More on Citing Direct Quotations

To cite passages of more than four lines of text, remember:

• Passages must be indented (example below is in accordance with MLA style).
• Quotation marks are not used.
• A parenthetical citation or footnote number should follow the punctuation at the end of the quotation.

For example:

The women who populate the television program, The Sopranos, are for the most part wonderful examples of multidimensional characters so rarely seen in the media. According to Barreca,

Carmela and Dr. Melfi do not pretend to foolishness, helplessness, or innocence, those twinned weapons of the traditional passive-aggressive feminine script perfected by Livia Soprano, Tony’s mother. Unlike more ordinary heroines, most of the women in The Sopranos do not offer up a gooey reservoir of sympathy, vulnerability, and virginity but instead offer in their place a sense of intelligent awareness, emotional skill, and a sense of shamelessness about their own competence. They do not, in other words, apologize for being good at what they do (32).

What if you want to add or delete text from a quotation?

Use ellipses (three spaced periods) to indicate omitted words.

For example:

“Brutality, extortion, and murder are everyday stuff for the Mob. Tony’s high standard of living … depends upon these ugly but hidden crimes” (Parini 77).

To add words/phrases to a direct quotation, use square brackets.

For example:

“Within the home Carmela [Soprano] gains power and the opportunity to lead the family down a morally correct path” (Parini 106).