Mla Block Quote Format is used for direct quotes that are longer than four lines of prose or three lines of poetry. The MLA format includes this style. In a play, for example, you always use a block quote to quote dialogue between characters.
How to Put Quotes in Blocks in Mla?
Some explanations about the Quotes are given below.
Name | Explanation |
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Introduce the Quote | Always put your own words before a block quote. |
Start with a sentence or two that tells the reader why you’re using the quote and how it fits into your argument. | |
Put a colon after the first sentence and start the quote on a new line. | |
Setting Up the Quote | The block quote should be double-spaced, just like the rest of your MLA-style paper. |
Put a half-inch space between the quote and the left margin. Use the original text’s punctuation, line breaks, and capitalization. | |
Identify the Quote | Add an MLA in-text citation right after the last punctuation mark at the end of the quote. |
It has the name(s) of the author(s) and the page number(s) from which the quote comes. | |
Every citation in the text must match something in the Works Cited list. Our free MLA citation generator can help you make citations. | |
Describe the Quote | Comment or examine the text that is being quoted under the block quote. Use your own words throughout the paragraph; never finish it with a block quote. |
Summary
MLA block quotes are used for quotes that are longer than four lines of prose or three lines of poetry. When quoting play dialogue, use a block quote.
How Does Block Format Work?
A quote is considered in the block format when it can be read as a whole and does not have quotation marks surrounding it. If the context of the quote requires separate punctuation, start the block quote on a new line with a colon. Otherwise, start the block quote on the last line.
Double-space the quote, and leave a 1-inch gap on the left side of the page where it is placed (even if the rest of your paper is not double-spaced). After the period at the end of your block quotation, you should put the page number.
Please include the last name of the author, the publication date, as well as the page and paragraph numbers.
Quote Block
The block quote is used when a direct quote is longer than four lines of prose or three lines of poetry. When you quote dialogue between characters, like in a play, you always use a block quote.
A quote is considered in the block format when it can be read as a whole and does not have quotation marks surrounding it. If the context of the quote requires separate punctuation, start the block quote on a new line with a colon.
Otherwise, start the block quote on the last line. Double-space the quote, and leave a 1-inch gap on the left side of the page where it is placed even if the rest of your paper is not double-spaced.
After the period at the end of your block quotation, you should put the page number. Please include the last name of the author, the publication date, as well as the page and paragraph numbers.
Block Quote Examples
Prose Block Quote
The reader quickly gets a sense of Nick Carraway’s feelings about Jay Gatsby because the first time the character is mentioned, Nick shows both admiration and dislike:
Gatsby, the man whose name this book takes, was the only one I didn’t bother.
Reaction—Gatsby, who stood for everything I don’t like, did not affect me.
Scorn. If a person’s personality is a continuous string of successful actions, there was something beautiful about him, a heightened sensitivity to life’s possibilities.
He had an enigmatic quality as if the fact that he was tracking earthquakes had some significance.
A distance of 10,000 miles. (Fitzgerald 4)
Poetry Block Quote
One of Australia’s most well-known poems is “My Country.” It demonstrates the poet’s admiration for the unique environment of the nation:
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I love a country with a lot of sun.
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A country with wide-open plains,
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There were rough mountain ranges,
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Of dry spells and heavy rains,
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I love her expansive views,
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I love her sea of jewels.
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Both beautiful and scary,
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For me, it’s the vast brown land! (Mackellar)
Quotes Inside of Other Quotes
If you want to block a quote in a passage that already has a quote, put quotation marks around the inner quote, just like any other quote.
Example Nested Quotation
Number | Examples |
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1 | Fitzgerald’s first description of Daisy, like his first description of Gatsby, tells the reader right away how charming and attractive she is: |
2 | She laughed, and it was a funny, endearing laugh, so I laughed, too, and walked into the room. “I’m so happy that I can’t move.” |
3 | She chuckled once again as if she had said something funny, then held my hand briefly while looking up into my face and making a promise. |
4 | No one else in the world was as important to her as him. |
5 | That was something she did. (Fitzgerald 11) |
Mla Requires Block Quotes for Long Quotes.
There are some important points for bock’s quotes.
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Poetry quotes with more than three lines
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Prose passages longer than four lines
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With the MLA style, block quotes are indented by half an inch and do not contain quotation marks.
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The MLA in-text citation follows the period after the block quotation.
Block Quotes That Leave Out Words or Lines
You cut down Block quotes by using ellipses (…) to show that some text has been taken out. If you shorten a quote like this, ensure you don’t change the author’s original meaning or leave out important context.
To Omit a Line
Make a line of periods the same length as the poetry line.
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I love a country with a lot of sun.
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…………………………………
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There were rough mountain ranges,
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Dry spells and heavy rains.
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You can use punctuation in block quotations.
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Most of the time, the comma is used to put in quotation marks.
