Citations in Papers MLA Format

MLA format “I may truly never say I’ve never had this apron of mine off, since born you were. It’s bad enough to be a blacksmith’s wife without being your mother,” (Dickens 8). Plays ( ). (II.iii ).

Special Circumstances Dialogue within a quote “Nelly walked up the stairs and encountered Martha. ‘What are you doing with the children today?’ she inquired” (Smith 67). “Nelly walked up the stairs and encountered Martha. ‘What are you doing with the children today?’” (Smith 67). The use of quotation marks and apostrophes is only necessary for a quote within a quote. Not all dialogue receives the quotation marks and apostrophes. “What are you doing with the children today?” (Smith 67).

Long Quotes Long quotes do not get quotation marks at the beginning and end of the quote. UNLESS it’s dialogue within a quote, then you follow the same rules: apostophes on the dialogue within the quote. Example: I went into the stairwell and was surprised at what I saw. ‘What are you doing here?’ Mrs. Callar asked. ‘I’m searching for Mr. Barnes. Is he still on the grounds?’ I had hoped he was gone. (Sanders 27) ‘What are you doing here?’ Mrs. Callar asked. ‘I’m searching for Mr. Barnes. Is he still on the grounds?’ I had hoped he was gone. (Sanders 27)

Commas and Periods without Citations Notice where the comma and period are placed when using quotation marks without a citation. The character is suspicious of her newfound “friends.” The girl referred to the woman as “Aunt Rita,” despite the fact they were not truly related.

Rules Indent quotes that are longer than four lines 10 spaces. INDENT THE WHOLE QUOTE, not just the first line.

Rules Do not cite the same author more than three times in a row. If you cite an author multiple times in a paragraph, you need only include the author’s name in the first citation. For every citation after that, use the page number only. UNLESS you switch to a second author and begin citing him/her. Then you must cite the initial author again, if you choose to cite him/her again in the paragraph.

Rules Example A major aspect of Ed's poor self-image is his relationship with his mother. His mother constantly insults him, complains about him, and often calls him “Dickhead Ed” (Zusak 28). Ed is nothing more than a reminder of his father, who is to blame for their ordinary life, according to his mother (243). Ed finally confronts his mother toward the end of the book, and Ed's mother explains herself to him. “The tortured relationship between Ed and his mother is vital to the narrative and to Ed’s growth” (Smith 245). Ed's mother admits she hates him, but she said it took a lot of love to hate him this much. Ed then eventually makes peace with his mother and tries to understand her feelings for him. “‘It's the person, Ma, not the place. If you left here, you'd have been the same anywhere else.’ It’s truth enough, but I can't stop now. ‘If I ever leave this place…I'll make sure I'm better here first.’ ‘Okay, Ed.' She's stunned, and I feel sorry for the woman standing on the front porch of a poor street in an ordinary town. ‘That sounds fair’” (Zusak 283). Ed is able to continue on with his life because he moves on from the strained relationship with his mother.

Introducing Quotes Do not start or end a paragraph with a quote. You need to include some explanation and set up the quote. You need to include sufficient critique after the quote. This quote shows/The author means NO!

Quotes with Exclamation Points and Question Marks For quotes with exclamation points and question marks, put those kinds of punctuation with the quote, not after the citation. “Is that all you ask of me Pip?” (Dickens 127). “Oh hello, Mr. Pip!” (Dickens 230).

Quotes with Exclamation Points and Question Marks For quotations with exclamation points and question marks, put these forms of punctuation with the quote and use a period after the citation as a place holder. “Out of my sight!” ( ). “What dost thou say?” (3.3.33).