For complete information about the MLA format, see The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or a style manual such as EasyWriter, or an on-line site such as http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r\_mla.html#Electronic.

- 5) Tone and Audience

Unless you're told otherwise, your art history papers fall into the category of formal analysis. They are not personal musings or informal responses to the art, which would be more suitable to a journal or to class discussion. This is not to say, however, that you can't use the first person. You are the one asking the question, asserting the thesis, making the argument, weaving together the supporting evidence, and drawing the conclusion -- and that should be clear to the reader. But think as you write about what kind of language to choose, and what tone to use. You can assume that your reader is someone generally educated in the language of art, but don't assume that he or she has particular knowledge about the issue. Use sexually inclusive language. Repeated use of "he or she" can get awkward, so pluralizing the whole sentence can be a useful alternative.

- 6) References to art works, illustrations, captions, and List of Illustrations

A title of an art work is treated like the title of a book: underlined or italicized. When you refer to a work of art in your paper, include the date, if known. You might also need to include the work's location, especially if that information is needed to specify which work you're discussing (e.g., Raphael did many paintings of the Virgin and Child, and in order to clarify which one you mean you probably need to give the current museum location as well as the date). In most cases you should include an illustration copied from the internet and pasted into an illustration section at the back of your paper (not incorporated into the body of the paper). If you have an illustration, you should include a parenthetical reference to the figure number after you cite the work (see examples below). There are various ways to handle these references. One option is to include all relevant information in the text when you refer to a work. For example: a) Michelangelo's Creation of Eve (fig. 1), part of his fresco cycle in the Sistine Chapel, Rome, that dates from 1508-12, represents... b) Rembrandt's pen and ink sketch of The Sacrifice of Isaac (Washington, National Gallery)(fig. 3) has been dated to around 1635. c) Manet's Olympia (fig. 5), exhibited in the 1865 Salon and now in the Louvre, ... d) Autumn Leaves (Manchester City Art Galleries)(fig. 8), painted in 1856 by Millais... e) ... as can be seen in Edward Burne-Jones' study for a mosaic in the American Protestant Church in Rome, Head of Christ of Christ (c.1875, watercolor, Manchester City Art Galleries)(fig. 2).

This can get awkward and obtrusive, though, especially if there's a lot of information. Many writers prefer to include in the text just the information that's necessary for a clear identification of the work, and instead include a complete caption beneath each illustration: the figure number, the artist's name, the title (underlined or italicized), the date, the medium, and the location, as well as information about the source of the illustration. If you prefer, you could simply give the figure number, artist, and title in the caption, and then give the more complete information on a separate sheet of paper entitled List of Illustrations attached to the back of the paper just before the Works Cited: Here is an example of a full caption (or entry in a List of Illustrations): Fig. 1. Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair, 1852-55, oil on canvas (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art). Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org.

- 7) Quotes

Primary quotes (e.g., words by the artist or a contemporary critic) are valuable as a means of substantiating your thesis, but be sparing in your use of secondary quotes. Otherwise your paper might end up looking like a patchwork quilt of others' words. When you use a quote, don't just drop it in. Introduce it with some kind of preliminary phrase (called a signal phrase): As the nineteenth-century art critic Ruskin argued, "...." (35). The author of a monograph on Michelangelo observed that "..." (Hibbard 27). Some scholars have speculated about Rembrandt's affiliation with the Mennonites: "..." (Judson 135-36). Van Gogh described his reaction in a letter to his brother Theo: "..." (qtd. in Percy 18).

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