HERE. - St. Patrick's College

St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra
Style Sheet
Introduction:
This style sheet is designed to help students prepare essays, dissertations and other written
assignments for the English Department. An academic essay is a formal piece of writing,
which means that it must adhere to certain standards in style, layout and presentation.
Appropriate presentation is one of the most important elements considered when grading
essays, project work and theses. Good organisation, a clear plan, attention to paragraphs and
clear expression are all of paramount importance. The style sheet will help students when
they quote from literary texts, acknowledge debts to outside sources, and revise their drafts
for final submission.
1. Designating Titles:
Conventions exist in designating titles so that it is easier for a reader to understand which
type of work you are discussing. If you are discussing Hamlet, for example, then we know
you are discussing the play, not the character, because titles are usually italicised. Similarly,
if we know that James Joyce wrote short stories as well as novels then we can assume that
‘The Dead’ is a short story and Ulysses is a novel.
When an essay is typed use italics for titles; when hand-written underline the titles:
• Titles of plays: Hamlet; King Lear
• Collections of short stories: Dubliners; Wise Blood
• Collections of poetry: Daddy, Daddy; Life Studies
• Books of criticism: Orientalism; Culture and Empire
Use single quotation marks for the following:
• The titles of poems: ‘Easter 1916’ or ‘No Second Troy’
• Short Stories: ‘Araby’ or ‘The Dead’
• Articles appearing in journals or in collections of essays: ‘Where Green is Read’ or ‘The
Subjectivity of Science Fiction’
Quotations:
Check all quotations for accuracy and make sure that you reproduce original sources exactly.
a) Prose:

If you are quoting a small amount (no longer than four lines), simply include this in the text
with single quotation marks around the quoted portion:
Example
Joseph Conrad writes of the company manager in Heart of Darkness, ‘He was obeyed,
yet he inspired neither love nor fear, nor even respect.’
For a longer quotation (longer than four lines), indent the left-hand side of the line, as you
would for a new paragraph. When you indent, do not use quotation marks.
Example
At the conclusion of Lord of the Flies, Ralph and the other boys realise the horror of
their actions:
The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for
the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to
wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning
wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began
to shake and sob too.
b) Poetry:
If you are quoting no more than 3 lines, there is no need to indent; simply place the quotation
in the body of the text as with any other quotation. If there is a line break, signal this with a
slash (/).
Example
Eavan Boland wrote ‘The only legend I have ever loved is/ the story of a daughter lost
in hell.’
When you quote more than three lines, indent the left-hand side of the line, just as you would
for a new paragraph. Make sure that you quote accurately, paying special attention to the
ends of lines and the use of capitals.
Example
Elizabeth Bishop’s ‘In the Waiting Room’ is rich in evocative detail:
It was winter. It got dark
Early. The waiting room
Was full of grown-up people,
Arctics and overcoats,
Lamps and magazines.
c) Drama:

The same rules on length apply here as with poetry and prose (above). However, if quoting
dialogue between two or more characters, you must indent the quotation, supplying the
characters’ names followed by a full stop.
Example
IAGO. Ha! I like not that.
OTH. What dost thou say?
IAGO. Nothing my lord; or if I know not what. (3.3.34-36)
Always include act, scene and line numbers in your citation in the form indicated above.
d) Ellipsis:
Whenever you wish to omit something from a quotation, perhaps because it is less relevant to
your argument, indicate this in the text using ellipsis (three or four dots). The intentional
omission of some words from the quoted passage is indicated by three dots. Four dots
indicates that the omission includes a full sentence.
Example
‘“Among School Children” is the poem to read…to see how vivid the tension between
history and symbol can be….The same may be said of “Leda and the Swan”.’
Note that here the two poem titles are given double quotation marks as the entire sentence is
itself a direct quotation. Use the same system when you have a ‘quote within a quote’: the
inner quote takes double quotation marks, and the outer quote takes single. Indented
material, as in the examples in a) and b) above, is not enclosed in quotation marks; however
if there is a direct quote (or direct speech) within the indented material then single quotation
marks should be used.
3. Systems of Citation:
CITING means formally recognising, within your text, the resources from which you have
obtained information.
While an essay should primarily reflect your own ideas in your own words, it is acceptable
and sometimes even necessary to refer to the works of critics. The proper acknowledgement
of sources for quotations you have used is of crucial importance in writing essays and
dissertations. Failure to acknowledge a source could open you to a charge of plagiarism,
even if you have been merely careless. (See section on plagiarism) To avoid plagiarism, do
not think you have to be entirely original and not read anything anyone else has written. Just
remember that you must quote and cite your sources accurately and honestly. Quotation must
support, not make your argument. There are many acceptable forms of citation (the
parenthetical method, footnotes or endnotes etc.); however, the parenthetical method should
be used for all undergraduate work submitted to the English Department in St Patrick’s. The
rule is: always be consistent.

