How to Cite Norton Anthology in MLA 9 Format

What “The Norton Anthology” is in an MLA Works Cited entry

The Norton Anthology is an edited collection. In MLA 9, you usually cite it in one of two ways:

1. You cite a specific work inside the anthology, such as a poem, short story, essay, or excerpt. This is the most common approach in literature papers. Your Works Cited entry starts with the author of the work you actually read (the poem’s author, the story’s author), not the editor of Norton.

2. You cite the anthology itself, usually when you discuss the book as a whole or its editorial approach. In that case, your Works Cited entry starts with the editor (or editors), because the anthology is their compiled work.

MLA’s goal is simple: the reader should be able to locate the exact text you used, quickly and reliably.

The core MLA 9 structure for Norton Anthology citations

A. Citing a work inside the anthology (most common)

General format (print):

Author Last Name, First Middle. “Title of the Work.” Title of the Anthology, edited by Editor First Last, edition (if given), vol. number (if given), publisher, year, pp. page range.

Key idea: You are citing a “work within a work.” The poem or story is the piece you are quoting, so its author comes first. The anthology functions like the container that holds it.

B. Citing the anthology itself (less common)

General format (print):

Editor Last Name, First Middle, editor. Title of the Anthology. Edition (if given), vol. number (if given), publisher, year.

If there are multiple editors, MLA allows variations, but MLA rules about author name handling still matter in how you present the first listed person.

MLA author name rules, applied correctly

These rules matter because MLA Works Cited entries are alphabetized, and because names are a key search tool in library catalogs and databases.

1. Use names as credited

Use the author’s name as credited in the source, retaining initials when used. Do not expand published initials.

• Correct when credited this way: Woolf, Virginia
• Incorrect if the source credits Virginia Woolf: Woolf, V.

2. First author name must be inverted

The first listed person in an entry is inverted because MLA Works Cited lists are alphabetized by that first element.

• Correct: Morrison, Toni
• Incorrect: Toni Morrison (as the first element of a Works Cited entry)

3. Two authors use “and,” second name not inverted

This improves readability and matches MLA’s standard pattern.

• Correct: García Márquez, Gabriel, and Isabel Allende
• Incorrect: García Márquez, Gabriel, and Allende, Isabel

4. Three or more authors use “et al.” after the first author only

This prevents long, cluttered entries while still giving a clear primary access point.

• Correct: Taylor, Charles, et al.
• Incorrect: Taylor, Charles, Maria Lopez, and Priya Singh

5. No author, start with the title

If there is no author, MLA begins with the title. This keeps citations consistent and still alphabetizable. For alphabetizing, you ignore leading articles like A, An, and The.

• Example start: “Ode to the West Wind.” (if no author were credited)

Example 1, Citing a poem or short work from the Norton Anthology (print)

Works Cited template (replace the page range with your copy’s details)

Shakespeare, William. “Sonnet 130.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, edited by Stephen Greenblatt et al., 10th ed., vol. 1, W. W. Norton, 2018, pp. [page range].

Why it is formatted this way

• Shakespeare, William comes first because you are citing the poem itself. The poem is what you quote and analyze.
• The poem title is in quotation marks because it is a short work.
• The Norton Anthology of English Literature is italicized because it is the book title, which is the container.
• edited by Stephen Greenblatt et al. identifies the editorial team responsible for the edition.
• 10th ed., vol. 1 matters because Norton anthologies often have multiple editions and volumes, and page numbers change across them.
• The page range tells the reader exactly where to find the poem in your edition.

Practical tip

Always check whether your Norton set is split into volumes. If you cite the wrong volume number, a reader might not find your text even if the page numbers look plausible.

Example 2, Citing an essay from Norton (print), with one author

Credit the essay’s actual author. Mary Wilkins Freeman did not coauthor Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “Why I Wrote ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’”

Works Cited template (replace the volume and page range with your copy’s details)

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “Why I Wrote ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” The Norton Anthology of American Literature, edited by Robert S. Levine, 9th ed., vol. [volume], W. W. Norton, 2017, pp. [page range].

Why it is formatted this way

• The first author is inverted: Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
• The essay’s author is Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Do not add and or a second author to this single-author essay.
• The rest of the entry follows the same “work within a work” container structure.

Common pitfall to avoid

Do not credit a different anthology contributor as the essay’s coauthor. For a genuinely coauthored work, invert only the first author’s name.

Example 3, Citing the Norton Anthology itself (whole book)

Use this when your source is the anthology as a compiled publication. Cite a distinct introduction or headnote separately when that is the material you use.

Works Cited entry (correct formatting)

Greenblatt, Stephen, et al., editors. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 10th ed., vol. 1, W. W. Norton, 2018.

