The Thirteen Commandments of Writing about Literature

1. Assume your reader has also read the text and may well have a judgment different from yours. Thus, focus on your interpretation or idea; do not summarize the text.
   

2. State the title and the author’s name in the first sentence of the opening paragraph that creates a map for your reader.
   

3. Ask yourself Why? as you draft and revise.
   

4. Use the present tense with reference to the text.
   

5. Avoid long (or blocked) quotations. Why? The reader loses focus on your idea.
   

6. Always weave a quotation or a part of a quotation into a sentence of your own to make and support your point.
   

7. Explain how each quoted passage supports your interpretation or point.
   

8. In order to focus on your ideas rather than on people, avoid referring to you and use as few I-pronouns as possible.
   

9. After writing the author’s whole name once in your text, refer to him or her by last name only.
   

10. Use a parenthetical citation for each quotation.
    

11. When you discuss only one work of literature, use the page number only in the parenthetical citation. When you discuss more than one work by the same author, use a short title (appropriately punctuated) and page number in the parenthetical. (Remember that there is no comma between title and page number.) When you discuss works by several authors and do not name the author in your sentence, use the author’s last name and page number in the parenthetical (without a comma between them). For more information, see The Online Writing Assistant at Purdue University (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/02/) or ask!
    

12. Include a "Work Cited" (or "Works Cited" for more than one source) on a separate, final page in correct MLA format and with correct pagination. You can easily create this document online at NoodleTools and add it as the last page of your document. Access the site through the Webb Library (http://www.webbschool.com/~library/). Click NoodleTools and then follow directions to set up your own online folder. When starting a new list, always choose "MLA Advanced." (You may have to change the font and font size after you have saved the "Work Cited" and before adding it to your document.
    

13. Double-space the entire composition – quotations, "Work Cited," and pledge included.

Sample MLA-Formatted "Works Cited" Page
Note: The entire thing is double-spaced. Imagine that the margin is reached after "Sept." in the first line.