MLA Introductory Signals & Parenthetical Citations

Introductory Signals &

Parenthetical (In-text) Citations

© 1999-2015 Vicki Lague

What is an intro signal?

“Intro Signals” is merely a shorthand version of “introductory signals.”

Intro signals tell your reader that source material is being introduced into your writing.

Why do I need intro signals?Intro signals

separate your writing and ideas from those of your sources.This is

especially important when you include paraphrases or summaries.

Show me an example!

According to ________________, . . . (author’s name)

•Replace the ellipsis with the source material

Templates, Formulas for Composition, Chapter 5, pp. 86-87.

• Insert the author’s name in the blank

What does this mean to me?You must use intro signals

every time you use source material:

QuotationsParaphrasesSummaries

What is a quotation?

There are two types of quotations you may want to use in your research essay.

Any of the author’s exact words as written in the source that you are using

Material the source’s author is quoting

How do I quote accurately?When you quote the author, you must use that author’s exact words, just as they are written in the source.

How do I quote accurately?Use square brackets to insert a word or phrase if it is needed to make the sentence you are constructing grammatically correct or for context.

[insert your words here]

How do I quote accurately?Original source: James Sherwood, a

noted volcanologist, said, “The rugged islands were formed by volcanoes, some of which are active on the islands today.” (Author: George Filmore)Material to be quoted: “active on the islands”According to James Sherwood, the Galápagos Islands were produced by the “active [volcanoes] on the islands today” (qtd. in Filmore 42).

How do I quote accurately?

Use an ellipsis to delete words if they are needed for a

grammatically correct sentence or if you want to quote only part of a

sentence.The ellipsis should be used

anywhere original material is deleted, except for the beginning

of a sentence.

Original quotation: James Sherwood, a noted volcanologist, says that the rugged islands were formed by volcanoes, some of which are active on the islands today. (Author: George Filmore)Edited quotation, with intro signal and in-text documentation:

According to James Sherwood, the Galápagos Islands “were formed

by volcanoes . . .” (Filmore 42).

How do I quote accurately?

How do I quote accurately?Quoted material in

a source are already enclosed

in double quotation marks,

and you must take them into

consideration.Original source: About the construction noise on campus, Dean Monroe said, “It proved to be the biggest problem for students and faculty at the college.” (Author: Dean Jaime Gonzalez, Ph.d.)

How do I quote accurately?

Use single quotation marks where the source

uses doubles!For example:According to Dr. Gonzalez, “Dean Monroe said, ‘It proved to be the biggest problem . . . at the college.’ ”

Add the correct parenthetical documentation after the quotation.Notice the placement of the period for the sentence:According to Dr. Gonzalez, “Dean

Monroe said, ‘It proved to be the biggest problem . . . at the college’ ” (533).

How doI document quotations?

Use the author’s last name and page number in the citation if the author’s full name is not used in the introductory signal: According to College Problems, “Dean Monroe said, ‘It proved to be the biggest problem . . . at the college’ ” (Gonzalez 533).

How doI document quotations?

How doI document quotations?But, with the author’s last name in the intro signal, all

you need is the page!For example:

According to Dr. Gonzalez, “Dean Monroe said, ‘It proved to be the biggest problem . . . at the college’ ” (533).

How do I paraphrase?

Suppose I want to paraphrase instead of quoting? What

then?

How do I paraphrase?

Put the author’s words into your own words and

document in the same way as a short quotation. For example:According to Dr. Gonzalez, the Academic Dean said that construction noise was the worst problem at our college (533).

Use “that” after the verb to show where

the paraphrase begins.For example:

According to Dr. Gonzalez, the Academic Dean said that it was the worst problem at our college (533).

How do I paraphrase?

How do I summarize?

If my source material is very

long but very good, can I quote the whole thing?

No, the material should be summarized instead.A summary is very much like a paraphrase because the source material is written in the student’s own words, no quotations included.But, it’s a short version of the original.

How do I summarize?

How do I summarize?

And, before you even ask . . .

Yes, you have to provide parenthetical

documentation!Put the introductory signal

at the beginning of the summary and place the parenthetical citation at the end of the summary.

More information can be found at OWL of Purdue:https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/