Documenting Research: MLA format (As noted in Easy Writer)

Using Quotes 101 Giving Credit to others: Quotes and Citations Once you begin writing your academic paper, you face the problem of how to weave your evidence (quotes, data, support) material into your own original commentary. A quotation can be an entire paragraph or a single word, but remember: A good quotation should be either necessary or relevant for support. A quotation means that the words, spelling, capitalization, etc. are the same as in the original work. A quotation always includes: speaker and citation.

Identifying a Speaker: Alex Steil said, “Madison and I are going to play a game.” “Alex is bugging me again Mom,” said Madison Steil. “Tomorrow morning,” said Brian Steil, “we are going to St. Cloud.”

In-text parenthetical citations Using In-Text Citations: Place author’s last name and page number (no comma in between) in parenthesis behind quote. Sources with authors: Single author named in parentheses. The tendency to come to terms with difficult experiences is referred to as a "purification process" whereby "threatening or painful dissonances are warded off to preserve intact a clear and articulated image of oneself and one’s place in the world" (Sennett 11). Single author named in a signal phrase Social historian Richard Sennett names the tendency to come to terms with difficult experiences a "purification process" whereby "threatening or painful dissonances are warded off to preserve intact a clear and articulated image of oneself and one’s place in the world" (11).

Punctuation Rules “This is a valley of ashes... where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through powdery air” (Fitzgerald 27). Note: The period (or other final punctuation marks) are placed AFTER the parenthetical citation. Citations are technically part of the quote/sentence. The final quotation mark goes at the end of the direct quote, before the citation. Do not put p. or pg. in between the author’s name and the page number.

Misc. Rules Once you have indicated author/source, you only have to indicate page number until the author/source changes again. If you only use one author/source within an entire paper, you need to identify the author/source in the introduction and use only parenthetical page numbers for each direct quote: (11).

Short quotations: If a quotation is three typed lines or fewer, work the quote into the body of the paper, and put a quotation marks around it. Always make sure to introduce the speaker or source of the quote. Example: Elena Ottolenghi Nightingale, explains the poverty her family endured, “It was a new poverty, but it was not the poverty that was the problem. The problem was…being foreigners; and being dislocated and not belonging; and having no friends” (Agosin 56).

Long quotations: Quotations of four or more typed lines should be set off from the paper by indenting each line one inch (10 spaces) on the left. The right margin should remain the same. Single space just the portion of the quote that is taken directly from the source. Do not use quotation marks, simply setting it off indicates a direct quote. After the quote, use a citation to indicate speaker. For example: After Daisy and Gatsby parted ways, Daisy recovered quickly, By the next autumn she was gay again, gay as ever. She had a debut after the Armistice, and in February she was presumably engaged to a man from New Orleans. In June she married Tom Buchanan of Chicago with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before. He came down with a hundred people in private cars…(Fitzgerald 80).

Partial quotations: If you want to leave out part of a quotation, use an ellipsis. An ellipsis is three periods with a space before and after each one. Only use an ellipses (...) if you remove a portion of the text from the middle of the passage you include in your paper. There is no need for an ellipses at the beginning or end of a quote. Note: anything you take out of the quote should not change the author’s meaning. For example: “This is a valley of ashes... where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through powdery air” (Fitzgerald 27).

Adding to quotations: To add words to an already existing quotation, use brackets [like this] to indicate any material you have added to a quote to clarify its meaning. If you need to make a change within a quote in order for your sentence to make sense, use brackets to indicate your changes. For example: Jessica said, “Yesterday [her] dog wanted to jump into a pool of water.”

Unusual Circumstances Works with no author Several critics of the concept of the transparent society ask if a large society would be able to handle the complete loss of privacy ("Surveillance Society" 115). Use title of book (underlined) or title of article (quotations). Web page Abraham Lincoln's birthplace was designated as a National Historical Site in 1959 (Edwards). If there is no author, mentioned, use the site name: (timemagazine.com) Do not include http, www, or other misc. information. Always use the shortest form of the website. The entire web address will be included in the Works Cited Page. *For two or more authors or other special circumstances: check your Writing Guidelines packet or Easy Writer. To double check your citations and Works Cited entries, check out citationmachine.net