College Composition / Unit 23 CMP 0564 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Block Quotations
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The idea
A long quotation is set off as an indented block, without quotation marks, introduced by a signal phrase ending in a colon.
In practice
MLA blocks quotations longer than four typed lines; APA blocks those of forty words or more; the period comes before the citation.
Where people slip
Use block quotations sparingly; most papers should quote no more than a few lines at a time.
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