nicholls, xvii). This guidance was discontinued in the 8th edition of the handbook published in 2016. In that edition, it was specified that the medium of publication was no longer recognised for Works Cited (Purdue OWL, 1). See the example below:

Seventh edition:

Kincaid, Jamaica. “In History.” Callaloo 24.2 (Spring 2001): 620-26. Web.

Eighth edition:

Kincaid, Jamaica. “In History”. Callaloo, vol. 24, no. 2, Spring 2001, pp.620-26.

This example shows how the eighth edition emphasises the value of ensuring that the reader was able to locate the source if they wanted to. The authors of the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook also wanted to make sure that readers would not be bogged down with unnecessary information, such as the medium, which, in most cases, is obvious (Purdue OWL, 1). In this instance, the ability of MLA referencing to evolve over time meant that the system could react to what information is necessary or not in that era.

Changes have also been made between the eighth and ninth editions of the MLA Handbook. Some of these are referenced by Purdue OWL in their guide to the ninth edition. These include more guidance on how to use the core elements of MLA to create a Works Cited list. This is done through explaining the definition of each element in different types of documents, where each element can be found, and how it should be styled. One of the intentions of the 9th edition of the handbook was to make the core element strategy even more accessible by using more examples and explanations. Examples include how to use interviews, notes, websites, and YouTube videos (Purdue OWL, 1). The 9th edition also offers a deeper look into in-text citations as many users reported problems with these, a reintroduction to MLA guidance on research papers, which did not appear in the 8th edition, a new chapter on inclusive language, and expanded guidelines on the mechanics of grammar (Purdue OWL, 1).

One problem with MLA referencing is that it does not offer any guidance as to how to cite any material written or created by the same organisation in-text. Other in-text citation forms, such as Harvard, allow the writer to use the year of publication to distinguish between different texts. In such instances, the references will either have been created on different years or, if they are created during the same year, they can be differentiated by adding a letter to the end of the year; for example, (Smith 2020a) or (Smith, 2020b), and so forth. To distinguish between different texts by the same author or organisation in MLA, the writer must find a way of referencing a title in-text. In this instance, the author differentiated by two texts both by Purdue OWL (see Works Cited) by making it clear which passage referred to the 8th edition of MLA and which one to the 9th edition.

Why is MLA Referencing Important?

MLA referencing is important as it offers professional development and student support materials that complement their style and citation guidance for scholars-in-training (Giampalmi, 23). To this end, MLA provide more instructional material than any other referencing form, such as Chicago or APA. In the 9th edition, the MLA Handbook offers extensive instructions on three key topics. The first of these are literature-related topics as the MLA documentational style focuses on referencing literature-based sources that support language-literature topics. It also offers the best language review for language study of any of the referencing systems, also presenting examples for referencing language-based sources (Giampalmi, 23-24).

Another significant change between editions is included in the 9th edition of the handbook, which advises readers on how to use more inclusive language (MLA Handbook, 187-188). In its discussion on changes to the 9th edition of the MLA Handbook, Purdue Owl observes that the new chapter on inclusive language recommends that writers focus on precision, relevance, thoughtfulness, respectfulness, and awareness of pronouns that might be exclusionary, casting judgment, and offensive terms. Through honouring these general principles, writers learn to think critically about how they apply contexts, language, and speak to diverse audiences (Purdue OWL, 1). The respectful language principles put forward by MLA are similar to those offered by APA, as both emphasise using language that is respectful to all people and groups of people (Giampalmi, 24).

Conclusion

To help the individual understand the importance and significance of MLA referencing, this example essay has looked at the history and evolution of MLA, the guidance it offers students, and its importance as a promoter of inclusive and non-discriminatory language in academia. MLA referencing is constantly evolving and provides students with some of the most comprehensive guidance as to how to reference new and unusual sources, whether these be tweets, podcasts, or even radio transcripts. While the evolving and changing nature of MLA can sometimes lead to confusion, such as whether to cite the origin of a source or not, the changes made allow students to effectively incorporate the most recent sources, ideas, and trends into their academic writing.

Works Cited

Bates, Catherine, and Abi Matthewman. Studying Arts and Humanities. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Fitzpatrick, Kathleen. “Preface.” MLA Handbook, 8th edition. Modern Language Association, 2016. ix-xiv. 

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 2nd edition. Modern Language Association of America, 1998.

Giampalmi, Joe. College Research Papers for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, 2023. 

Gitelman, Lisa. “Citation and Mediation: The Evolution of MLA Style.” History of Intellectual Culture. Eds, Charlotte A. Lerg, Johan Ostling, and Jana Weib. Walter de Gruyter, 2022. 11-32. 

MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Modern Language Association, 2021.

MLA Style Center. “Is a New Edition of the MLA Style Manual Going to be Published?” 8 April 2016, Web. https://style.mla.org/is-a-new-edition-of-the-mla-style-manual-going-to-be-published/ Accessed 15 December 2023.

Nicholls, David G. “Preface” MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition. Modern Language Association, 2009. xvii-xix.

Purdue OWL. “MLA Eighth Edition: What’s New and Different.” Purdue University n.d. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_8th_edition_changes.html Accessed 15 December 2023. 

Purdue OWL. “MLA 9th Edition Changes: MLA Ninth Editon: What’s New and Different.” Purdue University n.d. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_changes_9th_edition.html Accessed 15 December 2023.

University of Essex. “MLA Style: Referencing Quick Guide Series” n.d., https://www1.essex.ac.uk/students/study-resources/tdc/documents/referencing-mla.pdf Accessed 15 December 2023.

University of York. “MLA Referencing Style” n.d. https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/referencing-style-guides/mla Accessed 15 December 2023.