Literary Analysis

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Lesson4.pdf

Templates for Signal Phrases, Parenthetical Citations, and Works Cited

Templates for Signal Phrases:

Notice that the introductory signal phrases in the templates below use present tense verbs, which

is the tense you should use to analyze literature.

If your quotation comes from the narrator of a story or the speaker of a poem, you can use one of

these templates:

The narrator says, _____________ (Fill in appropriate parenthetical citation).

The speaker says, _____________ ( ).

Voltaire writes, ______________ ( ).

You can use the signal phrases to make sure your professor knows to which work you are

referring, so another kind of signal phrase could be:

In "When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men's Eyes, the speaker says, ____________ ( ).

If a character is speaking, the signal phase should tell who is speaking to whom.

Dr. Pangloss tells Candide, _____________ ( ).

Be careful to avoid a run-on if you introduce a quotation with a complete sentence.

Fused Sentence (no punctuation between sentences):

Cunégonde is happy when she speaks to Candide "_____" ( ).

Comma Splice (only a comma between sentences):

Cunégonde is happy when she speaks to Candide, "_____" ( ).

Corrected (signal phrase inserted after the sentence):

Cunégonde is happy when she speaks to Candide. She says, "__________" ( ).

Samples for Parenthetical Citations:

Poetry: Use line numbers for poetry regardless of the medium in which it is presented.

Count the lines yourself if you have to. Line numbers start from 1 for the first line of the

poem and continue until the end. Don't start over again with line 1 when you go into a new

stanza of the poem. On the other hand, long poems are sometimes separated into sections by

the poet. Here are some parenthetical citation examples:

Quotation taken from line four of a short poem: (4).

Quotation taken from lines 3 to 5 of a short poem: (3-5).

Also, don't forget to use a slash to separate lines of poetry in your quotations.

Plays: Even if the playwright, like Shakespeare, uses poetry for the dialogue in a play, you

still need to document the lines you quote or paraphrase as a play, not as poetry. (However,

use slashes to separate lines because the play is written as verse.) Plays are documented

using act, scene, and lines. The assigned excerpt from Macbeth is from Act 2, Scene 1, lines

33 through 64; the assigned excerpt from Hamlet is from Act 3, Scene 1, lines 64 through

98.

Sample from the first two lines of Hamlets soliloquy: (3.1.64-65).

Note: Don't use any spaces in the citation.

Prose: Normally, you use page numbers for prose. However, with all our prose online, page

numbers don't always work! It depends on the medium in which the prose is presented to

you.

PDF files: Treat the prose in the same way as any prose printed in a book, by using page

numbers.

Quotation from one page: (4).

Quotation that starts on one page and ends on the next: (7-8).

Web page: MLA says to use paragraph numbers for a website. If numbers are not

provided, you will need to count them. You should indicate that you are using paragraph

numbers for a text the first time you provide documentation.

Paragraph numbers are used regardless of the kind of text being displayed on the website.

For example, a speech shown on a website uses paragraphs numbers like any other text on a

website.

Quotation from one paragraph: (para. 6)

Quotation that starts in one paragraph and ends in the next: (para. 6-7).

Once you have established in your first parenthetical citation that you are using paragraph

numbers for a particular source, you can leave out para. in the remaining citations.

Samples Works Cited entries:

You can find a lot of information about MLA documentation requirements at the Online Writing

Labe (OWL) hosted by Purdue University: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/.

There is information about what is required for different types of sources as well as a sample

Works Cited page: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/12/. Notice that the entries

on the page are in alphabetical order by the first item in each entry. The page follows normal

page layout, including margins and double-spacing. The author' s name is always inverted:

Last Name, First Name. Also notice' the correct spelling and placement for the title of the page.

If you are required to add an Honor Code, place it at the bottom of the Works Cited page.

Works Cited Entries: Notice the double spacing and indentations (all but first line) for each

template/sample.

Template:

Author's Name. Title of PDF File. Class handout. Name of College. City, State. Date. PDF

file.

Sample:

Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. LIT2120 class handout. Miami Dade College. Miami,

FL. n.d. PDF file.

Note: The notation n.d. (literally meaning no date) is used because the page being documented in

the sample does not have a date of last update.

Web Page:

Template:

Author's Name. Title of Webpage. Title of Website. Sponsoring Organization. Date of last

update. Web. Access date.

Sample:

Shakespeare, William. Sonnet 18. Shakespeare Online. Amanda Mabillard. n.d. Web. 14

Dec. 2014.

Notes: Amanda Mabillard is an individual who sponsors Shakespeare Online. Her name is used

because there is no sponsoring organization. Ms. Mabillard holds the copyright for the site. Also,

the copyright date for a web page is not the same as a date of last up date.

Here is another sample:

Mabillard, Amanda. Introduction to Shakespeare's Sonnets. Shakespeare Online. Amanda

Mabillard. n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.

Note: In this sample, Ms. Mabillard is both the author and the sponsor, so her name appears in

both places.

Be sure to look at the Works Cited in the sample papers provided for each of the two

essays.