The most common reference cited in a standard paper is a book. After placing an important quote from a book reference in the body of the paper you are writing, simply create parenthesis and, inside, list the author's last name and the page of the text you used where the quote can be found. It will look like this (name, 1). This parenthesis, as in the example provided, should be at the end of a quote and before a period.
The next step is to follow up on a works cited page. The appropriate place to put your works cited page, once your paper is finished, is after the last page of your paper, making this the last page of the entire document. In alphabetical order, you will list the books, websites, or lectures referenced and quoted in the body of your paper in alphabetical order by the author of the book, the website, or the person who has taught the lecture.
With the title italicized, below is an exact example of how a book in print would look sited in MLA format. If information such as edition number, volume number and series number are not available (because it does not exist), it is acceptable to skip.
Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. Book Title. Ed#. Vol. City Published: Publisher, Year. Print. Series #.
If the book is accessed on the Internet, deviate slightly to include the website where you read the material, the date the material was published online and the date the material was read (by you) on the Internet. In the example below, the date Jan. 1, 1990, is used as an example of the date this fictitious source was published online, and the date Feb. 2, 2009, is used as an example of the theoretical date the website was accessed. The website itself should be italicized. See below:
Last, First M. Book Title. A ed. Vol. 1. City: Publisher, Year. I. www.website.com. Publisher/Sponsor, 1 Jan. 1990. Web. 2 Feb. 2009. <http://www.website.com>.
Not all websites are books. And websites are equally as important to know how to cite because, as time goes on, more and more research can be done outside of the library, using the World Wide Web. With the same note to fictitious dates as above, and italicizing the website also as done in the example above, see below for an example of how to site a website.
Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "How To Site A Website in MLA Format." www.website.com. Publisher/Sponsor, 1 Jan. 1990. Web. 2 Feb. 2009. <http://www.website.com>.
One last, often overlooked, citation is that of a lecture. You can easily quote your own high school or university teacher in your paper to enhance your premises from class notes without plagiarizing. Using your teacher's or professor's last name, then first name and middle initial (if known), list the title of the lecture in quotations followed by a period. Then list the type of lecture: class is used in the example below, but this can also be done with speeches. Next list the location of the lecture (such as the hall or room it occurs in), the city where the lecture takes place and the date you observed the lecture.
Last Name, First Name M. "How to Site a Lecture in MLA Format." Class. Location, City. 2 Feb. 2009. Lecture.