Why it is formatted this way

• The anthology is an edited book, so the editor is the lead contributor.
• The editor’s name is inverted because it is the first element.
• Edition and volume are included because Norton frequently releases new editions, and volumes are commonly assigned.

Practical tip

If your volume has a different year than another volume in the same set, cite the year printed on the specific volume you used.

Why these rules matter in real papers

They help readers locate the exact text

Norton anthologies are reissued often. Page numbers and even included texts can change between the 8th, 9th, and 10th editions. Including edition, volume, and page range prevents “I cannot find this” problems.

They support fair and accurate credit

Starting with the author of the included work credits the person whose writing you are analyzing. Listing the anthology title first would hide that author and make the citation less useful.

They keep your Works Cited easy to scan

Inverted author names and consistent author handling make alphabetizing predictable. That is especially important in literature papers with many primary texts.

Practical tips and common pitfalls (Norton specific)

Tips

• Copy the edition and volume exactly as printed on the title page or cover, such as “10th ed.” and “vol. 2.”
• Use the page range of the work, not just the single page you quoted. MLA typically prefers the full span of the work in the anthology.
• Match the anthology title precisely, since Norton publishes many similar titles, such as English Literature versus American Literature.

Common pitfalls

• Citing the editor as the author of the poem or story. If you are quoting Shakespeare, Shakespeare is the author, not the Norton editor.
• Forgetting the edition or volume. This is one of the biggest reasons citations fail to help readers.
• Changing credited names. Retain initials when the source uses them.
• Inverting the second author in a two-author work. Only the first author is inverted.

Quick checklist for a Norton Anthology Works Cited entry

If you used a poem, story, or essay inside Norton

• Start with the work’s author, inverted, as credited.
• Put short-work titles in quotation marks; italicize titles of standalone works.
• Italicize the Norton anthology title.
• Add editor, edition, volume, publisher, year.
• End with page range.

If you used the anthology as a whole

• Start with the editor, inverted, as credited, plus “editor” (or “editors” for multiple editors).
• Italicize the anthology title.
• Add edition, volume, publisher, year.

Check the anthology’s title page for its edition, volume, editors, publisher, and year before completing the entry.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Common Errors for Norton Anthology Citations

Validation Checklist

Special Cases

Why the Norton Anthology creates MLA edge cases

The Norton Anthology is not a single, simple book in the way a typical novel is. It is an edited collection that contains many smaller works, often with introductions, headnotes, footnotes, and scholarly apparatus. In MLA 9, you usually cite the specific work you used, not the entire anthology, unless you truly used the anthology as a whole. That principle creates most “special cases” because you must decide what your source actually is.

These rules matter because MLA citations are designed to help a reader locate the exact text you used. With anthologies, page numbers alone can be misleading if you do not identify the work inside the book. Also, the Norton Anthology exists in many editions and volumes. The same poem or essay can appear on different pages depending on the edition, so the edition and volume details often become essential.

Names as credited help identify authors, including those who publish under initials. Inverting only the first author keeps Works Cited entries easy to alphabetize.

The most common Norton decision: whole anthology vs. a work inside it

Cite the whole anthology when

• You are discussing the anthology as a publication, for example, its editorial approach, its table of contents, or its historical framing.
• You discuss how the editors organize material across the anthology, rather than a distinct preface, chronology, or thematic introduction.

Cite a work inside the anthology when

• You quote or paraphrase a poem, story, play excerpt, essay, letter, or speech by a specific author.
• You use a translator’s version of a text printed in the anthology.
• You reference a headnote or introduction written by the editors, but the anthology contains it as a distinct section.

Practical tip: Ask yourself, “If my reader opened the Norton Anthology, what would they need to find my passage quickly?” Usually, that means the author and title of the specific work, plus the anthology container details.

Special case 1: Citing a selection that has its own “container” title

Many Norton entries are works inside a larger container. In MLA, the anthology is the container. Your Works Cited entry typically begins with the author and title of the selection, then the anthology details.

Example 1: A poem, short story, or essay reprinted in Norton

Works Cited format
Author. “Title of Selection.” Title of Anthology, edited by Editor Name(s), edition, vol. number (if any), publisher, year, pp. page range.

Example (model formatting, replace details with your exact edition)
Woolf, Virginia. “The Mark on the Wall.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, edited by Stephen Greenblatt et al., 10th ed., vol. F, W. W. Norton, 2018, pp. [page range].

Why this is an edge case
Students often cite the anthology as if it were the author’s original book. In an anthology, the author did not publish the Norton volume. The anthology is a reprint location, so it belongs in the container position.

Common pitfall
- Listing the editors as the “author” when you are actually using Woolf’s story. Editors belong after the anthology title, not at the start.

