How To Cite The Norton Anthology Of English Literature: The Major Authors?

Here's how I approach citing this beast of an anthology: first, figure out whether you're focusing on the entire anthology or just one piece within it. If it's the latter, your citation should highlight both. Let's say I'm using Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' from the 10th edition. In MLA, it would be: Chaucer, Geoffrey. 'The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue.' 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors,' edited by Stephen Greenblatt, 10th ed., W. W. Norton, 2018, pp. 215-232. The publisher's location isn't necessary in recent MLA editions, which threw me off at first. For online versions, add the URL or DOI at the end. My literature professor always emphasized checking the table of contents for accurate titles—some medieval works have alternate names that might trip you up. It's tedious, but getting citations right saves so much headache later.

I've had to cite this anthology so many times for my literature courses that I could probably do it in my sleep by now. The key thing to remember is that you're citing both the individual work and the anthology itself. For MLA, start with the author of the poem or essay, then the title in quotes, followed by the anthology title in italics. The editors' names come next with 'edited by' before them, then the edition, volume number (if applicable), publisher, year, and pages.

One thing that always trips people up is the edition number—don't forget it! I once lost points for missing the 9th edition in my citation. Also, if you're citing something like the editor's introduction, you'd list the editor as the author instead. For example: Greenblatt, Stephen. Introduction. 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors,' 10th ed., vol. 2, W. W. Norton, 2018, pp. xix-xxv. The Norton website actually has a handy citation guide if you need visual examples—I bookmarked it after my third late-night citation panic.

Citing 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors' can be a bit tricky depending on the format you're using. If you're working with MLA, the basic structure would be: Author's Last Name, First Name. 'Title of Work.' 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors,' edited by Editor's Name, edition, vol. number, Publisher, Year, page range. For example, if you're citing Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey,' it might look like: Wordsworth, William. 'Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.' 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors,' edited by Stephen Greenblatt, 10th ed., vol. 2, W. W. Norton, 2018, pp. 250-255.

APA style is slightly different. You'd list the author of the specific work first, then the publication year of the anthology, followed by the title of the work and the anthology details. For instance: Wordsworth, W. (2018). Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey. In S. Greenblatt (Ed.), 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors' (10th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 250-255). W. W. Norton. Always double-check the latest edition of the style guide you're using, as details like punctuation and italics can change.

Chicago style offers two approaches: notes-bibliography and author-date. For notes-bibliography, a footnote might look like: William Wordsworth, 'Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey,' in 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors,' ed. Stephen Greenblatt, 10th ed., vol. 2 (New York: W. W. Norton, 2018), 250-255. I remember scrambling to get this right for a paper last semester—my professor was strict about proper citation!