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How to Write a Book Review in MLA

MLA style is used extensively throughout several scholarly disciplines, including the humanities, and by schools, academic departments and faculty. The Modern Language Association's guidelines are also employed by scholarly and literary journals, magazines and newsletters. Scholars employing MLA style use parenthetical citations embedded in the text that correspond with an alphabetical list of works cited. This list appears at the end of the text. The MLA has established guidelines for citing everything from a website to a book review.

Instructions

    • 1

      Write down the name of the reviewer (last name, first). Each item should be separated with a period. Next, list the review title in quotation marks, followed by the title of the first item being reviewed. The later item should be preceded by "Rev. of" and the book title should be underlined. This should be written: Browne, Jackson. "Invisible Woman." Rev. of American Woman (underlined), ed.

    • 2

      Follow this with the author of the first book reviewed. If the reviewer has reviewed any subsequent books they should then be listed next, along with their authors. Your citation should now look like this: Browne, Jackson. "Invisible Woman." Rev. of American Woman (underlined), ed. Larry Johnson, and Sweet Home Chicago (underlined), ed. Bobby Conway.

    • 3

      List the name of the periodical the review is being published in (underlined), followed the publication's volume and issue number: Browne, Jackson. "Invisible Woman." Rev. of American Woman (underlined), ed. Larry Johnson, and Sweet Home Chicago (underlined), ed. Bobby Conway. American Cities (underlined) 15.3

    • 4

      Complete the citation by including the publication year, followed by the corresponding page numbers: Browne, Jackson. "Invisible Woman." Rev. of American Woman (underlined), ed. Larry Johnson, and Sweet Home Chicago (underlined), ed. Bobby Conway. American Cities (underlined) 15.3 (2006): 367-73.

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