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Quotations: Paper
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When you directly quote the works of others in your paper, you will format quotations differently depending on their length. Formatting quotations using MLA style is covered in section 2.7 of the of the MLA Handbook (which begins on page 80) and in section 3.9 of the MLA Style Manual (which begins on page 102). Below are some basic guidelines for incorporating quotations into your paper.
You are ordinarily expected to use a combination of quotations and paraphrases (or summaries) from primary and sometimes secondary sources as support in an analytical essay or paper. Paraphrases of brief, specific, concrete examples (or summaries of longer examples) are generally preferable to quotations. Such paraphrases and summaries illustrate that you understand the material being referenced, and the paraphrase, since it is in your own words, will be less disruptive of your prose than a quotation would be.
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One needn't go as far as Ralph Waldo Emerson's flat-out disdain for quotations, but make sure that your essays don't look like patchwork quilts. Be selective in the quotations you use, and be selective in what you quote from them, keeping only the heart of the quotation as much as possible and keeping the rest of the paper in your own voice and words.
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