Parenthetical Notation

The following information is a quick reference guide to parenthetical notation, which

is the way you must give credit to others for any information that they may have given you
through their book, article, interview, web site, reference book, pamphlet, or government
document. Each source credited below is linked to a proper list of works cited on the next page.
This is by no means an exhaustive guide; please refer to an MLA handbook for further
explanation.
Basic rules for proper notation:
1. The first word that should appear in the notation should correspond to the first word of the
corresponding entry as it is recorded in the list of works cited.
2. A page number, listed without “p” or “pg.”, is required when the corresponding source has
page numbers. An interview, for example will not require a page number.
3. If the first word of the notation corresponds to the first word of two or more entries on the
works cited page, then additional clarifying information is needed. Refer to the MLA for
details.

Example one: Two ways to paraphrase information from a magazine article with one
author.

The lack of leadership led to the fall of the Roman Empire (Sunny 14).

According to researcher Greg Sunny, the lack of leadership caused the fall of the Roman Empire

(14).

Example two: Two ways to quote information from one of two books by the same author.

The best leaders seem to be found in fiction, for “Beowulf is the penultimate hero type”

(Campbell, Heroic 214).

Joseph Campbell’s opinion that the best leaders are found in fiction is clear when he writes,

“Beowulf is the penultimate hero type” (Heroic 214).

Example three: Notation for a book with two or three authors.

At the end of the journey, “…there is a distinct realization of power” (Campbell, Mann, and York

330).

Example four: Notation for an indirect citation.

Julius Caesar shouted, “Veni, Vidi, Vici!” (qtd. in Sunny 55).

Example five: Two ways to provide notation for an interview.

Although the Roman Empire expired long ago, “[t]he lessons of the Empire continue to affect

American government” (Posnock).

Professor Posnock, a Greek and Roman historian at the University of Washington, argues that

“[t]he lessons of the Empire continue to affect American government.”

Example six: Unsigned (no listed author) encyclopedia article or dictionary entry.

The now famous city of Rome was founded, according to legend, by Romulus and Remus

(“Romulus”).

In Roman mythology, Romulus is “a son of Mars and founder and first king of Rome…”

(“Romulus”).

Example seven: Citing a pamphlet.

The aquaducts of Rome provided the western world with its first real solution for the lack of

water in some places (Amazing).

Example eight: Citing Internet sites: a newspaper article with an author, a web site without
an author, and a professional web site.

Beowulf, the hero, is a prototype of the Roman heroic ideal (Johnson).

The Roman heroic ideal “…derived from the ideals established in Greek mythology” (Roman

Heroes).

Today, the heroic ideal “…is vested in the heroic definition created by mythology” (National).
 Works Cited

Amazing Aquaducts. Seattle: World History Museum, 1988.

Campbell, Joseph, Elaine Mann, and Tom York. Heroes, Myths, and Mythmaking. New York:

Harper Collins, 1982.

Campbell, Joseph. Heroic Cycles. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1978.

Johnson, Janice T. “Caesar and Beowulf.” The Seattle Times 18 Nov. 1999. 14 Mar. 2000

<http://www.seattletimes.com/Rome/Nov.99/caesar.asp>.

National Research Council. New Leadership in the World. 4 Jan. 1989. 12 Mar. 2000

<http://www.natlacadamy.gov/leadership>.

Posnock, Ross. Personal interview. 22 Nov. 2000.

Roman Heroes. 12 May 1999. University of Maryland. 12 Mar. 2000

<www.umres.edu/hist/hero>.

“Rome.” Britannica Online. Mar. 1997. Encyclopedia Britannica. 29 Mar. 2000

<www.eb.com:180>.

“Romulus.” Webster’s New World Dictionary of American English. New York: Simon and

Schuster, 1988. 1165.

Sunny, Greg. “The Last Stages of Empire.” National Geographic Jan. 1990: 8-16.