The parenthetical method is the most straightforward, because initially all you need to do is
mention the author, date of publication and page in the text of your work. You key this
citation to an alphabetical list of works that appears at the end of the paper (see
Bibliography).
Example
(Author, Year, Page)
‘Gramsci makes a key distinction between intellectual activity and intellectuals.’
(O’Dowd, 1996, 9)
When the author is already mentioned in the sentence, the name may be omitted in the
parenthesis.
Example
Smyth comments on the need to address political and cultural activity in the modern
period. (1998, 9)
The reader can easily locate the full description of the item you have cited by referring to the
alphabetical bibliography provided at the end of your essay:
Example
Smyth, Gerry. Decolonisation and Criticism. London: Pluto, 1998.
(i)
Bibliography (List of Works Cited):
A BIBLIOGRAPHY is the list of sources you have used.
A REFERENCE is the detailed description of the item from which you have obtained your
information.
Every essay should have a bibliography. This should be ready before you write your essay so
that you can use it to give sources for your citations. The bibliography should include all the
works from which you have quoted, and all of the works you have consulted and from which
you have gained useful information in the preparation of your essay, including any web
material. Although you may not directly quote from all the sources and merely paraphrase or
use their ideas, it is very important to include the source in your bibliography. List works
under the author’s name (surname), in alphabetical order and include at the end of your essay.
Use the author’s name as it appears on the title page (note also the correct use of punctuation
marks in the examples below).
(ii)
The Basic Entry: A Book by a Single Author:
Example
(Author. Title of the Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.)
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. London: Pan Books, 1988.
Unterecker, John. A Reader’s Guide to W.B. Yeats. London: Thames and Hudson, 1967.

(iii)
An Anthology:
To cite an anthology, begin your entry with the name of the editor, followed by a comma and
the abbreviation ‘ed.’
Example
Feldman, Paul R., ed. British Women Poets of the Romantic Era. Baltimore: John Hopkins
UP, 1997.
(iv) A Book by Two or More Authors:
To cite a book by two or three authors, give their names in the same order as on the title page,
not necessarily in alphabetical order. Reverse only the name of the first author, add a
comma, and give the other name or names in normal form. Place a full stop after the last
name.
Example
Eggins, Suzanne, and Diane Slade. Analysing Casual Conversation. London: Cassell, 1997.
(v)
Two or More Books by the Same Authors:
To cite two or more books by the same authors, give the names in the first entry only.
Thereafter, in place of the names, type three dashes, followed by a full stop and the title. The
three dashes stand for exactly the same names as in the preceding entry.
Example
Durant, Will, and Ariel Durant. The Age of Voltaire. New York: Simon, 1965.
---, A Dual Autobiography. New York: Simon, 1977.
(vi)
A Work in an Anthology:
If you are citing an essay, a short story, a poem or another work that appears within an
anthology or some other book collection, you need to add the following information to the
basic book entry:
Author, title, and (if relevant) translator of the part of the book being cited. Begin the entry
with the author and title of the piece, normally enclosing the title in single quotation marks.
Add the page numbers of the piece.
Example
Allende, Isabel. ‘Toad’s Mouth.’ Trans. Margaret Sayers Peden. A Hammock Beneath
the Mangoes: Stories from Latin America. Ed. Thomas Colchie. New York: Plums, 1992.
83-88.
Hansberry, Lorraine. ‘A Raisin in the Sun’. Black Theater: A Twentieth-Century
Collection of the Work of Its Best Playwrights. Ed. Lindsay Patterson. New York: Dodd,
1971. 221-78.

