Question

I am trying to figure out MLA for a primary source analysis I am working on.

Details

I got all three of my primary sources from the same website (HistoryWiz).

Brainard, Jennifer. “Mark Twain on Imperialism.” 2008. HistoryWiz. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. .

---. “The Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation.” 2008. HistoryWiz. Web. 22 Nov. 2012.

---. “The White Man’s Burden.” 2008. HistoryWiz. Web. 22 Nov. 2012.

Answered By: Linda Kern
Last Updated: Dec 12, 2016     Views: 106

Hello!

The good news is that none of these works have the same author. The compiler of the web site is not the author.

Having looked at the sources listed on the web site, I consider these to be nonperiodical works on the Web (in other words, not a magazine or journal) that also appeared in print, from p.187 in the MLA handbook. That means that each is cited using the relevant facts from the print version. At the end of that information, "instead of concluding with Print as the medium of publication, record the following information in sequence:

  1. Title of the database or web site (italicized)
  2. Medium of publication consulted (Web)
  3. Date of access (day, month, year)."

The first one is from a book, so it would look like this (with a hanging indent, of course):

Zwick, Jim, ed. Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire: Anti-Imperialist Writings on the Philippine-American War. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 1992. N. pag. HistoryWiz. Web. 22 Nov. 2012.

Note that I didn't include the URL. According to p. 182 of the handbook, "you should include a URL as supplementary information only when the reader probably cannot locate the source without it or when your instructor requires it."

If you include the URL, it would look like this:

Zwick, Jim, ed. Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire: Anti-Imperialist Writings on the Philippine-American War. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 1992. N. pag. HistoryWiz. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. <http://www.historywiz.org/primarysources/marktwain-imperialism.htm>.

The next primary source is a government publication, so that falls under the guidelines on p. 175.

The format is:
United States. Cong. Title of the Publication. Vol #. Washington: GPO, year. N. pag. then the rest of the web stuff as above. You can fill in the title and volume number.

The web site doesn't have too much information on the Kipling poem. For example, you don't know the format that it was first published in. Format the reference entry based on what you have, such as the author (Kipling), title of the poem, and the date of publication. MLS has a format for books published before 1900 (p. 178). The format is:

Author, First Name. Title of the Book. Place of Publication, year. Print.

I would put the title of the poem in place of the title of the book. Then add the web stuff as with the other sources.

I hope this helps!

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