Begin the quotation on a new line, with the full quotation indented 1/2 inch from the left margin and double spaced. Your parenthetical citation should come after the final period. Maintain the original line breaks when citing verse. (Continue to use double spacing throughout your text.)
To quote directly from a story or article, put it in quotes ("The Iliad" by Homer), and include its title if there is one (The Iliad: A Poem By Homer). If the work is fiction, note its author too (Homer wrote The Iliad). If the work is non-fiction, simply state its title without attribution (an encyclopedia entry).
When quoting extensively from a single source, give credit to the author/artist using their last name plus the word "by". For example, Thomas Edison by the way invented the phonograph. When you are referring to a group of authors, list them all together with their most important work first. For example, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, and Henry Clay would be listed as "Three Great Presidents."
Finally, when quoting from multiple sources, give credit to each one individually. For example, when learning about Alexander Hamilton's life, you may hear some of his words quoted on TV shows and movies.
When citing an extract longer than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, begin with a signal phrase, just as you would with a shorter one. Begin the quotation below this on a new line. One inch from the left, indent the whole quotation. Use no more than two spaces per indention. End the quotation with a signal phrase.
Extensive quotations Place quotes longer than four lines of prose or three lines of verse in a free-standing block of text and avoid quotation marks. End the quotation with another full stop followed by a blank line.
Short quotations Use single quotation marks for quotations that are mentioned for only one sentence and use double quotation marks for longer quotations. Start and end each quotation with a full stop.
In between quotations Follow standard punctuation rules for essays.
Quotes within quotes Again follow standard punctuation rules for essays. Within quoted material, start every quote with a capital letter and end every quote with a full stop. Avoid using periods or semicolons at the end of quoted material unless the author has done so first. For example, "I like my job," she said, "because it's fun." Here, the two sentences are separate quotes; therefore, they should be separated by commas: I like my job, she said. Fun is not a complete thought so no period is needed after fun.
Quotations within quotations within quotes You can use this method when there are several phrases that together make up a whole quoted statement.
An exact quote should be in quotation marks (""), or a block quotation should be used if the quotation is 40 words or more. Then, just after the quotation, you include an In-Text Citation to identify where the quote originated from.
When quoting a single line (or part of a line) from a poem, just place it in quotation marks like you would any other quote. When quoting two or three lines, use a forward slash to indicate line breaks. Before and after the slash, add a space. The dash can also be used to indicate a break between stanzas, but this is not common practice.
So, if you were to reference these lines from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: "Alone, alone, all, all alone; / Alone on a wide, wide sea! / And never a saint nor star to guide her/ Where the night waves roar and cry." You would say something like this: "In a poem titled 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' Samuel Taylor Coleridge uses language to express his feelings about being alone on a wide, wide sea with no one to help him. He compares himself to a ship without a captain, moon, or stars to guide it."
This would be appropriate study material for a student writing an essay about poetry who was trying to understand how Coleridge felt about being alone on a boat at night with no one to help him.
The dash used to indicate a hyphenated word is also useful for indicating a line break.
So, if I were to quote this line from Wallace Stevens' poem "The Man With the Load of Grapes": "A thing of beauty is a joy forever", I might say: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever - Wallace Stevens".
If you wanted to quote the whole first stanza, you could say: "The man with the load of grapes - how does he get them all home? / Well, he can't carry them all around town; / That wouldn't be much of a load. / So he puts one grape at a time into his mouth and carries that inside him until it dies. / Then he gets another one. It doesn't take long before everything he sees is covered with skinned grapes. / The trees, the grass, the people, even the dogs - they're all loaded down with grapes. / At last he goes home and kisses his wife sweetly on the lips. / She isn't covered with grapes, but she likes having her picture taken."
When citing dialogue from a novel, separate the quote as a block from your text if each character's speaking begins on a new line in the source. As with any block quotation, indent the extract half an inch from the left margin. A horizontal rule above the quotation and below your text can help direct readers' attention to what they will need to read carefully for context.
For example: "He said, 'I'm sorry,' and she replied, 'It's all right.'"
This method is often used for extracts from books because you do not want to copy the entire book into your own work. This also avoids copyright issues if you were to reproduce parts of the source material.
The next time you are writing about a character who speaks in interviews or journal entries, try using this method to add some life to your descriptions. It can be used for speeches by politicians, actors, or musicians too!
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