Citing Sources: MLA

Use both the author's last name and the page number. You can put the author's name either at the end in parentheses or within the sentence.

Direct Quote:
(use quotes to indicate author's exact words)

"No elegant lady spending hundreds of dollars for a dress wants to push her way through a mobbed department store" (Cunningham 19).

OR

Cunningham explains, "no elegant lady spending hundreds of dollars for a dress wants to push her way through a mobbed department store" (19).

Paraphrasing:
(your words but someone else's idea)

No one spending a lot of money on clothes wants to have to push their way through a crowd of people in a busy department store (Cunningham 19).  

OR

Cunningham thought that no one spending a lot of money on clothes wants to have to push their way through a crowd of people in a busy department store (19).

If there is no author mentioned (very common with websites) use a shortened version of the title. If there is no page number just leave it out.  

Article/Page from Website Examples:
(use quotes)

Eleanor Lambert, the founder of the Council of Fashion Designers of America "was a pioneer in bringing American fashion and fashion designers to their present international stature" ("About CFDA").

OR

According to the "About CFDA" page on the Council of Fashion Designers of America website,  Eleanor Lambert was instrumental in bringing American fashion to the world stage.

Entire Website Example:
(Use italics)

The CFDA has more than 500 members and every year gives out numerous awards and honors to designers as well as many student scholarships  (Council of Fashion Designers of America).

Provide each author's first initial.  If they share the same first initial, provide the full first name.

Although some medical ethicists claim that cloning will lead to designer children (R. Miller 12), others note that the advantages for medical research outweigh this consideration (A. Miller 46).

If you are quoting from two different works by the same author, include a shortened version of the title.  Remember the author's last name can go either in the body of the sentence or within parentheses. The book title must be in italics.

Book Examples: 

Austen could not have written two characters more different in temperament, Emma is described as "having rather too much her own way" (Emma 5), whereas Anne is described as someone whose "object was, not to be in the way of any body" (Persuasion 160).

OR

Emma is described as "having rather too much her own way" (Austen, Emma 5), whereas Anne is described as someone whose "object was, not to be in the way of any body (Austen, Persuasion 160).

Article Examples:
(title must be in quotes)

Lightenor has argued that computers are not useful tools for small children ("Too Soon" 38), though he has acknowledged elsewhere that early exposure to computer games does lead to better small motor skill development in a child's second and third year ("Hand-Eye Development" 17).

Since the page number of ebooks are not consistent (i.e. they change depending on the device and font settings) you should not use page numbers for in-text citations.  One option is to use chapter numbers if they are provided.

Much of the dramatic changes in Indian fashion in the last two decades can be traced back to the economic reforms initiated by the Indian government in the 1990s (Sandhu, ch. 1).