Parenthetical Documentation and Works Cited Entries

For a full treatment of this topic, refer to your grammar handbook. The models given below are taken from The Little Brown Handbook 6th ed. and focus on particular situations you may encounter in completing your essays. Other grammar handbooks will also provide models of the Modern Languages Association documentation style.

The purpose of parenthetical citations in the body of your paper is to guide the reader to the full publication information for the source in your works cited. From the information in the works cited, the reader should then be able to locate the original source of your information. Ordinarily, the parenthetical citation will contain the author's name and the page number for the source; however, other information must sometimes be substituted.

There are always unusual or unique situations that require you to combine elements of various standard works cited models or to improvise because of unique or missing information. When you encounter such cases, do the best you can, remembering that your goal is to provide sufficient information so that your reader can find the source that you used.

Note that a works cited entry has three fields of information: Identification of the author, or the title of the work if no author is given; the title of the source whether it be a book, periodical or an electronic source such as a web site; and publication information. For a book, the latter would be publisher, city of publication, and copywrite date. For a web site it would be the date of access and the web address.

Quoting an Introduction in an Anthology

The first steps toward settlement were not easy; however, "Europe continued to expand in the New World amid the disorder within settlement walls and the great violence ouside" (Franklin 6).

The sixth edition of the Norton Anthology indicates that the editor responsible for the introduction, "Literature to 1700" is Wayne Franklin, so his name appears in the parenthesis along with the page number that specifies where the words are found. The author's name serves as a link to the works cited entry.

Works Cited for Franklin Introduction

Franklin, Wayne. "Literature to 1700." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter, 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2003. 1-16.

Use model 20 for an introduction, preface, foreward, or afterword.

Quoting a Particular Author from an Anthology: Name Given in Paragraph

In writing to Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus appeals for just treatment for the wrongs he has suffered from another, although he is not explicit about who this is. He pleads for "The restitution of my honor, the reparation of my losses, and the punishment of him who" is responsible for his destitute state (28).

Because the writer of the quotation, Columbus, is identified in the paragraph, only the page number is given in the parenthesis.

Works Cited for Columbus Letter

Columbus, Christopher. "From Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter, 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2003. 27-28.

Quoting a Particular Author from an Anthology:
Name Not Given in Paragraph

Explorers sometimes reported the extreme privation which the Native Americans endured: "The houses and our diet were like those of the nation we had just come from, but the Avavares suffer yet greater want, having no corn, acorns, or pecans" (De Vaca 33).

Note the punctuation: " . . . Quotation marks indicate the end of the quotation" (The name of the author and the page number are given in the parenthesis). < A period follows the parenthesis.

De Vaca, Alvar Nunez Cabeza. "The Relations of Alvar Nunez Carbeza De Vaca: Our Life among the Avavares and Arbadaos." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter, 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2003. 33-34.

Quoting from an On-line Source: Example One

John Calvin clearly acknowledges the imperfections of human beings even as they struggle to fulfill the Christian ideal. He writes that he does not insist "that the life of the Christian shall breathe nothing but the perfect Gospel, though this is to be desired, and ought to be attempted" (Institutes).

Works Cited for John Calvin

Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Bk. 3. Chap. 6. Sec. 5. 20 Sept. 2003.
http://www.smartlink.net/~douglas/calvin/bk3ch06.html#five.htm

Here I have tried to follow model 33 for an online book. The important point is that a mimimal amount of information is included in the parenthetical citation while the full identifying information is given in the works cited entry.

Quoting from an On-Line Source: Example Two

When applied to literary studies, irony may be defined as "the effect of language in which the intended meaning is the opposite of what is stated" ("Irony").

Following model 21 for an article from a reference work, the parenthesis contains the word that was looked up. It is put in quotation marks just like a title for an article. This word then serves as a link to the works cited entry.

Works Cited for Definition of Irony

"Irony." Gale Group. Glossary of Literary Terms. 20 Sept. 2003.
http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/glossary/glossary_im.htm#i

Quoting from an On-Line Source: Example Three

According to the University of Victoria Writer's Guide, a symbol is "an image with an indefinite range of reference beyond itself" and includes both conventional symbols that "have a range of significance that is commonly understood in a particular culture. . . " as well as symbols that are personal and private, "having a special significance derived from their particular use by an author" ("Symbol").

Again, following model 21 for a reference work, the parenthesis gives the word which was looked up in quotation marks, treating it as the title of an article.

Works Cited for Definition of Symbol

"Symbol." University of Victoria Writer's Guide. 20 Sept. 2003.
http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/RhetSymbol.html

Quoting a Story from a Web Site

Jim and Della Dillingham were poor young people but very much in love. Della now had only $1.87 to buy Jim a present although she had spent many happy hours planning to buy him a nice Christmas gift, "Something fine and rare and sterling--something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honour of being owned by Jim" (O'Henry, par. 6).

Because there are no page numbers for the story, you can give the number of the paragraph to help the reader locate the quotation.

Works Cited "Gift of the Magi"

O'Henry. "Gift of the Magi." English Courses and Resources. Charles Phillips. Southside Virginia Community College. 20 Sept. 2003.
http://luna.moonstar.com/~acpjr/Blackboard/Common/Stories/GiftMagi.html

Reference Works

Examples of how to document reference works like dictionaries and encyclopaedias are given in this document.

English Courses and Resources