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Use a colon when the text before the quote can stand on its own as a sentence.
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You can use a period to start a complete citation if the text is a full sentence before the citation.
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There are no periods.
Summary
Mla requires block quotes for long quotes. Use ellipses (…) to signify chopped Block quotations.
Why Do We Use Block Quotes?
The average time a person can pay attention to something is 8 seconds. One thing to think about when writing an essay for school or an article just for fun is how to keep the reader’s attention.
Writers should always try to get and keep their readers’ attention for as long as possible. It’s kind of like teaching puppies new tricks.
You have to keep giving them treats while getting them to do things they don’t want to. Quotes come into play here. Some readers may skip over quotes because they know the writer will explain them later.
Even though block quotations help get our attention. They used them because quotation marks were so new in the 17th century that some printers used them too much. They would put a quotation mark at the beginning of every line of text they were using.
It stopped happening over time, but the space where the quotation marks stayed. It became the block quote.
Purpose of a Block Quote
A Block quote is a long quote that starts on a new line and is indented to make a separate block of text. There are no quote marks. When you quote more than about 40 words from a source, you have to use a block quote.
Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs
There are some questions related to this topic.
1 - What Is the Format for a Block Quote?
A long quote set up as a separate “block” of text is called a “block quote.” Instead of using quotation marks, you put the quote on a new line and indent the whole thing to set it apart from your own words.
2 - How Do You Make a Quote in a Text Unreadable?
If a block quote is longer than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, put it in a text block by itself and leave the quotation marks. Start the quote on a new line, and indent it 1/2 inch from the left margin while keeping the double spacing.
3 - How Do You Mla Format a Quote?
In-text citations in MLA style include the author’s last name and the page number where the quote or paraphrase is found. For example: (Smith 163). If the source doesn’t have page numbers, don’t put a number in the parenthetical citation: (Smith).
4 - Do You Put a Space Before the Following Sentence After a Mla Block Quote?
If you quote more than one paragraph, the first line of each paragraph is an extra 14 inches to the left. But if the first sentence you’re quoting doesn’t start a new paragraph in the source, don’t indent it. Just indent the rest of the paragraphs.
5 - How Many Words Is a Mla Block Quote?
You should use the block quote format if you quote more than four lines from a source in MLA style. Use block quote formatting whenever you quote more than three lines of poetry.
6 - How do you put an MLA citation for a quote within a quote?
If a single quotation mark surrounds something else that needs to be set off with quotation marks, like another quotation or the title of a work, use double quotation marks around that other thing. The pattern is double quotes, a single quote, and then double quotes again.
7 - How Do You Put a Quote on a Paper?
After the quote, you should put the author’s last name, the year the book was published, and the page number, which a “p should follow.” If you mention the author’s name in your sentence, you must put the year of publication in parentheses after the name and the page number after the quote.
8 - Do You Italicize Block Quotes Mla?
It is the case when you have to use the MLA formatting style. If you use the APA format, the quotes should have more than 40 words. Block quotes should always start on a new line and be indented. Italics can use to make it easy for the reader to find block quotations.
9 - How Many Quotes Can I Put in a Block?
How many block quotes can I put in a research paper without looking suspicious? Whenever you quote a poem, it takes up a lot of space. We should use One block quotation per page if your essay is longer than five pages.
10 - How Do You Put a Quote Inside a Quote in the Text?
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 to put a quote inside a quote.
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- Write the last name of the original author.
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- Write down the date that the original was published.
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- Write “as mentioned in” followed by the name of the work.
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- Give the date the work you’re citing came out.
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- Write the page number where you can find the information.
11 - How Do You Block Quotes on Pages?
To make a new Paragraph Style.
Press the Plus button.
You will need a new paragraph style to make a block quote style.
Open the Text drop-down menu in the Format panel and click the Plus button to make a new style.
Change the name of this to Block Quote.
12 - What’s a Good Number of Block Quotes?
DON’T use a block quote for a quoted section that is less than three complete lines of text and less than five sentences long.
13 - How Do You Put a Quote Inside a Quote?
When putting a quote inside of another quote, use single quotation marks. "When I talked to the quarterback, he said they just “played a better game,” " the reporter told me.
14 - What Does Mla Stand For?
Mla, the Modern Language Association style, is most often used in the liberal arts and humanities to write papers and cite sources.
15 - What Is a Mla Format?
Every page of an MLA paper has the same look. It has 1-inch margins, a font that is easy to read, a running header with your last name, and the page number, and author-page in-text citations. At the end of your paper, you will have a “Works Cited” section that lists all the sources you used.
Conclusion
Block format is a quote that isn’t in quotes. Block quotes start with a colon (unless the context requires otherwise). Double-space and indent the entire quote (even if the rest of your paper is not double-spaced). Put the page number after the period at the end of the block quote.
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