MLA Works Cited Page: Alphabetization Rules and Examples

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🧮 Alphabetize entries by the first letter of the entry. This is usually the author's last name.
• ✍️ Ignore articles like "A," "An," and "The" at the beginning of titles. Alphabetize by the next significant word. For example, "The Great Gatsby" would be alphabetized under "G."
• 🏢 If there's no author, alphabetize by the title of the work (again, ignoring initial articles).
• 🤝 If you have multiple works by the same author, list them chronologically, from earliest to latest publication date.
• 💻 When alphabetizing names, treat names like "St." as if they were spelled out ("Saint").
• 📌 For corporate authors (e.g., organizations, government agencies), alphabetize by the first significant word of the organization's name.
• 🛡️ If the author is unknown and the title begins with a number, alphabetize as if the number were spelled out. For instance, "1984" would be alphabetized under "N" for "Nineteen Eighty-Four."

Practice Quiz

1. Which element determines the alphabetization of a Works Cited entry most of the time?
1. The length of the title
2. The author's last name
3. The publication date
4. The type of source
2. How should you alphabetize a work titled "The Old Man and the Sea"?
1. Under "T" for "The"
2. Under "O" for "Old"
3. Under "M" for "Man"
4. Under "S" for "Sea"
3. If a source has no author, what determines its placement in the Works Cited list?
1. The editor's name
2. The publisher's name
3. The title of the work
4. The URL
4. You have two books by Jane Doe: one published in 2010 and another in 2015. How should they be ordered?
1. Alphabetically by title
2. Reverse chronological order
3. Chronologically, 2010 first
4. Randomly
5. How should you alphabetize "St. James Church"?
1. Under "S" for "Saint"
2. Under "J" for "James"
3. Under "C" for "Church"
4. Under "T" for "St."
6. How would you alphabetize a work by the "National Institute of Health"?
1. Under "N" for "National"
2. Under "I" for "Institute"
3. Under "H" for "Health"
4. Under "U" for "United States"
7. How would you alphabetize a film titled "12 Angry Men"?
1. Under "O" for "One"
2. Under "T" for "Twelve"
3. Under "A" for "Angry"
4. Under "1" for "12"