Welcome to The Source, your guide to the MLA Style Center’s latest resources on writing, research, and documentation! Tell us what you want to know!
Teaching Grammar Rhetorically
Adopting a rhetorical approach to teaching grammar can be an effective way of empowering students to discover their agency as writers. A guide published by the MLA examines several grammar topics, including passive voice and comma splices, that can be taught using a rhetorical approach.
Motif or Theme? Trope or Figure?
The terms trope, figure, theme, and motif are important to literary studies. An MLA editor offers tips on how to always use them correctly.
Collective Nouns and Verb Tenses
Whether a collective noun takes a singular or plural verb depends on whether the entity acts together or as individuals. Learn more.
Care to (Cite a) Comment?
When citing a comment thread on a Facebook post, you should treat commenters as coauthors, the MLA editors explain.
Street Art as a Source
How you cite street art depends on whether you viewed it in person, online, or in a book. The MLA editors demonstrate their approach.
Formatting Song Lyrics
Song lyrics should be formatted the same way as poetry. Review the MLA editors’ examples and always get your song quotes right.
Religious Titles in a Works-Cited List
An author's religious title should generally be excluded from works-cited-list entries, the MLA editors explain.
Citing a Prologue of a Play
When you cite a prologue of a play, consider whether it is prose or verse and whether to cite page numbers, line numbers, or neither. Find out more.
Join the MLA and request your free copy of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook. The definitive guide to MLA style now includes hundreds of sample works-cited-list entries arranged by publication format.
