How Do I Cite an Essay I Wrote?

Citing Your Unpublished Essay in MLA Style

• 1

  List your last name, a comma, first name and a period. For example: Jones, Dan.

• 2

  List the title of your essay in quotation marks, followed by a period. For example: "The Uses of Enjambment in Modern Poetry."

• 3

  List the type of source. This should appear as follows: Unpublished essay.

• 4

  List the year you wrote the essay, followed by a period. The entire citation should appear as follows: Jones, Dan. "The Uses of Enjambment in Modern Poetry." Unpublished essay. 1950.

Citing Your Unpublished Essay in MLA Style

• 5

  List your last name and first initial. For example: Jones, D.

• 6

  List the year in which you wrote the essay. This should be enclosed in parentheses, and followed by a period that falls outside of the parentheses. For example: (1950).

• 7

  List the title of the essay in italics. Capitalize only the first letter of the title, along with any proper nouns that appear in the title. Place a period after the title. For example: The uses of enjambment in modern poetry.

• 8

  List the type of source as "unpublished manuscript." The entire citation should appear as follows: Jones, D. (1950). The uses of enjambment in modern poetry. Unpublished manuscript.