(vii)
An Article in a Reference Book:
Example
‘Ginsburg, Ruth Bader.’ Who’s Who in America. 52 nd ed. 1998.
‘Noon.’ The Oxford English Dictionary. 2 nd ed. 1989.
(viii) A Book Published in a Second or Subsequent Edition:
Where there is a gap between the first and subsequent editions, list both. Unless informed
otherwise, readers assume that bibliographic entries refer to first editions. When you use a
later edition of a work, identify the edition in your entry by number (2 nd ed., 3 rd ed., 4 th ed.)
by name ( Rev. ed., for ‘revised edition’).
Example
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Ed. F.W. Robinson. 2 nd ed. Boston:
Houghton, 1957.
(ix)
An Article in a Scholarly Journal:
Example
(Author’s Name. ‘Title of the Article.’ Publication Information and page nos.)
Most, Andrea. ‘“We Know We Belong to the Land”: The Theatricality of Assimilation in
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!’’ PMLA 113 (1998): 77-89.
(x)
A Film or Video Recording:
A film entry usually begins with the title italicised (if typed) or underlined (if hand-written),
and includes the director, the distributor, and the year of release. You may include other data
that seems pertinent, such as the names of the writer, performers, and producer between the
title and the distributor. If the film has been reissued, also cite the year of reissue.
Example
It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel
Barrymore and Thomas Mitchell. RKO, 1946.
(xi)
A Performance:
An entry for a performance (play, opera, ballet, concert) usually begins with the title, contains
facts similar to those given for a film and concludes with the site of the performance (usually
the theatre and city, separated by a comma and followed by a full stop) and the date of the
performance.
Example
Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. Dir. John Gielgud. Perf. Richard Burton. Shubert
Theatre, Boston. 4 Mar. 1964.

(xii) An Interview:
To cite an interview that you conducted, give the name of the person interviewed the kind of
interview (personal interview, telephone interview) and the date.
Example
Banville, John. Personal Interview. 22 July 1993.
(xiii) A Lecture, A Speech, An Address, or A Reading:
In a citation of an oral presentation, give the speaker’s name; the title of the presentation (if
known) in quotation marks; the meeting and the sponsoring organisation (if applicable); the
location; and the date. If there is no title, use an appropriate descriptive label (address,
lecture, keynote speech, reading). Neither should be underlined or enclosed in quotation
marks.
Example
Atwood, Margaret. ‘Silencing the Scream’. Boundaries of the Imagination Forum. MLA
Convention. Royal York Hotel, Toronto. 29 Dec. 1993.
( xiv) Electronic Publications:
To cite files available on the electronic media, use the following items in this order when
available: author, title (italicised if typed, underlined if hand-written), institution or
organisation associated with the site, date of access, and the URL (in single brackets). If you
cann ot find some of this information, cite what is available.
Examp
le
Romantic Chronology. Ed. Laura Mandell and Alan Liu. Nov. 1997. U of California, Santa
Barbara. 22 June 1998 http://humanitas.ucsb.edu/projects/pack/rom-chrono/chrono.
Html.
4. Style:
• Watch spelling, capitalisation, paragraphing and syntax.
• Essays should have an introduction, and a conclusion that draws together your arguments.
• Always write a draft; always proofread your essays.
• Spacing: double space throughout, with the following exception: any indented quotation
separated from the text should be single-spaced.
• Avoid sexist language where possible.
a) Possessive Apostrophe Using a Proper Name:
Form the possessive of the monosyllabic proper names ending in s or another sibilant by
adding an apostrophe and s:

Example
Keats’s
Tess’s
Yeats’s
Marx’s
More than one syllable ending in s or a sibilant, add the apostrophe only:
Example
Hopkins’
b) Beginning of a Paraphrase:
If you are paraphrasing, always show where the paraphrase begins in the text.
Example
According to Kitto, the Greeks were moderate men. (Kitto, 1960, 112)
If you are writing an essay on a single text, put a shortened title and page number at the end
of a quotation (Heart of Darkness can be rendered as Heart, for example) and include the full
biographical details in your bibliography:
Example
‘The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was
at rest.’ (Heart, 27)
English Department, SPD, 2011.