Special case 2: Multiple editors, and your “three or more authors” rule

The Norton Anthology often lists several editors. For three or more editors, give the first editor and “et al.” Invert the name when it begins the entry, but use normal order after “edited by.” Retain any credited initials.

When the editors matter

• When you cite the whole anthology.
• When you cite an editor-written introduction or headnote, if it is credited to the editors.

Practical tip: If the title page lists editors, treat them as editors, not authors, unless the section you cite is actually written by them and functions like an authored work.

Common pitfall
- Expanding editors’ published initials or inverting a name after “edited by.”

Special case 3: Citing an editor’s introduction, headnote, or footnote

Norton includes introductions and headnotes that students frequently quote. These are not written by the original author of the literary work. If you quote a headnote, you should cite the headnote as the source, not the poem or story.

Example 2: A headnote or introduction written by the editors

Sometimes the headnote has a title, sometimes it does not. If it has no distinct title, you can describe it in the title position using a clear label. MLA allows descriptive titles for untitled works.

Template (descriptive title; replace the author and pages with the headnote’s actual credits and location)
Headnote Author Last, First. Headnote to “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 10th ed., vol. A, W. W. Norton, 2018, pp. [page range].

Why this is an edge case
A headnote is about the literary work, but it is not the literary work. If you cite it incorrectly, your reader will look for your quote inside Chaucer and not find it.

Common pitfalls
- Citing Geoffrey Chaucer as the author of the headnote.
- Omitting the page numbers because “it is just a note.” Notes still have page locations in print.

Practical tip: If the headnote is embedded and truly untitled, keep the label short and consistent, for example, Headnote to “Title” or Introduction to “Title.” Do not put quotation marks around the descriptive label itself.

Special case 4: Works with translators, especially for older texts

Norton often prints translated works. If you quote the translated English text, the translator is important because translation choices affect wording. In MLA 9, identify the translator of the selection after the selection’s title and before the anthology title.

What to do

• Start with the original author of the work.
• When the translator translated the selection, put “Translated by First Last” after the selection’s title and before the anthology’s title. A translator of the entire anthology belongs after the anthology title.

Common pitfall
- Treating the translator as the author of the original work. The translator is not the author, but they should be credited.

Practical tip: If you discuss the translation itself, you can emphasize the translator more, but for most literature papers you still begin with the original author.

Special case 5: Two authors, three or more authors, and credited names

Some selections in Norton have two authors, for example, a coauthored essay or a jointly written manifesto. Apply MLA rules exactly.

Two authors

• First author inverted, name as credited.
• Second author normal order, name as credited.
• Use “and.”

Three or more authors

• First author inverted, name as credited.
• Add “et al.”

Common pitfall
- Inverting the second author. MLA inverts only the first author in the Works Cited entry.

Special case 6: No author for a section inside Norton

Some Norton materials are not attributed to an author, for example, a timeline, a glossary entry, or an anonymous contextual document. If there is no author listed for the specific item you used, start with the title.

What to do

• Start with the title of the specific section.
• Then give the anthology as the container.

Common pitfall
- Writing “Anonymous” or “n.d.” Under MLA rules, do not do this. Use the title.

Practical tip: If the section title begins with “The,” “A,” or “An,” still write it normally, but alphabetize by the next word in your Works Cited list.

Special case 7: Volume and edition confusion

The Norton Anthology is often split into volumes, and the same edition number can have multiple volumes. MLA 9 puts the edition in the version element and the volume designation in the number element.

What to include

• Edition number, for example, “10th ed.”
• Volume identifier, if your copy has one, for example, “vol. B” or “vol. 2.”
• Publisher and year from your title page.

Common pitfall
- Using page numbers without volume information. If your reader has a different volume, page numbers may not match.

Practical tip: Copy details from the title page, not the cover. Covers sometimes shorten or stylize the title.

Example 3: Citing the whole Norton Anthology (when you truly used it as a whole)

If your argument is about the anthology itself, cite it as an edited book.

Example (whole anthology)
Greenblatt, Stephen, et al., editors. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 10th ed., vol. A, W. W. Norton, 2018.

Why this is an edge case
Many students cite the whole anthology even when they only used one poem. That makes your citation less precise and makes it harder for a reader to locate the exact work you discussed.

In-text citation edge cases for Norton

• Most selections: Use the author’s last name and the page number, for example, (Woolf 1238).
• If you cite an editor-written headnote: Use the headnote writer’s last name and the page number, for example, (Smith 272). If three or more writers are credited, use the first writer’s last name and et al.
• If the author is unknown: Use a shortened title in quotation marks and the page number, for example, (“Chronology” 15).

Common pitfall: Using the anthology title in the in-text citation when an author is available. In MLA, the in-text citation should match the first element of the Works Cited entry.

