{"id":325,"date":"2025-04-17T16:35:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T16:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/chapter\/mla-works-cited-entries\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T05:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T05:40:10","slug":"mla-works-cited-entries","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/chapter\/mla-works-cited-entries\/","title":{"raw":"MLA Documentation: Learn It 4","rendered":"MLA Documentation: Learn It 4"},"content":{"raw":"

MLA Works Cited Entries<\/h2>\r\nInstead of offering a specific way to format each and every source, MLA offers a streamlined approach using something called \u201ccontainers.\u201d\r\n

Containers<\/h3>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_3444\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"275\"]\"MLA Figure<\/strong> 1. MLA formatting requires you to think about your source on the whole and pick out all of the appropriate pieces to include in the container.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThese containers, pictured here, provide you with the required elements, order, and punctuation for each of your Works Cited entries.\r\n\r\nAs you work to format your Works Cited, you will notice some sources require only one container, as shown on the right. These are sources that you access directly from their original publication, such as books, an online magazine article, and general websites. You\u00a0should follow the order of items listed in the container, following the simplified punctuation rules you see in the container as well. You will place a period after the author and the title of the source. Then, you should place commas after each item until the end of the entry.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_3445\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"276\"]\"Two Figure 2. You use two containers if the source you are using is part of a larger source, such as a poem within an anthology, a series within a T.V. show, or\u00a0a journal within a database.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nTwo containers are required for sources that you access through places like library databases. An example of MLA\u2019s \u201ctwo container\u201d structure is depicted at the left. Here, you will notice there is a place for the first container, with the original publication information.\r\n\r\nBelow the first container, the second container provides publication information for where you retrieved that information. For example, a journal article you access through your library\u2019s databases will have its original publication information (container 1) and access information from the online database (container 2).\r\n

Focus on the Core Elements<\/h3>\r\nRegardless of the source type, you are now asked to\u00a0locate the same \u201ccore elements\u201d from your\u00a0sources and place them in a standard order in order to create citations. These core elements are explained in detail below. Note that you do not need to memorize\u00a0every step of this process<\/strong>, but should take this opportunity to understand how citations are created.\r\n\r\nYou will likely use some kind of citation generator to do this work for you, but you will need a general familiarity so that you can know what information to plug into that citation generator and so that you can understand how to double-check the citation generator's inevitable mistakes.\r\n\r\n
Watch this video to see examples of how to identify the core elements needed in a citation:\r\n