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MLA Handbook
The Modern Language Association, the authority on research and writing, takes a fresh look at documenting sources in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. Works are published today in a dizzying range of formats. A book, for example, may be read in print, online, or as an e-book_or perhaps listened to in an audio version. On the Web, modes of publication are regularly invented, combined, and modified. Previous editions of the MLA Handbook provided separate instructions for each format, and additional instructions were required for new formats. In this groundbreaking new edition of its best-selling handbook, the MLA recommends instead one universal set of guidelines, which writers can apply to any type of source. Shorter and redesigned for easy use, the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook guides writers through the principles behind evaluating sources for their research. It then shows them how to cite sources in their writing and create useful entries for the works-cited list. More than just a new edition, this is a new MLA style.
146 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
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1814 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 207 reviews
March 7, 2011
According to the blurb on the back cover, NEWSWEEK has said the MLA Handbook is "The style bible for most college students," and I'm confident this is very much the truth. Nevertheless, this (indispensable) guidebook fails quite miserably in qualifying as a joy to read, and, thus, I am led to ponder that Satan himself may be using "Joseph Gibaldi" as a pen-name. If the Bible was the greatest story ever told, then the MLA Handbook is, perhaps, the greatest necessary evil ever written.
So, I'll average my ratings -- 0 for "pleasurable read" and 10 for "useful reference" -- and give the MLA Handbook 5 stars.
To summarize, the MLA Handbook is a must have item for any serious writer of research papers. Furthermore, if I may offer a few words of advice to the wise student: Use it. Trust it. Heed it. Don't expect to enjoy it.
So, I'll average my ratings -- 0 for "pleasurable read" and 10 for "useful reference" -- and give the MLA Handbook 5 stars.
To summarize, the MLA Handbook is a must have item for any serious writer of research papers. Furthermore, if I may offer a few words of advice to the wise student: Use it. Trust it. Heed it. Don't expect to enjoy it.
October 6, 2016
Yes I did read this damn book cover-to-cover and I want it to count towards my Goodreads annual goal.
November 13, 2013
A great, terrifying scrutiny of every single thing you need to know about writing a proper, acceptable thesis. Super-annoying, super-useful. Confusing with its wealth of detail but really simple if you know where you’re headed. I got a really blasting headache making sense of it.
Citing a thesis is definitely harder than writing a thesis. Now, please spare the poor person who spent years on researching and writing. Wasn’t that enough for you folks up there??? Leave us alone!!!
Citing a thesis is definitely harder than writing a thesis. Now, please spare the poor person who spent years on researching and writing. Wasn’t that enough for you folks up there??? Leave us alone!!!
January 15, 2010
Everyone dies in the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2016
URLs are of the devil in a works cited. Sorry.
June 16, 2023
it was 0kay, but since citation especially in the modern era is rather complicated on occasions and the information rather complex I believe it could be better.
June 4, 2016
Easy to read guide. Don't agree with some the changes though.
July 21, 2016
I'm in love with the 8th edition of MLA style.
Don't tell my husband about the affair.
It began late last quarter when someone slipped sleek copies of the new guide complete with polyethylene covers into the tentative, but curious hands of several librarians at work, including yours truly.
I gamely tested describing this style to a student, and to my surprise, it made sense to him immediately(!)
My love only deepened this summer when I delved into the handbook to find that there might be multiple correct ways to cite the same source, as long as one provides enough information for the reader to find it.
Some have criticized the reintegration of URLs, but the book is clear that if instructors don't like them (or probably if students don't feel they're necessary for finding a source), just omit them.
Admitting that students have brains with which to learn the tools to construct any citation rather than telling them exactly what to do for every possible combination in every medium? Oh, MLA, take me now!
All of that, along with the delicious removal of opaque punctuation rules, make our love affair one that will go down in history.
Be 8th-ed.-curious. You know you want to.
Don't tell my husband about the affair.
It began late last quarter when someone slipped sleek copies of the new guide complete with polyethylene covers into the tentative, but curious hands of several librarians at work, including yours truly.
