

The first line of the excerpt should not be further indented, unless you are quoting multiple paragraphs-in which case the first line of each quoted paragraph should be further indented 0.25 inches.

The entire block quotation should be indented half an inch from the left margin. Example: MLA Block Quotationīlock quotation: An example of a properly formatted block quotation Spacing and Alignment Most of the standard rules for quotations still apply, with the following exceptions: a block quotation will begin on its own line, it will not be enclosed in quotation marks, and its in-text citation will come after the ending punctuation, not before it. However, if you want to quote more than four lines of prose (or three lines of verse) from a source, you should format the excerpt as a block quotation, rather than as a regular quotation within the text of a paragraph. When to Use a Block QuotationĪ typical quotation is enclosed in double quotation marks and is part of a sentence within a paragraph of your paper.
#Quote more than 4 lines how to
The following section explain how to use an MLA block quote, followed by an example of a block quote within an essay. MLA style requires that quotations of more than four lines be formatted as block quotations (block quotation are also used when quoting more than three lines of verse).