Quick practical checklist to avoid mistakes

• Identify what you used, the literary work, a headnote, or the anthology as a whole.
• Start the Works Cited entry with the correct author, or with the title if there is no author.
• Use names as credited. Invert only the first author.
• For two authors, use “and.” For three or more, use “et al.” after the first author only.
• Include edition and volume when present.
• Make sure your in-text citation matches the first element of your Works Cited entry.

Check the anthology’s title page for its edition, volume, editors, publisher, and year before completing the entry.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite a selection from The Norton Anthology in MLA 9?

In MLA 9, you usually cite the specific work you read (poem, story, essay) and then include the anthology as the container. Start the Works Cited entry with the author of the selection, then the selection title in quotation marks for a short work or italics for a standalone work. Next, give the anthology title in italics, the editor(s), the edition (if listed), the volume number (if relevant), the publisher, the year, and the page range of the selection. This helps readers find the exact piece inside a large book. Scenario: you read “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” in the anthology for class, your Works Cited should name T. S. Eliot first, not the anthology editor. For models, see the MLA Works Cited: A Quick Guide, https://style.mla.org/works-cited-a-quick-guide/ and the MLA guide on containers, https://style.mla.org/containers/.

Do I list the editor or the author first when citing something from Norton Anthology?

List the author of the work you are actually quoting or analyzing first. The editor(s) of The Norton Anthology appear later because the anthology is the container that holds the selection. This is a common confusion point because the anthology cover highlights editors, but MLA prioritizes the creator of the specific text. Scenario: you quote a passage from Mary Wollstonecraft in Norton, your entry begins with “Wollstonecraft, Mary,” then the title of the excerpt or chapter, then The Norton Anthology title, then “edited by” and the editor names. Start with the editor when citing the anthology as a whole, or with the writer of a distinct introduction or headnote when citing that section. For editor formatting, see MLA’s guidance on contributors, https://style.mla.org/contributors/.

How do I cite the Norton Anthology if I used the ebook version in my library database?

Treat the selection as the source, then identify the ebook and database details as part of the container information. Your Works Cited entry usually includes the author and title of the selection, the anthology title, editors, edition, publisher, year, and page range if the ebook provides stable page numbers. If it does not, use chapter or section information if available, and rely on in-text citations with author plus a locator that makes sense, such as a chapter title, if your instructor allows it. Then add the second container, the database name in italics, the URL or DOI, and the access date if your institution requires it. Scenario: you access Norton through JSTOR or ProQuest Ebook Central, include that platform. For ebook and database guidance, see https://style.mla.org/citing-an-ebook/ and https://style.mla.org/citing-database-articles/.

What should I put in the in-text citation for a Norton Anthology quote, author, page number, or both?

Use the author’s last name and the page number, like (Eliot 1234), when the anthology has consistent page numbering. Do not put the editor’s name in the parenthetical citation unless the editor is the author of the material you are citing, such as an editorial headnote written by the editors. If you mention the author in your sentence, include only the page number in parentheses. Scenario: “Eliot depicts hesitation through…” (1234). If you are using an ebook without stable pages, ask your instructor which locator to use. Some accept chapter, section, or paragraph numbers if the text provides them. Your goal is retrievability. For in-text citation rules and examples, see https://style.mla.org/in-text-citations-the-basics/.

How do I cite the introduction, headnotes, or footnotes written by Norton editors?

Cite editorial material as its own work, with the editor or editorial team as the author if they wrote the introduction or notes. Use a descriptive label such as Introduction without quotation marks, or quote a distinct title if the section has one. After that, list The Norton Anthology title as the container, then the editor statement (if different from the author field), edition, volume, publisher, year, and page range. Scenario: you quote a Norton headnote that explains historical context before a poem, you should not attribute that information to the poet. Instead, credit the editors responsible for the note, often listed on the title page. This avoids misattribution and clarifies that the commentary is secondary material. For citing introductions and other parts of a book, see https://style.mla.org/citing-a-part-of-a-work/.

How do I handle volume numbers, editions, and missing publication dates for The Norton Anthology in MLA 9?

Include the edition and volume if they help identify the exact source, which they usually do for Norton. Place the edition after the title and before the volume information, for example “10th ed., vol. 2.” Use the publication year listed on the title page or copyright page. If multiple years appear, choose the year for your specific edition. If a date is truly unavailable, omit it rather than guessing, and provide as much other publication information as possible. Scenario: your class uses volume 1 of a two volume set, listing the volume prevents a reader from searching the wrong book. Also, page numbers differ across editions, so the edition is crucial for accurate in-text citations. For MLA core elements and date guidance, see https://style.mla.org/works-cited-a-quick-guide/.

Last Updated: 2026-01-01
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