I gamely tested describing this style to a student, and to my surprise, it made sense to him immediately(!)
My love only deepened this summer when I delved into the handbook to find that there might be multiple correct ways to cite the same source, as long as one provides enough information for the reader to find it.
Some have criticized the reintegration of URLs, but the book is clear that if instructors don't like them (or probably if students don't feel they're necessary for finding a source), just omit them.
Admitting that students have brains with which to learn the tools to construct any citation rather than telling them exactly what to do for every possible combination in every medium? Oh, MLA, take me now!
All of that, along with the delicious removal of opaque punctuation rules, make our love affair one that will go down in history.
Be 8th-ed.-curious. You know you want to.
Read
August 5, 2016I'm interested to see how MLA's shifted approach toward research works for my students, "from a prescriptive list of formats to the overarching purpose of documentation: enabling readers to participate fully in conversations between writers and their sources" (xii). It may take some getting used to, but I'm hopeful this more flexible approach with core elements for documentation instead of specific types of sources will mean MLA won't have to do more updates any time soon and it "will continue to serve writers well in a changing environment" (xii).
It was a good opportunity to review all the other conventions and mechanics of scholarly writing, and I do appreciate how much shorter this edition is then previous ones.
It was a good opportunity to review all the other conventions and mechanics of scholarly writing, and I do appreciate how much shorter this edition is then previous ones.
July 30, 2016
The perfect summer beach read :-)
I appreciate MLA's desire to create a more flexible set of guidelines for students in a way that encourages academic integrity and allows the researcher's audience to find their way to sources with minimal distraction.
I think students will appreciate that there's more than ONE right way to cite a particular source, and I anticipate many fun and brain-stretching conversations with students and teachers as we all move out of our comfort zones and into that space where we don't have all the answers.
I appreciate MLA's desire to create a more flexible set of guidelines for students in a way that encourages academic integrity and allows the researcher's audience to find their way to sources with minimal distraction.
I think students will appreciate that there's more than ONE right way to cite a particular source, and I anticipate many fun and brain-stretching conversations with students and teachers as we all move out of our comfort zones and into that space where we don't have all the answers.
September 19, 2016
The biggest updating of MLA for decades. Most of it seems useful, though I'm not happy that we have to use URLs again. I have a feeling that the template won't be as intuitive for undergrads as the editors seem to think it will be; we'll see what happens this term when I start teaching the new rules.
March 3, 2022
Useful, yes. Also, it makes good kindling when you're ready to go on the lam after murdering people due to the absurdity of the MLA format.
December 14, 2015
it's okay. purdue owl writing center has a more useful resource webpage on citations.
November 17, 2017
The 8th edition is short and concise. Just what it has to be.
Read
July 15, 2014Chapter Guide
1. Research and Writing
2. Plagiarism and Academic Integrity
3. The Mechanics of Writing
4. The Format of the Research Paper
5. Documentation: Preparing the List of Works Cited
6. Documentation: Citing Sources in the Text
7. Abbreviations
"If you borrow more than once from the same source within a single paragraph and no borrowing from another source intervenes, you may give a single parenthetical reference after the last borrowing."
"The second parenthetical citation omits the author's name. This omission is acceptable because the reader will conclde that the author must be Zender." (p. 218).
"In general, comments that you cannot fit into the text should be omitted unless they provide essential justification or clarification for what you have written. You may use a note, for example, to give full publication facts for an original source for which you cite an indirect source and perhaps to explain why you worked from secondary material." Bibliographic notes point the reader to other resources, "For strong points of view on different aspects of the issue, see Public Agenda Foundation 1-10 and Sakala 151-188."
1. Research and Writing
2. Plagiarism and Academic Integrity
3. The Mechanics of Writing
4. The Format of the Research Paper
5. Documentation: Preparing the List of Works Cited
6. Documentation: Citing Sources in the Text
7. Abbreviations
"If you borrow more than once from the same source within a single paragraph and no borrowing from another source intervenes, you may give a single parenthetical reference after the last borrowing."
