How to quote with style



How to quote with style!

➢ Always make sure your quotations are part of complete sentences!

➢ All these examples illustrate correct MLA in-text citations.

➢ These examples, with the exception of the long quotation, are single-spaced to save space. Naturally, you should double-space your own paper.

➢ This list is by no means exhaustive but represents the most common techniques.

Use an introductory-transitional phrase like for example, for instance, an illustration of this, etc…

For instance, George tells Lennie in chapter one, “Oh, so ya forgot that too, did ya? Well, I ain’t gonna remind ya, fear ya do it again” (7).

For example, in acts such as “He paused for a moment, considering whether he should risk a smoke…He decided to risk it” (105), and “He decided to risk going over to have a look at him” (106), the sniper takes many chances.

An illustration of this figurative language is on page two when Steinbeck describes the rabbits as “little gray, sculptured stones.”

Use the comma to introduce your quotation, just like dialogue:

As they discuss the incident in chapter one, George’s concern over Lennie’s forgetfulness and lack of control is apparent when he says to Lennie, “Oh, so ya forgot that too, did ya? Well, I ain’t gonna remind ya, fear ya do it again” (7).

Those against gun control have argued that gun control laws are a violation of citizen’s constitutional rights often saying things like, “to take away the right to have guns is no different from the attempt of the British to ‘disarm’ the colonists during the Revolutionary War” (Hanson 68).

Make the quotation part of the natural grammar and flow of your sentence:

It has been said that “unless we solve the problem of interpersonal hatred it may not matter very much what we do about guns” (20).

Eve committed the first sin of humankind in an act of pride because pride has been defined as "an attempt at human self-divination" (Peters 87).

Let your quotation stand as a separate sentence with a sentence before to introduce it. (RARE)

In the early part of the story, the sniper considers lighting a cigarette. "It was dangerous...he decided to take the risk" (104).

Ultimately, Steinbeck’s resentment of the harshness of life is best captured in the cold attitude of the men who lived the life of vagabond workers during the depression. “And Carlson said, ‘Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys’” (107).

Use the colon to introduce the quotation.

This is easy enough to illustrate early in the book as the narrator introduces us to Archie through the eyes of Obie, one of Archie’s underlings: “Most of all, he [Obie] was tired of Archie.  Archie the bastard. The bastard that Obie alternately hated and admired” (Cormier, 11). 

… When Jimmy considers how he might return to school and explain his absence, he plays out a scene wherein he forges a note from Mama Jean to excuse his absence as sickness.  As he visualizes this scenario, he reconsiders such a plan:

He could write one [a note] and sign Mama Jean’s name to it, he thought.  Mama Jean would have a fit if she found out, though.  She’d be hurt too. That was the worst part, the way she would look at him and be disappointed.  He decided against writing the note.  (Myers, 4)

Here, Jimmy considers hurting Mama Jean “the worst part,” which leads to the students’ worst resistance in relation to this circumstance. 

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