How to Cite the Title of a Story
The Modern Languages Association, or MLA, style of citing sources is the one used in humanities publications, most notably English literature. The aim is conciseness. According to the MLA website, the format requires you to briefly cite an item within the text, then provide an alphabetical list of works cited at the end of the paper. Colleges and universities mandate that their students learn MLA style, and scholarly journals require that all articles they publish conform to MLA style.
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Instructions
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Cite specific sections of the story in the text. Write out the excerpt from the story you want to quote. At the end of the quote, place the author's surname, as well as the page number, in parentheses.
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Insert the story author's name in the "Works Cited" section. If it has multiple writers, arrange them in alphabetical order, according to the surname.
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Write the author's name, last name first. For example, write "Smith, Ashley," as opposed to "Ashley Smith."
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Place the title of her written work in quotes, according to the MLA system of citing stories. For example, if her story's title is "Kelly's Year in Japan," put those words in quotes, then place a period after the quote.
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Italicize the title of the book or anthology that included Ashley's story. For instance, if the title of the anthology is "Teen Narratives of the 2000s-2010s," format the title in italics, then end the phrase with a period.
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Identify the editors of the book, or anthology, that contains the short story. For instance, if their names are John Smith, Craig Wooden and Mark Jones, you would write: "Eds. John Smith, Craig Wooden, and Mark Jones." Once again, end the phrase with a period.
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Write the name of the city of the book's publisher, followed by the name of the company, then the publication date. In the Eduplace website's example, for instance, the proper construction is "New York: Scribner, 2002."
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Include the page number if the quote in your paper involves a specific excerpt. Set it up as a page range if your citation includes more than two. For instance, if your quote from the author's story is from pages 10 to 12, the citation should read, "10-12," followed by a period. Omit the abbreviations, "p." or "pp."
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Identify the medium of publication for the story, whether you found it in print or on the Internet. If the former is true, simply write, "Print." If you encountered the piece from the Web, provide the website's URL.
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