"The second parenthetical citation omits the author's name. This omission is acceptable because the reader will conclde that the author must be Zender." (p. 218).
"In general, comments that you cannot fit into the text should be omitted unless they provide essential justification or clarification for what you have written. You may use a note, for example, to give full publication facts for an original source for which you cite an indirect source and perhaps to explain why you worked from secondary material." Bibliographic notes point the reader to other resources, "For strong points of view on different aspects of the issue, see Public Agenda Foundation 1-10 and Sakala 151-188."
August 3, 2016
Ummm it seems pretty weird to review a citation handbook. But it seems much improved for our modern times. Thank goodness they've stopped indicating whether something is "print" or "web", and I also like the more streamlined approach to punctuation - just periods and commas! While I was pretty excited about the template for student use in the beginning, I fear that it's not as intuitive as it appears and students will struggle with it - I think for the time being I will stick with my tried-and-true one-item-at-a-time approach to citation creation. With none of the online generators updated yet, this should be a fun semester - ha!
December 26, 2011
At some point in my life, most probably when I was in college, but maybe in high school too, I used this book as a guide to writing a research paper. I didn't read the book cover to cover. That would be silly.
I'll probably have to use it again if I ever write another research paper. The chance of that happening is slim.
I'll probably have to use it again if I ever write another research paper. The chance of that happening is slim.
January 30, 2008
I've never found a MLA formatting book that I've been happy with. This one lives up to the low standard I've grown to expect for MLA books. It seems every time I need to do a strange quotation, these books never really have an answer in an easily findable/existing manner.
January 21, 2008
If I never have to see this book again..it will be too soon!!!!!!
December 7, 2011
I truly READ the book this time, instead of using it as pure reference: it is clearly written, with fabulous examples, and so much better than most other handbooks. Highly recommend.
August 23, 2017
The official guide for the MLA...
Read
April 25, 2016Riveting.
September 7, 2016
I like the changes! It makes everything simplistic and useful, which will be helpful when introducing MLA to my students.
July 14, 2018
Me pareció más complicado que el APA, pero muy acorde a las necesidades que puede tener un investigador de la literatura.
November 29, 2020
I have been using MLA since it's nascent form as a style sheet before the first edition of rht _MLA Handbook_ was published in 1977. As a student of the humanities (BA, MA, unfinished PhD), I purchased three of these editions to consult (1st, 2nd and 3rd). And as a teacher of college English since the 1980s, I have explained how to write entries for the Works Cited page and how to use in-text citations.
I never purchased editions 4th through 7th because I was relying on the Internet for updates to the MLA Handbook. But when teaching a seminar class about democracy in ancient Athens, I bought the 8th edition in paperback. For the first time, the new edition has fewer pages than the previous (8th = 146 pages vs 7th = 292 pages).
The editor, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, explains the task of documentation from the 1970s to the present as one growing more challenging given the explosion of genres of text and the movability of texts.
Here is an example I have to offer: a photo of a 5th C. BCE Greek statue might be imbedded in a comment on a blog post that could be edited or even removed. If I were the student, I would research the original statue and refer to the museum in which it was housed. But others might site a book of the photographer's work or the blog post hosting the comment.
How I long for the days when I was citing works found in my high school library because the Internet wasn't developed in the 1970s of my adolescence. Consequently, the genres I could cite were few: books, journal articles, magazine articles, and newspaper articles. If I used my cassette tape recorder, I might have cited an audio of a radio program or television program--but I did not wander from the steretotypical academic genres (before post-Modernity blurred the lines between high culture and low).
Fitzpatrick raises the white flag on the task of providing an authoritative entry for every possible genre and instead offers these tasks of the researcher: think, select, and organize (4).
And to help the researcher select, she offers a template: Author, Title of Source, Container 1 (title, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, location) and Container 2 (same list as Container 1) (129).
She does offer probably 100+ specific examples of how a research might produce a citation using this template. Her examples do include books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. However, they also include films, television episodes, music DVDs, online databases, blog posts and more--but not every possible genre that researchers might include as evidence in their writing.
