The MLA Handbook advises block quotations for quoted prose that runs over four lines or poetry that runs more than three lines.
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style) suggests using block quotations for all quoted material exceeding thirty-nine words. 2 Readers who follow Chicago’s student version, commonly called Turabian, should see the Style Guide Alert below. The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style) recommends using block quotations for all quoted material over ninety-nine words, multi-paragraph quotations (even if less than a hundred words), and content that needs special formatting. However, our primary style guides are not on the same page when it comes to defining “long” and “short.” There must be no punctuation before the quotation because there is no introduction (i.e., the quotation is not preceded immediately by a verb of attribution, e.g., "said," "argued," "claimed.Generally, long quotations should be formatted as block quotations and short quotations should be formatted as run-in quotations. (In this example, the quotation marks are correct. You can, however, take extracts from someone's quotation. (This is the correct way to write reported speech.) With reported speech, there is no punctuation after the introduction (which often ends "that"), and there should be no quotation marks.) We are reporting what he meant as opposed to quoting exactly what he said. We know Johnny said "I am a good boy." This is an example of reported speech. ("I am a good boy" are the words Johnny actually said.) Only use quotation marks to record the actual words previously said or written. (The colon is not justified because the quotation is not a sentence.)Īs a general rule, if the quotation starts with a capital letter, then a colon will be justifiable.ĭo Not Use Quotation Marks for Reported Speech (The colon is justified because the quotation is two sentences.)
Having a quotation that is a full sentence (or more) is far more common than having an introduction that is an independent clause. You can use a colon before a quotation when the quotation is at least one sentence. (Guideline 2) When the quotation is at least one sentence (NB: Adding "the following" is also useful in an introduction for a set of bullet points.) Grammatically, it does, and it is a useful way to justify the colon. Writers often question whether ending the introduction with "the following" makes the clause an independent one.