How do I cite sources with numbered paragraphs, sections, or lines (such as poetry) in the MLA format?
Answer
When creating in-text citations for sources that number the paragraphs, lines, or sections, you put the author's last name, a comma, the label and then the number rather than the page number.
- Line is not abbreviated, but the other labels are:
- Paragraph/Paragraphs: par./pars.
- Section/Sections: sec./secs.
- Chapter/Chapters: ch./chs.
Examples:
(Jones, line 4)
(Sunghei, chs. 3-4)
(Lock, par. 4)
When it has been established that the numbers are lines, you can omit the label:
(Jones 4)
Verse Works
When citing plays, you include the divisions (act, scene, canto, book, part) and line numbers, all separated by a period.
This example is from act 1, scene 5, lines 35-37 of Shakespeare's Hamlet:
(Hamlet 1.5.35-37)
For more information see:
The Owl at Purdue: In-text Citations
MLA Handbook Ninth Edition, Sec. 6.20