In -Text Citations (also called “Parenthetical Citations”)

These citations appear in the body of your essay.

When quoting or paraphrasing a text, you need to include the author’s name and page number(s) from which the quote was taken.

The author’s name must either appear in the sentence itself or in the parentheses.

Here’s what In-Text Citations look like:

Author mentioned in sentence:

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263).

Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

Author NOT mentioned in the sentence:

Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263).

Author Unknown

If the work has no known author, use the title instead of the author’s name.

An anonymous Wordsworth critic once argued that his poems were too emotional (“Wordsworth is a Loser” 100).

Multiple Works with Same Author

If you cite more than one work by an author, use a shortened title instead of the author.

Smith argued that computers are not good for small children (“Computronics” 38) but acknowledged that older children may benefit from computing (“Binary Youth” 44).

When Referencing Only One Text in an Essay

There is no need to keep repeating the author’s name in the cites. Do so the first time only. Thereafter, just use page numbers in the parentheses.

She said, “Too much fun can ruin a good time.” (73).

Books (One Author)

Format:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name, Middle Initial (if known). Book Title (italicize or underline title). Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication. Page numbers.

Example:

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Doubleday, 1937. 35-87.

Books (Anthologies)

Format:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name, Middle Initial (if known). Story Title (put quotation marks around article, story, or poetry titles). Title of Anthology.  Ed. (followed by editors’ name(s)). Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication. Page numbers.

Tan, Amy. “Fish Cheeks.”  Stories in English. Ed. David Jones. New York: Scribners, 1987. 35-

37.

Journals, Magazines, Newspapers

Format:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name, Middle Initial (if known). Story Title (put quotation marks around article, story, or poetry titles). Title of Journal (underline or italicize). Volume number (in journal only) Date of Publication (for journal, only put year): Page numbers.

Example:

Smith, Tommy. “Why Today’s Teenagers Are So Lame.” New York Times. 15 March 1995:

12-13.

Internet

Format:

(Cite all information that is available…not all websites have all the following information.)

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name.  Article (put in quotation marks). Title of Website (italicize or underline). Place of Publication: Date of Publication, Year of Publication. Date of Access. URL.

Example:

Andreadis, Athena.  “The Enterprise Finds Twin Earths Everywhere It Goes, But Future

Colonizers of Distant Planets Won’t Be So Lucky.”  Astronomy. Brookville, NY., 1999.

May 2008. www.web.lexis-nexis.com.
This page should be in alphabetical order!

10th Grade:
Honors
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Regular
Macho by Victor Villasenor

11th Grade:
Honors
Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown
Regular
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

12th Grade:
Honors
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Regular
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddo