• OSU's Writing Center Make an appointment or review their online help. 
• Many sites can guide you in using MLA. Especially helpful is Purdue's OWL site.
• Determine if your journal article or book is scholarly.
• Many journal articles follow a similar structure. Understanding this structure may facilitate your understanding, interpretation and analysis of the author(s)' writing. This web site details a common structure that authors use: http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/reading/1d.html.

Image courtesy of http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/reading/1d.html and http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/acknowledge.html.