MLA style

< Sample documents

Modern Language Association style.

(Unofficial, of course, but workable.)

Environment Code

Downloadable version here.

% Filename: env_mla.tex

%Provided Methods:
%	\MLA[First][Last][Prof][Class][Date][Title]
%	\startlongquote ... \stoplongquote
%	\startworkscited ... \stopworkscited

\startenvironment env_mla

% paper, layout, etc.
\setuppapersize[letter]
\setuplayout[width=6.5in,height=10.5in,topspace=0.5in,backspace=1in,
  header=0.5in,footer=0.5in]
% double space
\setupinterlinespace[line=5.6ex]
% 1/2 inch indents
\setupindenting[0.5in]
% jagged-right (aligned to the left)
\setupalign[right]
% font
\setupbodyfont[rm,12pt]

% for long quotes
\definestartstop[longquote][
  before={\indenting[never]
    \setupnarrower[left=0.5in,right=0.5in]
    \startnarrower[2*left,right]},
  after={\stopnarrower
    \indenting[yes]}]

% for heading and header
\def\MLA#1[#2][#3][#4][#5][#6][#7]%
	{\setuppagenumbering[left=#3 ,location={header,right}]
	\indenting[never]
	#2 #3\par#4\par#5\par#6\par\startalignment[middle]#7\stopalignment
	\indenting[yes]}
	
% following hanging indent code (also in workscited) taken from 
%  http://www.ntg.nl/pipermail/ntg-context/2004/005280.html
% [NTG-context] Re: Again: "hanging" for a lot of paragraphs?
%  ~ Patrick Gundlach
\def\hangover{\hangafter=1\hangindent=0.5in}
\definestartstop[workscited][
  before={
    \page[yes]
    \indenting[never]
    \startalignment[middle]
    Works Cited
    \stopalignment
    \bgroup\appendtoks\hangover\to\everypar
    },
  after={
    \egroup
    \indenting[yes]}]

\stopenvironment

Usage

\environment env_mla
\MLA[Jin-Ho][King][Professor Wotsisnam][Engrish 250]%
[30 February 2004][Foundation for Poor Diction]

\starttext
There once was a young man who wanted to write. He wrote and
wrote. He wrote nothing of value. All his life, he struggled
to create something worth reading; all his life, he struggled
to become someone worth knowing. All his life, he failed
miserably.

\startlongquote
Now the question is not whether he can write. His abilities
in picking up pencils and pens and putting them to paper
cannot be denied. Actually, I've rarely seen anyone so
willing to put ideas on paper. The real question is:
``Should a man like that be given pencils and pens and
paper?" (Crane 243)
\stoplongquote

There is little more to be said about this man; this man has
little more to be said.

\startworkscited
Crane, Irod. ``The Complications of Existential
Transcendence." {\em Life and Library}. Boston: Trash, 2004.

\stopworkscited
\stoptext

Caveats

• To make the hanging indent work, make sure there is a blank line between the last line of the bibliographic list and \stopworkscited.
• Make sure the arguments to the MLA macro are all on one line. (An alternative is to end a line with "%" to ignore the whitespace until the next argument—see the example.)