This explosion of genres and mobility of texts is why she presents a template as well as this caveat: "Remember that there is often more than one correct way to document a source" (4).
Here are a few examples citations that I starred (oh, so delicately with pencil) in the margins of my copy because my students writing about democracy in ancient Athens are most likely to document texts of these genres, hosted in these types of "containers":
(I am using underscore for italics, and I am not using hanging paragraph format because this text box does not have these formatting features.)
_Boewulf_. Translated by Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy, edited by Sarah Anderson, Pearson, 2004.
Euripedes. _The Trojan Women._ _Then Plays,_ translated by Paul Roche, New American Library, 1998, pp. 457-512.
Goldman, Anne, "Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante." _The Georgia Review,_ vol. 64, no. 1, 2010, pp. 69-88. JSTOR, www.jstore.org/stable/41403188.
_Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible._ Folger Shakespeare Library / Bodleian Libraries, U of Oxford / Harry Ransom Center, U of Texas Austin, manifoldgreatness.org.
Bearden, Romare. _The Train_. 1975. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
I never purchased editions 4th through 7th because I was relying on the Internet for updates to the MLA Handbook. But when teaching a seminar class about democracy in ancient Athens, I bought the 8th edition in paperback. For the first time, the new edition has fewer pages than the previous (8th = 146 pages vs 7th = 292 pages).
The editor, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, explains the task of documentation from the 1970s to the present as one growing more challenging given the explosion of genres of text and the movability of texts.
Here is an example I have to offer: a photo of a 5th C. BCE Greek statue might be imbedded in a comment on a blog post that could be edited or even removed. If I were the student, I would research the original statue and refer to the museum in which it was housed. But others might site a book of the photographer's work or the blog post hosting the comment.
How I long for the days when I was citing works found in my high school library because the Internet wasn't developed in the 1970s of my adolescence. Consequently, the genres I could cite were few: books, journal articles, magazine articles, and newspaper articles. If I used my cassette tape recorder, I might have cited an audio of a radio program or television program--but I did not wander from the steretotypical academic genres (before post-Modernity blurred the lines between high culture and low).
Fitzpatrick raises the white flag on the task of providing an authoritative entry for every possible genre and instead offers these tasks of the researcher: think, select, and organize (4).
And to help the researcher select, she offers a template: Author, Title of Source, Container 1 (title, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, location) and Container 2 (same list as Container 1) (129).
She does offer probably 100+ specific examples of how a research might produce a citation using this template. Her examples do include books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. However, they also include films, television episodes, music DVDs, online databases, blog posts and more--but not every possible genre that researchers might include as evidence in their writing.
This explosion of genres and mobility of texts is why she presents a template as well as this caveat: "Remember that there is often more than one correct way to document a source" (4).
Here are a few examples citations that I starred (oh, so delicately with pencil) in the margins of my copy because my students writing about democracy in ancient Athens are most likely to document texts of these genres, hosted in these types of "containers":
(I am using underscore for italics, and I am not using hanging paragraph format because this text box does not have these formatting features.)
_Boewulf_. Translated by Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy, edited by Sarah Anderson, Pearson, 2004.
Euripedes. _The Trojan Women._ _Then Plays,_ translated by Paul Roche, New American Library, 1998, pp. 457-512.
Goldman, Anne, "Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante." _The Georgia Review,_ vol. 64, no. 1, 2010, pp. 69-88. JSTOR, www.jstore.org/stable/41403188.
_Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible._ Folger Shakespeare Library / Bodleian Libraries, U of Oxford / Harry Ransom Center, U of Texas Austin, manifoldgreatness.org.
Bearden, Romare. _The Train_. 1975. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
September 17, 2021
I had a 2nd edition of this book - I guess there's got to be a convention somewhere for this sort of thing and this is as good as any other, but still there was a lot of arbitrariness and not a lot of reason why we do things the way we do. Some of the rules were plain silly. There was some, but not much historical value in the insight into how computer science as a field used to look pre-world wide web, before the internet had grown big enough to be relevant to the average researcher, but after the personal computer (including VIC-20s!) had hit the scene. It's not so much that this book is dated (it was) but that the rules were barely useful in the first place, we just didn't know it.
