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MLA Style Guide: Parts of Books

Parts of Books

Material Type In-text Citation Works Cited
Chapter/essay/short story from a book/anthology (different authors)
(O'Brien 689)  

O'Brien, Tim. "The Things They Carried." Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, edited by Robert DiYanni, 6th ed., McGraw Hill, 2007, pp. 684-97.

 
Short story from a collection (same author)
(Moore 59)  

Moore, Lorrie. "Community Life." Birds of America, Knopf, 1998, pp. 58-77.

 

Part of book from an online database with an author

(Porter 13)  

Porter, Carolyn. "Ann Beattie: The Art of the Missing." The Contemporary American Women Writers: Native Strategies, edited by William J. Scheick and Catherine Rainwater, UP of Kentucky, 2015, pp. 9-28. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).

Part of a book from an online database with an editor and no author
(Milne 202)
Milne, Ira Mark, editor. "The Pearl." Short Stories for Students, vol. 22, Gale, 2006, pp. 198-215. Gale Virtual Reference Library, db12.linccweb.org/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.db12.linccweb.org/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=lincclin_ircc&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3423600021&asid=0ae289f9ef022738a99752be2647ef1b. 
Introduction/preface from a book or anthology written by the editor
(Damrosch xxi)  

Damrosch, David and David L. Pike. Preface. The Longman Anthology of World Literature, edited by Damrosch, et al, 2nd ed., Pearson Education, 2009, pp. xxi-xxv.

Start the citation with author of the introduction/preface.

Introduction/preface from a book written by someone other than the author(s)
(Wyatt ii)  

Wyatt, David. Introduction. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, Penguin, 1992, pp. i-vi.

Start the citation with author of the introduction/preface.

Entry in a reference work, with an author and editor
(Munro and Munro 553)  

Munro, Brenda, and Gordon Munro. “Family, Definition Of.” International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family, edited by James J. Ponzetti, Jr., 2nd ed., vol. 2, Gale Group, 2003, pp. 549-­55. 

Entry in a reference work, with an editor and no author
("Cuba" 235)  

"Cuba." Political Handbook of the World 2014, edited by Tom Lansford, CQ Press, 2014, pp. 354-58.