Question

Most of the time a parenthetical citation includes only the author's last name and page number. Describe at least two circumstances when you need to include more information to distinguish one author or title from another. If needed, refer back to the MLA Style Guide.

Answer 1

1. When using sources by authors with the same last name, you must always include the author's first and last name, to distinguish authors.
2. If a source is written by multiple authors, you must place all of the authors' last names in the parenthetical citation. 

Answer 2

MLA format follows the author-page citation style for parenthetical citation. However, sometimes you may need to include more information to distinguish one author or title from another. For example:

- To cite two or more works by the same author. In this case, it would be necessary to include the author’s last name, a comma, a shortened version of the title, and page number. Shortened titles of books should be in italics and shortened titles of articles between quotation marks: (Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship 56) .

- To cite more than one author with the same last name.  In this case, it would be necessary to include the author’s first initial, last name, and page number: (A. Smith 45) .