What would be better than this book is to just keep a copy of a bunch of research papers around (which you're going to do, anyway, as a researcher) and just use them as an example. That's probably how they came up with these rules, anyway.
There's a list of who's who of classical literature in the back which wouldn't be the worst place to start as a reading list for classical literature.
What would be better than this book is to just keep a copy of a bunch of research papers around (which you're going to do, anyway, as a researcher) and just use them as an example. That's probably how they came up with these rules, anyway.
There's a list of who's who of classical literature in the back which wouldn't be the worst place to start as a reading list for classical literature.
November 25, 2018
MLA: Mona Lisa’s Attitude was-first off-not quite the romantic dramedy that I was expecting, but boy did it get hot and heavy once I figured out what was going on. The authors took on various themes and styles of post-modernist literature. From the meta plot (a textbook written by a man madly in love with Mona Lisa and her voluptuous attitude) to the monotonous pages on paper formatting highlighting the meaninglessness of love. But through these themes the fictional author writing this textbook also burns with the fire of a romantic era composer. The pages in which he uses Page Margins as a template for his love for Mona Lisa serve as the climax of this sensual format. Let’s just say I never thought I would make noises like that while reading about page margins.
All in all a terrific (and informative) post-modern look at love through the lenses of a love stricken textbook author.
I will be using the MLA format exclusively for my essays from now on.
All in all a terrific (and informative) post-modern look at love through the lenses of a love stricken textbook author.
I will be using the MLA format exclusively for my essays from now on.
May 26, 2018
This style handbook offers guidelines on how to document sources according to the widely used standards set out by the MLA (Modern Language Association of America). It's aimed at students, but anyone interested in writing within the humanities, be it a professional paper or a blog, would do well to familiarise themselves with the conventions within.
Easy to read with large font and a helpful, explanatory layout; not dense but informative; alongside traditional sources, addresses concerns about citing websites, video clips, online conversations, and other modern media.
Do not expect anything creative.
For further online resources, the handbook directs the reader to style.mla.org
Easy to read with large font and a helpful, explanatory layout; not dense but informative; alongside traditional sources, addresses concerns about citing websites, video clips, online conversations, and other modern media.
Do not expect anything creative.
For further online resources, the handbook directs the reader to style.mla.org
October 23, 2020
I don't imagine too many people have read the MLA Handbook from cover to cover, but I just did.
Was it worth it? Not really.
The handbook is an OKAY resource for undergraduates hoping to learn the rules and standards of the MLA format, but really, the best way to learn how to use MLA is to write papers and pay attention to your professor's notes.
My edition is also somewhat old, as I purchased it many moons ago in my first year as an undergrad. A lot of the citation rules have either changed or become obsolete.
Was it worth it? Not really.
The handbook is an OKAY resource for undergraduates hoping to learn the rules and standards of the MLA format, but really, the best way to learn how to use MLA is to write papers and pay attention to your professor's notes.
My edition is also somewhat old, as I purchased it many moons ago in my first year as an undergrad. A lot of the citation rules have either changed or become obsolete.
December 14, 2017
Yes, I read the new edition of the MLA Handbook. (It's much shorter than the Chicago Manual of Style; it's even shorter than the seventh edition.)
It's simplified for clarity's sake. (How foreign it feels to be less particular!)
It offers instructional paragraphs with helpful examples. I especially appreciate section 1.3.1 regarding the "Use and Accuracy of Quotations" in essay writing.
I was razzed a bit, even by my colleagues, for reading this.
It's simplified for clarity's sake. (How foreign it feels to be less particular!)
It offers instructional paragraphs with helpful examples. I especially appreciate section 1.3.1 regarding the "Use and Accuracy of Quotations" in essay writing.
I was razzed a bit, even by my colleagues, for reading this.
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