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MLA Citation Style 9th Edition: Quotations

Quoting vs. Paraphrasing

There are two ways to integrate sources into your assignment: quoting directly or paraphrasing.

 

Quoting is copying a selection from someone else's work, phrasing it exactly as it was originally written. When quoting place quotation marks (" ") around the selected passage to show where the quote begins and where it ends. Make sure to include an in-text citation. 

 

Paraphrasing is used to show that you understand what the author wrote. You must reword the passage, expressing the ideas in your own words, and not just change a few words here and there. Make sure to also include an in-text citation. 

Quotation Examples

There are two basic formats that can be used when quoting a source:

 

Parenthetical Style:

The homeless were typically neglected growing up since they "commonly come from families who are riddled with problems and marital disharmony" (Rokach 477).


Narrative Style:

As Rokach notes, the homeless "often have no one to care for them and no one knows them intimately" (477).

 

Note: If there are no page numbers, as in a website, cite the author name only.

Long Quotations

A long or block quotation is a quotation which is 4 lines or more. 

 

Rules for Long Quotations

  1. The line before your long quotation, when you're introducing the quote, usually ends with a colon.
  2. The long quotation is indented half an inch from the rest of the text, so it looks like a block of text.
  3. There are no quotation marks around the quotation.
  4. The period at the end of the quotation comes before your in-text citation as opposed to after, as it does with regular quotations.

 

Example of a Long Quotation

At the end of Lord of the Flies the boys are struck with the realization of their behaviour:

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. (Golding 186)

Modifying Quotations

Sometimes you may want to make some modifications to the quote to fit your writing. Here are some MLA rules when changing quotes:

 

Changing Quotations

Sometimes you may want to make some modifications to the quote to fit your writing. Here are some MLA rules when changing quotes:

 

Omitting parts of a quotation

If you would like to exclude some words from a quotation, replace the words you are not including with an ellipsis: …

 

Adding words to a quote

If you are adding words that are not part of the original quote, enclose the additional words in square brackets: [XYZ]

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